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The Alapin Sicilian is a clever way to sidestep the huge work needed to start understanding something to the open sicilian, and it has its own share of traps too ! I sincerely hope you will enjoy this page and find some ideas you can reuse ! The famous Qa4+…
I don’t know if this article will ever get more than one game ! Let’s see 🙂 A nice double attack from White:…
In this page, you will find a selection of traps and miniatures arising from the Budapest gambit. Hopefully, this will give you some ideas to spice up your own games....
The French Defense is loved by players who enjoy dynamic play in asymmetrical structures, traps and tricks are frequent in this opening, as in many others. I hope you will...
The MacCutcheon variation of the French Defense was played for the first time against the Steinitz by John McCutcheon in a simultaneous game. He defeated the world champion in what remains quite an upset. Let's discover the variation that defeated a World champion ! As...
The Rubinstein variation of the French defense is very specific and does not feature the usual French defense pawn structure. This is typical of the French defense. This blocked center is featured in the following lines: The French Defense advance variationThe French Defense Winawer variationThe...
The Burn variation is one of the most common lines of the French defense. It is commonly played at the top level and features some open play. Very often, the position will feature opposite castles, making the position sharper than usual. It is interesting to...
Did you ever find yourself moving the same piece three times in the opening ? Or did you move your Queen early, only to let your opponent to harass it ? In this article, I will teach you how to be efficient and develop your...
The Ruy Lopez is an opening that withstood the test of time. It has been played by players of the highest levels of strength since the Renaissance. It is one...
This article focuses on positions arising from the Ruy Lopez opening, after the Ruy Lopez exchange variation starting with Bxc6 dxc6. This variation does not arise from the Ruy Lopez...
The Marshall attack belongs to the great family of positions arising from the Ruy Lopez opening, with a very specific strategy. But, let’s be honest, it is a one-of-a-kind opening...
This article focuses on plans and ideas in central formations after white plays d4-d5 from the Ruy Lopez tense center. The closed center is one of the many pawn structures...
Distant opposition is about extending the concept of standard opposition. Having the opposition in Chess means that it is your opponent's turn to play, and he therefore has to leave the square and let your King outflank him. Getting the opposition is a powerful way...
A pawn race is a situation where both players try to promote their pawn before the other. Very often, the first who manages to promote his pawn into a Queen wins (but sometimes it is only a draw !). Situations where each side only has...
Pawn breaks are powerful. They are so cool that I named this website after them. But what are pawn breaks and why are they so useful, especially in the Endgame ? Pawn Breaks: Definition And Basic Examples So, a pawn break is a pawn move...
A remote passed pawn is one of the strongest assets you can get in a King and pawn endgame. Even if the situation elsewhere is balanced, this pawn is usually enough to secure a win. Even when the defending King is in the square of...
This is the second article about opening principles for beginners. The first one was about controlling the center and this is of course really important. Now the next question arising...
Here you are in your journey to become a strong Chess player. You know how pieces are moving. Also, you have already learnt many tactical patterns, (like the fork, the...
In our We have spent a lot of time on tactical patterns, haven’t we ? This is necessary so that they become obvious to you. You have also already studied...
Zugzwang is not really a tactic. It is a situation where one player is put at a disadvantage because he has to make a move when he would prefer to...