Before the World Cup it was clear that Fabiano Caruana and Ding Liren had already qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2020. They should now be joined by the two World Cup finalists, so in early October four of the eight candidates would be known. As soon as Ding Liren reached the final of the World … A backdoor and a shaky candidate weiterlesen
Unfortunately our series of annotated correspondence games is about to end (there is some AlphaZero stuff in the making, though). I enjoyed the journey, but despite the fun and the growing ambition while competing with the best guys this kind of chess turned out to be too time consuming (this game should give you an … Fighting the Grünfeld with h2-h4: an intense battle for the initiative weiterlesen
The Najdorf Sicilian is a rare guest on our site. But with German prodigy Vincent Keymer having made it his main defense against 1.e4 as a German chess site we should open our playbook on "the queen of openings". This correspondence game is somewhat different from most others already published, not only regarding the opening. … A surprising piece sacrifice in Garry Kasparov’s pet Najdorf weiterlesen
In a few years when everybody has a quantum computer at home correspondence chess will be a pointless exercise. Hopefully this won't happen until the World Championship cycle that just started on the Lechenicher Schachserver is finished. It's my first one, and I'd like to make the finals at least once before the machines become … Three tempi are worth a pawn, they say weiterlesen
I felt sorry for my opponent. The guy played an excellent correspondence game, had me running out of ideas where to find an advantage and then just blundered it away, probably by a misclick. Yes, a misclick 😉 These things happen even in correspondence chess. It is an incomplete game because of the blunder, but … The unfinished symphony from Cambridge Springs weiterlesen
Usually when I make my fifth move in a correspondence game, I am not that excited. I will have a plan where to go and a good idea of the evaluation of different lines. This game was different. When I made my fifth move all I knew was: We are about to enter a jungle. … A Caro Kann battle, a bit of opening theory and a trap Black needs to know weiterlesen
Imagine where we would be without Lichess. After the decline of the Internet Chess Club (ICC) in recent years chess.com would be very close to being a world monopolist. With no one there to keep them on their toes we would have to play on a bloated platform packed with advertisements that has no incentive … The platforms to play chess on: How to choke a grandmaster (and commit suicide afterwards) weiterlesen
When this opening survey first appeared on reddit almost two years ago it was meant as an easy and quick guide to be solid against the Slav Mainline. This heavily updated version has gotten almost as out of hand as Slav Mainline theory (sorry, couldn't help it), but the original idea remains more than viable. … Want to play the Slav and don’t know where to start? Try Kramnik’s old move. It’s still good and avoids a ton of theory weiterlesen
Since our website is celebrating Semi Slav week this annotated correspondence game played in the highest league of the Lechenicher Schachserver (LSS) should be a nice addition to our German content. The Anti Moscow represents the most sneaky among the many jungles one can lure his opponent into when playing the Semi Slav. In fact I don't … Headbanging in the Anti Moscow: Three exchange sacrifices, one novelty weiterlesen
It's nice to publish something relevant once in a while. We weren't even aware until several readers pointed it out: The new, critical line 10.Qh4 in the 5...Qc7 Caro Kann Exchange is not to be found in any book on the opening. The boys from Chessable had it exclusively in their commercial Caro Kann repertoire … Winning after 17 moves against Aronian: an expansion on our Caro Kann survey, forced by fabulous Fabi weiterlesen
Wouldn't it be great to have a line in your black repertoire against which the white players fail again and again? They play what they assume are the logical moves only to realize they`re in trouble when it's too late. Well, check this out: A position from the Caro Kann Exchange Variation that has been … How to tackle the Caro Kann Exchange: an urgent recommendation (Opening Survey) weiterlesen
GM Igor Kovalenko, rated with an Elo of 2.684 when this game was played, is the strongest OTB player in correspondence. He uses correspondence chess to test and sharpen his opening repertoire. Since results are secondary to him, he often doesn't squeeze the last bit out of slightly superior positions (as long as he maintains … A missed chance to school a 2.700 GM – got schooled instead weiterlesen
Breaking the stonewall is an achievement in itself. But doing so while improving on what opening guru Boris Avrukh suggests as best play for White in his otherwise great "1. d4 Grandmaster Repertoire" series feels even better. Also the middlegame is instructive. Instead of going for his obvious (and only) pawn break immediately White creates … Better not touch the Dutch: How to demolish the Stonewall weiterlesen
Wouldn't it be great to accompany a chess master to a tournament and get all access? Before his games you could watch him prepare for his opponents. After the games he would analyze them for you, hint at mistakes, explain ideas and discuss how his preparation worked and what psychological battles were fought besides the … Is the Blumenfeld Gambit refuted? A potential killer line under the microscope weiterlesen
A novelty deep down the road in a doubleedged, somewhat shady line of the Queen's Indian, improving on a 2.700 GM's game. An instructive middlegame with a bunch of positional concepts and tactical motifs in play, pushing an initiative two pawns down. And finally breaking the stiff resistance in an endgame, in which White sacrifices … Screwing with the structure: how to max out an initiative weiterlesen
