Category: Attack

May 2, 2016 Matthew Sadler No comments exist

In an earlier post, I examined Alekhine’s predilection for centre-clearing gambits by analysing 2 of his games against Reshevsky and Rabinovich. I also mentioned Alekhine’s game against Winter at Hastings 1936/7 which featured a speculative Gambit against the solid Caro-Kann: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 de 4.Ne4 Nf6 5.Bd3. I hadn’t realised it at the…

April 23, 2016 Matthew Sadler No comments exist

I’ve spent a bit of time recently taking a look at Alekhine’s opening repertoire. 3 things struck me in particular. First of all, Alekhine played gambits until the end of his life, even against the strongest players in the world. Some examples:   1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3     was a regular guest in…

April 12, 2016 Matthew Sadler 5 comments

Last weekend was my debut as a birthday present! A colleague asked me whether I would be interested in giving a chess lesson to his brother who had just turned 50 and who was keen on chess. Not only did it turn out to be a lovely Sunday, I also learnt a lot myself! The…

April 9, 2016 Matthew Sadler No comments exist

Looking through old albums for pictures for the website photo gallery put me into a nostalgic mood. Some games in your career take on almost mythical proportions in your mind. One such game is my game against J Thomson in the 1984 Thanet Major. I was very young – just 10 at the time –…

February 29, 2016 Matthew Sadler No comments exist

One of the most enjoyable books I’ve read in the past couple of years is “Learn from the Legends – Chess Champions at their Best” by Mihail Marin (Quality Chess). Marin takes 9 great champions – Rubinstein, Alekhine, Botvinnik, Tal, Petrosian, Fischer, Karpov, Kortchnoi and Carlsen – and examines a particular facet of their play…