English Chess Forum

There is an argument that the most beautiful moves in chess are the ones that appear to do nothing! By this I mean that a piece is apparently "shuffled" backwards or sideways and yet has neither taken a piece nor even attacked one. Yet, this shuffle can have devastating effects. The whole position h...

Do you back yourself to outplay your opponent in an equal position? How many endgames do you outplay your opponent from a quiet position? Even grandmasters can lose an equal endgame! In this article Equal – Superior – Winning possibly the most powerful player in such positions, Anatoly Karpov de...

What could be more simpler than playing a position with kings and a few pawns scattered about? The pieces can only move one square at a time (okay, two if the pawn is on its original square!). Yet, many endgame experts consider them to be possibly the most difficult of all endgames. This article - K...

Geoff, the reason that I did not include the Short-Timman game was because I included it in another article - Just Short Of Perfect - which looks at this game as well as the 'just short' of being masterpieces that he played in his world title match against Kasparov. Game 8 in the article nearly went...

Yes, agreed. I think using the king aggressively especially when there are still many pieces on the board shows real confidence in one's calculating abilities and as well as a logical outlook. In the game Kramnik v Leko from the article Getting The King In , Kramnik works out that he cannot improve ...

There is often nothing more beautiful in chess than when the attacking prowess of the most vulnerable chess piece decides the game. Even when there are still many pieces left on the board, the attacking king can tip the balance. In this article - Getting the King In – the king shatters the resista...

How powerful do you believe psychology to be in chess? There is an old story that at the Siegen Olympiad the Romanian grandmaster Gheorgiu was playing Bent Larsen. He had a terrible record against the Dane and this had a powerful psychological effect. In the game, Georghiu ended up in a completely w...

Despite the fact that Vassily Ivanchuk recently won the Capablanca Memorial tournament, he is playing tournament chess less and less. Now at 43 have we seen the best of the Ukranian? never to be crowned a chess champion. Some of his games show a kind of imagination few could ever possess. Take a loo...

Typically the best place to study chess is to start with the endgame. It can be dry and boring if approached in the wrong way, but very rewarding and interesting if appreciating the subtleties. Enjoyment in this area will surely come from the study of Capablanca's games. Try looking at this article ...

Yes, it is great that the British rapidplay has been held at Leeds several times and will probably be held again here this year. It appears that there is always positive feedback regarding such events at Leeds which makes me more bemused that no standard play British championships have been held in ...

Being a Leeds player I have found out, after some research, that there has been little or no strong standard play chess events in Leeds. The British championships have been staged at Harrogate (1947), Sheffield (2011), Scarborough (2004) and York (1959). Yet never Leeds! Our city has staged the Brit...