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Test your Chess Spidey-Sense!

How sharp are your chess counter-intelligence skills?

In each of these puzzles, you need to anticipate a devious trap by identifying which move your opponent wants you to play!

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Test your Chess Acumen!

How sharp are your chess skills?

Test your chess with 5 multiple choice puzzles!

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Spring 2019 Tuesday Night Marathon Round 3

I’m currently playing in the Spring 2019 Tuesday Night Marathon at the Mechanics Institute in San Francisco. We looked at my games from rounds 1 and 2 in previous posts. In this post, we’re going to focus on my game from round 3. I was white against FM Josiah Stearman (currently rated 2387).

Josiah is a strong young master who has won the Tuesday Night Marathon before on multiple occasions, so I was prepared for a tough struggle.

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The Process of Elimination


“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

Arthur Conan Doyle

The following sharp position arose in the game Alexei Fedorov vs. Alireza Firouzja, from the 2018 Chess Olympiad.

At first, it seems that white’s knight on g3 is ripe for the taking, and that black has a crushing attack on the g file. As one looks at the position more and more, however, the picture becomes increasingly less rosy for black.

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Opening Overview: King’s Indian Samisch

Never Play f3

GM Ben Finegold

The King’s Indian can be a tough opening for white to meet. Black seeks dynamic counterplay, often with white’s king in the crosshairs. Many of white’s most ambitious tries involve considerable risk of a disaster on the kingside.

The Samisch variation is an interesting attempt to frustrate black’s designs and take the game down a different path. It is characterized by the move 5. f3:

In this Opening Overview, we’re going to take a look at some of the most common ways play can develop from here.

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