The recent big news is that World Champion Magnus Carlsen has won the 2019 GRENKE Chess Classic, which was held …
Best Chess Opening Traps
Today I’d like to share with you one of the most popular video lessons of RCA – 7 Best Chess …
WC 2018 Carlsen vs Caruana: Decision Making in Critical Moments Part-2
This is the second part of the lesson about the World Chess Championship 2018 between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana. …
WC 2018 Carlsen vs Caruana: Critical Moments, Decision Making, Time Management
Magnus Carlsen won the World Chess Championship 2018 last month, successfully defending his title against the American Fabiano Caruana. All …
Chess Opening Traps in the Sicilian Defense (Part-2)
First, I’d like to remind you of the special offers on our new course “Master Sicilian Pawn Structures” by IM …
Release of “Master Sicilian Pawn Structures”
The day is finally here – the launch of RCA’s new chess course “Master Sicilian Pawn Structures” by IM Mateusz …
5 Best Chess Opening Traps in the Sicilian Defense
The Sicilian Defense is the most frequently used defense from club players to Grandmasters. Today we’re going to see the …
Master the Sicilian Defense with RCA’s New Chess Course!
A few days ago, I’ve informed you (in the article Chess Tactics in the Sicilian Defense) that the RCA’s next …
The Mighty Sicilian Dragon Bishop!
The Sicilian Defense is the most popular opening and one of the best responses to White’s first move 1.e4. The …
Chess Traps and How to Avoid them?
Chess traps are always fun and exciting as long as you’re the one who sets it and it’s even more …
The Trompowski Attack – Typical Ideas for White
The Trompowski Attack is a chess opening that begins with the following moves: 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5, in which White tries …
Typical Ideas and Plans in the Sicilian Sveshnikov Variation
The Sicilian Defense is a very popular chess opening, as it can be often seen in several chess games, from …
GM Igor Smirnov Answers Students’ Questions from the Live Event
I hope you remember that during the beginning of this month, on 7 November, we celebrated the 8th anniversary of …
3 basic opening rules you should remember!
The opening stage refers to the initial moves of a chess game. It is important to play the opening well …
Best aggressive chess openings for Black against 1.d4
This is the second part of our lesson on the best aggressive chess openings for Black. In the previous article, …
Best aggressive chess openings for Black against 1.e4
I know how difficult it is for most of you, as a club level player, to pick up the right …
Caro–Kann opening trap
Today I’d like to present to you a trap in one of the popular chess openings, the Caro–Kann defense. As …
The Kasparov Gambit: amazing win against Karpov in WC 1985
Today we’re going to look at one of the greatest chess games of all time, from the World Championship Match …
Everything you need to know about the Sicilian defense (Dragon variation)
The Sicilian defense is the most popular opening and one of the best responses to White’s first move 1.e4. It …
Master the Grunfeld defense as Black – teaser
In the previous article, I informed you about our upcoming course “Master the Grunfeld defense as Black”. Today I’d like …
4 typical chess mistakes in defense you should never make!
In this lesson about defense, you will recognize and understand those mistakes. It will help you avoid those mistakes in your future games and it will drive you in cloud nine!
Release of the “Defending Champion” chess course
The day has finally come – today we’ve released our new chess course “Defending Champion”! If you want to strengthen …
How to use your rook effectively?
First, let me remind you of our survey – help us create an opening chess course tailored to your needs, …
Which opening would you like to study in the next RCA course?
Yes, it is that time again! We are going to prepare another major chess course. 🙂 We are planning to …
Carlsen-Karjakin tiebreaks: Magnus is the World Champion!
Before going to the tie-break games, let me remind you of the massive 40% discount we’re providing you with on …
Carlsen-Karjakin Game-12: Fastest game of the Match
After eleven hard-fought games, the twelfth and final game of the World Chess Championship was a brief, dull draw. Only …
Carlsen-Karjakin Game-9: Magnus escapes with a draw!
Just before the start of the ninth game, a chess fan, Bobby Fiske, made a fantastic photo-edit saying…. The World …
Carlsen-Karjakin Game-7: New opening, another draw
It was Carlsen’s time to put his head into the lion’s mouth and everybody expected the beast to snap. But …
Carlsen-Karjakin Game-6: Halfway done
After one and half hours, game six ended in a draw. So a match of 24 games would be much …
Carlsen-Karjakin Game-5: Carlsen "screwed up"
The fifth game of the World Chess Championship ended in a draw, but this time things were little different. It …
Carlsen-Karjakin Game-4: Karjakin survives, again!
The ‘miracle’ continues at the World Championship! Karjakin managed to survive another extremely difficult position by defending, again, for 6.5 …
Carlsen-Karjakin Game-3: Over 6-hour long battle!
What a game, what a marathon! 🙂 Magnus tries to give his best on the subject which he knows the …
What can you learn from Carlsen-Karjakin Game-1?
There’s no doubt that the World Chess Championship started in a great manner on Friday, 11 November. In the first …
Carlsen-Karjakin Game-2: Ruy Lopez draw
We don’t know for sure if Woody Harrelson is the best chess player among Hollywood actors, but he was the …
Carlsen-Karjakin Game-1: Surprising Trompowsky
One journalist asked Magnus Carlsen in the first official press conference who is the best chess player in the world. …
How to play the Scandinavian Defense (for Black)
Today, I’d like to share with you an opening system, the Scandinavian Defense. For many years, GM Sergey Kasparov has …
Everything you need to know about openings!
Let me share with you a few interesting quotes: “I had to spend countless hours, above and beyond the …
Your opinion on the next RCA course
My students always ask me to keep updating them with the latest news about RCA. For instance, one of my …
GM Igor Smirnov answers students’ questions
As you may already know, I conducted a live “Ask Me Anything (AMA) event” on the RCA Facebook page on …
Best chess openings and how to pick one for you [Infographic]
Picking the good chess opening is important if you want to be successful in your chess career. Due to the …
Get a 30% discount on our opening products
A few days ago, we launched a FREE e-book for you called “Chess Opening Fundamentals”. This e-book is a collection …
New E-book: Chess Opening Fundamentals
When you come to play a chess game, it’s important to start it properly. Otherwise, you risk falling into an …
How to make use of important chess squares?
Some time ago, our guest coach IM Boroljub Zlatanovic prepared a lesson for you on the topic “Weak Squares”. If …
Bobby Fischer’s greatest chess game – game of the century
Today, we’ll have a look at the greatest chess game played by Bobby Fischer – the game that is also …
Useful story of an RCA Student
First, I’d like to remind you of the new course “Think, Plan and Win” which contains my seminars that were …
The Big Clash: Anand vs Carlsen
This is the second part of the article prepared by IM Saravanan, featuring the first game of the World Chess …
Indian National Premier Chess Championship 2015, Round-9 Highlights
In this article, you can watch the highlights of the ninth round of Indian National Premier Chess Championship, annotated by …
WC 2014 Sochi: Anand vs Carlsen – the Grunfeld Defence
Today, we’ll have a look at the first game of the World Chess Championship Match 2014, Sochi between Vishy Anand and …
New chess opening mini-course – Nimzo-Indian Defense
I’m very happy to announce that we have released a new mini-course. It is called the “Nimzo-Indian Defense” and was …
What is the best chess opening for beginners?
I have come across this question many times from my students. Hence, I have decided to contribute something to this …
Two chess opening mistakes you should never make
I’ve prepared a chess opening lesson for you! 🙂 In this lesson, you’ll learn about two mistakes you should avoid …
GM Igor Smirnov’s review of “Killer Endgames” and “Killer Grand Prix”
First, let me remind you of the special 40% discount that I’ve provided you with on the latest releases – …
Chess learning made easy and important announcement
Recently, lots of students have asked me to adapt my courses for IPad/IPhone, tablet computers, etc. I’ve just found a …
New chess opening course – Bogo-Indian Defense
Some time ago, we released the course “The Grandmaster’s Openings Laboratory – 2” (LINK). It received mixed feedback from our …
New survey and important discussion about chess openings
In my previous article, I wrote that something ‘cool’ related to openings was coming soon. And today, I’d like to …
GM Igor Smirnov AMA event highlights
About a week ago, on 20 July (International Chess Day), I conducted an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) event on Reddit. …
GM Smirnov’s review about the new chess courses
A few days ago, we added a two guest author’s courses to our RCA Shop. They are “Play like Tal” …
How to play an opening?
Let me start the lesson with a question. Do you know what determines your WIN/LOSS in a chess game?
Najdorf with 6.Bc4
This article was written by a young IM (18 y.o.) from Cannes (France) named Gary GIROYAN. He was French youth …
Changes for the better
The beginning of a new year is considered to be suitable for two things: An analysis of your results in …
