IM Max Illingworth's blog

'FailChess'

Tue, 2014-01-14 10:41 -- IM Max Illingworth
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.01.13"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Introduction to FailChess"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "C10"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "20"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

{For this week's blog post I will discuss a topic not covered very often in
chess literature: 'FailChess'. As far as I know the term was invented by IM
Moulthun Ly during the 2012 Queenstown Chess Classic. Basically FailChess

Love and Hate in Chess

Thu, 2014-01-09 00:42 -- IM Max Illingworth

I hope you all had a Happy New Year – I certainly did! In this blog post I’ll be talking about a more psychological aspect of chess – namely the significance of loving or hating something to do with chess. Sorry to disappoint those of you looking for ‘How to Beat Your Evil Rival at Chess’ or ‘How to beat your Girlfriend at Chess’ but I can assure you that I will publish these books around December this year.

Shirov vs Dubov - Battle of the Generations 2013

Tue, 2013-12-31 13:06 -- IM Max Illingworth
[Event "Battle of the Generations 2013"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2013.12.02"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Shirov, A."]
[Black "Dubov, Danii"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2695"]
[BlackElo "2629"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2013.12.02"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2013.12.03"]

Inside the Chess Laboratory

Tue, 2013-12-17 10:53 -- IM Max Illingworth
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.12.16"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Inside the Chess Laboratory"]
[Black "Introduction"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "C77"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "17"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2013.12.16"]

{As some of you already know, I'm currently playing the Australasian Masters.
I don't want to reflect on this tournament; instead I'll present an example of

Nimzo- Larsen Ideas for White

Mon, 2013-12-09 14:39 -- IM Max Illingworth
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.12.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "1.b3 d5"]
[Black "Nimzo-Larsen Ideas for White"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "A12"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]

{We'll complete this mini-survey by examining 1...d5, which is the most likely
move to lead to normal positions that may be found in other openings.} 1. b3 d5
2. Bb2 Nf6 ({Against} 2... c5 {it is very important to play} 3. e3 (3. Nf3 f6

Nimzo-Larsen Attack 1.b3 d5

Tue, 2013-12-03 08:04 -- IM Max Illingworth
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.12.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "The Nimzo-Larsen Attack"]
[Black "Recent Ideas for White"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "A01"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "155"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]

{It has been a while since I provided a mini-survey on an opening for the blog,
so I will show you some interesting ideas to cause practical problems for the
opponent with} 1. b3 {, the Nimzo-Larsen Attack. Objectively this move isn't

WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH! ANAND-CARLSEN PART 3

Tue, 2013-11-26 10:09 -- IM Max Illingworth
[Event "World Chess Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.11.16"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus Øen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2775"]
[BlackElo "2880"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "134"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]

{In this final post on the World Championship I'll briefly cover the last five
games, highlighting and explaining the critical moments of each game. In the

WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH! ANAND-CARLSEN Part 2

Mon, 2013-11-18 11:48 -- IM Max Illingworth
[Event "WCh 2013"]
[Site "Chennai IND"]
[Date "2013.11.12"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A07"]
[WhiteElo "2870"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2013.11.09"]
[Source "ChessPublishing"]
[SourceDate "2013.03.07"]

{Hello my fellow World Championship followers! I delayed writing this post

World Chess Championship Match! Anand-Carlsen

Tue, 2013-11-12 12:35 -- IM Max Illingworth
[Event "World Chess Championship Match"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.11.09"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D78"]
[WhiteElo "2870"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "32"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]

{If you didn't know that the World Chess Championship was on now in Chennai
then you've probably been living under a rock for the last six months! It's

Halloween Gambit!

Tue, 2013-11-12 11:35 -- IM Max Illingworth
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.10.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Warm-up Puzzle!"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "C55"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "7"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]

{This week I'm going to investigate some chess openings themed around
Halloween! But first of all, a warm-up puzzle: how would you play as Black
after} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bc4 {? For the solution, see the next

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