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When pawns are next to each other, they are able to defend each other, but what about when they are split? Interestingly, there is a way for disconnected pawns to protect each other sometimes: See if you can find the best move here from a blitz game I just played.

One of the things that I've struggled with during my whole chess career is finding something that is both theoretically sound and enjoyable to play against 1. d4, but without a ton of memorization. I think I have finally found an opening that checks all of the boxes. For this topic, I will be looking at the position below, and I'm not covering any other options that White has on move 2 such as Nf3, Bf4, Nc3, and e3 at this time. My recommendation for Black is to play 2. e6 as shown: In this position, White has basically 3 or 4 options, and they can often transpose, but whatever White chooses, our 3rd move will be the same: 3. a6!? Why is this a good move? Aren't we all taught as a beginner to follow the opening principles and try to control the center with our pawns, develop our minor pieces quickly and actively, and to get our king castled to safety as quickly as possible? Why would seemingly waste our time on a move like this? The answer to all of these questions is that a6 is a move that, while it looks slow, is actually quite clever and helps Black to develop his Light Square Bishop more actively than in other Queen's Gambit lines, where that Bishop is often blocked by it's pawn on e6 for a long time. The immediate threat created by a6 is simply to play dxc4 and then reinforce with b5. But by capturing on c4, we open up the long diagonal for our Bishop, which will be placed comfortably on b7, aiming at White's King which will most likely castle onto g1. The great thing about this line is that it can be played almost regardless of what White chooses to do, which cuts out a lot of opening theory that we would need to learn if we were to play other d4 defenses (like starting with 1. Nf6). I will now give some sample lines with each move that I showed above, and go a little more in depth. Please feel free to post any questions or comments below! When White plays 3. Nc3 Also note that we can use the same plan if 4. Bf4 because a6 stops any Nb5 threats! When White plays e3 When White plays Nf3 When White plays the Catalan Opening (lines with g3) As we can see, playing 3. a6 gives us a comfortable game regardless of what White plays. Of course, we still have to play good moves in the middlegame and endgame to win, but this opening helps us get off to a nice start. Here is one example game in the Catalan Opening that I just played. I was winning up until I made a mistake in the endgame and sadly lost the game. But this is still a great game that shows just how strong this line can be: Let me know in the comments what you all think and be sure to ask questions about anything explained here!

This will be a forum for cool traps and games in the London System. Since it seems like we have a few players on our team taking up this opening, I think it will be great to have this forum that we can all add to. First, here is the setup that White is usually going for. Be aware that we cannot just blindly play these moves! We need to watch what our opponent does and adapt. Here is a great trap that has actually occurred at the Master level! This has also happened in a few of my own games.

Hi everyone! In this forum we will discuss when it is and is not good to play pawn f3/f6. It's been a running joke on our team that f6 is always a terrible move and should never be played. Grandmaster Ben Finegold even says all the time: "Never play f6." While this tends to be true in most cases, there are times when it is good, and even necessary, to play this move. This is one thing that makes chess super interesting: For every "rule" we make for what types of moves should or shouldn't be played, there is an exception for every one of them (except for don't get mated). For example: Knights on the Rim are Dim. There are openings where Knights are developed to the side of the board (a3 or a6) and then rerouted to c2 or c4 (c7 or c5). Therefore, we should look at these types of rules more as general guidelines, and should always keep our options open. That being said, I will show a couple of ideas that illustrate why playing f6 or f3 has become a bad idea in many cases. Example 1: The Damiano Gambit- This one is very common at the beginner level. Black plays f6 on move 2 in an effort to protect his pawn on e5. Unfortunately for Black, White can punish this immediately. Example 2: The Thematic g6 Sacrifice (with either a Knight or Bishop)- When you put the Queen on the h-file and your opponent has already played f6, look for this idea with the g6 sacrifice to open up the rook. So now we see why people say not to play f6. Whenever the move is played, there are weaknesses on the light squares around Black's King. So when is it ok to play f6? Now we will look at an example Example: The French and Caro Kann Structures- Breaking in the Center- Anytime you get the following pawn structure, where White has pawns on d4 and e5, Black needs to try to break in the center with c5, f6, or sometimes both if he wants any chance at getting counter play. Of course, Black must always be sure to have enough defenders for the weak e6 pawn. The Tarrasch Variation of the French: So what have we learned? Playing f6 as a way of defending e5, or as a defensive move in general can result in trouble because of the weaknesses it leaves behind. Before playing f6, make sure that it doesn't result in any weaknesses that can be quickly exploited. However, when entering the middlegame, f6 can be considered to break in the center as long as it does not create any weaknesses that can easily be attacked. In short, f6 is often a bad move that can be punished if it is played defensively and without fully analyzing the threats White has; however, when used properly, it can be used to give Black good counter play.

This forum will be going over some of the various openings where White leaves the pawn on b2 hanging, and will answer the question in the title. Unfortunately, this is a very complicated question. The best answer I can give is this: Maybe, but in most cases No. A rule that I want you to follow, not just for this scenario, but also in general when accepting sacrifices is: If you are going to accept a sacrifice, you had better be sure you know what you are doing! Whenever your opponent offers you material, you need to understand that he/she probably has a reason for it. In the case of the b2 pawn, it is almost always taken by the Black Queen. White will then gain a lead in development and a potentially strong position by developing pieces actively while taking advantage of the awkwardly placed Queen. However, with accurate play, Black can sometimes get him/herself out of trouble and just be a pawn up. I will show you a couple examples that will help illustrate what can happen when Black accepts the b2 pawn sacrifice. Example 1: Sicilian Najdorf- Poisoned Pawn Variation- This is a very well known, famous opening where White intentionally offers up the b2 pawn. This particular game was played 06/05/2019 between Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier Lagrave. Just notice how quickly White was able to develop compared to Black, and how White was able to use that development to gain a pawn and create pressure for Black. Example 2: London System- Any opening where White's dark square bishop moves out early in the game can result in the b2 pawn being vulnerable. While studying London, Eric Rosen wanted to see how Stockfish, one of the strongest chess engines, would handle the opening after sacrificing the b2 pawn. Rosen took the Black pieces to see what kind of resources the computer could come up with for White- Stockfish absolutely destroyed him, and he learned a great way to handle this variation that seemed good for black initially. As we can see, it is often very bad for Black to take the pawn on b2 because White gets a very big lead in development and strong initiative. However, here is one case where Black can take. You will notice as well that when the Knight is undeveloped, sometimes you can get away with taking. Another London Example Remember to always be careful and check everything before accepting "free" pawns or pieces. If you don't calculate everything, you can get yourself into a lot of trouble!

Hi everyone, I was going through some of the lessons on this website and found a course that I think will be very helpful to you. Here is the link: https://www.chess.com/lessons/reading-the-board It is called "Reading the Board" and it goes through lots of concepts that are important to start understanding if you want to get better at chess. Hope you enjoy it! As I continue to look through them, I will put more links in the comments below for other courses that I think will be useful. Feel free to add your own links to helpful lessons, videos, and articles! These can be for any skill level, just make sure to indicate that in your post.

This lesson will be a bit different from my previous posts. I show only one example game at the end. This lesson will focus on the basics of making moves in chess and how to decide what the best move is. Regardless of which stage of the game you are in (Opening, Middlegame, Endgame), here is a mental checklist you should use for every move: 1) Analyze your opponent's last move 2) Come up with a list of Candidate Moves, then analyze them 3) Pick the best Candidate Move 4) Check your decision again! 5) Make your move Let's go into detail on each stage. 1) Analyze your opponent's last move It is very easy to be focused only on what your plan is and what you are trying to accomplish. It is important to remember that your opponent has his/her own plan! After your opponent moves, you need to look at what they are trying to accomplish. Does their last move pose a threat that needs to be addressed? What are they planning? Try to answer these questions. If the answer is "no" to the first question there is a good chance you can continue with your own plans; if you answer "yes" then you have to solve the problem before you can continue with your own plan! In addition, if they aren't immediately threatening you, can you see what they are planning? These are important things to identify while playing chess. 2) Come up with a list of Candidate Moves and Analyze them After you have figured out what your opponent is doing, you need to figure out your own move. This step is almost never the same each time; sometimes there is only one move that makes sense. Other times, you will have multiple options to consider. You have to analyze each option to determine how to continue your plan or stop your opponent's plan in the most effective way. Try to look ahead 3-5 moves in each line, considering how your opponent might respond to you. Keep an open mind and don't be afraid to look at creative moves! Look for tactics! 3) Pick the best move Once you have finished analyzing your candidate moves, choose the one that you liked best. 4) The most important step! Check the move you are going to play one more time! Make sure you didn't miss anything while calculating. Examine the whole board and make sure none of your pieces are in danger. Far too often, I see beginners leaving their pieces undefended. These are mistakes that are very easy to prevent by double checking before you make your move! 5) Make your Move Now that you have determined what your opponent is up to, decided which move and plan is best, and double checked your decision, you are finally ready to make your move and you can proceed with confidence! Following these 5 steps is going to help you improve your game instantly! These will help eliminate easy, silly mistakes. Even I have made the mistake of not following step 4, and I paid for it dearly: Here is my round 3 game of the Illinois Open in 2015. Had I followed step 4, I'm sure I would have noticed his Knight on b8 and not played my terrible move! Obviously, this is a bit of an extreme example, but this actually happened to me and I see things like this happen to beginners all the time. Moral of the story: Always double check! Good luck in your games, and feel free to post any questions or comments below!

This lesson will focus on the London System specifically, and I will also briefly mention the Colle System, which has the same pawn structure, and the Torre Attack which is an interesting alternative; however, these ideas can be applied to many openings. We will discuss ideas such as: * Pawn Breaks- Using a pawn to try to gain space and/or weaken your opponent's structure. * Optimizing your Pieces- Developing your pieces to active squares is a key part of the opening. In the middlegame, you get them to squares that are even more active and help you achieve your goals. Before we begin, let's quickly review the setup that White is going for in each: The Colle System Note: There is a variation called the Zukertort Colle where White will play b3 instead of c3 to Fianchetto his Dark Square Bishop on the Queenside. I have not included this in this lesson as the structure is slightly different. The London System The pawn structure is identical to the Colle system, but on move 2 or 3, White puts his bishop on f4 before playing e3 and blocking the bishop in. The Torre Attack Almost identical to the London, but White developed his bishop to g5 instead of f4. In this case, it is important that you develop the Knight to f3 on move 2 and then the Bishop on move 3. In the London, this does not matter. Moving the Bishop to g5 on move 2 is actually a different opening called the Trompowsky. For an example of this, please see my round 2 game of the Midwest Holiday Class, where I played against it and won, posted about a month ago. 1. The thematic e4 Pawn Break: This is an idea in all three openings. Here is the pawn structure that white goes for in the opening: White will start the game with d4. Since Black most commonly starts with either d5 or Nf6, White cannot play the move e4 in the beginning of the game and have both pawns in the center. Rather, White must prepare e4 and try to break in the center with the move in the middlegame. Here is an example game played by Magnus Carlsen, who is the current world champion, using the London System: The well timed break in the center with e4 gave Carlsen the initiative, which he never let go of. Also note how Carlsen found a more active option after Black played f5. Rather than retreating, Carlsen traded the Queens then made his own threat which was worse than the threat that his opponent made. Sometimes in Chess, sadly, you do have to retreat and give up the initiative. However, before you do that, be sure to consider other options; sometimes you can find a counterattack that will keep your attack going! The same pawn break is typically used in the Colle System: White initially developed his Queenside Knight to d2, but after the e4 pawn break, the Knight got to the center of the board. By doing this, White was able to optimize his piece! 2. Placing the Knight on e5 Sometimes breaking with e4 isn't the best option. With accurate play, Black can prepare his own pawn break before you can. Black is planning to push his pawn to e5. Before he does that, you can often put your Knight there and block it! Here is a missed tactic from a game from Grandmaster Gata Kamsky, who is an expert in the London System. He still went on to win this game, but he missed an amazing tactical shot early in the game. Bringing the Knight to e5 gives White a lot of attacking potential while completely stopping Black's plans of breaking in the center himself with e5. In both the Torre Attack and the Colle System, both of these ideas: Pawn to e4 and Knight to e5 are very common for White and are things that you should be looking to play when you use these openings. I strongly encourage you to look at games from the databases on Chess.com or Lichess to learn more about these ideas and how to play these openings effectively when it comes to middlegame ideas.

As I'm sure we all remember, one of the main principles of the Opening is to control the center of the board using our pawns. Reaching a position where we have more space in the center than our opponents gives us more opportunities to attack! However, what do we do when the center becomes blocked, and we cannot play in the center anymore? The answer: We have to find a way to play on the sides! In the types of positions we are looking at in this lesson, both players need to find a way to make progress on one of the sides of the board, either the Kingside or the Queenside. The vast majority of the time, this will involve a Pawn Break, where you push a pawn forward to gain space. Most of the time you will do this with your f-pawn or your b-pawn. Sometimes it is obvious which side of the board you should play on. There are often situations in chess where you have a Space Advantage on one side of the board. You want to be playing on the side of the board where you have the most space, the most room to maneuver your pieces to active squares to put pressure on your opponent. An easy way to determine which side you have the Space Advantage on is to look at which direction your pawns are pointing. Example 1: The King's Indian Defense Obviously, White will not always allow the attack to come so easily, but this is just an example of how powerful this plan can be if your opponent doesn't play properly. I want you to really take note of the plan that Black used above. He moved his Knight backwards, which seemed odd at first. But he did it so that he could push his f-pawn forward, gaining more space on the Kingside! Then the Knight returned to it's original square where it is now behind the pawn. This is a plan that you can always look for when the center gets blocked. It will not always be effective, but it is always an idea that you can keep in your back pocket. Example 2: Benoni Defense Sometimes, it's not obvious which side you should play on, as both are options: Example 3: A different type of Benoni setup, the Old Benoni And now I want to do an analysis from 2 of the games from last week against EGHS. Both of these games were interesting, as they actually reached a blocked center position from openings where that typically doesn't happen. Example 4: Minh vs. EGHS There were 2 occasions during the game where White could have used a move to break in the Center from the side. I showed the later line involving f4. Here is the earlier one, and one way the game could have gone with this plan: White could have gained space on the queenside by opening it up in his favor, and probably would have gone on to win in the position above. Remember, when the Center becomes blocked, look for ways to expand on the side! Please feel free to leave any questions or comments below!

This topic is going to address a topic that is very difficult to describe to somebody using words. There are two questions that we will be answering in this topic: 1. When should I stop and really think? 2. When I do stop, what should my thought process be? And these are not very easy questions to answer since a lot of it depends on your prior knowledge. If you have played an opening many times and are very familiar with it, you might not need to stop and think much early in the game, for example. However, somebody who is unfamiliar with the opening may have to stop and think a lot in order to find the best moves. You might enter a middlegame with a plan in mind, but then your opponent does something to throw you off. Maybe you have to adapt your plan. The simple answer to the first question is this: 1. You have several moves that look like they might be good, so you need to stop and consider your best option. This deals with the topic of Candidate Moves. When playing chess, you will often need to develop a mental list of Candidate Moves, moves that you think might be good to play in a position. Then, you must consider each option to see which one is best. 2. Your opponent plays a move that...... a) is not normal for the position on the board b) looks like it could be dangerous at a first glance c) combination of a and b The only reason I didn't put a and b together is that sometimes your opponent really has no clue what they are doing, and maybe they play a move that you are sure is not good. Just because they play a move that is not the best, this does not mean that you should rush through it. Remember that there is a reason that the move they played is not the best. See if you can figure out why! A lot of times, however, your opponent will play a move that is not the mainline of whatever opening you are playing, and the move is a sideline that could involve a trap. If you are not careful, you could fall right into it! Here is a quick example of an opening trap involving a strange move from white: White's threat in that position would have actually been very easy to stop with a move like e6, and then White would have been left with the Queen just looking silly sitting on e2 blocking in White's Bishop. Here is a great example of a game I just played where I had to stop and think on move 4! I've been playing chess seriously for over 10 years, and my opponent played something that confused me super early in the game! My opponent played a move that made me unsure of the best way to continue. I'm still not entirely sure that I chose the best option in the position, but I will go through the various lines and explain my thought process. Hopefully this will help to answer both questions asked at the beginning: when and how to think. As I already said, I was expecting him to play cxd4, trading his flank pawn for my center pawn. This move threw me off a bit. Here is my thought process after he played this move: 1) That is not the move I was expecting 2) At a first glance, this move does look dangerous. He is threatening to take my pawn on b2, and since my Knight is still sitting on b1, I have no way to counterattack quickly. He will be able to escape and be up a pawn and I have no compensation. In addition, Qb6 supports his pawn on c5 and his attack on the d4 square, which is a secondary threat. 3) I cannot just play a move here and hope for the best. Since this move surprised me and it looks a bit scary, I need to consider my options. I need to come up with a list of Candidate Moves and decide the best way to continue. Before looking at the lines below, as an exercise, I want you to develop a list of Candidate Moves on your own. You should come up with 5 moves. Technically 6, but the 6th option is one I did not even consider and is more of a "computer line." Additionally, I really want you to think about this: how do you defend a piece? There are 2 ways: 1. Defend the piece directly by moving it out of harms way or moving another piece to protect it. 2. Defend the piece indirectly with tactics. This would mean that taking the "free" piece would result in issues for your opponent, often losing large amounts of material. Here is a quick analysis of each option: a) Pawn to b3 b) Queen to c1 c) dxc5 d) Nd2 e) Nc3: This is the one I went with in the game I correctly assumed that my opponent would see the potential dangers with capturing the b2 pawn, and assumed that he would not want a draw so early. As we will see, he ends up not taking the pawn. f) Ne2: A computer line To further illustrate what I mean by the 2nd way of defending, I will show the rest of the game. Pay attention to how I protect my pawns indirectly with tactics early in the game until I need to defend the directly. Hopefully, this game showed you the various ways to evaluate positions. Sometimes the best way to defend is to find a tactical way to protect your pieces and pawns. And of course, always stop and think when your opponent plays something that throws you off! I will show one more quick example, also using the London System. First, here is the setup that White normally goes for when playing the London System: Take note that White's Queenside Knight normally goes to the d2 square. As you can see, it is often easy to stop such threats that can come from the opening. It is also often easy to stop threats at other stages in the game as well. It is very important that when your opponent plays a move that you aren't expecting or seems strange or dangerous that you stop for a few minutes and really try to figure out your opponent's threats and find the most accurate continuation. A big part of winning games is taking your time! Please feel free to leave any questions or comments below! Thanks for reading! Jon

Was playing Bullet games on Lichess, and I actually got a very interesting endgame position that I think will be great for you guys to study. White wins, and I want you to figure out how. Black just played the mistake: Pawn to f5 Notice how the King cannot move away from the e5 square. The moment he does this, the game is lost. But we were able to force it!

Hello! This lesson is going to talk about Knights and Bishops with regards to opening and middlegame strategy. In previous lessons, we talked about developing actively and controlling the center, but making your pieces active, effective, and coordinated is so much more than that! Using some examples, I will explain how Knights and Bishops should be used in a chess game, and things to look for when you are playing. 1. Knights: Knights are best on squares called Outposts. An outpost is a square where a piece (any piece, not just knights), can sit safely and not be kicked away by an attack from a pawn. Outposts are usually in the center of the board, and they help to make the opponent's development more challenging. Let's look at an example of how Knights can be powerful pieces when used correctly using an instructive game. Be sure to read the comments in the game, and be sure to look at the alternate lines that I put in (try not to look at the alternate lines until you have found them on your own!). For an additional exercise, pay attention to the opening moves for both White and Black and figure out how each move follows the Opening Principles talked about in a previous lesson. This is obviously secondary in this lesson, but still good to do. This game was played in 1956. Kingscrusher made a YouTube video featuring this game back in 2008, which I used for this lesson. Here is the link if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNdGTi_3rLY Notice how without the Knight being on such a strong outpost, so many of white's threats would not have been possible! A centralized Knight on an outpost can be a big advantage. Try to watch for outposts in your own games. 2. Bishops: Bishops belong on open diagonals where they have lines to attack! In many openings you will have a Good and Bad Bishop. I will go over what this means with an example. This example features an opening called the Colle System, specifically the Zukertort Variation. This example is by no means meant to say that this opening is bad! In fact, it has a very solid reputation! Looking at the position above, as it stands right now which bishop would you say is White's "Good" Bishop and which one is his "Bad" Bishop? Hopefully you concluded that White's Light Square Bishop is his Good Bishop and the Dark Square Bishop is his Bad Bishop. A Bad bishop is a bishop that is currently blocked by its own pawns. This, of course, does not mean that the Bishop will stay bad forever. If White manages to find a way to open the a1-h8 diagonal, the Bishop on b2 will be very strong, aimed directly at Black's King. Here is one more example. Identify which of Black's Bishops is Good, and which one is Bad: Hopefully you concluded that Black's Good Bishop at the moment is his Dark Square Bishop, which is aimed at White's castled King. His Light Square Bishop cannot help at the moment. I can assure you, however, that it will become useful later in the game! To illustrate how powerful bishops can be on open diagonals, here is a very fun and interesting tactic you can look for in your games called the "Greek Gift Sacrifice." This is a tactic you can play using a Bishop Sacrifice that will win the game when played correctly. However, there are things you must check before playing it, which I will not get into in depth here. I strongly encourage you to watch this YouTube video later done by "Hanging Pawns." This video will go in depth into this tactical idea and show you when it should be played: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo_brhZfj1k This is just one example of how this sacrifice can go. The attack that white gets can be very fun to play. As you can see, once the opening is over and you have put your pieces on active squares, it is important to find plans for those pieces. Try to maneuver your Knights to strong outpost squares, and to maneuver your bishops to strong diagonals, or to open up the diagonals that your bishops are placed on. Doing these things will give you good attacking chances, and open up many tactical possibilities!

In this forum, I would like to show an endgame study from a recent game I played. The game itself wasn't great, (for myself or my opponent) so I will not be showing it. The themes of this lesson are: 1. Opposition: When the Kings are in a position where there is only one square between them, and they cannot move forward, but must rather go around each other. The player who moves into this position is said to "have" or "take" the opposition. Note that opposition occurs not only when the kings are directly in front of each other, but diagonally as well. Here is an example of opposition and how it can be used, not related to the example game I am about to show. 2. Triangulation: A method of reaching the same position where it is the other player's turn to move. This is usually done to switch who takes the opposition by maneuvering the kings in a triangular movement. This will be shown in the first example. Down, left, and diagonal up right OR diagonal down left, right, and up are 2 examples of this maneuver. 3. Passed Pawns: A pawn that cannot be prevented from moving forward by the opponent's pawns, but must rather be captured or blocked by a piece. Here is one famous example of winning by creating a passed pawn: 4. Promotion: A pawn reaches the other side of the board and promotes to a Queen 5. Underpromotion: A pawn reaches the other side of the board and promotes to a Rook, Knight, or Bishop (this is illustrated in one line in the 2nd example) Setup the position below, either in a Chess.com or Lichess Analysis Board or on a real chess board if you prefer that. Be sure to turn off Engine Analysis. If you would like you can go through it later with the engine. It is White's turn to move. If you haven't already, please enable the ability to draw arrows and highlight squares. Identify all possible legal moves that white can play (not looking for the best moves yet, just all the moves) and draw arrows for each move. Did you find all 5? Now that we have identified each of White's possible moves, let's start to evaluate them, starting with all 3 King moves. I have included most possible lines in the following example, but it may be helpful to go over them yourself with your analysis board as well. Example 1: As you can see, white could achieve a draw with any of the three king moves. However, White had to play very accurately to achieve the draw; one little mistake was all it took for black to get the upper hand. Next, we will analyze the move Pawn to a4. Same as the last example, I have included most lines, but you may find it helpful to review them yourself in your analysis board. Example 2: Playing this move also resulted in a draw with accurate play. Of course, both sides must be careful or the result could be devastating. Lastly, let's take a look at Pawn to b4, which is the move my opponent chose. Example 3: And again, both sides had to be careful and play accurately, but b4 was also a draw with correct play. I hope you found this study useful in helping you to better understand King and Pawn Endgames and how important concepts such as Opposition, Triangulation, Passed Pawns, Promotion, and Underpromotion can be.

Hi everyone! The following lessons will show many of the different tactics and positional ideas that can arise in the middlegame. In the previous lesson we learned the opening principles and how to get our pieces to strong, active squares. Now we will see what kind of opportunities arise because we follow the opening principles! There are many different positional ideas that can lead to tactics (sequences of moves that give us an advantage), and by creating tactical threats, we will be able to put pressure on our opponents and win some games! Let's start with our first tactical ideas: the pin, and the reverse idea, the skewer. A piece is considered "pinned" when moving it would result in a more important piece being attacked (e.g. a King or Queen) In the diagram above, both of Black's knights are pinned. The Knight on c6 is pinned to the King. It cannot move because the King would be in check, which would be an illegal move. Technically the Knight on f6 can legally move; however, it would be a terrible idea because White would capture the Queen! A common beginner mistake involving a pin: As you can see, the pin can be a very dangerous idea! For this reason, be very careful when you put your king and queen on the same file or row. A Skewer occurs when you attack a piece, forcing it to move out of the way so that you can take the piece behind it. Try this fun puzzle (Hint: You might need to use more than one type of tactic!): White used both the pin and the skewer to win the black queen! Always be on the lookout for pins and skewers in your own games (watch for ones that your opponent can do to you too!). They can be very useful tools to gain a big advantage! Let's move onto our next tactical idea: The Fork. A fork occurs when you use one piece to attack 2 or more of your opponent's pieces. Here are some examples of Forks: Try this puzzle: Forks are a great way to win material. Always be watching for ways to fork your opponents pieces, and of course be aware of your opponent trying to fork you! Our next topic: Discovered Check and the Windmill Discovered Check occurs when you move a piece out of the way of another piece in order to put your opponent's king in check. This is a very fun concept that can help you win a lot of material! Here is a very common opening trap featuring a discovered check (I got to use this at the IHSA State Tournament my Senior year at board 1): Using the concept of Discovered Check, we can occasionally play a really fun tactic that can win a ton of material called a Windmill: Try out this puzzle, and see how many of Black's pieces you can win using this concept: Ok, so obviously that was an extreme case. Most Windmills won't win quite that much material, but this really illustrates just how powerful this tactic with Discovered Check can be! And our last concept for this lesson: Double Check Double Check is exactly what it sounds like: putting your opponent in check with 2 pieces at the same time. Anytime this occurs, the King must move. There is no possible situation where a double check can be blocked. A double check will almost always occur in the form of a Discovered Check where the piece that moves out of the way also puts the King in Check! Check out this amazing double check that is actually checkmate! Always be looking for tactics in your games. Sometimes you might see a tactical idea that does not quite work for some reason. See if you have a way to make it work! Even if you can't, just having the threat of a tactic can be very helpful in restricting your opponent's options and putting him on defense. Making threats is a very important concept in chess, and being aware of these basic tactics is a great way to identify potential threats that you can make or that your opponent can make.

Opening Strategy At the beginning of the game, there are 3 main concepts to focus on. I am also adding a 4th one that is less important, but still good to think about. 1) Control the Center with your Pawns: Having your pawns occupy the center of the board will give you more space to attack and restrict your opponent's options. 2) Develop your Minor Pieces (Knights and Bishops) Quickly: Get your knights and bishops out early in the game, and put them on squares where they help you to control the center of the board. There are various ways to do this. Unless you see a good reason to, try to avoid doing these things: a) Moving the same minor piece multiple times in the opening (usually the first 10 moves or so) b) Getting your queen out early (I will illustrate why this is bad with an example) c) Keep knights off of the side of the board (A knight on the rim is ugly and dim!) 3) Get your King to Safety (Usually by Castling): Castling gets your king out of the center of the board where the battle is happening, puts it behind a wall of pawns, and also helps you to get your rooks active! 4) Pawn Structure: Try to have pawns protecting each other, and do your best to avoid pawns becoming doubled or stacked in front of each other where they cannot protect each other. Exercise 1: Don't just click through this. Look at each move and identify how it aligns with the general principles of the opening. Think about why these are considered good moves Exercise 2: See if you can punish white's bad choice to get his queen out early! As you can see, white's choice to get his queen out early resulted in the queen being a target for the black pieces. Exercise 3: If your opponent gives you the center, take it! There are several defenses where black allows white to take control of the entire center early on by not staking his/her own claim on the center of the board right away. This does not, by any means, mean that these defenses/openings are bad for black. In fact, these are very well respected openings used even at the top level. However, the best way to play against them is to follow the opening principles and take the center! Of course, it's important to always be aware of what your opponent is doing, watch for tactics that you can play or that your opponent can play against you, and not just blindly follow a plan. This is a mistake many beginners make. They get too focused on what they are doing and don't realize that their opponent is making their own threats! This is why you should take your time in the opening. Make sure every move you make actually has a purpose; you should be able to verbally explain why you play each move with regards to the Opening Principles. Remember, as Mr. Mott always says: "You probably won't win the game out of the opening, but you can definitely lose it!"

Taken from some games that I, and some of the RMHS players have played, here are some ideas to think about when playing the middle game and end game. This will show some ideas to think about before making your moves, and hopefully give insights into how to think further into the game, even at the beginning. Ideas such as pawn structure, outposts, and piece placement are very important and this post will help know how to better use these in your games. Game 1: Raymond vs. Schaumburg: Outposts and Weak Squares Although Raymond's opponent was unable to effectively use the weak d4 square, the game illustrates the concept of what a weak square is and how a player could potentially take advantage of it. It is important to look for weak squares in your position and your opponent's position, as a player could easily take advantage of such a weakness. Game 2: David vs. Schaumburg, Board 6: The Initiative vs. Material Advantage, Fried Liver Attack Notice that even though David was down an whole rook, it did not matter. The lesson to learn from this game and games like it is that it's not about what's been taken off the board, but rather what remains on the board. David's huge lead in development allowed him to gain the initiative and attack before his opponent was prepared to defend. Black's material advantage meant nothing in comparison to white's initiative. Game 3: Jon vs. Fremd, Board 1: The Power of Passed Pawns; Identifying Weaknesses and Exploiting Them Even though rooks are typically stronger than knights, because of the pawn structures and his pawn weaknesses, I was able to remove the piece (the knight) that was stopping me from using my superior pawns. With the connected passed pawns on the c and d files, I had an easy win. Game 4: Jon vs. Profff: King vs. Pawn + King Endgame, Positional Advantage vs. Material Advantage, Space Advantage, Weak Squares Despite being able to win two pawns in the middle game, it would have actually been much stronger to not trade and just keep the pressure on black. I should not have been in a hurry to attack because black's position was too cramped for him to do anything. The endgame illustrates how to promote a pawn when it's just the kings and one pawn left. Opposition is the key. You want to make sure to keep the opposition, otherwise the game will end in a draw. Having your king in front of your pawn usually results in a win, and it is important to note that in the scenario with the King on the 6th and Pawn on the 5th, that the game is only winning if it is black to move, meaning white has the opposition. Where to Attack? These two scenarios illustrate what factors into where you should be playing on the board, or where you should be attacking. Scenario 1: French Defense Scenario 2: King's Indian Defense

I'm playing in the 1800-2099 section of the 2022 Midwest Class this weekend. Last night I played my first round against the highest rated player in my section. I put up an incredible fight, even sacrificing a queen! In the end I did lose the game. Hope you all enjoy watching this. Please leave any questions, comments, or analysis below! A very fun start. Hopefully I'll have better results in the rounds to come.

The final round of the tournament. Sadly I got a winning endgame and then messed it up, settling for a draw, though at one point, even up two pawns she should have beaten me! Please leave any questions, comments, or analysis below! So I escaped with a lucky draw after being in a completely winning game before I stupidly traded off the Queens. Oh well, that's how chess works sometimes. At the end of the tournament, I finished with 2.5/5, and Becca got 2/5. There was actually a 5-way tie for 2nd place in the doubles with 4.5 points, so we each won $50. Can't really complain about that lol. I'll try to do better in my next tournament.

in round 4, for the 3rd time this year, I got paired against the guy who will be playing board 1 for New Trier this year. So far I have one loss and one draw, and now it's two losses This was an incredible game for him though. Enjoy watching me get absolutely demolished..... Congrats to him, that was an incredible victory and some great tactical play.