Inspired by Morphy Update

Lesson of the Week This week's lesson for advanced students features part of a complex struggle that reveals how Yasser Seirawan was i...

Patterns and Calculation Update

If we fail to make an idea work, we need to stop and ascertain the cause of the failure (i.e. answer the question 'why?'), and then...

Seeing Patterns Update

Tal's Winning Chess Combinations (1979) has influenced my perception. Last week, I read the first chapter of this book by Mikhail Tal a...

Three Tactics Update

A pin, decoy, and fork often work together to exploit an elementary error. Sometimes, exploitation of the error is complex, but it remains r...

Pattern Training Update

During the last sessions before the holiday break, I sought to impress upon my young students a benefit that comes from tactics training. Wo...

Patterns and Calculation Update

There has been quite a bit of discussion concerning pattern recognition the past week on Chess.com . An article by a philosophy student,* ...

Carlsen's Queen Sacrifice Update

I practice tactics with the computer and so on, in order to keep learning. Magnus Carlsen* A few weeks ago, the director of Inland Chess...