In memory of Mark Taimanov - video with a famous combination against Karpov

A year after Mark Taimanov's passing - here is a tribute to his tactical vision!

Lichess game from 2017 03 24 - devastating double attack in Scotch 4 Knights

Video of the online game played on my phone;  for analysis - see  https://lichess.org/XLVPc4m0/white

Lichess game from 2017 03 22 - Pawn Race in the rook endgame

Online game played on my phone; for analysis - see https://lichess.org/eODwgzVonWbL

How to study chess tactics on your phone - best combinations of 2016 collection

This is a screencast from my smartphone, illustrating how to solve chess puzzles in the Kindle app, reading through an ebook  https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Chess-Combinations-November-Quarterly/dp/1520868243 that contains over 140 best combinations played by strong chess players in tournaments that took place in the fourth quarter of 2016. The highlights/arrows in the video are a bit clumsy, but they are obviously only there because there is now other way to point at things when making a video on the phone.

Learning from your mistakes - Lichess has best online chess features and is free!

This is a demo of the latest features of lichess. You can learn from your games immediately after playing them, review tactical mistakes, opening inaccuracies, all in the interactive training mode! I am very impressed with it so far.

Uhlvestad Variation in Two Knights Defence - Full Repertoire Video Tutorial

To wrap up the year of 2016, I have completed the video series dedicated to a full defense for Black against White's 4.Ng5 in the Two Knights Defense. The video covers material similar to what I included into my e-book "How to Study Chess Openings", which now also has an experimental paperback (print on demand) version. I believe the actual demonstration of walking through a full opening repertoire should nicely complement the book's suggestions for how to build your opening files (also see these 3 videos for the related software/data organization guide.)

Blast from the past - Carlsen outplays Karjakin in a tricky endgame - video

As Carlsen and Karjakin are battling out in New York this month, here is a good reminder of why Carlsen is considered the favourite - a game from 2013 that he won in good style:


This game and analysis is taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite color.

Building Chess Opening Repertoire - Video Tutorial

This is a 3-part tutorial for building a chess database with all your openings. The process is also described in my book "How to Study Chess Openings".


If you intend to store your opening preparation in a computer database, this method will save you a lot of time with a well tested approach.

Chess Games by Alexander Morozevich - video collection

Here is a collection of videos with Morozevich's best games and combinations. I have also written two ebooks about Morozevich and his combinations:
Attack with Alexander Morozevich - Selected Games and Best Combinations 
Counterattack with Alexander Morozevich




  

VIdeo - New Blog - Daily Chess Tactics from Most Recent Top Tournaments

http://chesspublisher.blogspot.com will help chessplayers to develop combination solving ability on a daily basis. The puzzles appear daily and you can take you time to figure out the solution and then see the answer by clicking on the question mark. You can also have these puzzles appear in your RSS reader by subscribing to the Daily Chess Tactics feed or you can follow it by email. Also available in Kindle format - http://goo.gl/D32wg0. More details also at http://roman-chess.blogspot.ca/2016/02/subscribe-to-new-blog-daily-chess.html .

Daily Chess Tactics from Most Recent Top Tournaments - Video Overview

http://chesspublisher.blogspot.com will help chessplayers to develop combination solving ability on a daily basis. The puzzles appear daily and you can take you time to figure out the solution and then see the answer by clicking on the question mark. You can also have these puzzles appear in your RSS reader by subscribing to the Daily Chess Tactics feed or you can follow it by email. Also available in Kindle format - http://goo.gl/D32wg0. 

Chess Game on ICC - Quick win against Philidor Defence

For your entertainment, here is a rather Quick win against Philidor Defence

Improve Chess Openings Now - Studying Rauzer Sicilian with Chess Positio...

This chess software review will show you how to learn and practice chess openings without risking rating points! More about Chess Position Trainer on my blog: http://roman-chess.blogspot.ca/search/label/Software%20-%20Chess%20Position%20Trainer

Best Chess Combinations of 2015 - Part 1 Screencast

This is a preview  (NO SOUND) of the ebook with 10 seconds per each chess puzzle -  Feel free to pause the video and take longer to figure out the solution if you need to. Feedback on the puzzles as well as on the format of either the video or the ebook would be much appreciated.

Training Tactics with Chess Position Trainer - Best Combinations of 2014

Here is another way to study tactics - via Chess Position Trainer. The Combinations are taken from my ebook "Best Combinations of August 2014".

Loss of a Chess Game - Classic Trojan Horse in the Endgame

A good example of why one should never ever play with a flag hanging; "trojan horse" (a knight is a 'horse' in russian chess terminology) occurs around 34:00 where I have two bishops, attempt to trap opponent's knight on 'b1', abandon my own pawns on the kingisde, lose them all, and the game. Computer analysis at   http://en.lichess.org/3kP5lrXd

Blast From the Past – Tactics from Chess World Cup

This Friday, September 11, 2015, the Chess World Cup begins in Baku, perhaps main chess event of the year. Two years ago, the World Cup in Tromso produced a lot of great games, to review some of them I invite you to checkout the combinations from that tournament that I covered in my ebook "Play Like a Grandmaster - Tactics from Chess World Cup 2013” – it is available on Amazon and on Kobo.

  

Join a Thousand Other Chess Fans

Recently ChessVideoGuy Youtube channel hit a milestone that I had anticipated for a while, but was pleased to see finally happen, as the thousandth person subscribed to my channel.

Let me know if there are any particular topics you’d like me to cover in future videos, otherwise, just feel free to watch existing almost 200 videos I made over the last decade, and … subscribe.

Setting Up Chess Goals - 2015

Setting up goals in chess or in anything can be eye opening if you've never done this before; it can also be therapeutic as it makes us more realistically consider what we can and cannot do in the near future. As time passes, goals are the measuring sticks that allow to see how much of what we set out to do – we are actually achieving. Not everyone does best with this paradigm, but for obsessive compulsive types – there is no use resisting this idea of being to set objectives and achieve them, or at least re-calibrate from time to time and reset those goals.
 I have attempted to have several chess-related goals for the next year that I think are both reasonable and appropriate for where I am in my life now (there is a place for chess in it, but I want to free up space for other things too). So here are my goals for 2015 (and maybe slightly beyond it):

Chess Improvement

• Achieve a rating of 2400 in one of the ICC categories (blitz/active/etc)
  
• Related to the above – I want/need to play at least 100 standard rated games on ICC in the same year
  
• Improve my confidence in the opening with the Black pieces (avoid quick losses or unpleasant positions due to being unfamiliar with the opening)
  
• This one is a challenge because it is hard to quantify what I am trying to achieve here
• Solve about 1000 tactical puzzles, roughly 3 puzzles a day
• Qualify for the provincial championship
• The qualification requirement has gone up to 10 rated games a year, so this one has just become that much harder

These goals won't be easy to reach, they will require continuous focus and addition of some regular habits:

• solving puzzles whenever I have a couple of spare minutes
• improve ability to focus during blitz games, as without focus - the rating objectives are clearly not achievable, not in the next year, not ever
• better planning of other activities so that I find the time to play a couple of half hour games every week

In addition to the usual desire of expressing thoughts in writing, another reason for sharing this set of goals is that as a reader of this blog – you might help me with quite a few of these goals, while also looking at chess study materials that you might have missed before.

I find chess improvement difficult without frequent reflection, and it currently it takes the form of writing on this blog, and making ebooks. [In my head] this has taken a life of its own, and lead me to a set of goals in Chess Publishing:

• Make my chess materials available on 4 platforms or more. Currently I cover 3, so I need maintain and improve on this
  • Amazon
    
  • Youtube
    
  • Kobo
  
  
• Have at least 10 additional Amazon reviews on my books in the next year
  • I have several reviews so far, so if you’ve read my books or their previews – please feel free to add your comments, on amazon or here, as feedback is what helps everyone do better
• Reach 1000 Youtube subscribers
  • After 7 years of posting, and with my channel at around 180 videos - I am now sitting at 900+ subscribers. Subscribe to get notifications of new videos!
    
  • 
  
  
• Publish all previously written/drafted books
• I have about 3 books that are nearly ready to be published, but still have that remaining 10-15% percent of polish that is still clearly required

If you've read this far, maybe you'd want to leave your comments:

• What are your chess goals?
• Do you find it useful to set goals in something that is really a hobby for 99% of those of us that call ourselves chessplayers? 
• When your results improve - is that a result of setting goals, or a natural part of studying the game?

Recommended for Watching: Magnus Carlsen Reviews World Championship Game 2 Victory Over Anand

I followed the Anand-Carlsen  struggle rather closely, especially their first match, so it was interesting to see one of the games from Carlsen's perspective: