my latest books
"Re-Engineering the Chess Classics"
Nominated for the 2023 Chess.com Book of the Year
"The Silicon Road to Chess Improvement"
"Game Changer" won the ECF Book of the Year 2019 and the FIDE Book of the Year 2019
Engine Snacks! To sac or not to sac?
Engines are amazing at sacrificing material, both in attack and defence. Leela neutralises unpleasant pressure against its position with a fabulous pawn sacrifice leaving Stockfish with no winning chances. -All players should study how engines defend – nobody does it better!
Engine Snacks! Iron purpose and flexible execution!
We showcase excellent endgame technique from Stockfish against Komodo. It illustrates a key thinking skill that we should apply in our own games when struggling to convert a pawn advantage in a long game!
A model Grunfeld for White
Komodo plays a model Grunfeld against Igel, pushing rook’s pawns AlphaZero-style on both wings to squeeze Black for space then cutting through Black’s porous kingside dark squares with a fine exchange sacrifice.
Any 1.d4 players who face the Grunfeld should note this as a model game: it’s a perfect example of what White should be aiming for!
Engine Snacks! Pins, pins and more pins!
This super-quick article is in our Engine Snacks series! Just a beautiful little tactical exercise this time demonstrating some awesome geometry! Spotting an idea like this quickly in a game could net you a brilliant point!
"The secret of my success: with every move I force the opponent to think for themselves!"
- Alexander Alekhine
about
I am a Chess Grandmaster and writer, and one of England's top players. When I am not doing my job as an IT Consultant, I fill my free time with as much chess as possible
my work
Writing and discussing chess has always been one of my passions. I review chess books in a regular column for New in Chess magazine and have written 8 books myself. I also contribute to chess videos regularly.
contact me
I hope that you enjoy the site. I will enrich its content over time and would love to hear what you think. Let me know whether there are any topics you would like me to cover in my blog.
"How many moves do I consider when analysing? Only one, but it's always the best one!"
- Emanuel Lasker
