All posts by NigelD

ITALIAN GAME, OPENINGS, PATTERN RECOGNITION, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

STUDYING HISTORICAL GAMES

I've often seen the recommendation to study historical games in order to understand how certain concepts have developed. Sometimes this can be a good idea, but only if the games concerned contain particular instructional value. Top tournaments in, say, the 19th century had a wide mix of playing strengths with many games being decided by quite elementary mistakes. There were some brilliant and instructive games but these were the exception rather than the rule.

Can historical games help us learn particular openings? The same guidance applies, that some historical games will be useful but certainly not all of them. How do you find the ones that are helpful? One of the jobs of books and video authors is to sort this out for us and the best authors will generally do a good job. Personally speaking I would not want a lot of games included that have purely historical interest, I'd much rather have games that clarified the ideas and concepts.

Are there some good examples of such books and videos? Yes, there certainly are, and I recently acquired The Modernized Italian Game for White by Alexander Kalinin and Nikolai Kalinichenko which is an excellent example. The authors include a large number of examples which illustrate the ideas and plans, many of which come from the strategically similar Ruy Lopez. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by the time Vimeo closes this service. Please send me your receipts which are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now, with nothing in particular planned after November. If I'm invited I'll play in Nova Gorica (Slovenia) in January next year and then Maya (Portugal) in August:

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I've now entered this one and booked my hotel. Details can be found here.

November 2-13: European Youth Championships, Crete
I've been appointed as one of the coaches for this event, which basically rules out the English Senior Championships because the two events only have a day's break between them. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

ENDGAMES, MEMBERS ONLY, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

THE IMPORTANCE OF PAWN ENDGAMES

In this week's Chess Questions Answered video I explained why pawn endgames are so vital and gave a top level example from the Olympiad that is currently taking place in Samarkand. The main reason is that all other endgames can transpose into pawn endgames if pieces get exchanged, so you constantly have to be aware of such exchanges and accurately assess the resulting pawn endgame.

How should someone develop their endgame play? It helps a lot just to play more endgames by not being afraid of the exchange of queens, yet this probably requires more confidence before it starts to happen. In such chicken and egg situations I would suggest an iterative process by which players start showing a greater interest in endgames which in turn will increase their willingness to play them.

It's also possible to embark on a special study of endgames which I was doing at the time I got the GM title in 1993. At that time we were heavily reliant on books and I used Mikhail Shereshevsky's Endgame Strategy. A number of Tiger Chess members have also found the Tiger Chess endgame course very useful, especially when they loaded the positions into a program against which they could test their knowledge by playing the position out. This is available to members who have either Standard or Premium membership.

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by the time Vimeo closes this service. Please send me your receipts which are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now, with nothing in particular planned after November. If I'm invited I'll play in Nova Gorica (Slovenia) in January next year and then Maya (Portugal) in August:

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'm playing in this one which starts in Hull this evening.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I've now entered this one and booked my hotel. Details can be found here.

November 2-13: European Youth Championships, Crete
I've been appointed as one of the coaches for this event, which basically rules out the English Senior Championships because the two events only have a day's break between them. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

UNIVERSAL FORMATIONS

The idea of playing a single formation, with both White and Black, is very attractive, and especially if it helps avoid learning a lot of opening theory. I essentially used this approach myself in the 1980s, playing 1...g6 against everything as Black and mainly 1.Nf3 and 2.g3 as White. Certainly it helps with cutting down on study, but it also has its limitations.

Players who want to develop their chess should really be playing a variety of position types as this helps develop a broad understanding of chess strategy. Of particular value are classical openings such as the Ruy Lopez and Queen's Gambit, though all sorts of other openings can be helpful. Playing a single formation is not unthinkable, and the Egyptian star Amin Basseem managed to combine chess with his medical studies by playing King's Indian formations with White and Black. I think in his case it's a question of him being hugely talented.

What are some universal formations? One of the best known ones is the Zoom formation which features d4, c4, Nf3, g3 and Bg2 as White and the same moves as Black, the book 'ZOOM 001: Zero Hour to the Operation of Opening Models' being devoted to this structure. Another is the Philidor and Old Indian formation, which can also be used with White. Finally there's d4 and e3, which equates to ...e6 and ...d5 as Black, though this leads to a wider variety of positions depending on where the other pieces are developed. This is why I chose this formation as the basis for my Building an Opening Repertoire course.

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by the time Vimeo closes this service. Please send me your receipts which are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now, with nothing in particular planned after November. If I'm invited I'll play in Nova Gorica (Slovenia) in January next year and then Maya (Portugal) in August:

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I've now entered this one and booked my hotel. Details can be found here.

November 2-13: European Youth Championships, Crete
I've been appointed as one of the coaches for this event, which basically rules out the English Senior Championships because the two events only have a day's break between them. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

CHESS SOFTWARE, NEWS, TRAINING

WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN CHESS IS SOLVED?

Elon Musk recently predicted that chess will soon by 'solved' just as checkers was some years ago. It's worth quoting him in full before I set about disagreeing with his post: "Chess is hard for humans, but not for computers. One day, it will be fully solved like checkers. Between now and then, or even after, have fun. People enjoy many games/sports where machines are vastly better."

I have no doubt that he's right about computers playing perfectly, but machines have been a lot better than us for some time. I don't see much difference between what we have now and the official 'solution', at least not in practical terms. Certain openings have been refuted or at least shown to be very difficult, others have been rehabilitated or even invented by strong engines. At the same time it's impossible for humans to remember such solutions for practical play. Some players are certainly very well prepared, but the World's best player (still Magnus Carlsen) relies on sidestepping such preparation.

Accordingly I'd say that Musk's comment is rather meaningless for chess players, we'll carry on as usual and try to negotiate the impact of engines. The main issue is still the opening in which it can be difficult to put your opponent on their own resources, but Carlsen and others still manage to do so. 

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by the time Vimeo closes this service. Please send me your receipts which are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now, with nothing in particular planned after November. If I'm invited I'll play in Nova Gorica (Slovenia) in January next year and then Maya (Portugal) in August:

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I've now entered this one and booked my hotel. Details can be found here.

November 2-13: European Youth Championships, Crete
I've been appointed as one of the coaches for this event, which basically rules out the English Senior Championships because the two events only have a day's break between them. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

HOW TO, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

IMPROVING WITHOUT A COACH

I often get asked how you can improve without a coach. In this week's Chess Questions Answered video, I gave one foolproof method of doing so, which is to study the endgame. There are others too, the main problem being that you can end up on an inefficient trajectory for much of the time. A good coach can put you on the right path, which can save a lot of effort and frustration, a bad coach can pass on their own bias and bad habits.

I never had a formal coach, which I consider to be a mixed blessing. Most of the strong local players had a strong emphasis on attacking play and tactics, which is all very well up to a point but represents only part of a good chess curriculum. Thinking back I might have derived much benefit from working with Alan Ludgate, an Irish international noted for his solid style of play and good endgame technique.

One of the things I did right was to read a lot of good books, mainly autobiographical games collections of great players. I also solved tactics problems from books, attempted the Kotov Analysis exercise and played blindfold chess. What I could have done more of is an extensive study of endgames and to develop a classical repertoire of openings, and for this some guidance might have made all the difference. As it was I dabbled with some endgames and had a hotpotch of openings that was in constant flux.

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by the time Vimeo closes this service. Please send me your receipts which are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now, with nothing in particular planned after November. If I'm invited I'll play in Nova Gorica (Slovenia) in January next year and then Maya (Portugal) in August:

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I've now entered this one and booked my hotel. Details can be found here.

November 2-13: European Youth Championships, Crete
I've been appointed as one of the coaches for this event, which basically rules out the English Senior Championships because the two events only have a day's break between them. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

CHESS SOFTWARE, TRAINING

USING AI FOR CHESS IMPROVEMENT

I've recently been experimenting with the use of AI, in particular for designing study programs. In particular I learned a lot from this video, particularly about how to ask the write questions. The output astonished me personally, though experienced users of AI can probably do much better.

A couple of my experiments involved chess improvement goals, one of which constitutes this week's Chess Questions Answered video. Whilst I did not agree with everything Gemini suggested, it brought the kind of clarity and directness to the process that I sometimes struggle to establish myself. The section on what to ignore was particularly interesting because it insisted on prioritizing the work needed and ignoring other chess activities that I might want to pretend are 'training'. Bullet and three minute games were ruled out as being unproductive, also and secondary lines that I might use as fun surprise weapons.

Will I now implement Gemini's suggestions training regime? Not the entire package, but there were so many useful ideas and ways of looking at things that I will certainly integrate some of them into my future approach. In particular I think the idea of focusing on a particular topic will be of great benefit to me as I tend to get distracted. Hopefully I will emerge as a more effective player.
 

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by sending me their receipts, these are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now having withdrawn my availability for the European Senior Team Championships. I might get invited to the English Senior Championships in October, in which case I will probably play:

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I've now entered this one and booked my hotel. Details can be found here.

November 2-13: European Youth Championships, Crete
I've been appointed as one of the coaches for this event, which basically rules out the English Senior Championships because the two events only have a day's break between them. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BOOKS, OPENINGS, QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

RAKHMANOV’S SECRETS OF OPENING PREPARATION

There are a lot of chess books published and not all of them are very useful. Yet I've found a few of them to be interesting and one in particular that I keep dipping into. This is Aleksandr Rakhmanov's Secrets of Opening Preparation published by Thinker's Publishing in 2021.

Rakhmanov is a very strong GM, but one who gets by with relatively little theoretical knowledge. He tries a variety of things with White including 1.d4, and Flank Openings if there's something he prefers to avoid. With Black his front line defences are the Petroff (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6) and Janowsky Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6), both of which he knows very well. Against lower rated opponents he tries some less classical openings including the Nimzowitsch-Rubinstein Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6) and the Old Indian Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 e5).

Rakhmanov explains his approach very clearly and honestly, and although his lines are slighly unusual he prepares them very deeply with strong engines. In many ways it seems quite risky to show so much and in such detail, but his methods could just as easily be applied to other lines. I'd say this book is of most value to players over 2200 who want to further develop their approach to openings, but most chess enthusiasts should find it interesting.
 

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by sending me their receipts, these are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now having withdrawn my availability for the European Senior Team Championships. I might get invited to the English Senior Championships in October, in which case I will probably play:

August 21-23: Manchester Summer Congress, Bolton UK
This is a long standing event which is now run in a nice venue and with good prizes. Details can be found here.

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I've now entered this one and booked my hotel. Details can be found here.

November 2-13: European Youth Championships, Crete
I've been appointed as one of the coaches for this event, which basically rules out the English Senior Championships because the two events only have a day's break between them. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

FRENCH DEFENCE, MIDDLEGAMES, PATTERN RECOGNITION

LOGIC AS AN AID TO MEMORY

Several of my students have been asking about my adventures with the Sicilian Najdorf (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6), which is quite a surprising choice of new weapon for Grandmaster in his 60s. I have lost my last two games with it against higher rated players (GM Oleg Korneev and IM Maciej Czopor) but the positions I obtained out of the opening were fine. I also won the first game in which I tried it in a local rapidplay, and also won a game against 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+. It seems that you get more anti-Sicilians if you play the Najdorf!

There is also another factor in its favour, the Najdorf is a very logical and well motivated opening in which it's clear strategic plans and ideas are almost always evident. This is not true of some lesser known openings which are only kept alive by spectacular discoveries from strong engines. In this week's Chess Questions Answered video I show a variation from the Philidor Defence (1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5) which completely bemused me, I could hardly predict any of the engine's moves. This is because it helps to hang memories on hooks of understanding, when these are not present it seems well nigh impossible to remember anything.

This should definitely influence our opening choices, it makes sense to play openings with clear strategic themes. Besides the Najdorf I'd say that the Sicilian Dragon (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6) and Gruenfeld (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5) have great strategic clarity, there can be a lot of theory but at least it should make sense. For strategic clarity with a lesser amount of theory then I recommend the French Defence (1.e4 e6), which also maintains a top notch reputation.
 

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by sending me their receipts, these are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now having withdrawn my availability for the European Senior Team Championships. I might get invited to the English Senior Championships in October, in which case I will probably play:

August 21-23: Manchester Summer Congress, Bolton UK
This is a long standing event which is now run in a nice venue and with good prizes. Details can be found here.

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I'm intending to play in this one if I can. Details are here.

October 26-31: English Senior Championships, Peterborough
This is also up in the air unless and until I get invited. Details can be found here. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, FRENCH DEFENCE, OPENINGS

ANOTHER IDEA IN THE LONDON

In this week's webinar I presented another new idea in the London, namely 1.d5 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 and now 5.h3 rather than 5.Nbd2 or even the Heinzl Variation with 5.Be2. The London is like this, White develops sensibly and will always have some good choices. He may not get an advantages with 5.h3, but certainly it seems playable.

In this day and age it seems that even the most ambitious and principled openings fizzle out to equality, so there's certainly a case for playing something less critical in which both sides have to find good moves. With White this is relatively easy, playing Black is a tougher proposition because many venerable defences have come under tremendous pressure, especially after 1.e4.

The safest option is the French Defence because Black can angle for a closed position in which engine moves matter less than understanding. After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 I give the Rubinstein (3...dxe4) in my Building an Opening Repertoire course and 3...Nf6 in my French Defence course. There are other options too, for example 3...Bb4 4.e5 and now 4...Qd7 or 4...b6. Some great masters of the past used to play these lines and would outplay opponents with lesser understanding.

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by sending me their receipts, these are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now having withdrawn my availability for the European Senior Team Championships. I might get invited to the English Senior Championships in October, in which case I will probably play:

August 21-23: Manchester Summer Congress, Bolton UK
This is a long standing event which is now run in a nice venue and with good prizes. Details can be found here.

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I'm intending to play in this one if I can. Details are here.

October 26-31: English Senior Championships, Peterborough
This is also up in the air unless and until I get invited. Details can be found here. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, FRENCH DEFENCE, QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING, WHITE 1.d2-d4 REPERTOIRE

ARE PET LINES A GOOD IDEA?

In this week's Chess Questions Answered video I explored whether pet lines are a good idea, citing the example of Alexander Rakhmanov's use of the Nimzowitsch-Rubinstein line of the Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6). Certainly they can be but it depends largely on the objective quality of the line and the level at which you intend to use it.

During my own career I had a period in which I played nothing apart from the Modern Defence (1...g6 as Black), and although this was useful from some perspectives it almost certainly hobbled my development as a player. I now believe that it's better to play a varied set of classical openings in order to learn about different position types. I had done something along these lines as a kid but then somehow lost my way.

Playing classical position types would become one of my guiding lights in the creation of Tiger Chess opening repertoires, but I also wanted them to be easy to learn. This is why Queen's Pawn Openings play such a large part in the recommended lines for White, plus the Queen's Gambit Declined and French Defence for Black. If I was to expand this range then I'd want to include the Ruy Lopez, either for White or Black, but playing 1.e4 and meeting 1.e4 with 1...e5 means a lot of work!

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by sending me their receipts, these are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now having withdrawn my availability for the European Senior Team Championships. I might get invited to the English Senior Championships in October, in which case I will probably play:

August 1-9: British Championships, Coventry, UK
I've accepted an invitation to this one (the Championship itself) and look forward to playing.

August 21-23: Manchester Summer Congress, Bolton UK
This is a long standing event which is now run in a nice venue and with good prizes. Details can be found here.

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I'm intending to play in this one if I can. Details are here.

October 26-31: English Senior Championships, Peterborough
This is also up in the air unless and until I get invited. Details can be found here. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel