GM George Koltanowski, simply known as Kolty to his many friends, was the most passionate chess player I have ever met. He was always sharing his love for chess through his daily San Francisco chess column that ran for over five decades straight. His blindfold simultaneous exhibitions set world records and many new chess fansContinueContinue reading “Winning Chess Moves: Koltanowski vs. Tholfsen, 1928”
Tag Archives: beautiful chess
Chess Position Worth Sharing 140
A young fan of this blog enjoyed the last Sam Loyd puzzle I shared (see: Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle 63) but asked if I had a “slightly easier problem by Samuel Loyd.” So, as was requested, this evening I am sharing another Sam Loyd mate in 3 that is much easier to solveContinueContinue reading “Chess Position Worth Sharing 140”
Francisco Friday for 4/22/22
There’s not a lot of crossover between groups of chess and boxing aficionados despite the two activities sharing many similarities. For example, watching white’s queen movement at the end of this game brings to mind the famous Muhammad Ali quote, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Also, perhaps the best way to describeContinueContinue reading “Francisco Friday for 4/22/22”
Francisco Friday for 4/15/22
Francisco Anchondo has spent decades building his reputation as one of the East Bay’s most dangerous chess players. Oftentimes, Francisco is at the chessboard for one reason, and that is to deliver checkmate. Sit beside him long enough and you will learn the art of checkmating. [Event “Casual Blitz game”] [Date “2020.06.04”] [White “Francisco Anchondo”]ContinueContinue reading “Francisco Friday for 4/15/22”
Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 63
During the mid-nineteenth century, Samuel Loyd was one of the strongest chess players in the United States. However, his real passion was for the compositional art of chess puzzles, not tournament play. Known as the “Puzzle King”, his book Cyclopedia of 5000 Puzzles was published in 1914, three years after his death. Below is aContinueContinue reading “Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 63”
Francisco Friday for 4/08/22
Even after the Queens leave the board, you still need to analyze all of the checks, captures and threats. In today’s episode of Francisco Friday, White castles as soon as possible but fails to see a check at Black’s disposal. San Francisco Bay Area chess coach Francisco Anchondo punishes this inaccuracy with a beautiful gameContinueContinue reading “Francisco Friday for 4/08/22”
Francisco Friday for 3/25/22
In this week’s installment of Francisco Friday, San Francisco Bay Area Chess Coach Francisco Anchondo plays a delightful variation on a Greek Gift theme. Students of the game should take note that sometimes it’s better to play Bxh2+ and then Ng4 while in other positions, such as in today’s game, the inverse order is preferable.ContinueContinue reading “Francisco Friday for 3/25/22”
Francisco Friday for 3/18/22
Today I am sharing one of Francisco’s famous tabiyas. In chess a tabiya is a special position reached by fairly standard opening chess moves but that results in a complex starting point requiring a serious investigation. Francisco proudly showed me his homegrown theory on this particular tabiya a decade or so ago and it onceContinueContinue reading “Francisco Friday for 3/18/22”
Francisco Friday for 3/11/22
The “back rank mate” is one of the first checkmating patterns we learn as chess players. In today’s game, Francisco Anchondo plays an exquisite variation on this simple theme that is enjoyable for master and novice alike. Francisco Anchondo vs. N.N., 1/24/22 [Event “Casual Blitz game”] [Site “?”] [Date “2022.01.24”] [Round “?”] [White “Francisco Anchondo”]ContinueContinue reading “Francisco Friday for 3/11/22”
Puzzle Worthy Position 37
We truly are living in the Golden Age of Chess as it seems everywhere one looks, incredible chess is being played. Just today, GM Harsha Bharathakoti played a truly breathtaking move in his victory over GM Arjun Erigaisi in the Bangladesh Premier League. Can you spot white’s best move in the position below? What isContinueContinue reading “Puzzle Worthy Position 37”
Winning Chess Moves: Carlsen vs Harestad, 7/23/2003
Future generations of chess enthusiasts will undoubtedly treasure the early games of Magnus Carlsen in the same manner we honor Paul Morphy’s first brilliances. Of course, comparing players from different eras is difficult but there is an argument to be made that Magnus may very well be the greatest chess prodigy ever. For evidence onContinueContinue reading “Winning Chess Moves: Carlsen vs Harestad, 7/23/2003”
Winning Chess Moves: Borisenko-Belova vs Nakhimovskaya, 1968
During her illustrious career, WGM Valentina M Borisenko-Belova (1/28/1920-3/6/1993) won the Women’s Soviet Championship five times (a record she shares with Nona Gaprindashvili.) Zara Nakhimovskaya was a formidable chess player who won the Latvian Chess Championship for Women four times. In our feature position, Valentina M Borisenko-Belova is playing with the white pieces against ZaraContinueContinue reading “Winning Chess Moves: Borisenko-Belova vs Nakhimovskaya, 1968”
Winning Chess Moves: Nakamura vs Shankland, 9/9/2021
The Champions Showdown 9LX is a rapid Fischer Random/Chess960 chess tournament that is currently taking place in Saint Louis, USA. Today’s winning chess move comes from the round 2 game between Grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura and Sam Shankland. White (Nakamura) has just recaptured with Rxe5. What is black’s (Sam Shankland’s) winning move? What is black’s winningContinueContinue reading “Winning Chess Moves: Nakamura vs Shankland, 9/9/2021”
#Chess Position Worth Sharing 134
White to move and mate in 5 (from Yuri Averbakh vs. Alexander Kazimirovich Tolush, 1963). White to move and mate in 5.
#Chess Position Worth Sharing 130
Some of the most brilliant chess puzzles involve material sacrifice for the sake of the mate. Here however, the sacrifice is not merely needed to mate but in fact to avoid loss. One wrong move, and the outcome is completely out of your hands. White to move and mate in 4 (Skuja vs Rozenbergs, Latvia,ContinueContinue reading “#Chess Position Worth Sharing 130”
#Chess Position Worth Sharing 129
Part of the beauty of chess is that no one can predict the level of greatness which the two participants might create in any given game. You may not have heard much about the chess game played between Kekhayov and Petrov in 1964 but the magnificent mating combination at the end is definitely noteworthy. ThisContinueContinue reading “#Chess Position Worth Sharing 129”
#Chess Position Worth Sharing! 124
Tonight’s position comes from a 1966 game played between Sven Johannessen (White) vs Bobby Fischer (Black) in Havana, Cuba. Johannessen has just played 26. Nf4. What did Bobby Fischer play here?
So I was just playing a game of #chess and then this happened! 35
Black just played Bxf3. How should white respond?
#Chess Position Worth Sharing 114
White to move and draw (D. Lolly, 1763).
Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 52
White to move and win!