A friend of mine had the following position quite recently in a team match: After a long think he played 12.Bb5+, got a worse position and eventually managed to trick his opponent and win. As I walked by the board I saw a simple combination. Is this because I am a great tactician? Probably not. […]
Over the past few weeks we have all been working hard to get four new books to the printer before we stop for the year. Well, today we killed the last of the stragglers. Considering the delay due to holidays and printing time, the books may not land in shops until the start of
The dream of getting a crushing position while still in one’s opening prep is an uncommon occurrence these days, at least at GM level. Most GMs are too well prepared to be caught so readily. England’s Jonathan Hawkins will be awarded the GM title the next time FIDE does such things, and he is usually
I am sorry that I do not have the time to write a proper blog post today. I have been working till 2am quite a number of nights in a row in order for our books to get sent to the printer before Christmas. Sadly this does not mean early January publication, as they are
The website The Week in Chess is an invaluable resource for chess players looking for recent games and reviews. Mark Crowther (‘Sir Mark’ if the Queen does her duty) has spent over 20 years running TWIC. Recently on TWIC, IM John Watson reviewed various ebook formats. Since Quality Chess books are on Forward Chess I was
Today is the official publication day of The Modern Tiger and The Soviet Chess Primer. Some websale customers may already have their copies, so do tell us what you think. For those unfamiliar with the new books, The Modern Tiger is by the same author as “Tiger’s Modern” and on the same topic, but
Tiger and Soviet Chess Primer – plus a Judit Polgar Trilogy Special Offer Read Post »
When I was young I took chess way too seriously. I would cry when I lost some games and I would start to doubt my whole existence. I remember one game where I was playing for an IM-norm against a player I have 11.5/13 against, including a quick draw in 1989. You guessed right –
Ankit Rajpara, a young Indian grandmaster, won surprisingly against Arkadij Naiditsch in the first round of the big open in Qatar. Early in the opening he came up with a funny manoeuvre in order to open the h-file. Later on he sacrificed a piece in order to penetrate in the self-same h-file and win the