At the lower level most of the games are won (or lost) by tactical errors. See for instance this position (first diagram). It is black to move. What should he play?
Let’s think about this position for a moment. White has an extra and well supported pawn on d6. His rook on a7 looks to be quite menacing. To add to blacks problems, his king is also in a vulnerable position. The direct threat is Qg7 mate. You don’t need to be a chess wizard to see this. Is this position hopeless?Read More »
Some might say that calculation is one of the most important skills in chess. For sure it is an important skill. But there is at least one skill even more important.
If we think for a moment about it, it is completely obvious.
According to Jacob Aagaard in his book ‘Calculation’ (Grandmaster preparation) the more important skill is seeing. Of course! You can calculate like a madman, but if you don’t have a clue about what to calculate it doesn’t make much sense. You need to have some idea about possible candidate moves.Read More »
I found this puzzle on chess tempo (like a lot of others). I am not completely sure what was white’s last move. But I guess it was a move with the bishop.
So lets say from the diagram white played 1. Bd7. It seems to make sense because the bishop attacks the black rook and in doing so this poses a problem for black.
How should he respond? Certainly not the way he did with 1. … Rc7? After this move white has a nice finish. More tenacious would have been either 1. … Rb8 or 1. … Ra8. You see in the analysis why.
As it happens more often, I went for the wrong solution. After 1. Bd7 Rc7 I played a rather obvious move and missed a clever defense for black. See my remarks with white’s second move in the analysis*.
So the question is: how can white win?
*With thanks to Mr. Houdini
Pfff… (here in Sweden we might say oj, oj, oj and in Dutch oei, oei, oei) that was long time ago since I wrote something on this blog.
My apologies! I will behave like a good kid and write something more in the near future.
See the diagram on the right. It is white to move. Can he win? Solution…
Black just played 1… Qf4 attacking the unprotected knight on g4. What should white play?
See the solution…
Mikhail Tal won the world title in great style in his match against Botvinnik in 1960.
In the return match Botvinnik got his revenge. Tal was in bad health and didn’t prepare very well. He lost the match with 13-8. Had Tal lost his magic touch too? Not quite.
White (Tal) to move and win.
White to play and win…?! But how?
Game: Panczyk – Schurade (Zakopane. 1978)
They say: ‘If you know what’s is going to happen on beforehand, you can travel around the world with a dime in your pocket!’ Or, here in Sweden they might talk about a couple of öres in your pocket.
This idea is equally valid for chess. If you know what’s the position you are striving for, life gets a lot more easy.
See the diagram. Please do not move the pieces on your chess board and work it first out in your mind.Read More »
I have a confession to make. In my chess ‘career’ I made quite a lot of blunders. I still feel the pain of losing all the games I should have won.
Sometimes I even say to myself ‘if not for these blunders, I would have been quite a good chess player!’
This is of course a silly thought. What if we hardly ever make mistakes? Of course we would be chess champion of the world. But we aren’t. We humans love to marvel in ‘what ifs’.
But it is of course a nice thought. Make less stupid mistakes and your elo will rise considerably. But how do you avoid mistakes? In fact it’s quite simple:Read More »
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