chessbase india logo

Sharpen Your Strategic Skills with ChessNeurons - Episode 16

by Ankit Rajpara - 05/11/2024

Welcome back to the “Strategic Mastery” series, brought to you by the collaboration of ChessNeurons and ChessBase India. In this episode, Grandmaster Ankit Rajpara will lead you through the next step in your chess journey. Our goal is to deepen your positional and strategic understanding through a series of meticulously crafted puzzles and clear, insightful explanations. In Episode 16, Grandmaster Ankit Rajpara will guide you through a key concept that can greatly enhance your strategic play: the Outpost. An outpost is a square that cannot be attacked by enemy pawns, offering a safe, dominant position for your pieces—especially knights. Learning how to create and exploit outposts can elevate your positional play, giving you control over critical areas of the board and paving the way for your powerful plans. This episode’s puzzles will guide you in identifying and leveraging outposts to transform your games. First, let’s reveal solutions to the puzzles from Episode 15 in which we discussed puzzles of Gukesh’s games till reaching 2700 FIDE Rating. Photo: Ankit Rajpara

Solutions to Episode 15 Puzzles:

Grandmaster Ankit Rajpara walks you through the solutions with a detailed video breakdown. Watch the video for in-depth insights and explanations. You can find the positions here:

Identify The Blunders | Gukesh’s Road to 2700 FIDE | Strategic Mastery with GM Ankit Rajpara

If you would like to solve the positions in an interactive format

New Puzzles for Episode 16: 

Let’s dive into new puzzles centered on “outposts”. Each position demonstrates how outposts can shape the battle, control key squares, and restrict your opponent’s options. Can you find the best moves and utilize these critical positions?

Puzzle-1:

White to play

Puzzle-2:

White to play

Puzzle-3:

Black to play

Puzzle-4:

White to play

Puzzle-5:

White to play

These puzzles will challenge you to think strategically about control and placement. By mastering the art of the outpost, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of positional dominance and the long-term power of well-placed pieces.

Solutions will be revealed in the next episode, where GM Ankit Rajpara will provide an in-depth analysis of each position to help you enhance your strategic decision-making.

Stay Tuned:

As we continue our Strategic Mastery series, each episode takes you one step closer to chess mastery. Tune in next week for solutions to these puzzles and five more thought-provoking positions to challenge your skills.

Engage with us in the comments below and share your thoughts and strategies. Remember, every puzzle solved sharpens your skills and prepares you for victory!

Feel free to submit your feedback, questions, and suggestions for future episodes through this Google Form.

What Makes ChessNeurons Unique?

ChessNeurons.com, created by GM Ankit Rajpara, is your go-to platform for improving positional chess skills. While many websites focus on tactical puzzles, ChessNeurons offers something unique - puzzles that sharpen your strategic understanding and decision-making. This will set you on the path to becoming a more well-rounded chess player.

Some standout features of ChessNeurons include:

Daily New Grandmaster-Curated Positional Puzzles: Every day, you get access to fresh, handpicked puzzles by Grandmaster Ankit Rajpara, helping you continuously challenge and improve your chess skills.

Identify Blunder Puzzles: Hone your ability to spot mistakes with thousands of puzzles designed to help you identify blunders and improve your decision-making.

Weekly Grandmaster Videos: Each week, enjoy a new video where GM Ankit Rajpara explains the most important puzzles, providing deep insights into key positions.

Video Library: Gain access to hours of grandmaster-guided video lessons, covering essential strategic concepts and puzzle solutions.

Grandmaster Explanations for All Puzzles: Every puzzle comes with a detailed explanation from Grandmaster Ankit Rajpara, ensuring you understand the reasoning behind each move.

Player Performance Profile: Monitor your growth with a detailed player profile, which tracks your performance and highlights areas for improvement.

The homepage of the Chess Neurons Website

Important Links:

Chess Neurons Website

Start a free trial

Provide your feedback to GM Ankit Rajpara


Contact Us