4 min
Pawn Race
When both sides only have kings and pawns it's essential to count how many moves each side will take to promote. Usually whoever gets there first will win the game!
23 min
Learn From The Best: Leela Chess Zero's King Hunt
How should one tackle the Dutch Defense? Leela Chess Zero shows an incredible set of attacking ideas coming from the Staunton Gambit can be incredibly effective!.IM Daniel Rensch breaks down one of his favorite games...
15 min
Leela vs the Newcomer
Join NM Sam Copeland as he breaks down an electrifying game between the new engine Stockfish NNUE and Leela Chess Zero, from a brutal 600 game tournament during the Computer Chess Championship!
25 min
Learn From The Best: Leela Chess Zero The Troll
International Master Daniel Rensch reviews a strikingly human game in more ways than one (played by Lc0 (more commonly known as Leela) vs Chiron, two chess engines that competed in the Computer Chess Championship.
16 min
Learn From The Best: Leela Chess Zero's Pawn Storm
Leela Chess Zero won the 13th season of the Computer Chess Championship 106-94 against Stockfish 11. The Neural Network did so with an incredible understanding of space and control and some amazing positional concepts...
34 min
Learn From The Best: Leela Chess Zero's Amazing Sacrifice
It's not often you see a brand new piece sacrifice on move eight! How did Lc0 crush Stockfish with a mind-bending sacrifice right from the opening?
15 min
My Best Game: NM Jeremy Kane
How do you score a quick win against a higher rated player without any flashy sacrifices? You need to stop all of your opponent's plans before they can cause any trouble. Check out NM Jeremy Kane's best game, a strate...
11 min
My Best Game: IM Tuan Minh Le
IM Tuan Minh Le, one of the strongest online blitz players in the world, isn't so bad over the board either! He demonstrates his best game, an exciting win, where his opponent's queen went for checkmate and got stuck...
12 min
My Best Game: GM Romain Edouard
Grandmaster Romain Edouard brings you his best attacking game ever! When the strong Grandmaster Vladislav Tkachiev surprised him in the opening, Romain kept his cool and unleashed an amazing attack in the style of Pau...
18 min
My Best Game: GM Dejan Bojkov
Grandmaster Dejan Bojkov demonstrates his best game to date! It's a positional masterpiece against the Indian Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua. Find out how Dejan maneuvered his opponent's pieces to poor squares before find...
14 min
My Best Game: GM Georg Meier
How do you beat a World Champion like Vladimir Kramnik? GM Georg Meier knows from experience! Watch as he explains every step of the way how he outwitted one of the greatest players of all time!
16 min
How To Avoid Mistakes: Be Objective
Often our mistakes in chess come from fear. Even Grandmasters can be intimidated by higher rated opponents! GM Romain Edouard shares his experiences, with this psychological problem both as the higher rated player and...
18 min
How To Avoid Mistakes: Stay Focused
Often we make mistakes because of time pressure, or just a lack of concentration. GM Romain Edourard explains how to stay focused and how to handle the clock in key games!
15 min
How To Avoid Mistakes: Make Concrete Concessions
When you have a good position, it's easy to sit back and try to avoid risk. However, often good positions require precise calculation to convert them into a win. GM Romain Edouard is back with some personal examples o...
19 min
How To Avoid Mistakes: Have A Fighting Spirit
When a game looks drawish, don't just agree to a draw! You learn more by playing on, and often there's a chance to win in even the most simple-looking endgames! GM Romain Edouard wraps up his series and shows you some...
17 min
How To Play The Catalan: A Master Class With Levon Aronian
GM Georg Meier walks you through the most popular defense against the Catalan among top players. Meier shows you how one of the world's best, Levon Aronian, kept control of the game, dominated the open c-file and scor...
15 min
How To Play The Catalan: Dubov's Sharp Variation
How does GM Meier like to play when he's on the Black side of the Catalan? He tries a deep check on b4 to sideline White's bishop to an awkward square. But Grandmaster Daniil Dubov has come up with an ingenious, sharp...
2 min
Skewers
A skewer occurs when one piece attacks an opposing piece, that has a less valuable piece behind it, that can be captured once it moves. The skewer can be thought of as a backwards pin because the more valuable piece i...
14 min
How To Play The Catalan: Caruana's Brilliant Catalan
What's the best move order to reach a Catalan? What should you do if Black aims for an e5 break instead of a c5 break? GM Meier finishes up his world-class coverage of the Catalan by showing an amazing and creative ef...
12 min
How To Play The Catalan: The Closed Catalan
Grandmaster Georg Meier is back with another installment in his world class coverage of the Catalan. See how he built up a dominating position and had a surprisingly easy win in the popular closed variation.
1 min
Piling Up
Once you have pinned a piece, it can't or shouldn't move. Frequently the best way to take advantage of this situation is to add more attacking pieces until the pinned piece can be captured in the most advantageous way.
2 min
Pins
A pin occurs when a piece is under attack and cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece to capture. An absolute pin occurs when it would be illegal to move the attacked piece because of a check. A relative pi...
15 min
How To Play The Catalan: My Pet Line
GM Meier demonstrates one of the most popular lines at the top level and how he scores well with his pet variation! White plays a4 to prevent Black's queenside expansion and then works to dominate the center!
3 min
Forks
A great way to win material is to attack more than one piece at a time with one of your own. This technique is known as a fork. Because the opponent can only move one piece each turn, if you attack two or more pieces,...
7 min
Counting Captures
It's usually a good idea to capture something if you have more attacking pieces than the opponent has defending pieces. That way you will get to make the first and last capture in the exchange. Make sure to pay attent...