ArcaMax

Today we have a real challenge for you. White has an attacking position. That should be clear. The question is what is the best way to proceed? The game started with a Dragon Sicilian 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Bb3 d6? (Too slow. Black has to play the thematic equalizing move 8...d5!)9.f3 a6? (Again, ...

Some attacking positions have more than one way to win. Back in 1943, Smyslov won a nice game vs. Kotov. Later, in analysis this possibility arose in this position. Smyslov,as befitting a future world champion, found the best first move, although he deviated from the possibility we give here. It’s just a fun position to see all the ...

The Albin Counter Gambit to the Queen’s Gambit usually signals a wild and wooly fight. This game is no exception. Both players start out well. Then their move choices get interesting and even critical: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 Be6 6.a3 Nge7 7.g3 Qd7 8.Bg2 Ng6 9.Qc2 0–0–0 10.b4 Ncxe5 11.0–0 d3?! 12.exd3 Nxd3? 13.Bb2 Bh3 ...

Today is a real lesson game. There are two big lessons courtesy of the Evans Gambit. The first one is the devastating effect of a Ba3 move that stops Black from castling. The second one is the use of using center pawns to open lines to expose the opponent’s king. This is one of the reasons the Evans is still very popular in amateur play. ...

The Scandinavian Defense is often misplayed by amateurs. This game is one example: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Bf4 e6 7.h3 Bxf3 (Moving the bishop back to f5 or h5 just gets g4 as a reply. For example, 7...Bh5 8.g4 Bg6 9.h4 Nd7 10.h5 Be4 11.Bd2 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 h6 and White gets the exchange anyhow, but with 4 extra moves and ...

This game is a fine lesson in why players castle before they attack. Black thought he would cower White with his g5 pawn attack on the kingside. If you were White, how would you show Black why it wasn’t such a good idea. The game started 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Be2 Be7 6.0–0 h6 7.b3 c6 8.Bb2 Qc7 9.Qd2 g5 10.Rfd1 Nf8 11.dxe5 ...