Half Nelson
Endings with rooks against passed pawns are often exciting and difficult to get right. I chanced upon this game from the first round of the Major Open in Leicester, between…
“What Say You?” The 1 Minute Challenge (70)
“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer”Bruce Lee A quick reminder how it works: Have a look at…
Need sure points? Modern Exchange Grünfeld, 8.Bb5+ Variation Edition
“If you want to play for a draw, don’t leave anything to chance. Just force either a completely drawn ending or a perpetual.”Magnus Carlsen This variation has made a comeback…
Leicester Folly
As I write this article, the British Championships are taking place at my Alma Mater: De Montfort University, Leicester. It was the City of Leicester Polytechnic when I was there,…
Bad Ideas (9)
“Errare humanum est…”Seneca Last week we went over a bad sequence for White in one of our friendly voting games. You can read it again here. We stopped at our king…
Bad Ideas (8)
“Errare humanum est…”Seneca Below is an interesting position we reached as Black in one of our recently finished voting chess games. There is a lot to like about it. The…
Another Ending Another Low
Another online club tournament, and, inevitably, another pawn ending. I was White against a slightly lower rated opponent, who, like me, was eager to trade everything off very quickly. We…
Need sure points? Grünfeld Defence, 4.Bf4 Variation Edition
“If you want to play for a draw, don’t leave anything to chance. Just force either a completely drawn ending or a perpetual.”Magnus Carlsen This variation allows for a deviation…
Imprisonment
I’d say round about a quarter of the games I play in our club’s weekly online tournament are decided in the ending. Which is why I keep on banging on…
Opening Blunders (2)
“In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.”Yogi Berra These days playing online requires at minimum basic knowledge of your opening choice. First of…