ArcaMax

Obviously, a rook move wins, but only one square gets a mate in three.

You can’t use the excuse that you don’t have enough material! It’s a mate in two. This is an old favorite of mine, especially for kids.

It’s a mate in ten! Before you despair about solving such a long problem, take a good look at White’s first move because it’s the key to the whole thing. Lots of fun!

A little light-hearted fun. White can mate, but in how many moves?

To start off the week, here’s a two-move miniature by legendary American composer, Bob Lincoln. The right first move allows Black four legal moves as choices, but they all lead to mate on move two.

We haven’t done a two-mover in a while. Here’s a miniature.

Here’s a position from the 2026 FIDE Men’s Candidates Tournament. Giri, as Black stuns Caruana with a mating attack.

Here’s another position from the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament. At first glance Black is definitely on the ropes and waiting for a knockout, but Black has a game saving jab.

Hope you enjoyed the 21 instructional games which should have given you insights to all the amazing things that can happen on a chessboard. Today’s position is a case in point. Black is in dire straits here, yet she finds a way out.

Number 21 in our series of instructional games. Seidman - Santasiere B29 New York, 1939 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6? (Best is 2...Nc6) 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nc3 Nxc3 5.dxc3 (White is already more mobile.) 5...b6 6.Bc4 (Also fun is 6.e6 dxe6 7.Qxd8+ Kxd8 8.Ne5 Ke8 9.Bb5+ Nd7 10.Bc6 Rb8 11.Bf4) 6...e6 7.Bf4 (Zeroing in on Black's hole on d6.)7...Qc7 8.0–0 Bb7 9....

Number 20 in our series of instructional games. Shamkovich - Nezhmetdinov (E97)Baku, 1961

This is a wild game. The King's Indian Defense is very difficult for both sides. This game demonstrates the war between Black's pawn storm on the kingside vs. White's pawn storm on the queenside. If you play either side, it's worth looking at the notes to ...

Number 19 in our series of instructional games. This is a good one for beginners to learn from the early notes. Shilov - Razdobarin B28 1959

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.c3 d5! (A good idea against c3 with the Sicilian Defense.) 4.exd5 Qxd5 (The knight can't come to c3 to attack the queen, so this is good for Black. An equal game,but...) 5.d4! (White has...

Number 18 in our series of instructional games. Kholmov - Bannik B93 Minsk, 1962 A wonderful game to play through. Get that chess set out! 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 g6? (General Sicilian rule--play a6 or g6, but not both together in the early opening.)7.0–0 Bg7 8.f4 Nbd7 9.Kh1 0–0 10.Be3 Qc7 11.a4! (To restrict b5 ...

Number 17 in our series of instructional games. Steiinitz - Rock Remove White's R on a1 London, 1863 In our last instructional game, number 16 (see archive below), we saw how necessary getting d5 in was. Today, we see how important it was to NOT play d5. It's part of what makes chess interesting. The other lesson today is how the world champion ...

Number 16 in our series of instructional games. Janowsky, Soldatenkopf - Lasker, Taubenhaus C21 Consulatation Game Paris, 1909

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 (Ah, the Danish Gambit. This is an informal game, so I guess they thought it would be fun.)3...dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 (Black has taken every offering, but look at those white bishops! Black needs ...

Number 15 in our series of instructional games. Molinari,B. - Cabral,L. (D48) Uruguay, 1943

This is one of the most amazing games you'll ever play over. Reinfeld called it "destined for immortality." Pull out your chess board to see more than just the diagram. The diagrammed position is very challenging, but the idea behind the move is logical ...

Number 14 in our series of instructional games. Saemisch,F. - Engel,J. (E24) Brunn, 1928

The first three moves by Black is known as the Nimzo-Indian Defense, one of the most solid defenses to 1.d4; however, if you play without a prompt counterattacking plan, you can get crushed as we see here. A very instructive game. Please take out a set and ...

Number 13 in our instructional games series. This is one of the most drastic examples of what happens to the king who doesn’t castle and has to move about. The question for you is whether you will see the correct continuation in the critical position in the diagram. (13) Pleci,I. - Endzelius,L. (C10)Buenos Aires, 1939

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5...

This is our 12th instructional game in our series. Feel free to check the archives for our earlier ones. This one is Nicifor - Kraemer (C48)Yugoslavia Decin, 1922

We normally look at the end of games, but with these instructional games we've been exploring some where the critical point in the game occurs in the middle game and even in the ...

This tenth instructional game is special for me since I knew the winner. Herman was a magnificent storyteller at dinner and very jovial. I met him in the 1970s, almost 30 years after this game was played. Miguel Najdorf was one of the greatest players in chess history, so Pilnik beating him was no small accomplishment. Pilnik,H. - Najdorf,M. (...