Category Archives: HOW TO

ENDGAMES, FRENCH DEFENCE, HOW TO, PSYCHOLOGY, TRAINING

HANDLING DRAWISH VARIATIONS

A concern that many of us have is that positions can become quite drawish, especially when playing against lower rated players. This can lead us to avoid the most logical and best moves and going for something tricky instead, but this is almost always a mistake. When your opponent plays the right moves in reply you can find yourself in a difficult position and just wishing you'd played the move you thought was the best.

This can extend to opening choices in which we may avoid many opening choices because of a concern the position may become impossible to win. So the French and Slav Defences are rejected because of their respective Exchange Variations (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 and 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5) and 1.e4 e5 is rejected because of the Four Knights Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5). That takes out three of the best opening choices, and then we might be dismayed by the prospect of 2.c3 being too drawish against the Sicilian!

What can be done? My discussions with colleagues have revealed that our worst fears are rarely realized and if they are you just keep playing. Stronger players often show their strength in apparently equal endgames, where strategic sensitivity and an eye for nuance can help turn drawish positions in their favour. There are countless examples of this happening and at the highest level, the games of Magnus Carlsen being a great source.

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying my Endgame Mastery series using the code 'june26july4'. The endgame is one of the most important aspects of chess, though it tends to be neglected at club level. In this series of videos Nigel shows how you can improve your endgame play and use this stage of the game to notch up valuable points.

Last week's discount was 40% off Surviving Computerized Opening Preparation using the code 'june19to27', and this is still valid until tomorrow. With the advent of databases and high powered engines, computerized chess opening preparation has become a menace to players at every level of competition. Drawing on his extensive experience as a player and coach, Nigel shows different ways in which the effects can be mitigated so that players can just sit down and play a chess game.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam has started 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 give him a like, 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:

July 7-12: South Wales International, Bridgend, Wales
I've accepted an invitation to this event and look forward to playing! 

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

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

HOW TO, OPENINGS, PAWN LEVERS, POSITIONAL PLAY, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING, WHITE 1.d2-d4 REPERTOIRE

GUESSING THE MOVE WITH SOFTWARE

One of the best known training techniques is to try guessing the move of one of the players in well played games. In my youth I did a lot of this, using books and then covering up the next move. It's a way to engage with going through a game, rather than just playing through the moves.

Can this be done more easily with chess software? I believe that it can, though there's a danger that you can end up making superficial guesses to get the task over with quickly. Perhaps some people might be disciplined enough to slow down on purpose, others might need some assistance, for example by writing their moves and reasoning down. If you can slow down then the use of software can have distinct advantages, for example you can use an engine to guage the strength of your guess vs the one that was actually played.

Which software is best? Personally I'm a big fan of HIARCS Chess Explorer, and both the regular and pro versions are great for this kind of training. There's other software too, for example I understand that Fritz allows this kind of training as do various web sites (Chess Tempo and Chess Games, for example). I have not tested them myself, but perhaps they will work for you.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in slightly less usual lines of the Carlsbad structure, after 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 they will start from the positions after 5...Bb4 and 5...a6. This position type is covered in Mastering Key Pawn Structures: The Carlsbad Formation as well as the White 1.d4 Repertoire.

Sunday October 12th at 5pm UK Time: QGD Ragozin with 5...Bb4

Sunday October 12th at 6.15pm UK Time: QGD Janowsky with 5...a6
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount iss 40% off buying Mastering Key Pawn: The Carlsbad Formation, using the code 'oct10to18'. This structure can be seen as a touchstone for understanding planning and strategy, so learning more about it has great value.

Last week's discount is 40% off buying the Crafting Your Own Opening Repertoire series, using the code 'oct3to11. In the four parts I include coverage of opening selection, choosing sources and assembling your lines. 

My Upcoming Events

After Tenerife cancellation, I've accepted an invitation to the Scarborough congress, largely because my wife enjoyed going there last year. This is the only thing I have planeed right now, though I might also play in the Bolton Rapidplay in December.

October 24-26: Scarborough Congress
I played in this last year and it's a popular event. Details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BOOKS, BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, FRENCH DEFENCE, HOW TO, MIDDLEGAMES, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

STUDYING THE GAMES OF GREAT PLAYERS

One of the things I did a lot as a teenager was to study the games of great players. I have literally dozens of biographical games collections and have been through the vast majority of them. I did not have the opportunity for formal chess lessons but these books provided a unique and valuable alternative.

How did I go through them? It wasn't just a case of playing through the moves, I would cover up the winners moves with a piece of paper and try to guess what he did. Sometimes I would stop at a particular position and use it as an analysis exercise, as explained in Think Like a Grandmaster by Alexander Kotov. To this day I think this is a great approach to learning and training.

Which players did I choose? Paul Keres was my favourite, also Mikhail Botvinnik, Bent Larsen, Leonid Stein, Tigran Petrosian, Mikhail Tal, Efim Geller, Boris Spassky, Jose Raul Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine and many others. Sometimes I went through tournament books, for example Emanual Lasker's book on St. Petersburg 1909 is one that I went through from cover to cover. Sometimes books on chess strategy were also good for this purpose.

Are there technology based ways of doing something similar? Not really, sitting down with a book and chess set has some unique attributes which can't be emulated on a computer screen. Computers and other technology might seem convenient, but they also fall short in certain respects.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in the French Defence (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5), both the Advance (3.e5) and the Exchange Variation (3.exd5). These lines were covered in two of my video series, Building an Opening Repertoire and French Defence:

Sunday June 29th at 5pm UK Time: French Advance
Sunday June 29th at 6.15pm UK Time: French Exchange 

My Upcoming Events

There's nothing new from last week and I have a new project that I'll start work on from September. I will keep playing, but it will move down my list of priorities for a while Here is how things look now:

July 31 - August 10 2025: British Championships
As mentioned I've gone for the Championship itself rather than one of the old folks sections. Obviously this will be full of underrated juniors, I'll just have to play better against them this time! You can find details here.

August 23 - 30 2025: San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife
This looks like a great event and I'm really looking forward to it. Travelling back is a bit tricky because the direct flights were very expensive, finally I found a flight back to Glasgow from where I can take a train!

September 5-7: Hull 4NCL Congress
I'm a big fan of 4NCL Congresses because they are played in nice venues, they're invariably well organized and they offer free entry and accommodation to GMs. You can find details here:

I'll be looking for things after September, not sure when or where!
 

Twitch Channel

My Twitch channel has new content every Monday ('Chess Questions Answered), the Webinar on training tournaments and games is up on Fridays. Please follow it if you'd like to get updates etc, all the shows will be available to Premium members in the Tiger Chess members area, even when they are no longer available on Twitch.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

COACHING, HOW TO, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

KNOW YOURSELF

Working on your chess can involve a lot of naval gazing. The times I've made a giant leap forward, for example in the early 1990s, were built on periods of reflection and then doing things differently.

What did I do differently in the run up to gaining the GM title? Essentially I realized that I had to play in a more classical manner, always playing flank openings, and going 1...g6 as Black, had hobbled my approach to chess in that I had very little space and was always looking for a counter attack. This might have been useful in weekend tournaments, but it was far from optimal in international tournaments. Not only did I change my openings, I also had to change the way I thought about chess strategy in order to interpret them reasonably well.

Playing in a classical style was not altogether new to me, having taught myself largely from books I had a decent foundation in the classics. The problems started when I took the King's Indian Attack from Leonard Barden's Guardian Chess Book and picked up on the 1980s craze for 1...g6. I thought I was saving myself from learning a lot of theory, and this was kind of true. On the other hand I was storing up problems for the future.

Which openings did I switch to? I met 1.e4 with 1...e5, met 1.d4 with the Nimzo-Indian and started playing 1.d4 as White. This cost me a lot of work but the turnaround in my results was remarkable.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments return to the King's Indian Petrosian System (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.d5) and which was covered in the White 1.d4 Repertoire. There are two main alternatives for Black, 7...a5 and 7...Nbd7:

Sunday June 22nd at 5pm UK Time: KID Petrosian with 7...a5
Sunday June 22nd at 6.15pm UK Time: KID Petrosian with 7...Nbd7 

My Upcoming Events

There's nothing new from last week and I have a new project that I'll start work on from September. I will keep playing, but it will move down my list of priorities for a while Here is how things look now:

June 23-29 2025: 11th Cesme International Open
This strong open event, in Cesme (Izmir province) in Turkey, promises to be a real challenge. I'll be going a couple of days early because I can get a cheap flight.

July 31 - August 10 2025: British Championships
As mentioned I've gone for the Championship itself rather than one of the old folks sections. Obviously this will be full of underrated juniors, I'll just have to play better against them this time! You can find details here.

August 23 - 30 2025: San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife
This looks like a great event and I'm really looking forward to it. Travelling back is a bit tricky because the direct flights were very expensive, finally I found a flight back to Glasgow from where I can take a train!

September 5-7: Hull 4NCL Congress
I'm a big fan of 4NCL Congresses because they are played in nice venues, they're invariably well organized and they offer free entry and accommodation to GMs. You can find details here:

I'll be looking for things after September, not sure when or where!
 

Twitch Channel

My new Twitch channel will have new shows every Monday ('Chess Questions Answered), the Webinar on training tournaments and games is up on Fridays. Please follow it if you'd like to get updates etc, all the shows will be available to Premium members in the Tiger Chess members area, even when they are no longer available on Twitch.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

COACHING, HOW TO, TIGER CHESS THEMED TRAINING TOURNAMENTS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

HOW MUCH CHESS SHOULD YOU PLAY

A question I'm often asked is how much chess someone should play in order to stay in practice. Generally speaking I suggest trying to play at least 50 classical games per annum, though for many amateurs even this many is going to be difficult to achieve.

Can you substitute online blitz and rapid play events for these classical games? To some extent you can, but I would suggest rationing faster games if being good at longer time limits is the goal. If winning on time is just as good as forcing your opponent's resignation, it can lead to playing fast/tricky moves rather than good ones.

The top players in the World are good at every time limit because their high level of skill will always be relevant. It's the development of such skill that the issue arises, it's important to learn to do things well before doing them faster.

Training Tournaments
 

This week's training tournaments will feature the French Defence, which is a mainstay of my opening recommendations because of its quality, teaching value and the ease with which it can be learned. The variations featured are the Classical (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6) and the Tarrasch with 3...c5 (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5):

Sunday November 3rd at 5pm UK Time: French Classical with 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 

Sunday November 3rd at 6.15pm French Tarrasch with 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5

Upcoming Events

Here's my approximate schedule over the coming months, subject to change! I often don't know until fairly late in the day.

December 1, 2024: Bolton Rapid Play

A fairly local event for me, so I'll be playing to to get some practice. Details can be found here.

December 7, 2024: Huddersfield Chess Club Seminar

I've run a number of seminars at this great club, this is the first since before COVID. Their website is here.

January 17-19: Huddersfield 4NCL Congress

I really enjoy the 4NCL Congresses as they're played under excellent conditions in nice hotels. This is the first one in Huddersfield, you can find details here.

January 27th: Stockport Rapidplay

I've played in this event with some regularity, so probably I'll go for it again. You can find details here.

February 16-27, 2025: World Senior Team Championship

I've accepted a place in the 50+ second team which means I'll play a much stronger field than on bottom board of the first team. Although this diminishes my chances of winning a medal I'm looking forward to the challenge.

July/August 2025: British Championships

Will these be held in Liverpool next year? There's a rumour on Tim Spanton's blog that they would be. I think I might go for the 50+ event if this is the case.

I'm hopeful that I'll get to play in the European Senior Team Championships (Walbrzych, Poland, April 4-14) in which I've said I'll play in any team and on any board.


Hope you have a great weekend!

Nigel