I kept staring at my task list, as I was desperate to come up with a good reason to skip one of them. Some tasks are just so uncomfortable that we just do not want to even go near them. I had to make a simple phone call to tell a parent that their...
Hello Magesh and Arun: As my question subject suggests I have a problem calculating complicated chess positions. Although I can see a single line in considerable length, when the variations become complicated and the tree of possib...
Greetings, in many of the openings that I play, I end up with a 4:3 kingside pawn majority while my opponent has 2:1 on the queenside. We generally both have at least one rook and a minor piece. What would you suggest is the best way to solve this...
From: jetfighter13 My question is, when is it ok to underpromote, I sometimes do, but only when I even/win material, or put my opponent in check. To help illustrate my point, I offer the following game: Dear jetfighter13, Under-promotion...
Dear Sirs, Greetings of the day!!! I am an intermediate level player ( I think??) and desperately want to improve my game. I am facing a few problems with my chess studies & games, which I am sure that you can help me out !!!, are as follo...
Dear GM thamizhan, I am busy going over some of my games, and I am mostly confused about the ideas behind pushing pawns on the castled king-side. I think in this first position the idea is a fairly simple tactic. By playing h5 black is attacki...
Dear Thamizhan, I am a d4 player, rated 1300-1400 and I enjoy playing the Samisch Variation against the King's Indian. a) What are the factors or principles that I must use in order to win a game whenever I am in a good position? b) Since th...
Dear Grandmasters Arun Prasad/Magesh Panchanathan: My question may be too simple for you, but here goes: when reviewing my games, 80% of the time I lose because of knight blindness. I simply fail to see the potential my opponent's Knights have, a...
"The other day someone was talking about how an opening I played "transposed" to another opening. What does this mean?" Dear Reader, Transposition is one of the easier concepts in chess and yet it can be really painful if you do not understand...
Hello, I have a question: I have always been taught that when both kings are castled on opposite sides, you should go for an attack on the opposite wing. Recently, however, I played a game in which, after I castled king side and my opponent quee...
Dear GM Panchanathan, I have psychology problems in the game of chess. My rating usually goes up and down from 1900 to 2050. One of my weaknesses is that I cannot control external feelings (i.e. fear, stress, overconfidence) when playing chess. ...
by GM Magesh and GM Arun From: Mustafa Rashid In middlegames and openings I use the imbalance system to logically think through my moves which I find very helpful. I've studied a few books on the endgame but I still don't understand this phase ...
From: bolshevikhellraiser I consider myself an upper intermediate player. My rating fluctuates between 1700-2050, and I've gone through GM games usually in the English and the Dragon where they move the bishop in front of the pawn usually on d3...
Dear GM Panchanathan, I am expert level chess player trying to attain master level. Do you have a studying/training program you would suggest? I think one of my weakness is finding the "correct" plan in a position. Can you suggest how would one ...
David writes: Hi, I've been playing chess online for 5 months and my rating is almost 1000. I've heard some people say that you should "simplify when ahead." What does that mean? Am I supposed to play very differently when I'm ahead or behind? T...
SirLewis asked: I often times work really hard in the middle game to try and get an advantage, but when the dust settles I find that I'm in a completely hopeless endgame. Right from the beginning of the endgame my opponent has favorable condition...
Dear Readers, We have been a part of chess.com for the past two and a half years writing opening columns. Today we are making a switch to help you guys by answering your questions. We have personally read some of IM Jeremy Silman's columns and we...
Continuing our study of important pawn breaks, we will take a look at some important ideas in the Sicilian Defense. We did have some comments about studying pawn breaks in other openings, and we can guarantee our viewers that we are definitely goi...
by GM Magesh and GM Arun It is never possible to sufficiently emphasize the importance of pawns in a chess game. The tiny little soldier which is worth the least materialistically (1 point) happens to be the most important part of middle game pla...
by GM Magesh and GM Arun Last week we saw how Morozevich used his sharp tactical skills and his creative play to use this opening successfully against strong opposition. This week we shall see how one would normally counter a counter-gambit! T...
by GM Magesh and GM Arun The last few weeks we have studied some conventional openings such as the Lasker Defense, Caro-Kann and the Petroff, now it is time again to switch gears and study some Kamikaze attack. The Albin Counter-Gambit, as su...
by GM Magesh and GM Arun While some very young and vibrant chess talents are battling it out in the Dubai open, the Bundesliga league as always has some of the strongest pulling their brains out to take their teams home successfully. Chess playe...
These three letters might not mean anything to a Non-Indian, but trust me it means a world to Indians right now. MSD stands for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain of the Indian Cricket team. India won the Cricket World Cup last week beating Sri Lan...
by GM Magesh and GM Arun After playing Chess for the past twenty odd years, there are two things that I (Magesh) have really gotten good at; getting into trouble and getting out of it! Active counter play and good fighting spirit has always gi...
by GM Magesh and GM Arun This week we shall see The Queen's Gambit Declined - Lasker Defence used by the reigning World Champion Vishy Anand against former World Champion Veselin Topalov. As you may know, Anand used this solid system in his final...
