Tactics, Tactics and More Tactics My training for the past 2 months has consisted of doing tactics puzzles on Chess Tempo and working on my thought process. I spend an average of 30 mintues per day doing standard puzzles focusing on quality not quantity (yet). At the end of the week I create a problem set with…
Update: 10/17/2009 I modified the process based on conversations with FM Charles Galofre, I have merged the tactical and strategic scans into one. His point is that even if you find a strong tactical move, you should still look at the strategic aspects of the position since the game might be won with a quiet positional move which you…
I played in the U 1500 section of the Miami Open a few weeks ago, and it was not a good outing. I only won one of 5 games against a much lower rated opponent. While devastated, it has only made me work harder on my chess. The week following the Open, I immediately started…
White to move Highlight below for answer: 15.Rxf6 gxf6 16.Bh3+ Rd7 17.Bxd7+ Kxd7 18.Qg4+ Ke8 19.Nd5 Qd8 20.Qe6+ Kf8 21.Bh6#
It is very important that you have mastered exercises 1-7 before starting on this exercise. For exercises 1-7 visit the chess exercises page. Without looking at the board, tell all the squares controlled by: – a knight on c6 – a knight on f3 – a knight on b2 – a knight on c5 –…
(adapted by Herman Grooten) The following thought process which is recommended by Karpov and Mazukevich is used to detect the important features of an arbitrary position in order to devise a plan that conforms to the positional assessment derived by using this thought process. This thinking process is based on 7 criteria in which the…
It is very important that you have mastered exercises 1-6 before starting on this exercise. For exercises 1-6 visit the chess exercises page. Without looking at the board, tell all the squares controlled by: – a knight on c3 – a knight on e2 – a knight on f6 – a knight on d4
Permanent advantages 1. Material advantage 2. Bad king position 3. Passed pawns in the middlegame 4. Weak pawns for the opponent 5. Strong and weak squares 6. Pawn islands 7. Strong pawn center 8. Control of a diagonal 9. Control of a file 10. Bishop pair 11. Control of a rank Temporary advantages 12. Bad…
[Annotator: Bronstein, David] A weakness of the dark squares is also a weakness of the pieces and pawns on the light squares. Light-square weaknesses are also possible, resulting in a weakening of the enemy pieces on the dark squares. The point of an attack on the dark squares is that by placing my pawns and…
White to move 1. Material: White is up a pawn, that is about to Queen. But White cannot defend it. 2. King safety. White’s King is pinned to the light squared bishop. Black’s King is in no immediate danger. 3. Activity: Black’s rook is more active, and his bishop is not pinned like White’s. 4.…