Most of my chess activities nowadays take place in the train on the way to work. A recent spate of engineering works has lengthened my journey considerably with the happy result that I’ve been studying chess for an extra half hour a day!   I’ve spent that time playing through lots of Efim Bogolyubow’s games …

A little while after posting about Alekhine’s inventiveness in the early opening stages (Alekhine’s Themes – at you right from the opening!) I came across another lovely little example which I just have to share with you. It comes from the game Alekhine – Vidmar Hastings 1936.     After 13 moves of a quiet QGD, …

I’m often asked how much I see during a game. It’s a difficult question to answer because the implicit assumption behind the question is that if you see something, you see it precisely and accurately and with a high degree of completeness. In my experience that’s not true for most of the variations you spot …

In 1928, Bogolyubow played 2 matches against Euwe in Holland for the title “Champion of FIDE” (see http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/fide.html for Edward Winter’s excellent Chess Notes entry on the story behind this title) Bogolyubow won both 10 game matches 5,5-4,5 after very tough fights. In the first match, Bogolyubow only managed to nose ahead after winning the …

After a quick win in the 1st round, the 2nd round at Haarlem was a considerably tougher struggle against the Dutch FM Rene Tiggelman. We join the game after 10 moves. Via a transposition, we have reached a tabiya of the 4.e3 Nimzo-Indian.     10…Bxc3 11.bxc3 Qa5 12.Bd2 Qh5   I’ve played the White …