In my quest for chess improvement, I have stumbled upon Markgravitygood’s excellent chess improvement blog. I recommend that you checkout his post on the generic training schedule, which is based on an article by chess trainer GM Irina Mikhailova on chessOk. Mark’s post is exactly what I was looking for when I wrote my post…
TEN OPENING RULES 1. Open with a center pawn. 2. Develop with threats. 3. Knights before Bishops. 4. Don’t move the same piece twice. 5. Make as few pawn moves as possible in the opening. 6. Don’t bring your Queen out too early. 7. Castle as soon as possible, preferably on the Kingside. 8. Always…
Chess Improvement for Beginners Time and cost can sometimes make it impossible for an enthusiastic student of chess to hire a chess coach. I have, through trial and error, began devising a training curriculum to be used by me and others. This plan is in no way meant to take the place of a competent…
Our newest annotated game contains Paul Morphy’s most famous combination.
Hone your tactical skills using the online Chess Tactics Server. It is a race against the clock when solving over 28,803 chess problems with various degrees of difficulty. Not only do you improve your tactical skills, but you also get rated for solving the puzzles.
The opposition is one of the most important things to learn in order to succeed in the endgame. The opposition allows you to make your King stronger than your opponents by simply controlling certain key squares on the board. The rule of the opposition is: whoever is to move when there is an odd number…
2500+ : Grandmaster (GM) 2400+ : International Master (IM) 2300+: FIDE Master (FM) 2200+: National Master (NM) 2000+: USCF Expert (E) or Candidate Master (CM) 1800-1999 Class A – Top amateur class 1600-1799 Class B – Above average tournament player 1400-1599 Class C – Average tournament player 1200-1399 Class D – Strong social player 1000-1199…
Guardian Chess Site Telegraph Chess Site Robert Byrne Chess Column (NY Times) 1997-2002 New York Times Chess Columns
Online Wiki Book on opening theory.
In a new Guardian Unlimited series titled ‘The Rookie‘, Grandmaster Nigel Short attempts to transform journalist Stephen Moss into a half-decent chess player. A new story will appear every Tuesday.