Simple Chess Improvement Articles!
Daily articles covering a range of chess improvement topics:
- Openings
- Puzzles
- Model Games
- Thinking Techniques
- The Strategies/Plans Of Great Chess Players
- Practical Psychology
- and much more!
The First Post
Last week, I found myself returning to this question...
What would it be like to be in a world-class mastermind?
For those who don't know, a mastermind is a fancy term for a group of people, with someone leading the mastermind (usually as a teacher). This will often (but not always...
Dear chess friends,
Today I will show you how the greatest online blitz/bullet player of all time, GM Hikaru Nakamura, systematically beats the Bogo-Indian!
This game was only played a couple of weeks ago online, so most of your opponents will not have seen it!
But once you've seen the clarity of Hika...
The Carlsbad pawn structure is one of the most common pawn structures in chess, and it looks like this: 
This structure arises from the Exchange Queen's Gambit Declined - with 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 being the most common example. (If you'd like to know a creative alternative to s...
Dear chess friends,
In this article I'll show you the 3 main ways to play the King's Indian Attack (KIA for short) - and when it's best to use each setup!
The King's Indian Attack was recommended by none other than the GOAT, Magnus Carlsen, as the best 'beginner' opening for White, due to how safe i...
So you want to know what makes an attack on the king successful?
I got you covered.
I'm GM Max Illingworth, and my students have been loving my framework 'The 4 Attacking Advantages' for over a decade.
In fact, I cover it in my course 'Attacking The King' in case you want to master the important ski...
Did you know that you only need to remember one position to start playing the Benko Gambit as Black?
Here it is:
Where Our Pieces Belong In The Benko
This shows you where all of our pieces belong in the Benko Gambit:
- King's Bishop - fianchettoes to g7, where it has a wide open diagonal thanks to Whit...
Hey %FIRSTNAME% ,
Would you like to become an expert chess swindler? Ready to join the ranks of swindling legends like Marshall, Smerdon, Karjakin and Rathnakaran?
It may be time to add a new name to the 'Swindling Hall Of Fame', in Daniil Dubov, who swindled none other than Magnus Carlsen in the 2...
What exactly is the Pillsbury Plan?
It's when you have the following setup:
Here's how it looks with colours reversed:
This is quite a powerful attacking setup, as the knight is 'anchored' in place by pawns. Furthermore, these pawns provide valuable space to serve as the foundation for a strong enemy...
Growing Beyond Your Comfort Zone
Chess Improvement has its share of challenges and struggles, even when you know what to do. The diagram above has helped me through the toughest times in my chess journey, where I felt like quitting.
The key takeaway is that comfort is the enemy of growth. So, wh...
Can you crack this very tough endgame study?
Here it is for you. It is White to play and win, composed by Kalyagin and Mitrofanov in Galitzky MT Severocesky Denik 1993:
Share your answers in the comments below!
Would you like to improve your endgame play, so that you can convert advantages into win...
What are the best openings to play with White, when you are a beginner?
In truth, the openings are not the most important thing for players starting out, as the games are going to generally be decided by exploiting and avoiding blunders, and basic tactics.
However, there are certainly openings that h...
