Blog entries

Mednis Principles (1)

Submitted by eugen on
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2017-01-31
I have reposted it here for reference.

"With major pieces (queen or rook) on the board, having bishops on opposite colors favors the side with an attack."
Edmar Mednis

Not long ago I mentioned Mednis and his principles while annotating a voting game. You can review that article here
https://64funsolutions.ca/how-we-almost-drew-it-0

Volga-Benko Gambit Line Busted (2)

Submitted by eugen on
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2017-01-24
I have reposted it here for reference.

Bob Taylor, one of my friends from Eastern Canada, has given me some very interesting insight after reading my previous article Volga-Benko Gambit Line Busted (1). He was enthusiastic about my call to help improve black's play for a better outcome. In this article we offer together a few ideas to get things rolling for those willing to take on this task more seriously.

Idea #1

Tactics Sample

Submitted by eugen on
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2017-01-17
I have reposted it here for reference.

“Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation”
Max Euwe

This is an interesting puzzle because it requires astute observation to bring black the full point. It is easy to see the available 1... Qh1+ 2.Kg3 Qg2+ 3.Kh4 ... How do you follow it up though? Please give it a try before reading on.

Volga-Benko Gambit Line Busted (1)

Submitted by eugen on
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2017-01-10
I have reposted it here for reference.

Wikipedia mentions about this opening:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benko_Gambit
"... Many of the world's strongest players have used it at one time or another, including former World Champions Viswanathan Anand, Garry Kasparov, Veselin Topalov and Mikhail Tal, and Grandmasters Vassily Ivanchuk, Michael Adams, Alexei Shirov, Boris Gelfand, and Evgeny Bareev."

Endgame Play (1)

Submitted by eugen on
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2017-01-03
I have reposted it here for reference.

"To improve at chess you should in the first instance study the endgame."
Jose Raul Capablanca
"In the ending the King is a powerful piece for assisting his own pawns, or stopping the adverse pawns."
Wilhelm Steinitz

Deja Vu (2)

Submitted by eugen on
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2016-12-13
I have reposted it here for reference.

"Neo: Whoa. Déjà vu.
Trinity: What did you just say?
Neo: Nothing. Just had a little déjà vu."

The Matrix, 1999

Totally independent from my intention Nigel wrote a 'Deja Vu" article a few days ago. NOTE: the article is not available online anymore.