Month: June 2018

June 20, 2018 Matthew Sadler 4 comments

Invigorated by preparing a training on endings for some keen youngsters, I’d like to share some general thoughts about activity in endings, and in particular in rook and pawn endings. Why are endgames important to study? Mastering endgames means understanding how to maximize the mobility and activity of each of your pieces, and understanding how…

June 15, 2018 Matthew Sadler 5 comments

I’ve been enjoying reading through Tibor Karolyi’s 3-volume Best Games Collection of Mikhail Tal and especially the 3rd volume dealing with Tal’s later games (1972-1992). I love those later games: Tal’s style is a wonderful blend of the swashbuckling attacking with which he stormed the pinnacle of the chess world with some smooth positional play…

June 6, 2018 Matthew Sadler No comments exist

This week, I made some more good use of my return to the UK by playing some Tuesday evening blitz after work in the Sam Black Memorial Open Blitz in Wanstead, London. Professor Sam Black is a former chairman of the North London League and this tournament was set up in his memory when he…

June 1, 2018 Matthew Sadler No comments exist

The top British players F.D. Yates and Sir George Thomas played many games against each other during their careers. Chessbase gives a total score of 12 wins, 12 draws and 9 losses for Sir George Thomas out of a total of 33 games, starting in 1918 and finishing in 1932, the year of Yates’ death….