Definitely, Mikhail Golubev's ‘Understanding the Sicilian’ (Gambit) is a must whether you want to improve your theory knowledge of this endless-road opening. I was totally immersed in it when I found this piece of art which I consider Vassily Ivanchuk's most amazing sacrifice ---at least in the Sicilian/Fischer-Sozin Attack. Chuky is…

I hadn't heard of the checkmate with two self-block until I received the last issue of New in Chess (2018/3). In it, GM Jan Timman wrote about the great performance of the Tiger of Madras, GM Viswanathan Anand at the Tal Memorial held in Moscow. Vishy showed excellent chess and…

Last weekend I took part in a national championship cycle tournament. It was a Swiss sub-2200 event of seven rounds. My goal was five points. Sadly, I ended just short of the coast. This is not to say I hadn't my chances as we're about to see. The last round…

Recently I started reading Mark Dvoretsky's last book ‘Maneuvering. The Art of Piece Play’ (Russell Enterprises, Inc.) and got interested by a queen move example presented as an introduction to the certain exquisite material to follow. I think the club player could well benefit from it so here it is. In Dvoretsky's…

Learning the name of diagonals is a crucial theme to improve not only your knowledge of the chessboard's geometry but also ---and more important--- to be better at calculating variations. When a chess friend tells you that he was in control of the f-file you don't have much problems visualizing a…

Knight's way of dancing makes it quite a special ally for the attacker player. Not just is it a fantastic tactical weapon but also a dominating force in the endgame in many cases. The club chess player should grasp the essential knight maneuvers which will assure him a better general…