(GM) Rashid Nezhmetdinov

Question: Why wasn’t Rashid Nezhmetdinov a Grandmaster?

Answer: By most accounts, Rashid Nezhmetdinov should be a Grandmaster (if for no other reason than having won the Russian Championship over a talented field in 1950, 1951, 1953, 1957 and 1958.) It wasn’t until 1950 that the Grandmaster title was first awarded by FIDE and only 27 players including the world champion at the time (Botvinnik), those who had qualified or were seeded into the inaugural Candidates tournament and a further dozen players who were awarded the title for past achievements. Unfortunately for the 40 year old Rashid Nezhmetdinov, … https://qr.ae/Txa7tB

Basic Chess Strategy

Question: What are some common chess strategies?

Answer: Below is a list of chess strategies known as Reuben Fine’s “Thirty Rules of Chess”. Chess is a complicated game and there will always be exceptions to any rule. However, it is a good exercise to understand why each item below is generally recognized as good chess strategy and to employ these rules in your own games.

TEN OPENING RULES

1. OPEN with a CENTER PAWN.
2. DEVELOP with threats.
3. KNIGHTS before BISHOPS.
4. DON’T move the same piece twice.
5. Make as FEW PAWN MOVES as possible in the opening.
6. DON’T bring out your QUEEN too early.
7. CASTLE as soon as possible, preferably on the KING SIDE.
8. ALWAYS PLAY TO GAIN CONTROL OF THE CENTER.
9. Try to maintain at least ONE PAWN in the center.
10. DON’T SACRIFICE without a clear and adequate reason.

For a sacrificed pawn you must:
a) GAIN THREE TEMPI,
b) DEFLECT the enemy QUEEN,
c) PREVENT CASTLING,
d) BUILD UP a strong attack.

TEN MIDDLEGAME RULES

1. Have all your moves fit into definite plans.
   Rules of Planing:

a) A plan MUST be suggested by SOME FEATURE IN THE POSITION.
b) A plan MUST be based on SOUND STRATEGIC PRINCIPLES.
c) A plan MUST be FLEXIBLE,
d) CONCRETE, and
e) SHORT.

Evaluating a Position:

1) MATERIAL,
2) PAWN STRUCTURE,
3) PIECE MOBILITY,
4) KING SAFETY,
5) ENEMY THREATS

1. When you are material AHEAD, EXCHANGEas many pieces as possible, especially QUEENS.
2. AVOID serious pawn WEAKNESSES.
3. In CRAMPED POSITIONS free yourself by EXCHANGING.
4. DON’T bring your KING out with your OPPONENT’S QUEEN on the board.
5. All COMBINATIONS are based on DOUBLE ATTACK.
6. If your opponent has ONE or MOREpieces EXPOSED, look for a COMBINATION.
7. IN SUPERIOR POSITIONS, to ATTACKthe ENEMY KING, you must OPEN a file (or less often a diagonal) for your HEAVY PIECES (QUEEN and ROOKS).
8. IN EVEN POSITIONS, CENTRALIZE the action of ALL your PIECES.
9. IN INFERIOR POSITIONS, the best DEFENSE is COUNTER-ATTACK, if possible.

TEN ENDGAMES RULES

1. To win WITHOUT PAWNS, you must be at least a ROOK or TWO MINOR PIECESahead (two knight excepted).
2. The KING must be ACTIVE in the ENDING.
3. PASSED PAWNS must be PUSHED (PPMBP).
4. The EASIEST endings to win are PURE PAWNendings.
5. If you are ONLY ONE PAWN ahead, EXCHANGE PIECES, not pawns.
6. DON’T place your PAWNS on the SAME COLOR SQUARES as your BISHOP.
7. BISHOPS are BETTER than KNIGHTS in all but BLOCKED pawn positions.
8. It is usually worth GIVING UP A PAWN to get a ROOK ON THE SEVENTH RANK.
9. ROOKS belong BEHIND PASSED PAWNS (RBBPP).
10. BLOCKADE PASSED PAWNS with the KING.

Source: https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-common-chess-strategies/answer/Chris-Torres-13?ch=10&share=a594e89b&srid=i4Sz

The Grandmaster of Unorthodox Chess!

Question: Who are the most controversial or unorthodox chess players? Why? What do you think of them?

Answer: GM Bent Larsen (Jørgen Bent Larsen 3/4/1935 – 9/9/2010) was the greatest unorthodox chess player to have ever graced Caïssa with his devotion. Famous for his innovative and unorthodox style, Bent Larsen was the first Western player to present a serious challenge to the Soviet hegemony in chess…https://www.quora.com/Who-are-the-most-controversial-or-unorthodox-chess-players-Why-What-do-you-think-of-them/answer/Chris-Torres-13?ch=10&share=e07a6a5c&srid=i4Sz

The Greatness of Viswanathan Anand

Question: Which Indian GM can replace Vishy Anand?

Answer: In a recent interview, Viswanathan Anand likened the the proliferation of chess Grandmasters in India to a “snowball effect.” This common analogy couldn’t be more fitting for how the Anand Effect has so rapidly increased the popularity and skill level of chess in his native India. Just as a snowball rolling down a snow-covered hillside will pick up more snow, gaining more mass, surface area, and momentum as it rolls along. So has the contributions of India’s first chess Grandmaster given birth to a national super force in chess.

After learning chess from his mother at the age of six, Viswanathan Anand took immediate interest in the game. With the continued support of his family, Anand’s ascent in the Indian chess world was brilliant. National level achievements came just eight years later when Anand scored a perfect 9/9 at the 1983 Indian National Sub-Junior Chess Championship. A year later Vishy won the FIDE Asian Junior Championship and was awarded his first International Master norm. One year later, Anand returned to the FIDE Asian Junior Championship to win the event for the second straight time and pickup his final IM norm to become the youngest International Master in the history of India. In 1987, he became the first Indian to win the World Junior Chess Championship and the age of 18, Viswanathan Anand became India’s first Grandmaster.

Achieving the Grandmaster title was just the beginning for Anand’s professional… https://www.quora.com/Which-Indian-GM-can-replace-Vishy-Anand/answer/Chris-Torres-13?ch=10&share=27fa0f84&srid=i4Sz

Bobby Fischer Style

Question: What was Bobby Fischer’s playing style at chess? And what was his approach to the game based on the openings he played? And how was it, that such a narrow opening repertoire, made him so machine like?

Answer: Bobby Fischer played chess the manner in which chess aficionados trust it ought to be played. Meaning, on principle, he for the most part didn’t play to avoid defeat. He’d frequently risk losing a game just to play a move that he felt was correct—and his instincts at the board were frequently right.

Fischer separated himself from the other grandmasters by regularly stringing back to back triumphs against first rate competition. Examples of this uncompromising style can be seen when Fischer, at the age of 20, won the 1963/64 US Championship with 11 wins in 11 rounds, the only perfect score throughout the entire history of this prestigious tournament. By 1970, Fischer had become the most dominant player of the modern era by winning the 1970 Interzonal Tournament by a record 3½-point edge and winning 20 sequential games, including two remarkable 6–0 scores, in the Candidates Matches.

As white, Bobby Fischer played… https://www.quora.com/What-was-Bobby-Fischers-playing-style-at-chess-And-what-was-his-approach-to-the-game-based-on-the-openings-he-played-And-how-was-it-that-such-a-narrow-opening-repertoire-made-him-so-machine-like/answer/Chris-Torres-13?ch=10&share=1967f5f2&srid=i4Sz

A Fine Book on Endgames

Question: What is the best book on theoretical chess endgame positions?

Answer: Reuben Fine’s “Basic Chess Endings” is an incredible manual for both fledgling and advance players. While I battled through this book as a beginner, my exertion was paid off with overall improved aptitude in the endgame. Some will feel the intermittent grammatical mistake or mistaken analysis is too distracting yet I believe it adds to the charm of Basic Chess Endings being written before the…. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-book-on-theoretical-chess-endgame-positions/answer/Chris-Torres-13?ch=10&share=f46d0fd3&srid=i4Sz

Obstructionist at the Chessboard

Question: What kind of chess player do other chess players dislike?

Answer: Sadly, there are players of the trollish influence that after acknowledging they have lost, will neither leave nor move. If tournament directors inform me that any of my chess students engaged in such unsportsmanlike conduct, they are immediately suspended from our clubs. Unfortunately, other coaches/clubs/websites don’t take such a strong stance and therefore chess players are regularly victimized by such clock trolling…https://www.quora.com/What-kind-of-chess-player-do-other-chess-players-dislike/answer/Chris-Torres-13?ch=10&share=6062885f&srid=i4Sz

Fatal Mistakes by Chess Grandmasters

Question: Is it possible for the chess grandmaster to make a fatal mistake?

Answer: Alexander Alekhine, the strongest chess player of his time, was found dead, next to a chess board in his hotel room, on the morning of Sunday, March 24th, 1946. The cause of death was stated as “Angina pectoris, aggravated by choking on a piece of meat.” If his cause of death is to believed, then we must admit that Alekhine made a fatal mistake at the chessboard.

See the photo of Alexander Alekhine deceased at his chessboard (Sunday, March 24th, 1946) by clicking on the link below:

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-possible-for-the-chess-grandmasters-to-make-a-fatal-mistake/answer/Chris-Torres-13?ch=10&share=e59ea6d1&srid=i4Sz

Luck in Chess

Question: What do you think of the saying “There in no luck in chess”?

Answer: It depends on how we define luck and whether we separate the game of chess from its human combatants. If you characterizes luck simply as pure chance then there is no luck in the game of chess, for deep analysis can for each situation in the long run discover a reason why a specific move is superior to another. One may state there is luck among chess players… https://www.quora.com/What-do-you-think-of-the-saying-There-is-no-luck-in-chess/answer/Chris-Torres-13?ch=10&share=48517f56&srid=i4Sz

A Plan for Adding New Chess Openings

Question: How do I manage my desire to learn multiple chess openings (I play 1 e4 and suddenly I want to learn the Catalan from a book I bought)?

Answer: Perhaps restrict yourself to playing online blitz games with your e4 repertoire on days that start with S and T and attempt to play the Catalan on the others. There is no harm in experimenting … https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-manage-my-desire-to-learn-multiple-chess-openings-I-play-1-e4-and-suddenly-I-want-to-learn-the-Catalan-from-a-book-I-bought/answer/Chris-Torres-13?ch=10&share=062f7db4&srid=i4Sz