ArcaMax

No matter whose move it is, the person on the move wins. A two for one special!

We’re taking off from where we left off with the solution in our last puzzle. How did Levenfish finish the game? All moves except one lose! And he saw all this from where we started out in the last puzzle.

I was honored to have my book, Openings for Amateurs: Theory vs. Practice, awarded Book of the Year (instructional category) by the Chess Journalists of America in their 2025 awards. It is the third book of a trilogy I have written, aimed at the average player who wishes to significantly improve. I’m taking a position from one of the model ...

Today we have a real challenge for you. White has an attacking position. That should be clear. The question is what is the best way to proceed? The game started with a Dragon Sicilian 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Bb3 d6? (Too slow. Black has to play the thematic equalizing move 8...d5!)9.f3 a6? (Again, ...

Some attacking positions have more than one way to win. Back in 1943, Smyslov won a nice game vs. Kotov. Later, in analysis this possibility arose in this position. Smyslov,as befitting a future world champion, found the best first move, although he deviated from the possibility we give here. It’s just a fun position to see all the ...

The Albin Counter Gambit to the Queen’s Gambit usually signals a wild and wooly fight. This game is no exception. Both players start out well. Then their move choices get interesting and even critical: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 Be6 6.a3 Nge7 7.g3 Qd7 8.Bg2 Ng6 9.Qc2 0–0–0 10.b4 Ncxe5 11.0–0 d3?! 12.exd3 Nxd3? 13.Bb2 Bh3 ...