CHESS NEWS BLOG: chessblog.com

USA's Top Daily Chess News Blog, Informative, Fun, and Positive

hosted by Chess Queen™ & 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk

 

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Endgame Chess Class: How to Win Queen versus Rook Endgame

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,
 

When was the last time you got stuck in a Queen versus Rook endgame and did not know how to force a win with your Queen? No matter how many times that's happened before, you could learn to do it right the next time around in such a chess position. 

First, above is the puzzle diagram. Try solving and understanding it by yourself. White to play and win.

Click on diagram to head over to Chess King and learn this basic chess endgame lesson with a super podcast video hosted by Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Also see her personal blog at
Don't miss Chess Queen™  
 
 

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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Play Chess Endgame Like a Grandmaster!

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

There is a nice review of a DVD that could really power up your endgame chess play. Learn to play endgames like Grandmasters do. 


Chess King Training: Endgames (DVD), by Alexander Panchenko, $25.00 (ChessCafe Price: $21.00)Chess King Training: Endgames is a course composed by GM Alexander Panchenko designed for club, intermediate, and advanced players in the rating ranges 1500 to 2400. It aims to teach the student the intricacies of the endgame through a theoretical section of 700+ "games/lectures," each of which are said to illustrate theoretical and practical endgame methods. There is also a training section that has more than 300 exercises for the user to test their skill.

The contents are divided as follows:
Pawn endings (67)
Knight endings (94)
Bishops of opposite color (36)
Opposite colored bishops with rooks or queens on the board (11)
Bishops of the same color (35)
Bishop against knight (64)
Bishop pair in the endgame (30)
Extra exchange (44)
Rook against pawns (41)
Rook endings (169)
Endings with four rooks (15)
Queen endings (34)
Queen against two rooks (17)
Multi-piece endings (52)

There are three options in the ChessKing interface: "Learn," "Practice," and "Test."

"Learn" gives you access to the lecture material. There are three main elements on the screen: the chessboard, the lecture content, and a table of contents with drop-down menu features that lets you navigate to specific topics.

"Practice" and "Test" seem to be essentially the same feature, except that "Test" randomizes the positions and you can choose the number of positions as well as the material covered, while "Practice" presents them in sequential order. In each, if you make a wrong move, the chess piece that should be moved will blink as a hint. If you make the correct move, you will either be prompted to make another after the program moves or the program will play through the entire example on its own without the need for any further input from the user.

The program can track the progress of multiple users and offers feedback to track progress in terms of an Elo rating and accompanying chart. Nevertheless, adding another user is not an intuitive process. There is no "add new user button," instead one must double-click on the name of the displayed user. Upon doing so, a switch/create new user dialog box appears. However, the user is left to discover this on their own.


Head over to ChessKing Training for more info or read the full review at Chess Cafe.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

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Thursday, November 17, 2011

Thursday chess puzzle - Checkmate in two, spot the magic move!

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011


Hello everyone,

Back to our puzzle desk. Here is a checkmate in two with White to play. Can you figure it out before you finish that cup of coffee?

Achbar, SelimApprenti Sorcier, 1994



Don't forget to check our award-winning #1 database of chess puzzles at www.chesskillertips.com.








From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

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Thursday, November 10, 2011

Thursday chess endgame study - What's Ponomariov's idea?

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011


Hi everyone,


Here is an interesting chess endgame from Biel 2004. It was Ruslan Ponomariov versus Krishnan Sasikiran. This position was reached after 52 moves. How did Ponomariov tackle this?




You can find lots of videos with chess studies, endgames and tactics at www.chesskillertips.com. The shows are hosted by Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk!








From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

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