Irony

If I could simply always remember everything that I once knew, my chess play would be stronger. Among the dozen or so miniatures that I regularly show to my chess students is one that I won in thirteen moves after showing up twenty minutes late for round two. From this position, I played my move, and after a few minutes thought, my opponent resigned.

White to move

Despite knowing every move in this game, I somehow failed this tactics exercise last night.

Black to move

Free Bishop

R. Schulder opted to save his bishop and lost quickly to a checkmate that now bears the name of his opponent.

Black to move

Lesson of the Week

The easy lesson for this week is a tactical shot that shows the benefits of knowing basic checkmate patterns.

White to move



An additional tactical problem from my best game of the weekend's tournament. Here I missed the simple and correct move.

White to move



This week's endgame lesson comes from a tournament game between a chess coach (me) and a young player who is coached by my friend John Dill. My young opponent could have beaten me after I blundered a minor piece, but he let the endgame get away from him. The finish shows the importance of practicing pawn wars, and other exercises for developing pawn endgames.

Black to move


Hint: I made a losing move here.

Yesterday's "From the Eastern" has a position from this game a couple of moves earlier.