Hello everyone, today I am very pleased to present to you the first ever opening survey on this site. Many other publications have done a fantastic job of bringing to you the main lines and ideas that present themselves in modern opening practice. Today we will be examining what has become known as the “Nikolayev Gambit” named (aptly so) after… Read more →
Tag: Chess
2014 Chesapeake Open
Before I begin my discussion on the Chesapeake Open it is with sadness that we note the passing of Vugar Gashimov who passed this weekend. Vugar was a very strong player who was known for his dynamic play especially in the Benoni (one of the few top players who regularly incorporated it into his repertoire). Here is a Benoni game… Read more →
10 Games from 2013
Hello everyone, continuing the format of the “Top 10 list” I present to you 10 games from 2013. I had trouble creating a title for this page because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say about these games: are these the best games from 2013? Are these the most memorable games from 2013? Tough questions, but I intend on… Read more →
The Most Important Opening Novelties From The Modern World Championships
Hello everyone, today I wish to present to you what I’ve been working on the last few weeks: The top 10 most important opening novelties from the Modern World Championships. I was inspired to create this after witnessing what I would perceive to be the death of the modern opening preparation perpetrated by Magnus Carlsen (who I firmly believe is… Read more →
Two Queens, Two Problems
As we all sit and enjoy the sweet sounds of Feist on World Cafe’s sense of place visit to Toronto (home of the greatest mayor in North America) I was shocked to see not one, but TWO queens on the board in the World Championship game. I got to thinking about these two queens, and remembered some fairly amusing examples… Read more →
A New Perspective on Zugzwang
So I’m sure many of you are wondering what exactly Zugzwang is. Today I’m going to dispel some mysteries surrounding Zugzwang and I will show you some classic (as well as) new examples that can only be found on this site. These examples have been meticulously chosen by me, and the final Zugzwang position is one that I’m sure has… Read more →
2013 World Cup Opening Survey
If you’re looking for a new opening you’ve come to the right place! I warned you all that this was coming, this will be a bit dryer than my usual chess posting. I intend to do some fairly in depth research on the openings that were played during the 2013 World Cup so we amateurs can get an idea as… Read more →
Top 5 Blunders from the 2013 World Cup
Now that we’ve all had some time to reflect and move on with our lives I decided to take a look back at some memorable blunders from the 2013 World Cup in Tromso, Norway. This all got started when I lost a game to an opponent where I was clearly better (+5 for you computers out there) and subsequently completely… Read more →
Recap of the 2013 UMBC Championship
I recently played in the 2013 University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Championship. The tournament was quite nice and there was some very strong players there. It was nice that at UMBC they require players who wish to be on their team to play in the open section. I’m of the opinion that UMBC is one of the few universities… Read more →
Recap of the 135th NYS Championship
I got back from the 135th NY State Championship on Tuesday. I finished with 2.5/6 going +1 =3 -2. Overall I was fairly lucky to escape with only two losses though I had good chances in my games. I didn’t really think I was playing that well, and initially I was soaking up tons of time in the opening which… Read more →