Endgame Lesson–Bishops of Opposite Color

Cheng – Jiganchine, 2013 (analysis)
 Black to move. Find the best move/plan (feel free to post it in the comments section).
Hint: Black wants to a create a pair of connected passed pawns, such that they would be impossible to blockade with the white king and bishop.

June Tactics - Power of the Rook on the 7th rank

Hector, J.    --    Bromann, T.
Whitsun GM 2014   2014.06.04     1-0     C11
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nbd7 6. Nf3 h6 7. Nxf6+ Nxf6 8. Bh4 c5 9. Bc4 cxd4 10. O-O Be7 11. Qe2 O-O 12. Rad1 Qb6 13. Ne5 Nd5 14. Bxd5 Bxh4 15. Bb3 Bf6 16. Rd3 a5 17. a4 Qc5 18. Ng4 Be7 19. c3 dxc3 20. Rxc3 Qb4 21. Bc2 Rd8 22. Ne5 Bf6 23. Rd3 Rxd3 24. Qxd3 Qb6 25. Rd1 Kf8 26. Ng4 Bg5 27. Qh7 f5 28. Ne5 Bf6

White to move

Solution: in a Video or Ebook

June Tactics - Ponkratov - Galliamova - Unexpected Rook sacrifice

Ponkratov, P.    --    Galliamova, A.
36th Nezhmetdinov Mem 2014   2014.06.05     1-0     B80
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Be7 7. g4 h6 8. Bg2 Nc6 9. h3 O-O 10. Nf3 Rb8 11. g5 hxg5 12. Nxg5 b5 13. f4 b4 14. Ne2 d5 15. e5 Nh7 16. h4 f6 17. Qd3 f5 18. Bd2 a5 19. Qg3 Bc5 20. Bf3 Qe8 21. Qg2 Nd4 22. Nxd4 Bxd4 23. Rh3 Bxb2 24. Rb1 Bd4 25. Rg3 Rb7 26. Nxh7 Kxh7 27. Rg5 Qc6 28. Rh5+ Kg8 29. Qg6 Bd7 30. Rh6 Rf7 31. Bh5 Be8 32. Rb3 Qxc2 33. Qh7+ Kf8 34. Qh8+ Ke7

White to move

Solution: in a Video or Ebook

Chess Tactics of the Month - June 2014 - Fedoseev - Vorobiov

Fedoseev, Vl3    --    Vorobiov, E.
67th ch-RUS HL 2014   2014.06.05     1-0     B30
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. d3 Ne7 6. Qe2 d5 7. h4 a5 8. h5 a4 9. c4 f6 10. h6 Ng6 11. exd5 cxd5 12. cxd5 Qxd5 13. Nc3 Qc6 14. Be3 gxh6 15. O-O-O e5 16. Bxh6 Bxh6+ 17. Rxh6 Kf7 18. Nh4 Nxh4 19. Qh5+ Kg7 20. Qxh4 Bf5 21. Nd5 Bg6 22. Ne7 Qe8

White to move

Solution: in a Video or Ebook, or full game below:

Chess Tactics of the Month - Veselin Topalov - Alexander Grischuk, Stavanger 2014

Topalov, V.    --    Grischuk, A.
2nd Norway Chess 2014   2014.06.04     0-1     B90
1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 7. Bc1 Nf6 8. h3 e5 9. Nb3 Be6 10. Be3 Be7 11. f4 exf4 12. Bxf4 Nc6 13. Qe2 Nd7 14. O-O-O Nce5 15. Nd5 Bxd5 16. Rxd5 O-O 17. Kb1 Qc7 18. Rd1 Nb6 19. h4 Nec4 20. Rh3 Bf6 21. c3 Rfe8 22. Nd4 Qc5 23. Nf5 d5 24. e5 Bxe5 25. Qg4 g6 26. h5 Qf2 27. Nh6+ Kg7 28. Bc1 f5 29. Qf3 Qxf3 30. Rxf3 Rad8 31. g4 d4 32. hxg6 hxg6 33. Rfd3 Nd5 34. cxd4 Bf4 35. Bxf4 Nxf4 36. Rf3

 Black to move

Solution: in a Video or Ebook

Free Tactics Ebook on Kobo – until August 9th

Best Combinations – April 2014 book is now free for more than a week in the Kobo bookstore.

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From the book description:

This publication is a collection of over 50 best combinations played by strong chess players in tournaments that took place in April 2014. To see the solution for the combination - go to the next page in your e-reader.

The highlight of April 2014 was the Vugar Gashimov Memorial held in Shamkir, Azerbaijan. It was won by the World Champion Magnus Carlsen, who despite losing two games, scored 6.5/10. Caruana was second with 5.5 points.

The other major tournaments this month were the Women's Rapid and Blitz World Championships held in Khanty-Mansiysk, which were won by Kateryna Lagno and Anna Muzychuk respectively. Earlier that month Khanty-Mansiysk also hosted the Women's FIDE Grand Prix tournament, won by Hou Yifan, so April was truly a month of Women's chess in that city.