2/20/2023 – In chess calculation, width is more important than depth. Virtually every decent player can calculate a forced line till the very end. However, only few can sense all the flavours of the position, find all the hidden ideas. To see the exceptions where everybody else only sees the rules. To find something unusual while all the others follow well-known patterns. In this article, Jan Markos shows you how Magnus Carlsen is able to come up with unexpected solutions in situations where an average club player would be totally confused. | Photo: Lennart Ootes, Archive

1/31/2023 – Time is important when playing chess. The time that the players have on the clock, but also the dynamic pieces and pawns develop during the game and that dictates whether to play fast or slow. Jan Markos knows how to use such dynamics to your advantage. | Photo: Michael Hofmann, Kitzingen., CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

12/5/2022 – Every chess player blunders. Even the brains of the very best in the world sometime take a day off. We are humans, and errors are an inherent part of human nature. And yet, few things in chess are as discouraging as losing a good game after a silly mistake. Sometimes, one blunder spoils an entire tournament: a week’s amount of work is gone in a minute or two. But Jan Markos has good news for you. A lot of blunders can be avoided by a little discipline and a few simple tricks.

11/11/2022 – Every chess player blunders. Even the brains of the very best in the world sometime take a day off. We are humans, and errors are an inherent part of human nature. And yet, few things in chess are as discouraging as losing a good game after a silly mistake. Sometimes, one blunder spoils an entire tournament: a week’s amount of work is gone in a minute or two. But Jan Markos has good news for you. Huge portion of blunders can be avoided by a little discipline and a few simple tricks.

9/29/2022 – What could possibly be more satisfying than playing a beautiful combination, or winning a splendid positional game? And yet, it is dangerous to rely too much on your sense of beauty, on your intuition. Why? Jan Markos explains. | Photo: Hardebeck Media on Pixabay

8/24/2022 – Beating weaker opponents is important for having success in chess, and the better you play, the more important this skill is. However, even Magnus Carlsen (pictured), the world's number one since July 2011, sometimes goes wrong when facing much lower-rated opponents. In the 13th installment of his "Winning Academy" Jan Markos takes a look at typical mistakes that often occur when facing weaker opponents and indicates how to correct them. | Photo: Magnus Carlsen in Wijk aan Zee 2015 | Photo: Nadja Wittmann

7/6/2022 – In the previous part of The Winning Academy, we have distinguished between four very different modes of defence: creating a fortress, playing for a counterattack, simplifying into a holdable endgame, and organizing a sabotage act. In this follow-up part, I would like to show you how important and practical this distinction actually is. When defending, you should keep all four modes in mind and be flexible in choosing the most suitable. | Photo: Garry Kasparov | Photo: Lennart Ootes

6/29/2022 – When young players ask me, what chess skill should he or she improve to be able to enter the tough arena of professional chess, I usually have a simple answer. My short advice is: "You should learn how to defend. Especially, you should master the art of positional defence." | Photo: Pixabay

5/2/2022 – What is the most important phase of the game? Surprisingly, many club players get the answer wrong. Usually, they put a lot of effort into positions that are approximately equal. However, once they get a much better or much worse position, they tend to relax a bit. In an almost winning position, a voice in the head of such a player whispers: "You are great, my dear, and you have proved that already. The rest of the game is a mere formality." And in a lost position, this voice says: "You have played rubbish. Ok, you have to pretend some fight, but the game is decided already, you will surely be defeated." Although psychologically understandable, this approach is wrong. Why? | Photo: Pixabay

3/18/2022 – "First restrain, then blockade, finally destroy!", wrote Aron Nimzowitsch almost a century ago. The art of stopping opponents pawn avalanches was so dear to him, that he dedicated a full book to it. "Die Blockade" was published in 1925, in the same year as "Mein System." Jan Markos offers modern examples to show what to do against a phalanx of dangerous pawns. | Photo: Pixabay

3/2/2022 – The love of most chess players for the bishop-pair is both strong and irrational. We all know that having the "bishop-pair" advantage should be beneficial, but – as discussed in the previous part of The Winning Academy – we barely know how to make full use of them. I would like to show you how this irrational love for the two bishops leads to poor practical decisions. The price players are willing to pay for the bishop-pair is quite often far too high. An arm and a leg. And more.

2/8/2022 – The pair of bishops can be a powerful weapon. If you know what to do with them. In the fifth installment of "The Winning Academy" Jan Markos shows what you should do to convert the advantage of having the pair of bishops into a winning position.

1/12/2022 – What is the soul of chess? André Philidor back in the 18th century answered: "Pawns!" Aaron Nimzowitsch a century ago claimed in My System: "Overprotection of strategically important squares." Jan Markos' answer to this question is rather different. He is convinced that the essence of chess manifests itself best in domination. | Photo: Evan Amos (Wikipedia)

12/23/2021 – Legend has it that a player who once was analysing with Dr. Tarrasch (pictured), a great believer in the power of the bishops, gave his bishop for a knight and remarked: "Winning the small exchange!" Tarrasch, probably with good reason, felt provoked, and said: "You obviously mean losing the small exchange!" Exchanging minor pieces is a fine and difficult art indeed. Jan Markos knows more!

12/2/2021 – One of the most refined and inconspicuous ways to gain an advantage and to win is the art of exchanging pieces. Most club players don’t take exchanges too seriously. Sacrificing is brave, attacking is fun, but exchanging pieces is kind of boring, isn’t it? Even cowardly. But knowing when to exchange and when not to exchange is a powerful strategic weapon. In part 2 of his "Winning Academy" series, Jan Markos shows why. | Photo: Wikipedia