Pure pawn endgames are said to be the simplest of all endings but that doesn’t mean they are always easy to win. A case and point is presented in a recent blog post where I shared a blown opportunity in a King and pawn endgame I witnessed at a Northern California youth chess tournament. AsContinue reading “Pawn Endgame Worthy of Study”
Tag Archives: chess problems
Puzzle Worthy Position 45
Frequent readers of this blog know that Grandmaster Max Euwe is one of my favorite chess heroes. In 1935, chess prognosticators didn’t give Machgielis “Max” Euwe of the Netherlands much of a chance in his title match against World Champion Alexander Alekhine in part because Dr. Euwe wasn’t a professional chess player but rather aContinue reading “Puzzle Worthy Position 45”
Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 72
The British Chess Magazine really hit the snail on the head by including this wonderful mate-in-2 chess puzzle in the January issue of 1911. I solved this Frederick Forrest Lawrie Alexander composition at a rather sluggish pace which is why I betcha can’t solve this chess puzzle at all! But go ahead and prove meContinue reading “Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 72”
Chess Position Worth Sharing 149!
Samuel Loyd was one of the greatest creative geniuses of nineteenth century puzzles, both on and off of the chess board. Born on January 30th of 1841, Samuel (Sam) Loyd was a contemporary of Paul Morphy (1837-1884). In fact, Loyd moved from Philadelphia to New York City which means he was occupying the same spaceContinue reading “Chess Position Worth Sharing 149!”
Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 71
The holiday season can be a little daunting, whether it’s due to the commotion of shopping, hosting get-togethers or traveling. Rather than adding to this extra stress with the high intensity of online bullet chess, I recommend enjoying the slower pace of chess puzzles. Why not fill a mug with your favorite hot beverage, cozyContinue reading “Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 71”
Winning Chess Moves: Vokhidov vs. Wojtaszek, 2022
The FIDE World Team Championship for 2022 consisted of 12 nation teams and included many illustrious players who are recurring stars on the Daily Chess Musings blog including Anish Giri, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Teymur Radjabov, Nihal Sarin, and Alexei Shirov. However, the best finishing move of the event did not occur inContinue reading “Winning Chess Moves: Vokhidov vs. Wojtaszek, 2022”
Puzzle Worthy Position 44
Since it’s inception in 2018, the Tata Steel Chess India tournament has invited five of the most talented Indian Grandmasters to compete in their home country against an equal number of top international competitors. The annual event features the strongest rapid and blitz chess on the subcontinent. For 2022, the Tata Steel Chess India eventContinue reading “Puzzle Worthy Position 44”
Winning Chess Moves: Caruana vs. Lenderman, 2018
The 2018 US Championship was an action packed event. The San Francisco Bay Area’s own Grandmaster Sam Shankland stole the spotlight by taking first place over such pre-tournament favorites such as Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura. Norcal chess enthusiasts weren’t exactly shocked by GM Shankland’s championship run as we have long since grownContinue reading “Winning Chess Moves: Caruana vs. Lenderman, 2018”
Puzzle Worthy Position 43
Today’s puzzle worthy position comes from one of the many great battles between GM Anatoly Karpov and GM Jan Timman. Both chess geniuses were born in 1951 and their chessboard rivalry stretched for a half century from 1967 until 2016. Karpov had a winning record against his Dutch contemporary with a score 30 to 8,Continue reading “Puzzle Worthy Position 43”
Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 70
Today’s puzzle of interest is a mate in 2 with many carefully placed ingredients. I was struck by this chess problem’s modern design and surprised by the fact that it was composed over a century ago in 1920. Not only is this chess puzzle a beautiful reminder of how much is possible on the chessboardContinue reading “Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 70”
Puzzle Worthy Position 42
The action at the Chess Bundesliga is always worth checking out! A recent Bundesliga game between GM David Navara and GM Luke McShane reached a most remarkable position before concluding. In the position below, black (McShane) has just moved his pawn to b2 on his 34th move. GM David Navara (white) responds to the promotionContinue reading “Puzzle Worthy Position 42”
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”
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”
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”
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!”
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”