Attacking Chess Puzzle of the Week - 2011-03-17

It has been a while since I posted a puzzle of the week.  I will provide the diagram and a FEN string this week and then provide the answer next week.  Feel free to discuss the problem and talk through it with everyone.  The next week I will provide the answer to the puzzle and then another puzzle to solve.


Studying chess tactics and puzzles is a very important step in learning chess and it will help all levels of players increase their skills and abilities.

White to move

FEN : 3r2k1/pR3p2/2n3pQ/2Bp4/P2P3K/5R1P/4r1q1/8

Attacking Chess Puzzle of the Week - 07-23-2010

Last Weeks puzzle:

Solution: 1.Nh5 Qb2 2.d4 Qxd4 3.Rxd4 with 4.Qxg7++

An easy one this week.

FEN - rnbb1rk1/3q1pn1/p2p3Q/1ppN4/4P2P/5N2/PPP1BPP1/3R1RK1 w - - 0 1

Attacking Chess Puzzle of the week - 2010-07-15

Last weeks puzzle:

Solution:1. Qxf8 Kxf8 2. Bh6+ Kg8 3.Re8 ++

This weeks puzzle:

Attacking Chess Opening Overview - Reti Gambit

Overview
This gambit against the French is not very well know and has not had a large amount of popularity.  It is slowly gaining players who like and - and there are some GMs are also playing it.  It is a fun chess opening that is played against the French defense.  The most recent book on it was written by Thomas Johansson and is called The Fascinating Reti Gambit.

History
The gambit was first played by Reti just before he switched from 1.e4 to playing 1.Nf3.  Sad to say that he did not continue playing the variation and it was fairly obscure for a long time.  In the 90s a number of GMs starting playing the variation.  Most players of the French Defense look down on it and most books only give a line on it and say Black as equality or an advantage.

Moves
The gambit starts out like this.  1.e4 e6 2. b3

This takes Black out of his standard French play and White ends up playing a gambit.  The main line plays as follows:

2... d5 3. Bb2 dxe4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Qe2 Bb4 6.O-O-O Qe7 7.Kb1 Ndb7 8.g4 O-O 9. g5 Nd5 10. Nxe4

Common Tactics

1. Opposite side castling - this often leads to crazy attacks where White and Black try to mate each other first.
2. g4-g5 - This attack often forces the Black knight to a less than ideal location.
3. Bg2 will give White more influence in the center and often wins back the sacrificed pawn.

Summary
The main purpose behind the gambit is to throw Black into a tactical game instead of the many quiet games that they can have playing the French defense. The game is much more open than the standard French defense, and with opposite side castling it is sure to have both sides attacking. The Reti Gambit is very interesting and the games are full of interesting tactical ideas.

Attacking Chess Puzzle of the week - 2010-07-08

Answer to last weeks puzzle:

1. Rxg6 hxg6 2. Qxg6 Bg7 3. Bxg7++

This weeks puzzle:

Attacking Chess Puzzle of the week - 2010-07-01

Answer to last weeks Puzzle:

1...Bxh3 starts an attack on White's king.  If White ignores the threat then Black will followup with 2...Bxg2++.  If White plays 2. gxh3 then 2...Qxh3 3. Qh2 Qxh2++.

White would try sacrificing his Queen for a Rook and Bishop - but this failed because the Rook on d1 is hanging.  2. Qxf2 Qxf2 3. gxh3 Qf3+ with a fork on the King and the Rook.

2. Qh2 is another try but it fails to 2...Rxg2 3. Qxd6 Rxa2 and the discovered check wins.

This weeks puzzle:

FEN : 3r1rkb/4qp1p/p5p1/1p3Q1N/8/PBP3R1/1P1p2PP/R5K1 w - - 0 1

Attacking Chess Tactical Puzzle of the week

Studying tactics is a great way to improve ones game. I will be studying them about an hour and a half a week and I will share ones that I enjoy. I will post the tactic and then one week later after everyone has had a chance to discuss what the answers are I will post the answer with the next weeks tactic. Hopefully this will prove to be fun and interactive. If anyone has a tactic from their own game or one they like feel free to send it to me and I will share it.

Below is a tactic that I found interesting during the last week.

Here is the FEN string for those who wish to import it.

FEN: 2b2Nk1/7p/p2n2p1/1pNP4/7q/2PB3P/P4rP1/3R2QK b - - 0 1

Creating a Chess Study Plan

In order to improve my chess I need to spend time each week studying the various aspects of chess. It is difficult for me to spend more than an hour a day in my improvement process so I will allocate 7 hours a week for chess improvement. My chess plan can be found in the table at the end of the post.

It is possible I may have more time on some weeks and less time on others. By improving across a large number of areas, I will shore up my weaknesses and improve my strengths. A lot of Amateurs spend a lot of time studying openings which stunts their growth. Learning a little bit about openings is important but spending a lot of time on them is not constructive. The most important areas to spend time on is Tactics, Studying Master Games and Studying your own games after playing them. What good does learning every opening in MCO if you never use it or are lost once you get there.

If you have your own chess study plan please post in the comments so we can compare. I would love to figure out how to improve mine.

I will follow up with posts on how I am studying the various areas, what tools and materials I am using and how to measure progress if possible.

7 hours a week

Time to Spend	Activity	Why is this activity important
1/2 hour	Opening Study	Slowly growing my opening Repertoire
1 1/2 hours	Tactics	Improving chess tactics will be biggest factor for improvement
1/2 hour	Middle Game Study	Learn how to get to positions where tactics will help win games
1/2 hour	Endgame Study	Win won games, draw seemingly lost ones
1 hour	Master Game Study	Studying masters games will help me in all areas of chess. I will see the kind of openings they play, tactics they use and plans they develop.
2 hours	Play Games	If I don't practice what I learn I will forget it.
1 hour	Review Games	Learning from ones own mistakes is a requirement to improving in chess.