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2019-01-04T18:09:00.001-08:00

Zillah Segue

2018-12-31T01:23:00.001-08:00

Rhea Palomo

2018-12-19T09:35:00.001-08:00

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2018-11-08T22:44:00.003-08:00

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A Nice Habit

2018-11-06T21:24:00.001-08:00

Have you ever tried swimming without stretching out first?
Or running? or lifting weights? or Whatever heavy exercise that you do.
Have you tried doing it without warming up?
It's a safety protocol to do at least 5-10mins of warm up just to prepare your muscles to prevent cramps or injuries.

Well get this my friend.
IT'S THE SAME THING FOR CHESS!
It may be a long or a quick game. You need warm up to get your brain cells running.

So how do we so this warm-up thing?
You can do 5-10 tactical positions.
You can also visualize some openings in your head or replay a whole game if you can do chess blindfolded.
Masters even do some 3-5 blitz games just to make their adrenaline flow through their veins!

But if you haven't mastered chess just yet, please just limit yourself to 5-10 tactical positions.
Trust me. I already tried doing a lot of tactics before a game and I played very badly.

So if you're reading this right now. It would be a nice habit to click on this first.

Before clicking this.

That's it my friends! Have a good chess games!

-Godspeed

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Maximize vs. Terrorize

2018-11-05T13:04:00.001-08:00

Hey guys! I apologize for the choice of words for my post titles.
I just wanted to make things a little bit more interesting every post.

Today we will talk about improving our current position or playing positionally.

Yeah yeah I know. Everybody loves fiery tactics and stuff. But what if?
What if you don't have a tactic on your current position?
That's a bummer right?
Should we ask our opponent to change his position to have a better tactic for us?
That's downright crazy! Hehe.

Instead we could just improve our position now so we can have a nice tactic next turn.

Improving a certain position can be done in 2 ways.

1. Maximize your pieces' activity
2. Terrorize opponent's activity

As we all know, the board is divided in two sides.

You can maximize your activity by moving your pieces to your opponent's camp and control some squares there.
And you can also terrorize your opponent's activity by pushing his pieces back to his/her camp.
If you can do both simultaneously, then that's amazing.
Such thing happens mostly on Masters' games.

Example

In this position, black's bishop crossed the border and attcked my knight. Normally I could just continue my development and do castling but after Bxf3, I will have 2 doubled pawns which is too much to handle.

So first I terrorized black's activity attacking his bishop.

Now the coast is clear, there's nothing to terrorize so i just continued my development by castling kingside.

Black just moved g6. The coast is still clear. I can still continue maximizing my position.

So I played Bf4

Now that my opening tasks are finished, I can start attacking and terrorizing.

That's it for today guys! Enjoy playing chess!

-Godspeed

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ChessBase

2018-11-03T17:37:00.001-07:00

I guess that you might already know what're we going to talk about today right?

Well think again.
Today I will tell you a nice way to inspire your chess spirit!
We will determine which master's playing style is your Chess Based. ^_^

I found this website years ago and it really inspired me to keep on playing chess (even if I lose too many games).

ChessPersonality.com gives you a series of questions and testing your decision-making on certain positions.
And then they will base your results to one of the top Grandmasters.
That way you will know which master's games will you study thoroughly.

I have mentioned on my previous posts that I like a quiet and boring positions.
Mostly I don't have fireworks in the opening (I just want to get passed it) and I enjoy more Middlegame-Endgame grinding.

Years ago, the website gave me a result of Jose Raul Capablanca.

A Positional Expert and an Endgame Master. He was named as the "Chess Machine" because he rarely makes mistakes and Top Grandmasters say that his wins are almost like a dream. His deep Positional Understanding strives mostly in the endgame.

Yesterday I tried the test again and the result I got was a "Technician" same as Vladimir Kramnik. Still a calm playing, position grinding, endgame loving type of master.

I have been studying Capablanca's games over and over again (because I was so inspired by him) that I unknowingly adapted his playing style to mine.
Now you know the reason why I like endgame right?

That's all folks! Keep your Chess fire burning!

-Godspeed

Back to Chess Lessons

3pts vs. 3pts

2018-11-02T04:42:00.000-07:00

When I started learning chess, I was told that each piece have their own corresponding points.
Queen- 9pts
Rook- 5pts
Bishop- 3pts
Knight- 3pts

This way we can choose between imbalances easily.
Example: Two Rooks (10pts) are nearly always stronger than a lone Queen (9pts).

So how about Bishop and Knight? They are both 3pts right?
The answer is "It depends on the current position in the board".

If the position is closed then you should strive to have Knights and a good Bishop.

Open Position

Close Position

Good Bishop attacks your opponent's pawns.
Knights can just jump around.

Good Bishop

Traitor Bishop

In open positions, strive to have Bishops.

But why do masters say that I should prefer Bishops than knights?

Its simple. Because even closed position can easily become an open one after some pawn exchanges or positional sacrifices.
That's why masters gave Bishop a slight edge with 3.5pts.

It's also important to note that Bishop controls more squares than Knights.

Generally, Bishop is stronger than Knights but in some closed positions, Knight is stronger.

All credits goes to person who invented this idea.
Im just helping my fellow chess players improve quickly.

-Godspeed

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A Safe Journey

2018-11-01T12:24:00.001-07:00

Have you ever asked yourself "Why do higher rated players always recommend to study Endgames and Middlegames When in fact, my opponent demolishes me in opening mostly?"?

You're not alone there my friend. That's one of the reasons why beginners are forced to make a mistake and they start studying opening stuffs, theory and etc.
I also studied openings, there's no shame in that.
My reason is "I just want to survive the opening stage because I enjoy middlegames and endgames more.".

Today, I'm going to share to you a practical advice I learned months ago. I already forgot where I got this idea but all credits goes to him/her.

"Develop Your Pieces on Your Side of the Board"

Nowadays, Ruy Lopez opening is very popular that goes
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5....

Did you see that? Our Bishop crossed the line.
Yes this is a very strong opening but it's so aggressive and come on!
I just want to survive the opening remember? ^_^

I have a theory. Maybe the reason why Italian game, Vienna game, 2 Knights Defence and other openings of some sort are very popular to old masters is because they also just want to survive the opening. HAha!
Crazy right? But that's what I think. And please don't judge me.

Anyways, you can try applying this lesson to your games.
It worked for me, maybe it will for you as well.
I'm more of a positional type of player than a tactical monster.

Once again, all credits goes to them (whoever created those ideas).
And have a safe journey from opening to endgame.

-Godspeed

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A Cool Change

2018-11-01T08:49:00.003-07:00

As the title itself says. This lesson gonna give you a quick and cool change on your chess games.

Let me introduce to you GM Igor Smirnov.

Wait a minute! Dont turn your back on me. Im not going to sell you anything nor am I promoting his products. I am not an affiliate and he doesn't pay me to do this post.

BUT!
Some of his lessons are very powerful! Now let's talk about this one:

"To Take is a Mistake."

This is a free lesson on youtube.com and you can watch it if you want.
This was the first lesson I learned from him. "To take is a mistake" or in other words "Keep the Tension".

I had a friend in highschool who was always beating me at chess. He was the school representative. I dont understand how it happened but I always lost. After watching the lesson on YouTube, I beat him! A Miracle happened!

Again, all credits goes to the owner of this idea "To take is a Mistake".
My desire is just to help chess fans and enthusiasts improve their chess quickly.

-Godspeed

Back to Chess Lessons

2018-11-01T07:09:00.004-07:00

Welcome to TheChesStop.com!

Have you been searching for "The best way to improve in Chess quickly"?

Well that's amazing coz you've come to the right place!

I am Ezra from Philippines. Not a Titled Chess player nor Rated. A club player to be more precise.

Like you, I have been looking for the fastest way to improve on chess also. But people don't really tell you the best way, they (not all, but mostly) are more on marketing strategies and they just want to sell their products to you.

Keep reading and I will show you how I improved on chess by myself. This won't make you a Chess Grandmaster overnight but this will be a good thing to start things off with a BANG!

PLAY LEARN TACTICS WATCH

Middlegame --->> Endgame

2018-10-30T11:58:00.001-07:00

Middlegame stage of the game is very important. This is when you use your tactical eye mostly and your Positional Understanding.
One of the things that helped me improve my tactical ability rapidly is chesstempo.com

I have embeeded the site HERE. All credits still goes to chesstempo.com. What I do is just to recommend methods, materials and websites to readers for improving in chess quickly.

I have already posted the "Wrap Itt Up" method which will help you know what to move every turn.

For me the purpose of Middlegame is a preparation for a favorable endgame position.
No matter how complicated a game is. Both sides have a common goal in mind.

Ultimate Goal

Play your Chess Middlegame nicely and strive to achieve a favorable Endgame position. Win material because even just 1 pawn is enough for a win!

-Godspeed

Back to Chess Lessons

Simple Opening

2018-10-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

In opening stage of the game, I would recommend not diving very deep unto it if your just a club player.
It would be more beneficial if we focus on middle game and endgame stage.

Tasks for a successful opening.
1. Develop Knights, then Bishops
2. Castle (for safety)
3. Connect Rooks/Move Queen

No.1

No2 and No.3

No.2 and No.3

The main goal of the opening is to make your pieces as active as possible.
I recommend developing Knights first than Bishops because on the very first move a bishop can be active already.

We can say that our pieces are active if they control more squares.

Always prioritize in controlling central squares marked inside the box.

Please note! That we only moved pawns in order for our pieces to be more active. Pieces control more squares than pawns.

That's it! Simple isn't it? If you finished the main opening tasks, then you can proceed with your middle game stage.

-Godspeed

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Chess Lessons

2018-10-30T03:45:00.002-07:00

Passed Pawn

2018-10-30T03:30:00.000-07:00

Endgame part of the game is very important. This is where you show your positional understanding.
Let me show you what kind of position people strive when playing chess.

That lone pawn on the queenside is a passed pawn. And for club players this is an easy win. They call this "Cat and Mouse". If your opponent goes there, you go here. If your opponent goes here you go there.
And this is what happens a few moves after.

Red line shows that your passed pawn wants to become a queen. Blue line shows that your opponent has to stop the pawn. And Green line shows that if your opponent goes there to stop the passed pawn. You will capture his remaining pawns. And that's the "Cat and Mouse".

Very interesting right? no matter how complicated a chess game is. Both sides have only one goal. It's to play Cat and Mouse.

Always Remember this: "A single pawn is enough to win a game"

-Godspeed

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Chess for Data Savers

2018-10-21T19:47:00.003-07:00

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Credits to: Oscar Toledo for creating Lite Chess JavaScript.

Wrap Itt Up

2018-10-21T05:25:00.003-07:00

"WRAP ITT UP"

stands for:
-Weaknesses oR Attacked Pieces
-It's Time for Tactics
-Upgrade Position

1. WRAP
I got this idea from the "10-day chess challenge" of chessfox.com. and found it to be very effective.
Every turn you have to check for weaknesses of your opponent. Weaknesses can be an unprotected piece/pawn, already attacked piece/pawn or piece/pawn that you can easily attack. After checking your opponent's weaknesses, check your weaknesses as well.

This idea will help you get the feel of the whole position. This will make you see all the motifs existing in the board and avoid blunders. This idea will take more time if you are training Tactics/Finding the best move but it won't be the case if you are playing real games because you are paying attention to every move and your mind keeps track of the pieces.

This will come naturally after some practice.

2. ITT

"I'ts Time for Tactics" is just for fun. This step can be understood even just by saying "tactics".

After seeing all the motifs and weaknesses, you can apply your knowledge on tactics and show the world how many moves can you spot ahead.

3. UP

No tactics at the moment? Don't worry, I got you covered.

Let's just upgrade our position so we can have a nice attack on our next turn. ^_^

Upgraded Position means that we control more squares than our opponent. We must move pieces rather than pawns because Pieces control more squares than pawns.

Always prioritize in controlling central squares because that's what Grandmasters do. (Let's follow our leaders!)

It's very simple right? Try wrapping up in 10-15 games. And you will see a big improvement in your chess.

Before you go I would like you to know that "WRAP ITT UP" is more applicable on middlegane stage.

In opening stage, just do what other people tell you. (2 & 3 can be swapped)
1. develop minor pieces
2. castle
3. connect rooks (moving queen)

In endgame stage, study basic mates and basic endgames. And please always remember this advice of Jose Raul Capablanca for you to have favorable endgame.
"If you are ahead in material, exchange pieces. If you are down in material, exchange pawns".

That it guys! Go ye therefore and apply these ideas and let me know your chess success!

-Godspeed

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Endgame Training

2018-09-08T06:12:00.002-07:00

Game of the Day

2018-08-30T08:34:00.001-07:00

Chess Games Collection

2018-08-30T08:33:00.003-07:00

Play!

2018-08-30T06:55:00.003-07:00

Analyse

2018-08-30T06:55:00.002-07:00

Chess Tactics

2018-08-30T06:34:00.000-07:00

Watch

2018-08-30T06:30:00.000-07:00

Chess Videos

2018-08-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

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