Chess Tutoring, Chess Coaching, Chess Classes with NM Will Stewart

The Opocensky Variation of the Sicilian Najdorf with 6. Be2 remains one of the most commonly played lines for white against the Najdorf. In Fischer’s time in the 1950s and 1960s, more aggressive variations such as the Fischer-Sozin Attack, the 6. Bg5 Main Line, and the 6. f4 Amsterdam Variation were favored over the quieter Opocensky Variation with 6. Be2. However sufficient sources of counterplay were identified for black against the sharper continuations, and in [...]

The 2012 World Chess Championship is taking place in Moscow, Russia on May 11-30 and features two of the best players in the game today: Defending World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand (India) and World Chess Championship Challenger Boris Gelfand (Israel). These two seasoned veterans in the chess elite are fighting it out for a prize fund of $2.5 million dollars (the winner will receive $1.5 million and the loser will receive $1 million). While Anand [...]

The debate about taking online chess classes vs in-person chess lessons has really picked up steam in the last 10-15 years as technology has enabled a very legitimate virtual environment for teaching chess. The invention of Skype that allows Free phone calls via a computer platform has changed the entire atmosphere for online chess classes, as now you don’t have to worry about long-distance charges or other distractions and you can focus entirely on the [...]

The Kings Chess Tournament 2012 is shaping up to an incredibly entertaining event, scheduled to take place June 23rd – July 4th in Medias, Romania. The event will feature many of the world’s strongest chess players, promising a clash of the titans with an all-star guest list. The world’s highest rated chess player, Magnus Carlsen, has already confirmed his appearance and will look to repeat on his 2011 first place finish at the 5th King’s [...]

While Magnus Carlsen has been busy making a sprint towards 2900, one Grandmaster has nearly been able to keep pace – Levon Aronian. Aronian is widely regarded as one of the most creative players in today’s world of chess, consistently creating dynamically imbalanced positions very early in the opening. Aronian’s energetic style and accurate technique has propelled him to his current standing as the #2 highest rated chess player in the world at 2825 FIDE, [...]

It seems like promoting chess has always been an uphill battle, requiring some type of catalyst to maintain the game’s popularity. Going back to the 1950s and 1960s, there was Bobby Fischer and the Western World against the Soviet Union. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was the changing of the Soviet guard amidst a string of incredibly hard-fought matches between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. In the 1990s Kasparov dominated the game, however he [...]

Levon Aronian dominated the field in a star-studded Tata Steel super-tournament, taking clear first by a full point over closest rivals Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, and Teimour Radjabov. Aronian played dazzlingly creative chess in Wijk Aan Zee, consistently creating aggressive complications to pressure his battered opponents in dynamically imbalanced positions. Aronian built his lead early in the tournament and forced his constant competitor Magnus Carlsen to chase him in the 2nd half of the Tata [...]