Chess for Beginners

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  • Chess Puzzle 09.24.2005

    Here’s a new feature we hope you like…

    Chess Puzzle 09.24.2005

    See answer

  • Chess Puzzle's by GM

    http://www.wtharvey.com/index.html

  • Looking for Tactical Combinations

    The following serve as signposts for possible tactical combinations:

    1) Weakened or undefended King.

    2) Undefended pieces.

    3) Trapped king.

    4) Pieces along the same rank, file or diagonal.

    5) Open ranks, files or diagonals.

    6) Weak back rank

    Read The Seeds of Tactical Destruction by Dan Heisman for a great article on finding and taking advantage of tactical opportunities.

    Remember that all tactics are based on undefended pieces, a weakened King, and / or a double attack. – Kotov

  • Game Collections from Books

    A great collection of games from books in PGN format.

  • The Smothered Mate

    A smothered mate occurs when a Knight gives checkmate because the opponent’s
    pieces block their own King’s escape.

    Smothered Mate

    This is the starting position for the Smothered Mate.

    Smothered Mate

    White is in double check from the White Queen and
    the White Knight.

    Smothered Mate

    The Queen sacrifices herself to force the Rook to
    g8 removing any possible escape routes for the Black King.

    Smothered Mate

    The White Knight returns to f7 to give Checkmate.

  • The Arabian Mate

    A corner based mate delivered by the Rook and the Knight working in tandem, the Arabian Mate is one of the earliest on record.

  • Anastasia's Mate

    Anastasia’s Mate consists of a Knight Rook mating pattern where the King is forced to the h7 square usually as a result of a Queen sacrifice. This is the first in a series of common checkmate patterns.

  • Recommended Chess Book Reading List by Ratings

    The following list of books has been compiled from a number of web resources.

    1200-1400

    1) Chess Tactics for Students by John Bain
    2) Logical Chess Move by Move by Irving Chernev
    3) Polgar’s 5334 Chess Problems by Polgar
    4) Winning Chess Tactics by Seirawan
    5) Pandolfini’s Endgame Course by Bruce Pandolfini
    6) Chess Fundamentals by Capablanca
    7) Lasker’s Manual of Chess by E. Lasker
    8) The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings by Ruben Fine

    1400-1600
    1) Modern Chess Strategy by Ludek Pachman
    2) Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev
    3) Combination Challenge by Lou Hays
    4) Marshall’s Best Games of Chess
    5) Best Lessons of a Chess Coach by Weeramantry & Eusebi
    6) 1001 Sacrifices and Combinations by Fred Reinfeld

    1600-1700

    1) The Amateur’s Mind by J. Silman
    2) Alekhine’s Best Games
    3) Attacking Technique by Colin Crouch
    4) Capablanca’s Best Chess Endings
    5) Chess Praxis by Nimozwitch

    1700-1800

    1) The Art of Attack by Victor Vukovic
    2) Chess Training Pocketbook by Lev Alburt
    3) My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer
    4) One Hundred Selected Games by Botnnivick
    5) Understanding Chess Move by Move by Nunn
    6) Chess Puzzle Book by John Nunn

    1800-2000

    1) How to Reassess your Chess by J. Silman
    2) Fire on Board by Shirov
    3)Fundamental Chess Endings by Mueller
    4) Improve your Chess Now By Johnathan Tillman
    5) Strategic Play: School of Chess Excellence 3
    6) The Road to Chess Improvement by Yermolinsky
    7) Modern Chess Opening Theory by Suetin
    8) Zurich 1953
    9) Grandmaster Secrets of the Endgame by Soltis
    10) My System by Nimzowitch
    11) Think Like a Grandmaster by Kotov

  • Chess Imbalances – The Silman Thinking Technique

    In How to Reassess your Chess Jeffery Silman describes how to create a plan in the middle game based on his set of chess imbalances. The list of imbalances includes:

    Chess Imbalances

    1) Superior minor piece
    2) pawn structure
    3) space
    4) material
    5) control of key file or square
    6) lead in development
    7) initiative

    Silman goes on to describe his ‘Thinking Technique‘ which is based on his concept of imbalances in chess. In a nutshell the thinking technique consists of:

    Silman Thinking Technique

    1) Determine your position based on positive or negative chess imbalances

    2) Determine the side of the board to play on

    3) Dream up fantasy positions

    4) Try to acheive fantasy position, if not dream up another one

    5) Look at candidate moves. candidate moves are all moves that lead to fantasy position.

    Related

  • Chess Course

    This Chess Course is broken down into 86 Lessons each lasting 60 minutes. Lessons should be taken a minimum of 2 times per week. The entire course lasts anywhere from 21-43 weeks.

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