I am writing this partly due to Eric Camp's tireless devotion to the well known tactical motif of Discovered Check. I had a game with American provisional player Bigj18 where the ICC player automatically played a move that setup a Knight move Queen Discovered check on the Black Monarch at g8.
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Monday, July 26, 2021
Some Discovered Checks are fatal Blunders
Saturday, July 24, 2021
There is NO Mate with Knight at f8
The English Descriptive notation equivalent would be "NO mate with Knight at King's Rook one", but that shit does not rhyme!! In the below diagram with WTM Swedish player Zorkne certainly must have thought he possessed the initiative, but notice that the Horse on f8 square guards the checkmate sensitive h7 square along the "permanent post" looking e6 square. So the minor piece located on the back rank protects two crucial weak points.
Thursday, July 22, 2021
Benin Chess Oddity
I thought of social media Icon James B. Delmhorst as I observed the following chess game by a dude named Suntzu76 from Benin Africa. This guy is very strong, but inexplicably resigned after dropping the exchange due to a Knight fork on the c6 square.
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Instructive Mate in Seven
The following position, resulting from a blitz chess game at the internet chess club, is a Black to Move and Win variety. The title of this article is a dead give away and provides enough information for an average player to figure out the forcing winning line.
BUT, would you discover the mating pattern in a real over the board game had you not been given the elephant in the room hint?
Friday, July 9, 2021
First Player Begging for Early Exchange of Queens
There is a significant and growing number of ICC players who grovel, if not beg, for a very early Queen Exchange with THE WHITE PIECES!!!!!! This reminded of the humorous chess columnist named Wilson is Houston Texas USA who wrote extensively about the Idiot's Defense where Black invites a very early exchange of the Ladies. Wilson actually became quite well known in Hungary and remote parts of former Soviet Union with his expositions on viability of such a chicken shit opening.
There is even an idiot's defense accepted and declined variation to make matters even more laughable. The position you see below played in a 3 minute no increment blitz game at ICC shows Bergmann voluntarily weakening his g1-a7 diagonal for no apparent reason other than he is afraid to keep the Queens on the board for reasons unknown to this writer. I guess he is "being true to thyself" but I still find it extremely timid and unmanly.
Friday, July 2, 2021
Breathtaking Drawing Apparatus
The following position actually occurred in 5 minute blitz game at the Internet Chess Club in Pennsylvania United States of America.
So it is definitely White to move otherwise Black b2 pawn promotes to either a Rook or a Lady with mate in two after spite interposition of White Rook to d1.
Thursday, July 1, 2021
Stunning Drawing Mechanism stymies United Kingdom Jugadore
MattF, a strong player out of the United Kingdom, blundered with the natural and apparently winning Queen promoting move b2 in the chess position you see below.






