Are chess improvement and chess enjoyment mutually exclusive? Improving one's ability at any game of skill takes dedication, study, practice and application. Where's the fun in that? I'm half joking here of course - I recognize that if I enjoy chess (which I do) then learning to play it better should also be enjoyable and motivation shouldn't be a problem.So why is it a problem?I believe that impro...

I've written about just about everything except my own games for a while now, so I figured I'd better put that right. My latest completed correspondence game at chess.com (3 days/move) really made my brain hurt.I've never really settled on a defence to d4, and my response this time was the Tarrasch defence. Playing over the game, it looks much more comfortable a win than it really was. I won a pawn...

One of the failings of the way I study chess is my extremely bad habit of starting reading a chess book and never actually finishing it. The list below is just a sample of the titles which grace the shelves of my bookcase, but which I have never actually finished.Pawn Power in Chess - KmochThe Development of Chess Style - Euwe & NunnUnderstanding Chess Move by Move - NunnChess Exam and Training...

(With apologies to Josh Waitzkin)After many years of diligent study I have achieved mediocrity in a number of fields and recently had an epiphany when I realised that my skill lay not in any one area, but in that I was in fact a master of the Art of Losing. It is chess where my mediocrity has blossomed to it's fullest extent and I will focus here on the lessons that I can pass on to others who may...

Does playing chess make you happy? Perhaps the answer might not be as obvious as it first appears. When we win, then of course we are happy; but when we lose we are quite the opposite. Chess can be bruising to the ego and for most of us there is always someone better than you who can give you a painful lesson. So is the joy of winning greater than the pain of losing? Dan Heisman believes that the a...