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Disclaimer: This post is written by a chess coach and streamer who has not improved at chess in a long time. What does he know?!

Chess is a game of pattern recognition! The more patterns you see, the faster you improve. An exclusive diet of one-minuteor better yet, 30 or 15 secondgames allows you to maximize the patterns you see every day; just punch that seek button and let the power of osmosis drive your chess learning!

You KNOW why you lost that game, why would you need some stupid computer or long-since-past-his-prime chess expert rubbing your face in it. Sure, you were in huge trouble on the board and the clock, but really this game was lost due to a simple one-move blunder. No need to waste time thinking about it. Heck, you've already forgotten the game ever happened.

The surest sign of improvement is winning, and you ALWAYS win against your friends and your co-workers. Like the great Paul Morphy, you are just honing your smashing attacks for the day that you make a world tour and destroy everyone with your patented 1.h4 and 2.Rh3 attacks.

You're paying this guy $50 an hour, and he wants YOU to do all the work?! Endgames, openings, middlegames, master games, manage your clock, etc. etc. etc. Exhausting! What kind of a scam is this!

Really, you just need him to show you a few opening traps and tell you that you are clearly a good player and the wins will come soon enough. Anyway, you don't think you'll be taking too many more lessons; you've done three of these sessions, and your rating is going DOWN!

That king and pawn endgame looked awfully familiar... Didn't you lose exactly like that last month? Must be a coincidence

1.d4, 2.Nf3, 3.e3, 4.Bd3, 5.c3, 6.0-0 for the win! At some point, you'll just sac on h7 or h6, and it'll either work or it won't. Same old, same old

Study some 100-year-old games from Capablanca? What a waste of time! Besides the computer just pokes holes in all those old games anyway. Play, play, play - that's where it's at! Just check out these ideas you are playing for the very first time! ...Rxc3 sacing the exchange in the Sicilian?! What an idea! Nd2-f1-g3-f5 in the Ruy Lopez? Whodathunkit?! Best reinvented wheel ever.

Two hours per game?! Boooooooooooooring! You tried a chess tournament once, and you are damn sure never doing that again! All those old players never would have beat you if you hadn't been falling asleep at the board waiting for them to make a gosh-darned move. Geeez!

You did like that one time Chess.com/analysis said you were "brilliant," but that "blunder" annotation... what a buzzkill. And who is this "Stockfish" saying "missed win"? You won, didn't you?! You didn't miss a darn thing.

Why are all these ignorant chess "masters" even bothering to think for themself anymore?!?! If there's one thing you hate, it's some grandmaster commenting on a chess tournament without a chess engine. Could they BE anymore wrong?! You certainly would never turn off the engine and think for yourself. Heck, you've already been banned from every major chess site for doing just that.

Second Disclaimer: You don't NEED to improve at chess. You can have fun and enjoy the game in any way you like! If you are focused on improvement, maybe be wary of some of these traps.

Liked the post? Subscribe and follow on YouTube and Twitch! Mine is the ONLY stream that will ACTUALLY help you improve #imatotalhypocrite

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How NOT To Improve At Chess - Chess.com

With just a handful of games remaining in the 2021 regular season, the MassMutual East Division is still very much up for grabs, with four teams separated by five points (a number that drops to two points if everyone wins their games in hand on first-place Pittsburgh).

The Division boasts four of the Leagues top eleven teams in terms of points percentage, and its unlikely that anyone has a clear edge in the upcoming two-round divisional playoff. The Capitals, for example, went 6-2-0 on the season against the Islanders, who have gone 5-2-0 against the Bruins, who posted a 5-3-0 record against the Penguins... who were 6-2-0 against the Caps.

By head-to-head results from the regular season, insofar as that matters, each team has one or more concerning match-up and at least one in which theyve fared well.

Of course, come playoff time every match-up is concerning, and those regular season wins along with four dollars will get you a latte at Starbucks. Weve talked a lot in the past about how the playoffs are a different animal, not because the competition is better (though it is) or because the players elevate their game (though they might), but because the amount of time coaching staffs can spend focused on their opponent is so drastically different (especially this year, given the condensed regular-season schedule).

And if youre a fan of the game-within-the-game that takes place between two head coaches, this years playoffs in the East should be a doozy. Lets take a look at the four bench bosses:

Those are some seriously impressive resume. Together, these gentlemen represent one-third of the Jack Adams trophies that have been awarded to active coaches, one-third of the Cup wins, and four of the 11 Presidents Trophies, and theyre not exactly resting on their laurels - heres a look at up-to-the-minute Elo ratings for NHL coaches (explainer here):

And in two weeks, the chess matches will begin. Adjustments and counter-adjustments will be made. Difficult roster decisions will be pored over. Referees will be worked, players will be motivated, media will be placated (or not), and so on. These are four of the best coaches in the business, and theyre about to prove it.

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The Chess Match Ahead in the East - Japers' Rink

The pandemic has been the subject of many articles lately, some of my own included. While I have mostly presented the hardships that came along with it, there have been some positive moments as well. One of these aspects is the one which inspired me to write this article!

I have been playing for many years in the German Bundesliga, since 2009 to be more precise. After having been in Germany so many times, I do understand some of the language and I can even say some basic things. However, I have never seriously studied German and if I listened to German speakers at a dinner party, I could probably catch the subject of the conversation, but not more. However, the pandemic has offered me the chance to do some of the things I have always wanted to, but for which I have never been able to find time. One of those things was studying German, so, some months ago, I joined an online course and since then, three days a week, my mornings start with Deutsch lernen. While typing, I couldnt help thinking "How do I say with in German? Aha - mit - mit always needs to be used with the Dative case"

To be honest, this language fascinates me there are so many things one should consider before saying anything! I remember when I was studying English, I found it difficult to take care of the word order in a sentence, but well, in German it is a whole new level! Articles, prepositions, cases: the word order changes more often than my predilection for one type of shoes or another! It feels like my brain has to run on a few additional CPUs when I speak it, but when I say something right it is such a pleasure!

If you start to wonder how this article relates to chess Im getting to it! Well, it took me a month or so to get used to putting the verb always at the second position in a sentence, even when the sentence did not start with the subject, only to later experience the pleasures of conjunctive sentences, where everything changes drastically! Compared to Romanian or Russian, where one can build a sentence whichever way one pleases, or even to English, where there are some rules, which, however, can be broken occasionally, there is no room for improvising when building a sentence in German everything has to follow a certain order.

This made me think if one is used from an early age to operate on this rigorous order does that somehow transpose to chess? Is a chess player whose first language is German fated to build his or her playing style guided by this order? Lets take a look!

The first player who comes to mind when saying rigorous German style is GM Georg Meier.

Georg Meier | Photo: Grenkechess

He is currently number five in Germany and has been among the top players of the country for many years.

Going through the games of Meier and I think the one which weve just seen is quite typical one might think that there might be something to my assumption regarding the German order. However, lets not rush to conclusions, but rather dig deeper into the matter.

It only feels fair to look at the games of Germanys number one female player (since what seems to me forever): IM Elisabeth Paehtz.

Elisabeth Paehtz | Photo: Pascal Simon

I have played and prepared against Elizabeth many times and the difference between the games of Georg Meier and Elisabeth Paehtz is obvious. I once played against GM Meier and it was more or less clear to me what opening would appear on the board, but when preparing for games against Elizabeth, it often might be more effective to just say a prayer and go to sleep. Jokes aside, when playing against Meier, who usually sticks to his repertoire, the biggest challenge seemed to be to study a line deep enough, whereas things are often highly unpredictable when playing against Elisabeth. I will not argue that one approach is better than the other they are simply entirely different but the first approach relies on building up the game around ones strengths, whereas the second approach tries to find and to exploit the weaknesses of your opponent.

Lets have a look at a typical game to understand Elizabeths style better.

I think that this game characterizes IM Paehtzs playing style very well clever preparation and a very flexible repertoire, a good feeling for dynamics and a good technique. She often changes her approach and improvises

So, I would say this means her style doesnt really go along with my German order theory.

But it still has been very interesting for me to dig into this theory of mine and study games of these two players. Of course, one cant generalize a whole nations chess style based on the rules of their language, but my feeling is that there could be a connection maybe the language you grow up in is not a 100% factor which defines ones style of play, but it might be a factor which influences it to some degree, though there are of course other factors that shape the way you play chess What do you think?

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Mother tongue and chess is there a connection? - Chessbase News

On Wednesday, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi was officially crowned as the winner of the 2020-2021 FIDE Candidates Tournament. Before the ceremony, he answered questions from the media.

The final press conference.

Nepomniachtchi started by thanking his team and said that they deserve perhaps even more congratulations than himself: "They are the part of the iceberg that stays under the water. I am just moving the pieces!"

Earlier, the Russian grandmaster had revealed his team members: the general coach of the Russian Chess Federation GM Vladimir Potkin alongside GM Ildar Khairullin, GM Nikita Vitiugov, and GM Peter Leko.

Nepomniachtchi and Potkin have known each other for 20 years and started working together closely in November 2007. Within a few years, this teamwork started to bear fruit.

"This cooperation improved not only my game but I guess Vlad's game as well because first, it was me who won the European Championship and then him," said Nepomniachtchi, who won that event in 2010 while Potkin took the title in 2011.

Asked whether he would be interested in adding GM Daniil Dubov to his team, he said: "He's a great chess player and a great analyst, but he also worked with Magnus and I wouldn't like to put him into a position to have to make a choice between me and Magnus."

Nepomniachtchi acknowledged that he might have had a bit of home advantage, playing the event in Yekaterinburg: "When I found out that the tournament was going to take place in Yekaterinburg, I felt rather happy. In 2013 I won the Higher League here. Memories of a city are connected to a result you achieved.

"Apart from that, I like the city, I like the Ural, although I live myself in the western part of the country. Of course, this feeling of belonging helps. There's a saying in Russian: 'When you are at home, even the walls around help you,' and I guess this is true."

Asked whether he feels the pressure of bringing back the title to Russia, he replied: "I wouldn't say it's pressure. It's a great responsibility and a great challenge."

Some of Nepomniachtchi's colleagues have already commented on Nepomniachtchi's chances.

Grischuk: "They exist. For most players, they are a bit illusory but for him, they definitely exist. Less than 50 percent but much more than zero."

Caruana: "I think it's gonna be very close because he looks really strong now. Not just in this tournament. Over the past year, he has looked incredibly strong, so I think he's gonna be a very dangerous opponent for Magnus."

Carlsen: "It's very interesting. He's a very, very strong opponent. Somebody who also plays very aggressively and usually gives his opponents chances as well. In that sense, there is every chance there's going to be an exciting match."

Nepomniachtchi now commented himself about his chances: "There is this saying: 'Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.' By all means, it will be a tough match and I'm glad that my chances are assessed as high but I am a realist. I look at it in a realistic way, and I also do not have the tendency to downgrade myself."

Asked what is Carlsen's biggest weakness, he said: "In any case, I won't say. So let's say he doesn't have one!"

The closing ceremony.

Interestingly, FIDE's Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola announced at the press conference that there will be another Candidates Tournament next year. This news was later tweeted by FIDE's Director General Emil Sutovsky as well and it looks like the much-debated tiebreak rules could be changed:

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Nepomniachtchi: 'I Don't Have The Tendency To Downgrade Myself' - Chess.com

Garry Kasparov was recently Jan Gustafsson and Peter Heine Nielsen's pick as the Greatest Chess Player of All Time, though their no. 2, Magnus Carlsen, may have something to say about that before he's done! For Part 2 of Sean Marsh's Great Moments in Chess series, he looks at November 9th 1985, when 22-year-old Garry finally snatched the World Championship crown from Anatoly Karpov, three years after his odyssey to the title had begun.

As Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov battle it out in theNew in Chess Classic, we continue our celebratation of theNew in Chess Magazinethat the tournament is named after.

There's anew sale of New in Chess coursesfrom our friends at Chessable, while this is now the second part of our series on Great Moments in Chess, which began with Carlsen Crowned.

Garry Kasparov was World Champion for 15 years. Much to his chagrin, this isn't the record tenure, as bothEmanuel Lasker (27 years) and Alexander Alekhine (17 years) stand above him.

It is difficult to think of Kasparov having to go through the qualifying stages of the World Chess Championship. Back then, the system was very different. First, a player had to qualify for one of the three very competitive Interzonal tournaments.

Kasparov won the 1982 Moscow Interzonal, ahead of a star-studded cast, including Alexander Beliavsky, former champion Mikhail Tal, Ulf Anderssen and Efim Geller. Interzonals were very serious tournaments. This one lasted 13 rounds and Kasparov scored an impressive 10/13 to finish one and a half points ahead of Beliavsky.

Next, there came the first of three rounds of the Candidates Matches. Kasparov was paired with Beliavsky in the first round and even though the match was close for some time, a final burst of two straight wins allowed Kasparov to progress with a 6-3 victory.

The Candidates Semi-Final brought a massive clash with Viktor Korchnoi, who had pushed Anatoly Karpov hard in the very close matches of 1974 and 1978, before ultimately being outgunned by the World Champion in the 1981 title match. Nevertheless, Korchnoi, with more match experience than any other player, was in control for the first half of the match. Kasparov again finished strongly, with four wins from the last six games, to record a significant 7-4 victory.

Standing between Kasparov and a title match with Karpov was, incredibly, Vasily Smyslov - who had been World Champion from 1957 to 1958. Kasparov was the clear favourite in this battle of age against youth and, even though Smyslov gave a good account of himself, Kasparov powered through to another victory, by a score of 8.5-4.5.

This match was played in the Spring of 1984, meaning Kasparov had already spent two years battling his way through to play Karpov.

Anatoly Karpov had been champion of the world for 10 years, but at 33, he was still very much in his prime. Kasparov, 21, was aiming to become the youngest champion in history. Both players were in excellent form as they sat down to play the first game of the match on 10 September 1984, in Moscow.

The rules back then required a player to win six games to take the title. Draws did not count. Opinion was divided at the time. Traditionalists were in Karpov's favour; younger chess fans saw Kasparov as a change to a much more dynamic style of chess.

The dreams of the young challenger started to become nightmares when Karpov raced to a 4-0 lead after just nine games. Various weaknesses in Kasparov's game were ruthlessly exploited. Karpov then made a mistake in his match strategy, electing to play numerous short draws instead of pushing for victory. However, after 17 consecutive draws, he then won a fifth game, to lead 5-0 after 21 games.

How would a young player react to losing such a match 6-0? Would he have the maturity to recover and the strength to battle his way through the next series of Candidates Matches? It looked like we were going to find out, but Karpov became cautious once more, which backfired badly.

Kasparov finally won a game. This victory, in game 32, was his first-ever win against Karpov. 14 more draws followed. With hindsight, Karpov should have changed his match strategy, played longer games and mixed things up a lot more - but he was also getting very tired.

Unbelievably, Kasparov won games 47 and 48, to pull the score back to 5-3. Karpov was clearly struggling; he was unrecognisable in the brace of defeats. Would Kasparov be able to keep the wins coming?

Unfortunately, we shall never know - because the match was aborted by FIDE in extremely controversial circumstances. This is all a story for another day - but the upshot of the decision is that the players had to start a new match in 1985, with the slate wiped clean. After an extraordinary battle lasting 48 games and five months, the score was suddenly back to 0-0.

Seven months later and the players started their battle all over again. The rules had changed; this time it was a match of 24 games. Karpov would keep his title at 12-12.

It was a tight start. Kasparov won the first game, but Karpov hit back strongly, winning games four and five. Kasparov equalised in game 11 and then there were four consecutive draws. Karpov, of course, could afford to keep on drawing, but Kasparov had to try for more.

Kasparov won two excellent games (16 and 19) to leave Karpov in big trouble. Both players must have been feeling the pressure at this point. There were mistakes in the next few games and Karpov pulled one point back by winning game 22. One more draw followed in game 23, setting up a very tense final game.

Kasparov's Sicilian Defense was extremely difficult to breach. On the other hand, Karpov was generally very impressive on the white side of 1.e4 c5.

9 November, 1985. It is quite clear what each player needs. Karpov, the defending champion, needs to win the last game of the match to retain his title. Kasparov, the challenger, needs to avoid defeat to become the youngest wchampion.

This was not the moment to play a solid Petroff Defense or to try something unexpected. Both players were very much ready for a sharp struggle and the opening moves were no surprise:1.e4 c5.

The Sicilian Defense

A few moves down the line, Karpov shows he wants to stick with his trademark6.Be2against the Najdorf Variation and Kasparov transposes to his great favourite, the Scheveningen Variation, with6...e6.

Nobody ever liked to play the standard 6...e5 against Karpov. He specialised in obtaining a small edge and gradually crushing the opponent.

The battle lines were drawn very quickly. Karpov was clearly intent on an all-out assault, while Kasparov was hoping the hedgehog spines of theScheveningen would keep White's attack at bay.

Fast forward a few more moves and, suddenly, Kasparov has broken out with25...f5.

The position has exploded and history is about to be made. This is definitely more of a Kasparov position than something Karpov will feel entirely comfortable playing.

Indeed, once Kasparov played34...Nxc2, the writing was definitely on the wall.

Karpov's queenside collapses completely and the game is only heading for one result.

Black to Play

Despite the apparent activity of Karpov's pieces, he is losing. Not only is he a piece down, but Kasparov now has the choice between a number of winning moves.

Kasparov chose24...Nd4+, winning more material with a discovered check.

Kasparov Seizes the Crown

Thus, Kasparov, at 22, became the youngest world champion of chess and ended Karpov's 10-year reign. The final score was 13-11 to Kasparov.

1. e4 c5 2. f3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. xd4 f6 5. c3 a6 6. e2 e6 7. O-O e7 8. f4 O-O 9. h1 c7 10. a4 c6 11. e3 e8 12. f3 b8 13. d2 d7 14. b3 b6 15. g4 c8 16. g5 d7 17. f2 f8 18. g2 b7 19. ad1 g6 20. c1 bc8 21. d3 b4 22. h3 g7 23. e3 e7 24. g1 ce8 25. d1 f5 26. gxf6 xf6 27. g3 f7 28. xb6 b8 29. e3 h5 30. g4 f6 31. h4 g5 32. fxg5 g4 33. d2 xe3 34. xe3 xc2 35. b6 a8 36. xd6 b7 37. xa6 xb3 38. xe6 xb2 39. c4 h8 40. e5 a7+ 41. h1 xg2+ 42. xg2 d4+0-1

This was by no means the end of the classic rivalry between Karpov and Kasparov. They would go on to contest three more very close title matches and would be almost permanent rivals at top tournaments.

Such was the impact of the result that books are still being written about the great rivalry. These two were both contenders for the annualEnglish Chess Federation Book of the Year Award.

There will be another instalment ofGreat Moments in Chess soon.Meanwhile, theNew in Chess Classicis now in the Knockout phase.This exciting tournament can be followedlive here on chess24.

Originally posted here:
Great Moments in Chess: Kasparov Seizes the Crown - chess24