The Chess.com member yoavb2 said: “I read your ‘How to Reassess Your Chess 4th’ but fail in the opening, which makes me start with a disadvantage. How can I fix it?” ANSWER: I looked at several of your games (whil...
As I did in the first Test Your Understanding article, I implore you to read the notes to the puzzles: The prose and variations are what makes this new series worthwhile, so PLEASE try and solve the puzzle and then go back (whether you got it righ...
The Chess.com member JN wrote: I took up chess about a year ago when a friend introduced me to the game. Since then, he and I have taken to playing quite often; we typically play about four or five days a week, two or three games in a sitting. ...
During a road trip, GM Walter Browne once told me, “I would happily buy a huge steak dinner for my upcoming opponent since the blood would rush to his stomach, and his brain wouldn’t function properly.” He repeated this ma...
Chess.com member Squid22 wrote: “I played 5.Nb5 to be obnoxious. It wouldn’t be hard to make this knight move harmless (5...d6, and then I’ve just wasted a move). However, my opponent played 5...a6. That moves looks natura...
I get a lot of letters from Chess.com members, and though their ratings run the gamut, I do my best to address all ratings as best I can. Today I’ll turn my attention to two players below 1500 : Mr. Prashant1994 and Mr. Rrrtttyyyuuuiii. I&...
Errors. Sometimes we notice them (or think we notice them), and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we learn from our mistakes, and in many cases we are oblivious to them and, as a result, repeat these invisible horrors over and over. Most commo...
Should You Castle Early? Question: Chess.com member scmooney asked, “You stress castling early. In my experience I find that sometimes castling takes the king right into an ambush. In your lecture on attacking a castled king, Black’s...
Openings That Lead to a Draw Question: Chess.com member jos2001 wrote, “I’m a 1076-ranked player who wants to know the best openings to draw.” Answer: Though various openings are known to be drawish at the master level (and u...
I’ve gone out of my way to write articles about the importance of balance; everyone needs both tactical and positional/strategic skills (you also need endgame skills, but at the moment we will concentrate on tactics and strategy). To add a...
Some of my recent articles were about chess psychology and striving to have a balanced skillset. This article (all in puzzle form) lets you test what you’ve learned (or what you thought you already knew). The puzzles can be tactical, po...
During the romantic era of chess, MEN WERE MEN. They played gambits. They went for mate. They drank whisky while pondering their next attacking move. If someone made a material sacrifice (which loses if the opponent simply refuses the “...
In last week’s article, I pointed out that chess psychology plays an enormous part of one’s results. There are many facets of chess psychology: self-confidence (or the lack thereof), fear of threats (real or imagined), fear of losing...
I write quite a bit about chess psychology since it plays an enormous part of one’s results. Fear of a higher-rated player, trusting a player’s move instead of challenging it, falling victim to the ubiquitous (and deadly) “I ca...
When I was just turning 19, I would go with a friend to Berkeley and visit the Hare Krishna temple. Were we into them? No, not at all. But every evening they offered free (very tasty!) food, and when you are broke and starving, you are willing t...
I get countless questions that ask about taste in chess (No, don’t eat the pieces!). Taste, in this case, refers to a preference for positional or tactical situations. (However, if you MUST eat the pieces, please buy a chess cake or a ches...
After I learned how to play chess (age 12), I jumped into the game head first by playing in a chess tournament (even though I didn’t know the difference between checkmate and stalemate). Let’s just say that I was absolutely awful. Wi...
[Editor's note: Here are more selected chess stories from IM Silman.] CELEBRITIES GONE WILD 1988 and I just landed in Mazatlan, Mexico. Though the main course was the world 30-minute championships (packed with the best players in the world)...
In chess, ego is king. Thus one often hears a player who just lost saying, “I beat myself!” The old “I beat myself!” is often a way to convince yourself that you could have beaten your opponent if it wasn’t for this...
Many players feel that chess is all about threats or attack or finding a combination or some other form of brute force moves. And, of course, that is exactly what many positions need. However, in many other positions those things are exactly what ...
How to Improve Your Tactics Chess.com member shivendu2059xyz asked: I would like to discuss how to get better at tactics. Is solving tons of puzzles the only way to improve? Mr. shivendu2059xyz: There are many ways to study ...
I didn’t intend to write a 4th Cracked Grandmaster Tales article, but so many Chess.com members asked me to do another that I decided to share a few more (true) stories. I hope you enjoy these as much as you did the others. Be warned: there might ...
SPOTTING THE ELUSIVE TARGETS Chess.com member speedyg2 asked: “I have been reading your book How to Reassess Your Chess 4th Edition and I was wondering if move 23 for White (Rfe1) is following the imbalances. My imbalance breakdown was that Bla...
This is my third and final Cracked Grandmaster Tales article. Click the links if you haven’t seen Cracked Grandmaster Tales and More Cracked Grandmaster Tales. We’ll start with Najdorf again since some people felt that he wouldn’t resort to the g...
