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Here is position 1.2 from volume 2- Goals and Plans , good luck!

Position 6.1: Black to play, find a defense. Support your claims with details.

Solve for white: Diagram 7.3- doing positional observation we quickly see that white has much more space. In addition, the bishop on c8 is very bad. Challenge: which of the observations made are relevant based on the ways we can work with them? For example, a way to work with space advantage can be to avoid exchanges, a way to work with the opponent’s bad pieces can be to try and make them even worse.

Hello Students, Solve for white, only full solutions are accepted:

Black to play: Diagram 7.2- In this position black’s g7 bishop is bad (not immediately clear how to improve it), the f6 knight is restricted by the pin, and the e2 bishop is very passive. Notice that in this observation we identified two problems for black to solve, and a problem white has that black might be able to exploit.All the observations above are based on quality of pieces, and since we don’t have an advantage in quality of pieces the observations are very relevant. Also, the observations are relevant because we can use them as the basis for goals that will allow us to improve our position. Challenge: as a preview of what we will learn later (very soon!), we can say that by making this observation we have practically identified three goals: improve the g7 bishop, unpin the knight, and keep the opponent’s light square bishop passive. Can you suggest ideas (in the near future we will call them “plans”) to help us achieve the goals we found?

Solve the following position for white:

Black to play. Perform threats analysis, identify goals for both sides, and solve for black:

Provide an assessment of the following position, black to play:

Just joining the club and i believe i would like to contribute some content so here we go. Post your most creative mates. Here is one from my last game.

I've never had a mate quite like this before. The Bishop and Knight coordinated really well. I figured that my opponent would see this and not trade bishops. But it was a quick game and I had a much higher rating than my opponent https://www.chess.com/live/game/2418016343

Dear Friends and Students, Solve for white (complete solutions with conclusions only):

Hello Students, Diagram 6.7.1- white is under an inconvenient threat of Bxf3 ruining the kingside pawn structure. A possible tempting solution might be Ng5, with an attack on h7 while answering the threat. However, after the simple reply h6 the knight has no good squares to go and is forced to the h3 square, with limited options. This “attack” backfires against white because white wasn’t ready to attack on the kingside at all. Challenge: can you find a better answer to the Bxf3 threat?

Hi Everyone, Diagram 6.6.1- black has a choice- exchange bishops or move the bishop away, to avoid pawn structure damage upon Bxf5. After the exchange Bxc2, the position is roughly equal. But if black wants to play tricky, he can try Be6!? Attacking the a2 pawn. Notice that the simple a3 doesn’t work, due to Bb2; a4 also doesn’t work, due to Bc3 and the b4 pawn is defenseless. In this tactical variation, if we keep looking for forcing responses by white, we would find Be4! And now it’s going to be just an exchange, but one in which white gets the upper hand: …Bxa2, Bxc6 with a passed c pawn. Challenge- is there a better way for black to respond to Be4 than taking on a2?

Hi Everyone, Diagram 6.5.1- black can chase white’s knight with e5, but at the cost of creating a permanent backward pawn d6 on an open file (that stays weak even if d5 is played in the future). The price for displacing white’s knight here is too high, in the form of both a worse pawn structure and a blocked g7 bishop.Challenge: is there a better way to approach this position for black?

Hello friends and students, Diagram 6.4.1- white has a forcing move h5, chasing black’s knight away. But if we look closer, the knight on g6 isn’t doing anything useful, with no current role. Chasing it away it can go to e5, improving. Even if white exchanges it, this would benefit black, as white’s knight is currently better than his counterpart (having a role of attacking the weak pawn d4). Challenge: why bother with h5? Can white just capture d4 instead? Is it better?

Dear friends and students, Solve for white, perform threats analysis and address the ..b5 pressure move. If it's dangerous, suggest a way to deal with it in advance.

Hello friends, Position 6.3.1, solve for white:

Dear friends and students, Following repeating suggestions by members, I decided to post here the practice positions from volume 2- Goals and Plans (free download link), for us to solve together. I'm going to post them at the order in which they appear in the book.

Hello friends! Position 4.2 from The process of decision making in chess Volume 2, goals and plans. It's white's turn. Diagram 4.2- white has the g6 and e5 critical squares, while black has h2 and g2. White can create great attacking chances by increasing the number of his critical squares in black’s camp by playing Bb3, making f7 a new critical square and thus creating a double threat, after which black’s position is lost; he can’t defend against Qxg6 and defend the f7 pawn at the same time. Challenge: is there an immediate refutation of Bb3 …Rf6? Or is it only a positional advantage for white after Rxf6 in the form of black’s weak kingside pawn structure?

Challenge position 4.1 from the book, black's move: White has a critical square in black’s camp, e4, which creates a significant discomfort for black, having to commit two pieces to defend the critical square’s occupant. Therefore, as a defensive application of the critical squares theory, black should consider pushing e3! in an attempt to eliminate the critical square’s burden.Challenge: calculate the e3 line and reach a conclusion regarding its viability.