English Chess Forum

Chinese Chess ( Xiangqi ), whose present form dates from about the beginning of the 12th century, is more popular than "real chess". Evidence? Whatever the exaggerations in Agon's claims of the worldwide billions, chess in the form we know it is played in almost every country in the world. Xiangqi ...

Completely agree. I feel even more sorry for people who think these ridiculous variants are the future of chess, when real chess unfolds new mysteries and beauty with every top-level tournament. This is typical unhistorical eurocentrism. What you guys regard as "real chess" is really a chess varian...

I think it's an enormous waste of genius, to have such players sit and play absolutely insipid chess, simply because it is the most comfortable way to come to grips with the game. What if Beethoven had wasted his genius on composing lullabies because it yielded a good income? Henri Matisse, during h...

Anand appears to have bollixed a dead draw or at least made things very, very difficult for himself. I think maybe a lot of people following this match will have to rethink their definition of 'dead draw'. The position after move 24 is a dead draw. So this evaluation hasn't changed. What has change...

In fact, Carlsen could have won easier by playing 39...Qxd6! 40.Rxd6 Rxe3 41.Rd5 b4! This gives a better rook endgame than the one in the game .... /Mats I see Danny King's video report dismisses this line because of 42 cxb4. What's your idea? I was wrong. It leads to a 3 pawns versus 2 pawns rook ...

In fact, Carlsen could have won easier by playing 39...Qxd6! 40.Rxd6 Rxe3 41.Rd5 b4! This gives a better rook endgame than the one in the game, which is probably drawn. So, evidently, Anand's 38.Qg3 was bad. It was an almost equal position; black only slightly better, with little hope of making prog...

I think the players should live up to the occasion and wear suit and tie when sitting before a world audience at a World Championship. I have nothing against the modern lax clothing style, generally. But one should clothe for the occasion. Look at this picture how their jackets are hanging over the ...

I can't imagine ever seriously playing a game with the rules as suggestion by John. Nor any other variant for that matter. If 'traditional' chess ever did totally die out at my level (which I very much doubt it will in my lifetime), I'd be much more likely to take up another game than some kind of ...

It seems like a convoluted game, involving cards and fantasy pieces. It is possibly fun, but it is remote from the elegance and simplicity of chess rules and strategy. I have proposed many variants, most of which are "modest", that is, they remain true to the spirit of chess. So it is still chess. h...

ChessBase Online for Android. It is astounding, for this small sum.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ssdb&hl=en
/Mats

In the Second Anatoly Karpov Trophy , Karpov never castles as white and plays the Scandinavian with Qd6 as black, beating Ivanchuk, among others. It's highly unconventional play. I have always admired Karpov, especially his endgame prowess. I remember reading "Practical endgame lessons" (Edmar Medni...

It is absurd that everybody shall have the right to carry around an enormous opening book in their pocket, bigger than the ECO, with which they can check out the opening lines in the blink of an eye. Provide you do this before the game, why is it absurd? It just levels the playing field a bit with ...

With a smartphone one can employ ChessBase Online for Android, a huge online tree database, which is very fast and remarkably convenient. It is better than the ChessBase database itself. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=chessbase.android.chessdb&hl=en It is absurd that everybody shall h...

That's how ChessBase news formulates it. Such things never occur in other sports. In race car tours, the drivers won't stop at a third of the distance and agree to discontinue the race. I don't know how the chess public can tolerate this year after year. In Rome's arenas, the gladiators were expecte...

Theoretical preparation is "a form of cheating"? You've got a bizarre definition of the term. Indeed, opportunistic theoretical preparation is cheating. Don't be morally naive. Today, it would be very easy for me to prepare against theoretical weaknesses in your repertoire. For instance, let's say ...