Category: Blog
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Game of the Week XIV: Gadimbayli, Abdulla (2451) – Navara, David (2700)
What happens when a player is “on fire”? This phenomenon is observed in chess tournaments from time to time when a player exhibits much higher performance than his rating would predict. In such cases, it seems that all of the elements – good form, luck, and the opponents’ underestimation – come together to create something…
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Game of the Week XIII
The following question frequently arises in practice: How can I create winning chances if I’m playing with Black? The question above is very difficult to answer because there are several possible variations depending on the opponent, and a solution that would work in one situation might not work in another. There are three possible solutions…
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Game of the Week XII: Predke, Alexandr (2682) – Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (2761)
All chess players encounter situations where it is necessary to effectively respond to their opponents’ moves and ideas. Preventing them or preparing against them is known as prophylaxis (from Ancient Greek: πρό (pró = before) + φύλαξις (phúlaxis = a watching, guarding). There are two types of prophylaxis in chess, which might be translated into…
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Game of the Week XI: Ivic, Velimir (2607) – Markus, Robert (2625)
There are several types of advantages in chess. After the material advantage, the easiest one to recognize is probably the space advantage, where a player controls considerably more squares than their opponent. It is common knowledge that the side with a space advantage should avoid trading pieces because the side with a space disadvantage has…
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Game of the Week X: Grandelius, Nils (2672) – Howell, David W L (2646)
A wise man once said that a player in a lost position is like a drowning man who will try all possible ways to escape from his dire circumstances. However, just trying to save themselves may not help the player because an experienced opponent closes all possible escape routes. Consequently, a player in a losing…
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Game of the Week IX: Valles Moreno, I (2401) – Soham, Das (2330)
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana This quote reminds us why we should learn from history in order to help us to avoid the mistakes made by prior generations. A common piece of advice to chess players is to study the classic chess books, especially those…
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Game of the Week VIII: Lupulescu, Constantin (2620) – Nanu, Costica-Ciprian (2513)
This Game of the Week teaches us the following chess concepts: Also, please consider contributing to the continuation of this blog by picking up one (or all!) of the products below. Let us know what you think by leaving a review on Amazon. Thank you for your support! Game of the Week VIII: Lupulescu vs.…
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Game of the Week VII: Safarli, Eltaj (2585) – Mamedov, Nidjat (2604)
While the strongest players had been trying to outperform each other in the FIDE Grand Prix, some of the most interesting games of this week were actually played in the “non-elite” tournaments. The following game might have been chosen as the Game of the Week, but the opening variation was dubious for Black: While the…
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Game of the Week VI: Dominguez Perez, Leinier (2752) – So, Wesley (2772)
Game of the Week is back after a brief break! Weeks 5, 6, and 7 will be posted over the next few days. Thank you for your patience. This week was rich with complex chess games. In particular, both the 1st stage of the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin and the Azerbaijan Championship in Nakhchivan…
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Game of the Week V: Nakamura, Hi (2736) – Esipenko, Andrey (2714)
Game of the Week is back after a brief break! Weeks 5, 6, and 7 will be posted over the next few days. Thank you for your patience. After two years of absence from classical chess, Hikaru Nakamura managed to make a perfect comeback, implementing rich ideas in his games and keeping his realization technique…
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Game of the Week IV: Van Foreest, Jorden (2702) – Giri, Anish (2772)
“You should first sacrifice and then calculate,” responded Tal instantly. One of my favorite stories happened in the analyzing room of the USSR championship in 1978 as described in the book Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov: Part I: “Ex-world champion Mikhail Tal leaned over Garik (Kasparov) and with unfeigned admiration in his voice commented on…
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Game of the Week III: Jumabayev, Rinat (2631) – Van Foreest, Lucas (2530)
The annual Tata Steel Chess Tournament always captivates the attention of the entire chess world. Every year, we witness great competition with dozens of brilliant games! Even though the tournament consists of two groups – the Masters and the Challengers – the Masters’ games usually overshadow the Challengers’. Therefore, from time to time, some brilliancies…