JULY 2019 CLINIC: OPEN FILES

August 9, 2019 NigelD

The July clinic is looks at open files and members can access it here. All the games involve open files in some way, either direct use of them or levering them open.

Having started playing again I used one of my own games from the South Wales International against Tim Spanton. In the position we reached after 21 moves I had managed to gain a strong position but did not see how to win:

Eventually I came up with 22.b6!?, which led to my gaining a half open b-file after 22...axb6 23.Nxb6. The point is that unlike the open d-file, this one has a nice target on b7. The game proceeded with the moves 23...Na6 24.Nd5 Qd6 25.Rab1 c4 26.Qxc4 Qxa3 27.Rxb7 Rc8 28.Nf6+ and Black resigned (1-0).

Playing for open files can be subtle, which is why the Tiger Chess Strategy Course has so many lessons devoted to it.

Nigel Davies

CLINIC, ENDGAMES, NEWS

JUNE 2019 CLINIC: ENDGAMES

July 5, 2019 NigelD

The June's endgame clinic is now out and can be accessed here by full members. The endgame is one of the most important aspects of the game for those who want to improve, which is why I give it so much attention here at Tiger Chess. Not only do endgames help players to save losing positions and win drawn ones, they also benefit other aspects of our game such as calculation technique and positional play. It's no accident that several World Champions have highlighted their importance to those who want to improve.

One of the examples given was a great example of how a bishop can dominate a knight in the endgame. After 46 moves the following position had been reached:

At first it seems as if the position must be good for White due to his active king and outside passed pawn, yet due to the poor position of his knight the best he has is 47.gxf5 exf5 48.Kd5 Bb6 followed by ...g4 with a draw. In the game he tried for more with 47.f3?, but after 47...fxg4 48.fxg4 e5 found that his knight was completely boxed in. The final moves were 49.Kd5 Ka7 50.Ke4 Kxa6 51.Kf5 Kb5 52.Kg6 e4 53.Kxh6 Be3 54.Kg6 Kc4 55.Kf6 Kd5 56.Nxg5 Bxg5+ 57.Kxg5 e3 58.Kf4 e2 59.Kf5 and White resigned (0-1). Tragic but also very instructive.

Nigel Davies

CLINIC, NEWS, UPDATES

MORE BEST GAMES: MAY 2019 CLINIC

June 7, 2019 NigelD

The May clinic is now online and members can access it here. Besides some excellent members games (especially by L. J.) I was asked to show a couple of my own from my recent 'comeback tournaments' in Rhyl and Crewe. Crewe was particularly successful because I managed to win the tournament with 7 straight wins and a 2850 rating performance!

Here's a position from one of the games against FIDE Master and Welsh International Jonathan Blackburn. He enterprisingly sacrificed two pieces early on, though I managed to get my king to safety by returning one of them and then took the initiative on the kingside. In the position in the diagram White had just played 22.Bc1-g5:

Here I saw that I could force mate with 22... Qxg5+ 23.Nxg5 Rxg5+ 24.Kh2 Bf2# 0-1, which my opponent was kind enough to allow.

Nigel Davies

CLINIC, TACTICS

APRIL 2019 CLINIC: BEST GAMES

May 10, 2019 NigelD

The April clinic is now online here and features members 'best games'. There were quite a few submissions this time round so the May clinic will also be on the 'best games' theme.

Here is an episode from one of them which featured my son Sam playing Black. White had just played 26.Bg2-h3 to reach the following position:

Rather than move his rook, Sam played 26...Qc6 here so that after 27.Bxf5 Nxf5 he will get the knight on f3 when White moves his queen. This puts White in serious trouble after which the game continued 27.Re4 R5f7 28.Kh2 Qb6 29.Ree1 Bxf3 30.Qxf3 Bg5! 31.Re4 Bxf4+ 32.Rxf4 Rxf4 33.Bxf4 Nd5! 34.Rg1 Nxf4 35.Qg3 Qc7 36.Qg5 Kh8 37.Qg3 Ne2 0-1. This was one of his best games of the year so far with the sharp tactical finish crowning some good play earlier in the game.

Nigel Davies

CLINIC, TACTICS

MARCH 2019 CLINIC: TACTICS

April 11, 2019 NigelD

The March clinic is now online and is devoted to tactics. This is one of the most vital aspects of chess because tactics punctuate every stage of every game. Without good tactical play it is very difficult to get very far. During my teenage years I spent a lot of time on tactics using puzzle books though these days its easier because there are quite a few websites which have interactive tactical problems.

The following position is taken from the clinic with White to play:

White to play opened Black's king up with 19.Bxh7+ Kxh7 20.Qh5+ Kg8 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 and then finished the game off with 22.Qg5+ Kh7 and now a rook lift with 23.Re3. Black tried the desperate 23...Bxg2 but after 24.Qh5+ Kg7 25.Rg3+ resigned (1-0) because of 25...Kf6 26.Qg5 mate.

This was a really nice finished that I'm sure White was very pleased to have pulled off. I don't recall ever having the opportunity to use this theme myself.

Nigel Davies

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, FRENCH DEFENCE, POSITIONAL PLAY

FEBRUARY 2019 CLINIC: POSITIONAL PLAY

March 10, 2019 NigelD

Positional play is a major focus here at Tiger Chess. When I started teaching chess to club players in the 1990s, this was one of the areas which I felt was least developed, so I set about creating a course which focused heavily on this aspect of chess. Originally I sent this out as a correspondence course over a two year period, and a cut down version of this was later published as The Power Chess Program in a two book form. Its latest incarnation is the Tiger Chess Strategy Course which is available to members with 160 weekly lessons.

This work was later supplemented by opening repertoires which helped players use some of the strategic themes presented, including the Building an Opening Repertoire course for both Black and White, and more recently a specialist course on the French Defence. This summer I will be bringing out another course, this time for White, which will present an economical 1.d4, 2.Nf3 and 3.c4 repertoire in which the focus will be on strategy rather than computer generated variations which are very difficult for players to remember.

The February clinic was devoted to positional play in which five games were presented, four by members together with one of my own. Positional play is often misunderstood at club level and is perhaps best thought of as operations with the pawns. The following position provided a good illustration:

White to play used a thematic pawn lever with 36.a5!, undermining the pawn on b6. Black's position collapsed quite quickly after this, the game finishing with the moves 36...Ke8 37.axb6 Rxb6 38.Rxb6 Rxb6 39.Rxb6 Nxb6 40.Ba5 1-0. Black's resignation may seem premature but he is defenceless against an invasion of White's queen along the b-file.

This shows the power of good positional play, White simply levered open a file and his opponent's position was hopeless; no fireworks or calculation was required.

Nigel Davies

CLINIC, ENDGAMES, POSITIONAL PLAY

JANUARY CLINIC ON BEST GAMES

February 9, 2019 NigelD

The January 2019 clinic is now out and features members' best games. There was quite a mix sent in, from a violent tactical game to several purely positional games.

The following position was reached in one of the positional games in which U. S. had established a stranglehold on the position after getting a pawn duo on e4 and d4 in the Colle and then turning this into an e4/d5 wedge. He closed in for the kill:

White now played 37.Qc6!, with the game ending with the moves 37...f6 38.Rc8 Qxc6 39.dxc6 1-0. Black's knight has no squares so he must lose a piece.

I like to focus on positional play and endgames at Tiger Chess because this is where many players at club level can improve. Brilliant tactical ability tends to be more dependent on innate gifts rather than methodical learning.

Nigel Davies

CLINIC, ENDGAMES, TIGER CHESS ENDGAME COURSE

THE LATEST CLINIC ON ENDGAMES

January 4, 2019 NigelD

I just posted the latest clinic on endgames which members can find here. As usual I should stress the importance of this part of the game which can benefit a player's chess as a whole by offering a safe and logical way to convert advantages as well as develop what I would term micro-patterns. My own chess improved a lot when I devoted more time to the endgame in the 1990s. It is also one of the main things that I have studied with my son Sam.

Sam has two of his games in this clinic with the first of them showing how the endgame is neglected at club level. In the Preston Congress he reached the following position as Black having just captured the pawn on b7:

One maxim states that all rook endgames are drawn, which while not being true certainly indicates the drawish nature of rook endgames even one or two pawns down. Yet instead of keeping his rook on the board White exchanged with 44.Rxb7?? which leaves him with a completely lost pawn endgame. The game concluded with the moves 44... Kxb7 45.Kb5 Kc7 46.Kc5 Kd7 47.g3 f5 48.h4 gxh4 49.gxh4 g6 50.f4 Kc7 51.Kc4 Kc6 52.Kd4 Kd6 0-1.

How should someone go about studying the endgame? Well Tiger Chess just happens to have a 160 lesson endgame course that covers both technical endgames and endgame strategy, plus there are downloads which help practicing different positions against the computer. You need to join to access it or course...

Nigel Davies

CHESS PARENTING, OPENINGS, TACTICS

THE IMPROVEMENT HABIT

January 1, 2019 NigelD

We are at that time of year when many people are trying New Year resolutions. Most of these will have been abandoned by January 12th, including the chess ones, which will not help too much towards getting any better. Goals and resolutions are all very well but do they help people put the time in that is required for real progress? Usually not, no matter how lofty their initial aims.

Here at Tiger Chess HQ we have a different approach. Goals are downplayed and broken down whilst the emphasis is placed on a steady work rate over a long period of time. What is doable on a daily basis which can also be monitored? With my son Sam I have found that Chessity works very well as it keeps great records as to how much you have really done. We also try to study together for 3 hours on a Sunday and also on Mondays and Tuesdays when he is not at college. Over time it adds up and helps put in place the necessary skills, as you can see below he has now solved over 40,000 positions on Chessity and is in the top 20 for the number of puzzles solved. Note also that I call him Jedi so as to turn him away from the dark side offered by his favourite Star Wars character, General Grievous:

Recently he has been going through many of the videos here at Tiger Chess, which again can be done on a regular basis. With his other commitments he certainly does not do thousands of hours every year but it could be around 500. If he keeps this up for another decade or so he will become very strong.

What about the old guy? Well I am also in the process of dusting myself off with daily tactics practice and studying some new openings. A few thousand hours on top of the 45,000 or so I have already put in should help me get back in shape for when I finish my University studies (currently in year 2).

Nigel Davies

BOOKS, BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, FRENCH DEFENCE, OPENINGS, QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED, QUEEN'S PAWN GAMES

HOLIDAY PREPARATION

December 27, 2018 NigelD

Finding the time to study chess can be quite tricky, especially for those of us with work and family commitments. It can seem almost impossible to find a solid chunk of time to work on your game which usually means using occasional study opportunities during the day. I built Tiger Chess with this in mind; people can access lessons and videos while waiting for a bus or train or during lunch breaks at the office. It is better to try and set aside some study time during the day, for example first thing in the morning or last thing in the evening, but this is not always possible.

When holidays come along, such as the ones many of us have at the moment, there can be more of an opportunity to spend a few consecutive hours on chess. How should we use it productively? The first thing is to have a realistic plan in place of what can be achieved during this time. There is also a good case for having a plan for all of our chess study, holidays just providing a bit more time to make extra progress.

A favourite study topic is the opening, not least because most of the chess books out there are about them. Simple practical openings that are not in danger of being suddenly refuted make the most sense for busy people. This accounts for many of the lines I recommend, such as the French Defence, Queen's Gambit Declined and Queen's Pawn Games as White. Those with little time on their hands do not have time to try to assimilate opening theory using books with hundreds of pages of densely packed analysis. This stuff is also completely unnecessary, games can be won against Grandmasters using simple openings and strong core skills.

What is the best way to study openings? Well here at Tiger Chess HQ my son Sam and I use the old fashioned approach of going through complete games with a board and pieces, never once going through them on a computer screen. We also play dozens of training games in each line in order to get the feel of the middle games and build up practical experience in particular position types. I think this is invaluable but very few people do it.

One final recommendation is to try to introduce new openings over time rather than change everything in one fell swoop. The previous paragraph really explains this, if you try to take on too much it will be impossible to do it thoroughly enough. The result will be a superficial grasp of a lot of things rather than a deep grasp of just one.

Nigel Davies