A very common term we have heard in chess is "Improve your worst placed piece!" But chess is not just a solo battle! You have an opponent sitting in front of you, who is trying to galvanize his pieces as well. And in this regard it might be an excellent idea sometimes to paralyze his pieces. This is what GM Swapnil Dhopade talks about in this article - "The Art of paralyzing your opponent's pieces!" There is also a surprise gift for all of you by Swapnil. Read on to know more.

Pattern recognition is an important concept in chess. Strong players often arrive at the correct move in very less time because they have seen the pattern before and can apply it in their own game. This entire process of pattern recognition and application happens at a subconscious level. This process has been explained in exquisite style by GM Swapnil Dhopade in this article. He not only tells you about how pattern recognition works in chess with the help of examples, but also tells you three tips on how you can improve your patter recognition abilities. A must-read article for every player who wants to improve at chess.

When we learn the rules of chess as a youngster we are told about the chess board, the chess pieces and how each of the pieces move. Once we master these basics, we can proudly tell everyone that we have learnt the game of chess. However, when you go to a tournament, there is one more element that is added, one which plays just as important a role as the board and the pieces - the chess clock! Time is one of the most crucial factors when playing a game, and somehow this is one of the things that chess players pay the least attention to. It doesn't come as a surprise that many strong chess players handle the clock and time in a very poor manner, losing several games due to Time Pressure. How to avoid this problem? In this article GM Swapnil Dhopade tries to go deep and acquaints you with the causes and solutions of his perennial problem.

By playing games of chess, looking at games of masters, and solving positions, you develop a feel for chess. This is what we call intuition. When you glance at a position the first moves that come to your mind are because of your intuition. A good chess player has developed a fine intuition for the game through his incessant hardwork. However, this is not enough in a practical game, because there are often many hidden possibilities which the intuition cannot grasp on first look. Hence, it is important to dig deeper for options. This art of digging deeper in the position is called the search for "Candidate Moves". In this article GM Swapnil Dhopade talks about the important subject with the help of a few examples. Also we have the solution to Swapnil's previous challenge.