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!”
Tag Archives: chess problems
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?
Puzzle Worthy Position 38
This puzzle worthy position has long been one of my favorite instructive combinations to use as a part of beginner classes on checkmating. The player with the white pieces is none other than the fifth World Champion Max Euwe but our feature position occurs twelve years before Max famously defeated Alexander Alekhine in a closeContinue reading “Puzzle Worthy Position 38”
Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 67
When well composed, mate in 2 chess problems are highly enjoyable which is why I share so many of these gems with the Daily Chess Musings community. Tonight’s puzzle was definitely well composed and although I had never heard of Gyula Andre before, I now have a deep respect for his talent as a composer.
Winning Chess Moves: Yates vs Capablanca, Moscow 1925
In today’s feature position, Fred Dewhirst Yates (white) has just played 38. Ka1 leaving Jose Raul Capablanca (black) with a decisive advantage in king safety, material, space and force. Capablanca puts the final nail in the coffin with a brilliant 38th move after which Yates (white) immediately resigns. What is black’s winning move?
Chess Position Worth Sharing 147!
Spent 27 minutes of my time this evening working out the solution to this beautiful endgame puzzle by Leonid Kubbel. It was time we’ll spent! For those who are unfamiliar with Kubbel’s work, he composed many of the finest endgame studies of the early part of the twentieth century. In fact, Kubbel likely could haveContinue reading “Chess Position Worth Sharing 147!”
Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 66
Some of my favorite endgame studies have the reader playing from a disadvantage with the goal being a draw. In tonight’s puzzle, White is down to a single bishop versus Black’s four pawns but still can draw with perfect play. Enjoy…
Chess Position Worth Sharing 145!
Of all the chess puzzles I’ve ever enjoyed… Many of the finest were composed by Sam Loyd.
Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 65
Some mate-in-3 compositions are much trickier than others. This particular chess puzzle by Erich Ernest Zepler is diabolical!
Winning Chess Moves: Palatnik vs. Geller, 1980
Ukraine has long been a source of great chess and great chess players. As such, many famous chess games have been an all Ukrainian affair. Tonight’s winning chess move comes from one such game. Ukrainian-American chess Grandmaster Sam Palatnik played a beautiful winning move over fellow Odessa native Grandmaster Efim Geller at the URS TeamContinue reading “Winning Chess Moves: Palatnik vs. Geller, 1980”
Chess Position Worth Sharing 143
The 1927 World Championship Match was a fiercely contested clash of chess styles. Jose Raul Capablanca had a straightforward playing style which, combined with his famously precise endgame play, was his recipe for success. Alexander Alekhine, on the other hand, preferred creating complexities and oftentimes employed risky attacks in route to his victories. Capablanca wasContinue reading “Chess Position Worth Sharing 143”
Chess Position Worth Sharing 142
Tonight I showed Werner Springe vs Hans Gebhardt, Munich 1927 to my chess students at Gomes Elementary School in Fremont, California. This game, played by relatively unknown players, is a delightful choice for a chess lesson. In the position below, black has just played pawn to h6 threatening white’s bishop. What is white’s best move?
So I was just playing a game of #chess and then this happened! 45
A training game against my student took an interesting turn today. I had the black pieces and after some opening inaccuracies committed by my opponent, I believed I had the game well under control. However, I let down my guard and nearly lost the game in dramatic fashion. What is white’s threat and what isContinue reading “So I was just playing a game of #chess and then this happened! 45”
Winning Chess Moves: Le Quang Liêm vs. Jorden Van Foreest, 4/28/22
Chess Superstar GM Le Quang Liêm played a spectacular finish in route to his Round 7 victory over Dutch Grandmaster Jorden Van Foreest. In this first diagram, Van Foreest (black) has just played 23… Bd6 threatening white’s queen. GM Le Quang Liêm ignores his opponents’ formidable threat and replies with one of his own. GMContinue reading “Winning Chess Moves: Le Quang Liêm vs. Jorden Van Foreest, 4/28/22”
Chess Position Worth Sharing 141
“A popularly held theory about Paul Morphy is that if he returned to the chess world today and played our best contemporary players, he would come out the loser. Nothing is further from the truth. In a set match, Morphy would beat anybody alive today… Morphy was perhaps the most accurate chess player who everContinue reading “Chess Position Worth Sharing 141”
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 solveContinue reading “Chess Position Worth Sharing 140”
Betcha Can’t Solve This #Chess Puzzle! 64
German chess puzzle composer Herbert Ahues (1922-2015) specialized in the art of the mate in two. He composed more than 4000 chess problems and was awarded the title of Grand Master of Chess Composition by FIDE in 1989. Below is one of his final masterpieces first published in the year of his passing.