Daily Chess Musings

Puzzle Worthy Position 41

At just 19 years of age, FM Ekaterina Goltseva has made quite a name for herself by twice tying for first place at the European Youth Championships and also winning the silver medal at 2017 Russian Youth Chess Championship. Today’s Puzzle Worthy Position comes from the seventh round victory by Fide Master Ekaterina Goltseva overContinue reading "Puzzle Worthy Position 41"

Plenty of Real Chess Drama at the Real Bay Area Championship

Chess players from around the San Francisco Bay Area showed up to battle for a share of the $10,000 prize fund at The Real Bay Area Championship this weekend in Milpitas, California. I took a break from analyzing games to capture photographs of the over-the-board chess drama. Look for a full report on this excitingContinue reading "Plenty of Real Chess Drama at the Real Bay Area Championship "

Say Gay Chess Day 2022

I was honored to be employed as the Chief Tournament Director for The Eade Foundation’s Say Gay Chess Day chess tournament. It was especially fitting that James Eade formally welcomed the gay community into the chess community in a place that has such a storied chess history as The Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco. InContinue reading "Say Gay Chess Day 2022"

Winning Chess Moves: Karpov vs. Mickiewicz, 1997

Former World Champion Anatoly Karpov is an incredible chess player who dominated the international chess scene for a decade beginning in the mid-seventies. Anatoly wasn’t the flashiest World Champion but his games are very approachable and I often recommend that fans of Capablanca also study the games of Karpov. For today’s Winning Chess Move puzzle,Continue reading "Winning Chess Moves: Karpov vs. Mickiewicz, 1997"

Puzzle Worthy Position 40

Today’s puzzle worthy position comes from the 1985 Baden-Baden Chess Tournament. 1985 was a strong edition of this historic tournament featuring many prominent chess players including Susan Polgar, Efim Geller and Ludek Pachman. However, our puzzle worthy tactic comes from a winning combination played by Robb Witt. FM Robb Witt of the Netherlands sadly passedContinue reading "Puzzle Worthy Position 40"

Don’t Miss the 17th Susan Polgar Foundation’s National Open for Girls and Boys

If you are a chess parent who lives or can travel to Bellevue, Washington, consider taking your child/teen to the 17th annual Susan Polgar Foundation’s National Open for Girls and Boys. The SPFNO, which will take place on October 22-23, is one of the most prestigious scholastic chess tournaments in the United States and theContinue reading "Don’t Miss the 17th Susan Polgar Foundation’s National Open for Girls and Boys"

Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 69

My Facebook friend Michael Pasman recently became a World Champion. More specifically, Michael won first place and thus the gold medal for the Studies category in the 10th FIDE World Cup in Composing. Michael Pasman is well known in the chess puzzle community for his compositional knowledge, creativity and his high output of outstanding studies.Continue reading "Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 69"

The CalChess Journal Spring/Summer 2022

The CalChess Journal is the official news magazine for Northern California chess. In the Spring/Summer issue you can read about the most important California chess events of the last several months and see the games of Norcal chess' top players. Special thanks to Bay Area Chess, The Berkeley Chess School, The Eade Foundation, Mission 360,Continue reading "The CalChess Journal Spring/Summer 2022"

Best Educational Chess Lesson

Awarded by Chess Journalist of America I am deeply honored and humbled to have been selected to receive the Chess Journalists of America’s Best Educational Lesson award. It was especially meaningful to receive this award for A Night at the Opera. The very first time I showed this game to a class, I put aContinue reading "Best Educational Chess Lesson"

Winning Chess Moves: Zhongyi vs Wagner, FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2022

Grandmaster Tan Zhongyi of China finished her tenth round game at the 2022 Women’s Grand Prix with a very unique mate in 2. GM Zhongyi, who was the FIDE Women’s World Champion from 2017-2018, was facing WGM Dinara Wagner when Wagner played 43… Kh6 with the black pieces giving Tan a golden opportunity to finishContinue reading "Winning Chess Moves: Zhongyi vs Wagner, FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2022"

So I was just playing a game of #chess and then this happened! 47

A mate in 7 can seem daunting but they aren’t always difficult to solve. Technically the position below is indeed a mate in 7 for white, but that’s only because black can throw pieces away blocking the first check to extend the game unnecessarily. So, in the actual game, I checkmated in just five moves.Continue reading "So I was just playing a game of #chess and then this happened! 47"

Chess Position Worth Sharing 148!

When accuracy matters, IM Vaishali Rameshbabu plays with extreme precision. You can test your own accuracy with this position from her sixth round win over IM Elisabeth Pähtz. Black (Pähtz) has just played 59… d1=Q. Having promoted to a queen a half move ahead of her opponent, White (Rameshbabu) has a winning advantage but mustContinue reading "Chess Position Worth Sharing 148!"

October 15th is Say Gay Chess Day in San Francisco

The Eade Foundation is sponsoring the first ever “Say Gay Chess Day” in San Francisco. This free event will be on October 15th at the world famous Mechanics’ Institute. There is no entry fee for this event but there will be lots of prizes in both the unrated and USCF rated sections. Join us forContinue reading "October 15th is Say Gay Chess Day in San Francisco"

Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 68

I thoroughly enjoy chess studies that task us with finding a seemingly impossible draw from a position that looks totally lost. Chess puzzles like these push the boundaries of what’s possible on the chessboard and a regular dose of such compositions will help young players stretch their own chess imaginations. So nothing makes this chessContinue reading "Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 68"

Puzzle Worthy Position 39

Perhaps you have not heard of the chess player Peter Dely. During his lifetime, Peter was certainly a force to be reckoned at the chessboard and was the Hungarian Champion in 1969. Peter Dely earned the IM title in 1982 and FIDE awarded him the honorary Grandmaster title in 1999. I recently discovered a real-gameContinue reading "Puzzle Worthy Position 39"

Winning Chess Moves: Chiburdanidze vs. Malaniuk, 1990

Grandmaster Maia Chiburdanidze, the Sixth Women’s World Chess Champion, has played many notable games that I regularly use as lesson material. Today’s puzzle comes from her final move against GM Vladimir P Malaniuk played in Round 9 of the 1990 Kusadasi Open in Kusadasi, Turkey. Chiburdanidze (white) plays a crushing move that causes her opponentContinue reading "Winning Chess Moves: Chiburdanidze vs. Malaniuk, 1990"

So I was just playing a game of #chess and then this happened! 46

My student (white) has just played Nbd2. What is the simple yet beautiful game winning response I played as black? What is black’s best move?

August Summer Camp Friday 8/12/2022

Thank you for joining us today. Please remember to click on both the links for “JOIN TOURNAMENT” in your group assignments every day to join the tournaments. If you do not join them in advance then you cannot play. Be sure to pay attention after you finish your first game because the next round begins rightContinue reading "August Summer Camp Friday 8/12/2022"