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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”

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?

Winning Chess Moves: Koltanowski vs. Tholfsen, 1928

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 fansContinue reading “Winning Chess Moves: Koltanowski vs. Tholfsen, 1928”

Chess Position Worth Sharing 139

Mentally visualizing possible chess positions while calculating accurately is an essential skill for chess players to possess. Since, the ultimate goal in chess is to checkmate, it therefore makes sense to incorporate checkmating puzzles into chess visualization training. A good training puzzle for this purpose should challenge the solver’s ability to properly visualize the squaresContinue reading “Chess Position Worth Sharing 139”

#Chess Positions Worth Sharing! 117

Tonight’s puzzle comes from Hikaru Nakamura vs. Robert Lee Hess, 2012 US Championship in St Louis. GM Robert Hess has just played move 30… Kh8. What did GM Nakamura play for white’s 31st move? What is white’s best move?

Benko’s Great Sacrifice

Chess has a rich history full of stories that I share with my students to add extra colour to our lesson material. Below is the tale of Pal Benko’s incredible life’s journey and his great sacrifice which allowed Bobby Fischer to make history. Pal Benko was born while his Hungarian parents were vacationing in Amiens,Continue reading “Benko’s Great Sacrifice”

So I was just playing a game of #chess and then this happened… 13

A well placed knight can be quite lethal. Black to move and mate in 5. Get a free introductory lesson ($40 value) when you work with Chris Torres on Wyzant. Claim your free lesson today by clicking this link: https://is.gd/u5bIVd