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There are a number of exciting games at the 2010 Chess Olympiad. One of the problems with so many games is that there are often masterpieces or tactical flourishes going unnoticed. Jamaica’s Shane Matthews is known as “The Magician” in his home island and the seven-time national champion showed that he still has a bit [...]

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A good diversity of positions here… endgame tactics, queen sacrifices, king hunts! A usual game involving Emory Tate but this one features a classic game with Maurice Ashley! Also John Porter has the “game of a lifetime”. Amon Simutowe has a key victory enroute to his 2nd place finished in the 2000 World Junior. Enjoy! [...]

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More Chess Crackers for your enjoyment. The solution to the position below is hard to spot but pure beauty. GM Maurice Ashley certainly spotted it! IM Pontus Carlsson has a nice one against GM Vasilios Kotronias. A few months later, he was awarded the GM title. I grudingly threw in one of my wild games [...]

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More Chess Crackers for your enjoyment. This set are positions from IM Michael Schleifer’s games. A couple of them are not very difficult, but there are some very instructive ideas here. Enjoy! IM Michael Schleifer – IM Mark Bluvshtein (2002 CMA Futurity, Montreal, Canada) White to Move (after 19…Rc8xc1) More Chess Crackers!

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There was an interesting (albeit erroneous) document circulating on the Kenyan Chess Forum that was highlighted here yesterday. I removed the story after GM Amon Simutowe stated that it was simply one of many data entry errors in Libya. The report illustrated a game from the 2009 African Championships between Simutowe (Zambia) and IM Khaled [...]

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IM Amon Simutowe – FM Patrick Van Hootlandt 2009 Cappelle La Grande White to Move (after 33…Qf8xa8) More Chess Crackers!

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Following are some new crackers for you to munch on. These are a bit more subtle the previous sets, but still enjoyable. I have added one of my positions. Not my greatest game, but not bad. IM Watu Kobese – FM Norman Rogers 2001 Wilbert Paige Memorial White to Move (after 26…Bg7-f6) More Chess Crackers!

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February is “Black History Month” and while the celebration typically focuses on the same figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet Tubman and Jesse Owens, there are some forgotten heroes in our history. While there are many figures in sport who have made contributions, chess has often be overlooked in the Black community [...]

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More crackers to snack on! This month’s Olympiad edition brings fireworks. Botswana’s national champion Phemelo Khetho made quite an impression with his win over an IM from Indonesia, Sadikin Irwanto. He plays a slow and stodgy KIA, but builds up a lethal attack with a number of killer moves! Very difficult problem. FM Phemelo Khetho [...]

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More crackers to snack on! This month’s edition bring more excitement on the 64 squares. IM Emory Tate makes his usual contribution with a nice shot. Pontus Carlsson unfurls his fire-breathing Dragon to bring fire on the board. Cameo appearances by Jimmy Canty and Glenn Umstead round out the collection. IM Emory Tate – IM [...]

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Interesting set up puzzles this time. They are at various stages and different types of positions (closed and open). This tells us that it is always important to stay alert. The usual suspects (IM Emory Tate and GM Pontus Carlsson) are featured, but Uganda’s NM Grace Nsubuga and South Africa’s IM Watu Kobese made contributions. [...]

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I was looking through my game database and found a casual game I played long ago. The game took place in Chicago’s Hyde Park at an outdoor meeting spot called “Harper Square.” Chess players were later banned. My opponent had just played 27. Ne3-g4. Chicago’s Hyde Park, 1989 (Hyde Park player-Shabazz) Black to move and [...]

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If you haven’t been paying attention to coverage here at The Chess Drum, you may have missed these gems. OK… two of the solutions are from the usual suspects, IM Emory Tate and GM Pontus Carlsson. However, two of them are from two teenage girls who showed some creativity at the chess board, Jasmine Fermin [...]

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Here is an interesting position from an interesting Internet Chess Club (ICC) game. The 3-minute blitz game was between Zambian IM Amon Simutowe (Solomons) against Canadian IM Thomas Roussel-Roozman (Psychik) late last year. Solomons – Psychik ICC 3-minute blitz White to move and win! Here are the other Chess Crackers!

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A new version of “Chess Crackers” is up. In the bimonthly features, four positions are presented. In the future, I will present some selections from non-Master games. Although the puzzles from Masters emanate from better games, the tactical positions arising from any game can be instructive. I did include one this month of FM (now IM) [...]

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2007 Russian Final (Amonatov-Timofeev) White to move and win!

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Those of you following chess have no doubt seen Hikaru Nakamura’s queen sacrifice against Poland’s Michel Krasenkow. It was a thing of beauty and show the power of minor pieces on attack. This should put to rest questions about Nakamura’s strength. Below is the position after 21.Bxf6. Nakamura responded with 21…Qxf2+!! Yikes! The white king [...]

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Famous Position – if you’ve seen this before then don’t spoil it! Black to play and win!

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Lightning Tactics from Thin Air Black to move and win! Also try out the “Chess Crackers” from African Championships

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