Phobetor's Blog

Welcome to my blog! This blog mostly contains the more interesting games I played, either over the board in competitions or tournaments, or online on sites like the Internet Chess Club. Usually the game comes with a story about why the game was interesting or what we can learn from that game, and I always add annotations and analysis to the games.

Although I try to check my annotations and analysis of the games with an engine, sometimes an error slips in, so if you think I made a mistake or you don't understand something, just say it! Just reply to the blog post in question, and I'll usually answer the question the same day or within a few days. And of course other feedback is welcome as well!

I also have a series called "Magnificent Puzzles" where I post beautiful chess compositions. These are usually "miniatures" (compositions with only few pieces on the board) with unexpected beautiful solutions. These can be as old as from 1920, and stalemates and underpromotions are not uncommon in these puzzles.

I hope you'll enjoy reading the blog posts, since, well, that's why I write them :)

Magnificent Puzzles (11)

Submitted by Phobetor on Tue Feb 3, 2009 7:42am.

There are many places where you can find simple tactical puzzles (for example Chess.com's Tactics Trainer or Daily Puzzle) or more complicated puzzles with highly unlikely positions, where the key move is a totally unexpected move. There are only ... Read more »

» posted in Phobetor's Blog

Magnificent Puzzles (10)

Submitted by Phobetor on Mon Feb 2, 2009 12:24pm.

There are many places where you can find simple tactical puzzles (for example Chess.com's Tactics Trainer or Daily Puzzle) or more complicated puzzles with highly unlikely positions, where the key move is a totally unexpected move. There are only ... Read more »

» posted in Phobetor's Blog

Magnificent Puzzles (9)

Submitted by Phobetor on Sun Feb 1, 2009 2:24pm.

There are many places where you can find simple tactical puzzles (for example Chess.com's Tactics Trainer or Daily Puzzle) or more complicated puzzles with highly unlikely positions, where the key move is a totally unexpected move. There are only ... Read more »

» posted in Phobetor's Blog

Magnificent Puzzles (8)

Submitted by Phobetor on Sat Jan 31, 2009 11:45am.

There are many places where you can find simple tactical puzzles (for example Chess.com's Tactics Trainer or Daily Puzzle) or more complicated puzzles with highly unlikely positions, where the key move is a totally unexpected move. There are only ... Read more »

» posted in Phobetor's Blog

By Any Means Necessary

Submitted by Phobetor on Sat Jan 31, 2009 4:29am.

Sometimes in a game you have such a strong threat, that you should use any means necessary to achieve that goal. The threat is usually either the gain of alot of material or checkmate, and the means usually include sacrifices. For example, the Gre... Read more »

» posted in Phobetor's Blog

Magnificent Puzzles (7)

Submitted by Phobetor on Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:28am.

There are many places where you can find simple tactical puzzles (for example Chess.com's Tactics Trainer or Daily Puzzle) or more complicated puzzles with highly unlikely positions, where the key move is a totally unexpected move. There are only ... Read more »

» posted in Phobetor's Blog

Magnificent Puzzles (6)

Submitted by Phobetor on Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:47am.

There are many places where you can find simple tactical puzzles (for example Chess.com's Tactics Trainer or Daily Puzzle) or more complicated puzzles with highly unlikely positions, where the key move is a totally unexpected move. There are only ... Read more »

» posted in Phobetor's Blog

Magnificent Puzzles (5)

Submitted by Phobetor on Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:45am.

There are many places where you can find simple tactical puzzles (for example Chess.com's Tactics Trainer or Daily Puzzle) or more complicated puzzles with highly unlikely positions, where the key move is a totally unexpected move. There are only ... Read more »

» posted in Phobetor's Blog

Magnificent Puzzles (4)

Submitted by Phobetor on Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:28am.

There are many places where you can find simple tactical puzzles (for example Chess.com's Tactics Trainer or Daily Puzzle) or more complicated puzzles with highly unlikely positions, where the key move is a totally unexpected move. There are only ... Read more »

» posted in Phobetor's Blog

Fancy Finishes

Submitted by Phobetor on Sun Jan 25, 2009 7:52am.

It's always nice to end a game with a "fancy finish". Even if the game was not so good, if the final combination is nice, you'll remember the game for that finish. So you'll probably remember such a game as one of the better games you played, even... Read more »

» posted in Phobetor's Blog