Executive Director’s Blog

Matan here. Hello and thank you for taking a look at our new blog! I’ll be regularly sharing some of my thoughts on chess and teaching here. The most current post will always appear on the upper left so if you would like to read my thoughts in date order, start at the bottom.

Plans for both sides in the Carlsbad Structure

We left off with this position, and the task of finding a move for Black. Meister played 15…Nd6. Because of the lichess live

Carlsbad Pawn Structure in the World 65+

In addition to the 50+ World Team Championship featured in earlier posts, there is also a 65+ section going on. The US didn’t

Coste-Kaidanov: Missed drawing chances.

Last time, I asked you how White could make a draw from the following position: There are actually a couple paths to safety.

Coste-Kaidanov: OCB Ending

Rd. 1 of tournaments, both individual and team, often produce mismatches on paper. The Americans at the World Senior outrated their opponents by

Pawn Sacrifice, Dark Square Control

We started our discussion of Novikov-Jacimovic from this position, with White to play: White decided to win a pawn with 10.Bxf4? exf4 11.Qxf4,

Novikov-Jacimovic: Solution, Game Continuation

Last time, I asked you what you would play for White in this position: I’m going to tell you the engine’s top three

Novikov-Jacimovic: Opening Decision

Today we are going to focus on an interesting moment from the opening of a different game in the USA-North Macedonia match. This

Ehlvest-Nedev: Conclusion

Welcome to our last installment in analysis of Ehlvest-Nedev from the World Senior Championship. We will finish analyzing some variations that remained hidden

Ehlvest-Nedev: Hidden in the Notes

Refreshing your memory: Our study of Ehlvest-Nedev started from this position. Ehlvest played the fantastic breakthrough 20.e5!. I asked you to try to