I’ve been on a mission to find a chess study plan that will work for adults. The challenge is to figure out something that 1) actually works and 2) people will do. Combining these factors turns out to be harder than it seems, but I think Eli...
My new Chessable course on the Semi-Slav is coming out soon. Along with my course for White on the Reti, and my course for Black against 1. e4 with the Nimzowitsch Sicilian, it will complete a full repertoire for both colors. This time I deci...
This week I want to look at an example from outside of chess that could point the way towards a kind of tournament that’s much more enjoyable for players and much more sustainable for organizers. That event is D&D in a Castle. In their o...
My last few posts about OTB tournaments generated a lot of back-and-forth. This week I’ll respond to some of the most interesting comments. “I'm mid round at a 4 hour, 5 round rapid tournament right now. This is the way. Chess is ...
When I complained last week about the grueling nature of many chess tournaments, one reader asked, “Okay smart guy, how would you run a tournament then?” Alright, that’s not exactly how he put it, but that was the basic idea...
I advanced my pawn to the sixth rank. I expected him to move his king, and had calculated a sequence that ended with me promoting a pawn and winning his rook. I was a few moves away from winning my last game of the tournament and salvaging a decen...
A question I’ve received several times in the past few weeks is, “Should I play up a section?” For example, if you’re playing in an over-the-board tournament and your rating is 1700, should you play in the under 1800 sectio...
As I wrote last week, memorizing opening moves is easy, but there are no prizes for memorizing random moves. Using opening preparation effectively as part of an overall strategy for winning chess games requires a clear vision for how you’re ...
Nobody is more obsessed with ratings than chess players. Other sports have ratings, but in the final calculation of bragging rights they take a back seat to tournaments or championships. The rating is seen for what it is: a statistical measure tha...
