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

Welcome to my 3rd Beginner Chess Openings Series on the Slav Defense. My 1st and 2nd Beginner Chess Openings Series featured the “Stonewall Attack” and the “French Defense.” These three openings represent a comprehensive opening repertoire for the beginner chess player. Examining the big picture of this beginner opening system, you will find that the general ideas and pawn formations are very similar – enabling the beginner chess player to focus more on understanding general [...]

Mark Bluvshtein began his journey to Canadian chess record-breaking by moving from Russia to Israel at the age of 5, and finally immigrating to Canada at the age of 11. Bluvshtein didn’t waste much time, in the same year becoming the youngest Canadian chess player to achieve the National Master title at age 11. Bluvshtein continued dominating the chess scene, becoming the youngest Canadian to achieve the International Master title at age 13. In 2004, [...]

Carlsen played d4 and Shirov’s response came as no surprise as he played the active Meran Defense. Carlsen’s early 13. Nd4!? provoked a slower response from Shirov, beginning his time-trouble issues with 16 minutes spent on 13. …e5. Carlsen’s strange and rapid play began to immediately affect Shirov, as he spent a costly 43 minutes on 16. …Bc5. Carlsen played extremely quickly and strove to create maximum tension and complications to take advantage of Shirov’s [...]

Magnus Carlsen Maintains Top Position Carlsen has 2.5/3 points after today’s fighting draw the ever-dangerous Alexander Morozevich.  Carlsen attempted to play a Grunfeld, however had to switch gears after Moro’s 4. Bg5.  Carlsen emerged from the opening with a space advantage and pawn storming attack against white’s king.  While Morozevich is reknown for his attacking prowess, he is also an experienced and cool-headed defender.  He reduced black’s pressure by sacrificing a pawn with 33. d6!? [...]

The 44th Biel International Chess Festival is taking July 18-29 in Biel, Switzerland.  This 10 round, Double Round Robin super-tournament features many of the world’s best players – boasting an average FIDE Rating of 2708.  The highest rated player in world – Magnus Carlsen – is dominating with 2/2, while the experienced Morozevich chases with 1.5/2.  The organizers have chosen to use a different scoring system to entice more combative chess, so a Win = [...]

Sigeman 2011 ended yesterday night with a 3-way tie for first: Wesley So, Anish Giri, and Hans Tikkanen.  Giri and Tikkanen faced off today, with Giri attempting to win the tournament outright by playing an aggressive variation of the Grunfeld as black.  Giri sacrificed a pawn with 11. …b6!? to gain counterplay on the open c-file, however Tikkanen was able to neutralize black’s initiative through multiple exchanges to achieve a R+N endgame with an extra [...]

The Sigeman Chess Tournament 2011 has certainly been entertaining this year, with prodigy Anish Giri leading the field with Hans Tikkanen going into the last round.  Superstar Alexei Shirov is unfortunately continuing his slump with 2/4 points against lower-rated opposition. In yesterday’s round, Giri played 111 moves against Jonny Hector – attempting to grind down Giri. However, Hector was able to hold the draw in a pawn down rook ending. Shirov was unable to create [...]