So when you have castled and think your king is pretty well safe, always watch for the possible back rank mate. Here is a game where my opponent was not watching for a possible back rank mate, so I sacked my Queen, then forced the back rank ... Read more »
I started teaching Jordy Mont-Reynaud when he was 7. He and Vinay Bhat had just joined the Palo Alto Chess Club, among other kids, and I was teaching them both. Jordy continued with his lessons even after I moved from California to Tex... Read more »
This game had a lot of tactics that ended in checkmate. I had to create a mating net against my enemy king using as many pieces as possible. But first, I had to catch the King in the middle of the board, then chase him around. Th... Read more »
Here is a game where my opponent put on a fast kingside attack, but this opened up his kingside and he forgot to protect his King. The king was left it in the center and allowed me to penetrate, attack and eventually mate. The opening was a ... Read more »
The Grob, 1.g4, is very unusual, but playable if you don't fall for any traps. I wrote a book on it in 1988, which included a few hundred games and variations. I like to play it on the Internet to get out of their "book" ... Read more »
The French Defense, Classical variation, can sometimes be a cramped game for Black. In this game, Black castled, but then left holes on his kingside and weakened his pawn structure. His pieces were never developed and my pieces became ... Read more »
When you are trying to protect the King, don't weaken the position by moving pawns in front of the King. Here is a game in which my opponent unprotected his King by moving the pawns in front of his King that gave me the attack. Read more »
One of my favorite openings is the Larsen's Opening (1.b3). It's not as well studied as other openings and it is a solid opening. In this game, I got my pieces out fast, brought out my rook, and used it by sacrificing it agains... Read more »
My opponent got a little greedy and saw a way to fork my queen, rook, and bishop. But he overlooked an attack on his king that led to mate. Always ask yourself, "can he check me and, if so, will it lead to mate?" Prepar... Read more »
Here is a game where I got my d-pawn all the way down to the 7th rank and used it to help checkmate my opponent. Black missed the mating combination as he tried to use his King to block my pawn. Read more »
billwallBill WallPalm Bay, FL, United States
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