The Chess Angle

This episode is our Season 8 Finale! Neal will be taking an extended end-of-year break and will return with Season 9 in January 2025. This week, we continue our discussion on chess teaching with a focus on materials, resources, and essential concepts for developing players. Referenced Resources and Materials: Chess.com Chessable Practical Chess Exercises The Amateur's Mind Winning Chess Tactics Winning Chess Strategies Jeff Coakley books (red and green) Pandolfini's Endgame Course Openings: Starting Out series by Everyman Chess Referenced Chess Concepts for Developing Players: General board vision and not hanging pieces Address gross blunders Basic mates with the heavy pieces (but arguably, don’t worry about mate with the Bishop and Knight) Basic mating patterns: back rank mate, Anastasia’s mate, Epaulette’s mate, Smothered mate, etc. Lots of mate-in-1 and mate-in-2 exercises  Stalemate Basic tactical themes (pins, forks, skewers, overloaded piece, etc.) 3-move combinations Basic opening principles Basic middlegame & positional ideas (minor pieces, pawn structure, space, initiative, King safety, files and squares). Things like “rooks belong on open files,” “Knights prefer closed positions,” “Queen and Knight is a lethal attacking combination” Basic endgame ideas (King and pawn vs. King, the opposition, square of the pawn, triangulation, outflanking, rooks behind passed pawns, passed pawn tactics, rook and pawn endings, opposite colored bishop endings, Queen vs. pawn on the 7th, etc. 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee

What are the qualities of a good chess coach? How can one become a chess teacher? How should lessons be organized and scheduled? This episode is Part One of Two about chess teaching from both the teacher and student point of view. This week we focus more on the former. We also cover the following topics: Annotating your own games Is there a "rating ceiling" no matter how hard one works to improve? Can you take notes during an OTB tournament game? How to find time to play OTB games as a busy adult Referenced: How to Reassess Your Chess, 4th Ed. (Amazon) Ep. #15: When It's Your Turn to Move Ep. #124: Are Amateur Players Qualified to Coach Chess? 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee The Amazon link above is an affiliate link. Qualifying purchases help support the podcast at no additional cost to you.

This week, we share our thoughts about online chess cheating. We believe it is rampant, while the online servers seem to downplay the amount of cheating taking place. We hypothesize that cheaters are using specific methods in an attempt to avoid detection, and we created nicknames for these players. We discuss the following cheating personalities and more: Larry "Long Pause" Sal "Smooth Moves" Oliver "Obvious Recapture" Donald "Decoy Move" Peter "Perfect Attack" Orlando "Only When Needed" David "Deliberate Early Blunder" Referenced: Long Island Chess Club YouTube Channel (instructional videos for busy adult club players - still a work in progress...) 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee  

This week, Neal discusses attacking play for the amateur player. Arguably, club players should approach attacks differently than titled players. This episode is divided into three segments: Listener Mailbag (elderly advice, withdrawing from tourneys, improvement realities) Does US Chess appreciate its local tournament directors? (opinion piece) 7 attacking tips for the club player Referenced: The Seven Deadly Chess Sins (Amazon) Chess for Tigers (Amazon) 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee The Amazon links above are affiliate links. Qualifying purchases help support the podcast at no additional cost to you.

Beating or drawing higher-rated opponents stems from winning the psychological game, since attempting to outplay them based solely on chess skill usually fails. We also discuss the following: Stop doing THIS and your rating will increase Opening choices Queenside castling: many forget to follow up with THIS move Why the Queen's Indian Defense is so powerful at the club level The "correct" time to consider offering a draw Playing & directing in the same event Game Referenced: 2013 vs. Neal (G/90;d10) 1. c4 b6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. d4 Bb7 4. a3 e6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Nf3 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Qc2 Nxc3 10. Qxc3 Be4 11. Nd2 Bb7 12. O-O-O d5 13. Kb1 dxc4 14. Bxc4 Nd7 15. f3 c5 16. Nb3 Rac8 17. d5 exd5 18. Bxd5 Bxd5 19. Rxd5 Nf6 20. Rd2 Rfd8 21. Rhd1 Rxd2 22. Qxd2 h6 23. e4 Qe6 24. Nc1 c4 25. Ne2 Qe5 26. Qd6 Qb5 27. Nc3 Qg5 28. e5 Qf5+ 29. Ka1 Ne8 30. Qd7 Qxd7 31. Rxd7 Nc7 32. Ne4 Ne6 33. Kb1 Rc7 1/2-1/2 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee

James Nidds is a 58-year-old amateur player and LI Chess Club regular rated 1808 (US Chess) at the time of this recording. He offers a great deal of advice and perspective on chess improvement as an adult. Talking points include the following & more: Beginners should focus on these THREE things The FOUR characteristics all good players possess How to handle opponents who play aggressively Why the 2000 Kasparov-Kramnik match changed James' approach permanently A sample chess study regimen James' belief that electronic training tools are more effective than books Why the idea that amateurs "should not spend too much time on openings" may be inaccurate for some players Referenced: Viktor Korchnoi - Sofia Polgar Speed Chess Match 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee

🎯 Please SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel! After much planning and preparation, you're excited to play in a 6-round weekend event, but find yourself 0-3 heading into round 4 and feeling frustrated and dejected. Should you finish out the tournament or withdraw? We take a look at this and more. Topics covered: Weekend vs. club events Why tournament conditions favor stronger players Should you play "up?" The "sunk cost fallacy" and tournament psychology How to respond to "tilt" Referenced: The instructional videos below are from the LI Chess Club YouTube Channel which is in the early stages. All videos feature positions from amateur games and cover themes and ideas you will actually face on a regular basis. The goal will be to have videos that are approx. 7-12 min. in length so that busy adults will be able to consume them.  3 Tactics That BOTH Players Miss Trapped Piece Tactics Players Rated 1000: Common Errors ✔ FIDE Rating Deflation Adjustment (chess.com article) ✔ Ep. 99: How to Approach Chess Study as a Beginner/Adv. Beginner ✔ Ep. 71: NM James Altucher 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee

🎯 Please SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel! What are the qualifications to be a "good" chess player? This week's episode is a reaction to the Reddit post When Can You Tell Someone You Are Good at Chess? We cover the following and more: Should you tell your opponent he forgot to press his clock? How to play against kids The dangers of "coffee house" chess Is it the hours you put in or what you put in the hours? Referenced: The World's Most Instructive Amateur Game Book (chess.com forum) The World's Most Instructive Amateur Game Book (lichess study) 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee

This week's offering is a dedicated Listener Mailbag episode. We cover the following and more: Using "inflection points" to improve Does using a chess engine "turn off your brain?" Should you study with an amateur chess coach? Is rating deflation real? Leave a voicemail message! 🎙 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee

This week's episode is a response to the Reddit post What are some of the most advanced and incomprehensible concepts in chess? At the time of this recording, there were over 150 responses. The following concepts, among others, were frequently cited as being difficult to understand: Pawn play En passant Rook and pawn endings K & Q vs. K & R Initiative vs. material Piece coordination When to fianchetto Piece sacrifices 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee

Most players agree that slower time controls are beneficial for chess growth, but what about blitz chess? Can online blitz chess help you improve? Are certain blitz time controls better than others? Should you always play with an increment? What about bullet chess? In this episode, Neal shares the results of an informal online chess experiment where he played several blitz games at various time controls.  Referenced: Simple Chess (Amazon) Winning Chess Strategies (Amazon) Ep. 113: Stop Dropping Pawns! 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee The Amazon links above are affiliate links. Qualifying purchases help support the podcast at no additional cost to you.  

Your opponent has a better position or plays a move that catches you by surprise. Rather than keep your composure while patiently analyzing, you become frustrated, despondent, and convince yourself your position and/or your opponent's apparent threat is worse than it is. As a result, you bang out an unnecessary (and weakening) defensive move. Sound familiar? You just played a "panic move." This week we take a look at this common chess ailment. Game Referenced: 1900 vs. Neal (G/90;d10) 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Qc2 Nxc3 9. Qxc3 Be4 10. b3 d6 11. Bb2 f5 12. Rad1 Bf6 13. Ne5 Bxg2 14. Kxg2 Qe8 15. Qf3 c6 16. Nd3 Na6 17. Nf4 g6 18. h4 e5 19. Nh3 e4 20. Qe3 Rd8 21. Rh1 c5  22. h5 cxd4 23. Bxd4 Bxd4 24. Rxd4 Rf6 25. hxg6 Qxg6 26. Nf4 Qf7 27. Rh5 Kh8 28. Qc3 Qg7 29. Rd5 Rdf8 30. Qd4 Nc5 31. Rxd6 Rxd6 32. Qxd6 Rf6 33. Qd8+ Rf8 34. Ng6+ Qxg6 35. Qxf8+ 1-0 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee

For club-level chess players and adult improvers, an argument can be made that amateur games are significantly more instructive than Grandmaster games. Amateur games feature themes, ideas, mistakes, and erroneous thought processes that are highly instructive, while the ideas in Grandmaster games are often esoteric and difficult to process. Simply put, amateur games are ripe with instructional value. This week's episode is a review of The World's Most Instructive Amateur Game Book (Amazon) by NM Dan Heisman. It is a collection of 30 deeply annotated amateur games. The written prose and explanations are outstanding. We cover the following and much more: Poor time management Erroneous thought processes The dangers of prioritizing strategy over safety Castling errors Why discovery and removal-of-the-guard tactics are often missed The "hand waving" error Poor defensive choices 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee The Amazon link above is an affiliate link. Qualifying purchases help support this podcast at no additional cost to you.

Developing tournament players are often told the following: study tons of Master games, drill tactics, review mate-in-one puzzles, and do not spend more than 10% of your study time on openings. Is this advice accurate, somewhat accurate, or misguided? This week, we take a look at the pros and cons of common chess study activities. We cover: Offense-only exercises Playing vs. studying: What's the correct ratio? Analyzing with a chess engine Opening study: How much is required? Scaffolding GM game collections Online chess Referenced: Practical Chess Exercises (Amazon) The Amateur's Mind (Amazon) 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee The Amazon links above are affiliate links. Qualifying purchases help support this podcast at no additional cost to you.

Welcome to Season 8! Neal begins by discussing the state of the podcast and some harsh truths about chess improvement that are arguably not mentioned enough. The final segment is a discussion of the King's Indian Attack, an easy-to-learn, theoretically sound system-opening for White after 1. Nf3 or 1. e4. It can be played against any Black defense, but is particularly effective against the French, Sicilian, and Caro-Kann.  Referenced: Why Play the King's Indian Attack? How to Play the King's Indian Attack King's Indian Attack - The Simplest Chess Opening for White (YouTube) Sample Lines: 1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Re1 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c6 4.d3 Bg4 5.O-O Nbd7 6.Nbd2 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.0-0 e5 5.d3 Nf6 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee

This week's episode is our Season 7 Finale (Season 8 coming soon...). In this light, laid-back, rapid-fire episode, Neal reacts to the enjoyable chess.com article 7 Hot Takes That Are Just True by Pedro Pinhata, a Sr. Digital Content Writer for chess.com. Mr. Pinhata's 7 Hot Takes: Stalemate Being A Draw Is Awesome Chess.com Should Come With A Doomsday Device Online Chess Is Better Than Over-The-Board People Who Play 1+0 Bullet Are Not OK 1.d4 Is Better Than 1.e4 The London Is The Best Chess Opening You Should Never "Never Resign" 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee

This week, Neal discusses another instructive tournament game. We cover the following and more: "Frustration" moves Attacking the fianchetto pawn structure When those h3/h6 pawn moves are good (or bad) Moving the same piece twice early on Useless one-move attacks Bishop vs. Knight Game Referenced: Neal vs. 1697 (G/90;d10) 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 b6 4. h3 Bb7 5. Nf3 d6 6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nbd2 Nbd7 9. c3 Re8 10. a4 a5 11. Qc2 Rc8 12. Qd1 h6 13. Re1 Bf8 14. Bh2 e5 15. dxe5 dxe5 16. Nc4 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 e4 18. Be2 Nc5 19. Ne5 Qxd1 20. Rexd1 Bd6 21. Nc6 Bxh2+ 22. Kxh2 Re6 23. Nd4 Rd6 24. Nf5 Rxd1 25. Rxd1 Kf8 26. Rd4 Ne6 27. Rd2 Rd8 28. Rxd8+ Nxd8 29. Nd4 Nb7 30. Nb3 Nd7 31. f3 exf3 32. gxf3 Ndc5 33. Nxc5 Nxc5 34. Bb5 Ke7 35. b4 Ne6 36. Kg3 Kd6 37. Bc4 c6 38. f4 f6 39. e4 axb4 40. cxb4 c5 41. Bxe6 Kxe6 42. bxc5 bxc5 43. Kf3 c4 44. Ke3 g5 45. fxg5 hxg5 46. Kd4 c3 47. Kxc3 Kd6 48. a5 Kc5 49. a6 Kb6 1-0 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee

This week, Neal begins by diving into the listener mailbag. This is followed by an instructive analysis of a recent OTB tournament game. We cover the following and more: A common piece of chess coaching advice that is often more idealistic than realistic The Pirc Defense (1. e4 d6) Play in the center Queen's Indian Defense Exchange sequences Rook and pawn endings The OTB thought process Game Referenced: 1831 vs. Neal (G/90;d10) 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Qc2 Nxc3 9. Qxc3 Be4 10. Nd2 Bxg2 11. Kxg2 d5 12. e4 c5 13. cxd5 exd5 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. Nb3 d4 16. Qc4 Qe7 17. Nxc5 bxc5 18. f3 Nd7 19. b4 Rac8 20. bxc5 Qxc5 21. Qxc5 Nxc5 22. Ba3 Rfd8 23. Bxc5 Rxc5 24. Rad1 Kf8 25. Rd2 Ke7 26. Rfd1 Ke6 27. f4 f6 28. Kf3 Ra5 29. Rxd4 Rxd4 30. Rxd4 Rxa2 1/2-1/2 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee

Like it or not, the clock is just as much a part of tournament chess as the board and pieces. Poor clock management is a consistent problem for many players. We cover: Why clock management is essential for tournament success Common causes of time-trouble (and how to avoid it) The dangers of perfectionism and obsessing over the "best" move An interesting trick you can use to get your opponent into time trouble Referenced: Ep. 16: "Chess for Tigers" Ep. 29: "The Seven Deadly Chess Sins" Chess for Tigers (Amazon) The Seven Deadly Chess Sins (Amazon) 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee The Amazon links above are affiliate links. Qualifying purchases help support this podcast at no additional cost to you.

You hang one pawn, then eight moves later you hang another, and then your opponent easily wins the game while you're still processing where you went wrong.. This is all too common at the club level. In addition, Neal dives into the Listener Mailbag. Game Referenced: Neal vs. 1490 (G/90;d10) 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Bf5 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 Bd6 5. Bg3 Nf6 6. Bxf5 exf5 7. Qf3 Qd7 8. Bxd6 Qxd6 9. c3 Qd7 10. Qe2 O-O 11. Nf3 Nc6 12. O-O Rfe8 13. Qc2 Qd6 14. Qxf5 Ne7 15. Qc2 Ng6 16. Nbd2 Ng4 17. Rae1 Re6 18. h3 Nf6 19. c4 c5 20. cxd5 Qxd5 21. b3 Ne4 22. Nxe4 Rxe4 23. Qxc5 Qd8 24. Rc1 h6 25. Rc2 b6 26. Qc7 Qe7 27. Qxe7 Rxe7 28. Rfc1 1-0 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links:  Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee