tournament-play

I don’t believe that the Sicilian is necessarily the “best” opening, or that everyone should play it. I do believe, however, that any player who wants to answer 1.e4 with 1…c5 can find a system to their liking. Answer the Big Question First I discussed the Smith-Morra Gambit and other Anti-Sicilians in passing in previous … Read more

Quad is short for quadrangular, a four-player chess tournament. Each player plays one or more games against the other three players. These are popular for good reason, but let’s get into some details first. Sections If 20 players enter a tournament before the start, the tournament director sorts the players by rating from highest to lowest. The … Read more

The starting position of the Italian Game. The Italian Game begins with the sequence 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4, and is extremely popular at all chess levels. It is named for “Il Calabrese,” Gioachino Greco (c.1600-1634) who analyzed the opening in the early 17th century. I definitely recommend playing through Greco’s many instructive games and … Read more

The 2022 New York Fall Invitationals were held at the Aloft Long Island City — Manhattan View hotel from November 9-13, organized by IO Keith Espinosa and IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy. The playing venue, Aloft Long Island City—Manhattan View. Photo: TripAdvisor There were five sections in this edition: GM A, GM B, IM C, IM D … Read more

For a long time now, the chess world has tried to get more girls involved and keep them in the game long term. In my years as a chess teacher I’ve seen a similar story as many others: female chess participation is often quite good in elementary school, but later falls off a cliff. When … Read more

Unless you enter a quad, you will most likely compete in a Swiss-system chess tournament. That means you could face players with a range of ratings. A club event might only have one or two sections, but larger events routinely have many sections. Sometimes, you have a choice of sections — your “natural” section, and … Read more

A game review during a lesson is very different from a review that takes place during a chess tournament, with emotions at their highest. Post-game review at scholastic tournaments is what I will focus on here. My Best Advice This post is intended to give advice for inexperienced coaches (and parents serving as coaches). The most … Read more

After successful norm events in November, organizers Keith Espinosa and Alex Ostrovskiy have scheduled another group of norm tournaments at the Hilton Garden Inn Midtown Park Avenue from January 13-17, 2022. Whereas the November series had three 10-player Round Robins (GM A, GM B, and IM C), the newest event will feature four sections: GM A, … Read more

I have written before that taking up the French Defense saved my chess career. Well, that was great for facing 1.e4, but I needed something against the closed openings. One day in 1999 my dad brought home a book that helped me solve this task for awhile. Thanks, Dad. Play the Noteboom is the title … Read more

Many players, coaches, and parents are confused by tiebreaks in scholastic tournaments. So let’s talk about types of chess tournaments and how we decide the winner, shall we? What is the fairest kind of chess tournament? Certainly, the round robin (RR). Each player faces everyone else in the tournament, and it’s hard to blame anyone … Read more