Category: Openings

June 12, 2026 Matthew Sadler No comments exist

Sweden performed very creditably in the 1930 Hamburg Olympiad, coming in 9th after the winners Poland. Stoltz scored 10/17 (+7 = 6 -4) on board 3 (behind Stahlberg and Berndtsson and ahead of Lundin) and this win against the American team was typically exciting! Stoltz,Gosta – Steiner,Herman [C89] Olympiad–03 Hamburg (9), 19.07.1930 Comments marked [EB]…

June 4, 2026 Matthew Sadler No comments exist

One of the nice side-effects of reading the first part of the fabulous biography of Gideon Stahlberg (“Gideon Stahlberg – An Epoch in Swedish Chess. Volume I. The Musketeer Years 1908-1939”) by Peter Holmgren (Verendel Publishing) was that I developed a strong interest in his compatriot and rival Gosta Stoltz (May 9, 1904 – July…

November 23, 2025 Matthew Sadler No comments exist

In the previous blog, we made some general observations about the Adams-Royal game from round 6 of the 2025 English Championships. In this blog entry, I’d like to examine some of Black’s better defensive opportunities and to reflect on the lessons we can draw about the correct method of defence in such situations. We identified…

November 20, 2025 Matthew Sadler No comments exist

A little while back, Natasha and I commentated on the 6th round of the English Chess Championships. One game that round made a huge impression both on us, and on many of the other professionals we talked to afterwards: Michael Adams’ victory against Shreyas Royal on the white side of a Petroff with a symmetrical…

September 29, 2025 Matthew Sadler No comments exist

At various moments during the analysis of the Conquest-Royal game with the engines, it was noticeable that the move …cxd4 was often suggested as one of the top 3 moves. For example here: 1. b3 Nf6 2. Bb2 c5 3. e3 d5 4. Nf3 e6 5. d4 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8….