For a chess lover, one of the greatest topics of joy is chess studies. The incredible aesthetic satisfaction received after successfully solving them is parallel to none. Try to solve these, for example. They are not easy, but I guarantee ...
Life is returning to normal, and after the Online Olympiad 2021 the multi-national event is back in grand style with the players battling it out over the board. And it has hardly disappointed. Held in India, chess has seemingly taken over the ho...
Game 2 of WCC 2021 was an absolute rollercoaster. Some genius ideas and some really strange decisions. One of the most exciting games in recent times. I will not say much, since this analysis is long enough anyways. Enjoy! Analysis from @vinni...
To put it simply, World Championship is a different kind of fever. The match, unlike other top tournaments is somehow very interesting from move 1. It is probably because everyone realizes its the culmination of months and months of practice to co...
Imagine this; you have a huge disadvantage on the clock and are slowly running out of time. Your opponent is still blitzing deep into the endgame. Would you, at this point, aim to spend even more time trying to calculate the best moves or will you...
After more than a year, FIDE Candidates finally resumed. Chess gained massive popularity in this period, a significant amount of top players got actively involved in streaming, online tournaments got huge in number-- one player though, remained co...
Before the first rest day, there were glimpses of how AlphaZero has revolutionized the chess world- Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana in rounds 1 and 3 respectively showed some brilliant preparation based on sacrificing pawns for long term compensati...
Odd, isn't it? To be writing an article of praise on a particular person, at the time when he is on -1 after three rounds, in a tournament where he is considered one of the clear favourites? But sometimes, it's not your results that define you. ...
It's his first supertournament, but 16 year-old Alireza Firouzja is sensationally leading Tata Steel Masters by half a point. At this point, he can clearly be called one of the most promising youngsters in modern times. As if increasing a stagge...
You know that a lot has happened in an year when you find it tough to write a title for a new year blog. Impossible to summarize it in one sentence alone, so I instead just chose to label it as "2019", enough said. That's how the year has been, ...
Christmas is here, and for the die-hard chess lover, there is no better gift than a set of challenging, beautiful, and fun chess compositions! Here are three problems I have devised, all 'mate-in' studies, which may involve very creative and i...
"If you asked me who would NOT win then I'd be glad to give you a clear reply: Anand. Let's agree on the following: if Anand wins the tournament I'll publicly admit I understand nothing about life or chess, and you'll never ask me to take part in ...
"Some consider that when I play chess I'm excessively cautious. But it seems to me that the question may be a different one. I try to avoid chance. Those who rely on chance should play cards or roulette. Chess is something quite different. -T...
Such was the dominance of Mikhail Tal in the 1960's that if he sacrificed a piece for the initiative, the player sitting opposite to him would mentally collapse already. After all, if his play confounds engines till date, what can you expect from ...
Round 2 of the World Cup 2019 saw an Armageddon, an endgame with five knights, and Hikaru Nakamura going down in flames against Nisipeanu. This round featured very few upsets, but a couple of thrilling matches which went down to the wire. The to...
Visualization, Awareness, Imagination. Solving chess compositions enhance these three crucial aspects of your tactical ability. Studies train your eyes to unexpected moves, crazy ideas, and significantly improve your creativity. Welcome to ...
The Chess World Cup is one of its kind. The 128 player knockout event started on 10th September, and in the first round already, there were a number of higher rated players tumbling down against their supposedly inferior opponents. The best play...
With an excellent display of steel nerves, speed prowess and excellent defense Ding Liren beat Magnus Carlsen 2-0 in blitz en-route to winning the Sinquenfield Cup 2019 after the players tied for first in the classical portion. The latter made a...
Calculating like a beast, being very solid, keeping accuracy and precision on his fingertips, having an excellent endgame technique, being the only Chinese to ever play the Candidates, posing problems to the World Champion from time to time; Ding ...
Visualization, Awareness, Imagination. Solving chess compositions enhance these three crucial aspects of your tactical ability. Studies train your eyes to unexpected moves, crazy ideas, and significantly improve your creativity. Welcome bac...
Visualization, Awareness, Imagination. Solving chess compositions enhance these three crucial aspects of your tactical ability. Studies train your eyes to unexpected moves, crazy ideas, and significantly improve your creativity. Solving stu...
Chess is more than just a game. It's more than just sport, or science. It's an art. It's a battle of nerves. One can't possibly explain it, for chess sometimes defies logic and pulverizes all common sense into paralysis. Logic says king should b...
Is it a bird? Uh-huh. Is it a plane? No way! Who could it be? Check it out, it's The will of a Monarch! The safety of the king is considered paramount in chess, and we generally avoid bringing it to action until late endgame. But once in a whi...
Russia may not be the absolute powerhouse it was before, with countries like India and China taking over, but it still remains a big force to reckon with. Another world championship cycle has commenced, with the first leg of FIDE Grand Pri...
While generally Chess and Mathematics have a vast difference, sometimes they can be very similar. Some chess puzzles give us the striking impression of a pleasingly geometrical sequence. These puzzles are taken from an article written by the fam...
