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News

Blitz: Defense

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Written by Administrator   
Sunday, 06 March 2011
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Black to move

Everyone likes to attack in blitz, but can you handle the defensive part well too? What should Black do to stay in the game?

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Guess the players-60

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Sunday, 06 March 2011
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Can you name the players whose game Natalia is watching closely?

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Blitz Chess Tactics

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Saturday, 05 March 2011
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Black to move

What is the best option for Black in this complicated position?

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Last Updated ( Saturday, 05 March 2011 )
 

How long do World Chess Champions live?

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Friday, 04 March 2011

Bobby Fischer 1960 in Leipzig.jpg
Bobby Fischer, one of the two World Chess Champions to die at 64

Wilhelm Steinitz (Prague, May 17, 1836 August 12, 1900) 64

Emanuel Lasker (December 24, 1868 January 11, 1941) 72

José Raúl Capablanca (19 November 1888 8 March 1942) 53

Alexander Alekhine (October 31, 1892 March 24, 1946) 53

Max Euwe (May 20, 1901 November 26, 1981) 80

Mikhail Botvinnik (August 17, 1911  May 5, 1995) 83

Vasily Smyslov (24 March 1921 27 March 2010) 89

Mikhail Tal (November 9, 1936  June 28, 1992) 55

Tigran Petrosian (June 17, 1929 August 13, 1984) 55

Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 January 17, 2008) 64

Now let's take a look at the numbers: 89, 83, 80, 72, 64, 64, 55, 55, 53, 53

The median life duration for a World Chess Champion is 64! (The mean average is 66.8 - also quite close).


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Last Updated ( Friday, 04 March 2011 )
 

Women's FIDE Grand Prix in Qatar: Round 10

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Friday, 04 March 2011

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb and Chessdom

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Last Updated ( Friday, 04 March 2011 )
 

Blitz Chess Tactics

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Wednesday, 02 March 2011
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Black to move

This problem is more complicated than it looks at first sight - watch out for White's counter-play! Can you find the best line for Black?

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Last Updated ( Thursday, 03 March 2011 )
 

Women's FIDE Grand Prix in Qatar: Round 8

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Wednesday, 02 March 2011

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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 02 March 2011 )
 

Lead in Development

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Wednesday, 02 March 2011


by Natalia Pogonina for her
Chess.com Tuesday column

One of the main opening principles is develop your pieces asap and castle. The better your forces are mobilized, the higher the chances of launching a successful attack. One should remember that the person with a significant lead in development should exploit it right away, or the opponent will complete his development and get counter-play. When having a minor lead in development, going all-out might be risky, since there is a high chance that your opponent will be able to defend with precise play. In the opening there are two main types of development advantages:

  1. Your opponent hasnt castled
  2. He has developed fewer pieces


Lets talk about these two situations. King safety is a crucial factor for overall success. The king is the chief piece, but it is rather clumsy and vulnerable. The more pieces are participating in the game, the more worried the king is. This is especially common for the opening and middlegame. A king that got stuck in the center is often a major problem for other pieces, preventing them from interacting properly. One of the classical ways of converting a lead in development is not allowing your opponents king to castle, and then attacking it. Myriad such games have been played, especially in the previous centuries. On the one hand, you should keep in mind that one often has to sacrifice material to prevent ones opponent from castling. On the other hand, this fact itself doesnt guarantee a win, so one should be careful. There are certain positions where the exposed king is feeling ok in the center even when many pieces are on the board.
 

A different case is when both players have castled, but your opponents pieces are relatively undeveloped. For example, when his kingside is developed (including 0-0), while the queenside is untouched. Depending on the features of the position, one can either start attacking the king or weak spots right away, or try to hinder your opponents development first and only then proceed with the attack. The first scenario is obvious, while the second needs to be discussed.
 

To hinder pieces development, one should either block the good squares on which they could have developed, or tie them to their initial spots. One of the means of blocking pieces is the nail a pawn placed on the 6th or 7th rank (3rd and 2nd for Black), where it limits pieces activity and separates the flanks. Such pawns can be extremely useful in terms of launching an attack on the opponents position.
 

Now lets review a recent game of mine played in the Aeroflot tournament against the #1 player of Jordan, IM Sami Khader.
 



After evaluating the position, I understood that if I keep playing the normal way, my opponent wont have any problems whatsoever. I decided to apply the nail approach and create a pawn on e6 to hinder Blacks development. Eventually Black collapsed under the burden of the multiple variations that arose. However, my technique in converting the position was far from perfect. At some point Black had a chance to equalize, but did not take advantage of it (probably due to being tired).

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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 02 March 2011 )
 

Women's FIDE Grand Prix in Qatar: Round 7

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Tuesday, 01 March 2011

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb and Chessdom

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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 March 2011 )
 

Chess TV - New Episode

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Tuesday, 01 March 2011



New episode of a weekly chess show by our Swedish friends.

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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 March 2011 )
 
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