Chess Teacher on February 1st, 2009

The game between Konstantin Aseev and Vladimir Bagirov played in Leningrad 1989 is one of the games that perfectly illustrates some of the main concepts of the endgame with bishops of opposite colour.

Continue reading about Aseev – Bagirov 1989

Chess Teacher on December 12th, 2008

Noah’s Ark Trap is not just an opening trap. The name is used for a lot of openings in which the white bishop is trapped on b3 by black pawns. Most of the games that contain this trap can be found in the Ruy Lopez.

Continue reading about Noah’s Ark Trap

Chess Teacher on November 16th, 2008

As a kind of followup on the lesson about the minor promotion I have added this lesson on the Lasker Trap in the Albin Countergambit. The underpromotion plays an important role in this trap and probably contributes to the success of it.
The Albin Countergambit starts with the moves 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 after [...]

Continue reading about The Lasker Trap

Chess Teacher on March 2nd, 2008

The Elephant Trap is a famous trap in the Queen’s Gambit Declined. I am not sure why it is called the Elephant Trap, but the name reminds me to an oil painting of Eddie William Powell. The picture above shows a part of this painting. More information about this and other paintings of this artist [...]

Continue reading about The Elephant Trap

Chess Teacher on February 16th, 2008

The Budapest Defence is a chess opening that starts with the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5. This is one of the rare gambit lines for Black, because almost all of the gambit lines are for White. It is rarely played at grandmaster level, but for the amateur it may be a nice way to immediately [...]

Continue reading about Kieninger trap