Hey everyone! Albert here. Back in May, I told you I did a thing: we started testing Gambit, a site to learn poker free of any gambling. Three months and 12 million hands later, this post is about what you all did with it. Over 45,00...
18 Years on the Board: What Coaching Over 1,000 Chess Players Taught Me About Success and Boundaries When I look back over the last 18 years of my life as a FIDE Trainer and International Master, one thing becomes crystal clear: coaching isn&rsqu...
One of my students sent me a message I hear often: "I try to figure out what my opponent is up to, but nine times out of ten I'm wrong. Sometimes it's worse - I leave my queen hanging for a free capture, and my opponent doesn't take it. Why not? ...
Kemeri was a final tune-up for Alexander Alekhine before his world championship rematch with Euwe — this being the new, teetotaling, non-smoking Alekhine— and so sure were the organizers that he would win that, apparently, they brought...
Hello chess friends, This is a long one, but it's a culmination of years of work, so I indulged a bit. Strap in! I last updated everyone on my rating progress in my 2025 year in review. I was very excited to have reached a peak blitz rating of e...
Following up on last month's update, I am happy to report that I gained 25 rating points on the August FIDE rating list and sit at a 2063 FIDE rating. I am two points away from my peak international rating, while in national rating, in the last mo...
It’s tempting to think of companies as faceless, evil entities - “more machine than man”, as one Jedi knight famously put it. And while we are proudly evil, we are not machines!! Alas, companies are made up of real people, ...
Dear Chess Friends! I'm happy to share the highlights from my recent workshop "When One Tempo Changes Everything", where we explored one of the most underestimated concepts in chess – tempi. There are two kinds of time in chess: the time on...
I sure do love putting "FINALE" in my previous post title and then continuing the topic. Clickbait is very fun but only when I do it. Ok, so here's the crux of the issue: the vote given in my last post is currently tied, so I can't actually finis...
📣 EXCITING NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENT! 📣 I am thrilled to announce a new chapter in my professional journey! Starting from September, I am officially joining Yahya Kemal Primary School as a part-time Chess Teacher! ♟️🏫 Chess is a powerful tool for ...
🚫 Why Bullet Chess is an Illusion That Destroys You: Chess-Wise, Mentally, and Physically As a FIDE Trainer and active player, I feel a deep responsibility to speak openly about a trend that is increasingly consuming modern chess — Bullet ch...
When "Rest" Isn't Rest: A Chess Professional’s Realization For decades, I lived under a common illusion shared by many in the chess world. Whenever I went to a summer chess camp, accompanied young players to tournaments, or even traveled fo...
Good afternoon everyone. Yes, it's been a while since I posted anything. Real life and the fact that I have been doing a couple of little projects for my chess history betters is behind that. Well, whilst digging I came across some unrelated stu...
He had an extraordinary book-knowledge, and when he came across some novelty in friendly analytical trials with strong players he would retain it for years and then apply it in a match or tournament. But though he had a remarkable faculty of assi...
Being a FIDE Trainer with 18 years of coaching experience is both a great honor and a continuous responsibility. To truly guide young talents and rising players, relying solely on old textbooks, static theory, or past glory is never enough. Modern...
Two weeks before the 2019 Mauricie Open, I was someone else. I needed two things for my National Master title: a rating over 2200, and three separate tournaments where I performed at 2300 or better. In January 2019 I broke 2200 for the first time...
My readers often have a number of questions, comments, and criticisms about the studies I write about in my articles. Many of these aren't all that specific to chess cognition research and reflect fairly typical concerns about study implementation...
One of my students recently asked me a very good question: Everyone says "do chess" or "study chess" but what does that actually mean? This is a question I hear quite often and usually from players who are just starting to take improvement serio...
Buenos dias, everyone! Today, I am going to try something a little different. While I’m no expert, my readers know how passionate I am about football. I have therefore watched the biggest event on earth, the FIFA World Cup, very closely thi...
Does an Iron Man of Chess exist, and what is an “iron man”? The term evokes images of a player known for his remarkable endurance and ability to play for an extended period of time. The recent “Streaking” campaign of Chess....
Judit Polgar is the best female chess player ever, bar none. Her peak rating was 2735. She was ranked no. 8 in terms of world overall (meaning only 7 male players were rated above her!), and even played one Candidates' Match for the World Champion...
Dear Chess Friends! I'm happy to share the highlights from my recent workshop "Punishing Passive Play", where we explored one of the most important strategic skills in chess – how to break a passive defense without rushing your attack. Pass...
Hikaru Nakamura just played a stunning queen sacrifice following a NASTY trap in 3|0 Thursday! Against WIM Potapova, Hikaru had only a slight advantage out of the opening, a solid result for his underdog opponent, but then Hikaru set a wily trap a...
The internet is a weird agora. Sometimes we come across people scattered all around the big spinning rock we all live on called Earth. The everlasting nature of YouTube makes it possible for us to meet them after their time with us. That is ...
Bringing chess players together plus an early start is not usually a good combination, but today at 9:00 the ninth round of the Andorra International Open got underway and, as has been usual in previous editions, we had bye requests, the odd no-sh...