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Igor has published his comments, annotated games, and articles in various chess publications, among them, the most prestigious periodicals – Chess Informant, New in Chess, ChessBase, 64, Chess Life, and Chess Today.  He is also the founder and publisher of his popular chess website.

Check out IM Igor Khmelnitsky's books:

See IM Khmelnitsky's articles and reviews posted right here at Chessville:

• To check or not to check?:  IM Igor Khmelnitsky takes us through a look at this important tactical question, and provides some surprising answers along the way.  "If you happened to witness group of Russians playing blitz or analyzing position and if you are also proficient in Russian to understand their witty comments, you may hear something like this (translated in English) - "Grandmasters don't make checks!" or "Come on! Stop bothering my King!" or "No one ever died from the check!"  These sayings emphasize how little is the respect  stronger players have for checks made without a good reason.  To the contrary, beginners, especially kids, love to make checks, and why not - after all - there is no checkmate without the check!"
   

• Review: Encyclopedia of Opening Errors by Anatoly Matsukevitch, reviewed by IM Igor Khmelnitsky.  "I am not a big fan of Encyclopedias, not lately anyway.  Why carry around a huge book or collection of books if the information is readily available on your computer?  However, there is one exception - Encyclopedia of Opening Errors by Matsukevitch..."
   

• Improving Your Calculation Technique!:  See the latest addition to our Center Squares as IM Igor Khmelnitsky guide's us through the process of improving our calculating ability, both by organizing it logically, and by increasing our knowledge base.  "You will:

  • discover move candidates much faster,

  • eliminate the less promising ones more easily, and

  • assess the position at the end of each variation more accurately."
     

• On Opening Preparation: IM Igor Khmelnitsky shares some thoughts on opening preparation, and gives brief reviews of Starting Out: Alekhine's Defence by John Cox, and Beating the Petroff by Vassilios Kotronias & Andreas Tzermiadianos.  "In my opinion Opening Preparation is one of the most complex aspects of the chess training.  It is very time consuming, puts a lot of demand on your memory and overall requires a serious commitment of financial and physical resources.  To reflect my thoughts on the process, I have devoted a chapter in my new book Chess Exam & Training Guide on the subject of openings.  I also a little while ago I had written a detailed memo for my students (not-published anywhere else) on how to prepare openings..."
   

• Practical Rook Endgames:  IM Igor Khmelnitsky's latest article covers the most frequently encountered endgame of all.  "Rook Endgame is the most common type of Endgame and one of the more complex one. There are many nuances – activity of the rook, king’s position, pawn structure that can easily distort what seems to be a clear picture.  Today, I’d like to show an example from the very recent game that my student has played at the HB Global Chess Challenge..."

• Annotated Game:  How I beat the Sensational Winner of the 2003 Dortmund Tournament, by IM Igor Khmelnitsky.  "Back in 1989 I was playing in my first ever International chess tournament.  In Round 4 I was facing one of the favorites - Viorel Bologan.  See what happened in that game below.  Sometimes in the mid 90s, Viorel played in World Open in Philadelphia, and I chatted with him a little.  He was determined to break into the World elite, and now he has.  Congratulations to him.  As for myself, I am pleased to look at this "nothing held back" game when we were both young and restless..."

• Basic Knight Endgames - Simple or not? You decide!  IM Khmelnitsky looks at some very basic endgame knowledge all chessplayers aspiring to improve need to understand, and the focus this time is on knight endings.  "...knowing basic positions and ideas in the Endgame can prove to be crucial on any level, up to grandmaster.  How devastating can this be - you are playing well for 60+ moves and 4-5 hours, only to blow everything just moments before the game should reach a well-deserved outcome?  The knowledge of Basic endgames is one of the 12 critical skills..."

• Chess & Soccer:  IM Igor Khmelnitsky's latest contribution looks at two very popular facets of the Ukranian culture he left behind 15 years ago, but still follows very closely: chess & soccer!  IM Khmelnitsky looks at a number of positions from games at the recently concluded super-tournament held in Ukraine – under the sponsorship of the Ukrainian airline Aeroswit.

• What do you do with your king, and why?:  IM Igor Khmelnitsky's latest article asks, What do you do with your king, and why?  "In almost every game we have to deal with the question – "What to do with the King?"  The basic concept is to castle as soon as you can.  Why?  Well, the purpose of castling is to get the R in the game and to get the K in a safer position.  And the bonus – you move two pieces at once.  Well, as you advance your skills you certainly should be looking for a better reasoning and for pointers that would help you to make a decision..."

• Taking the Elevator Down...  "Controlling of the open file with the Rook is an extremely important strategic factor.  It often allows various tactical opportunities.  The common ones are a back-rank checkmate, double attack, penetration to the 7^th rank to win material, etc…Almost like an elevator going to the top floor.  Some of the lesser known ideas - involve using the open file as trampoline for transferring the Rook to another file.  This idea was mentioned by Aaron Nimtsovich in his masterpiece “My System.”  Mark Dvoretsky contributed greatly to the development of this subject.  I’d compare this to the elevator going to the middle floor and you have a skywalk (or something similar) to get to a different tower..."

• Advancing the Passed Pawn - Threat vs. Execution:  Endgame instruction - "In my opinion, promoting a pawn is one of the most exciting thing in chess.  Rarely, however, does the promotion go uncontested.  It is more common that an opponent can stop the promotion for a certain price – material or time.  The question is – what is the right price?  Not only must one gain material, but also foresee how it will influence the subsequent flow of the game.  Let's start with this relatively simple example from the game of two boys; both are my students and rated approximately 800..."
   

• One vs. Many => Examples a Plenty!:  "Today I have a mix of positions from the games that I played in the simul last fall.  I was invited to give a short presentation of my book Chess Exam and Training Guide and do a simul at the North Penn Chess Club back in the fall.  I battled 22 (or so) players of various levels in a nice, friendly atmosphere.  At the end, I was lucky to give out just one draw and won the rest of the games.  From memory, I stored a few of the more interesting examples from that simul..."
   

• One vs. Many => Examples a Plenty! - (Conclusion):  "Last time I showed you some interesting examples from the games I played against the members of North Penn Chess Club in Lansdale, PA.  In this article I will show some more examples from that simul...
   

• 4th and Inches at the Goal Line:  IM Igor Khmelnitsky's latest article looks at a similarity between chess and football.  "The 2006 NFL season is approaching fast and the pre-season has officially began last Sunday.  One of the more exciting plays in football is the "4th and inches" at the goal line.  The offense can pick a variety of plays, from using a brute force to some sneaky tricks.  The defense, on the other hand, is set for the last "do or die" stand knowing that making a stop here will provide a tremendous boost for the whole team..."
   

• Have we met before?  -  Déjà Vu has IM Khmelnitsky reviewing four very similar positions:  "A couple of days ago I saw an interesting position that occurred in the game of two strong GMs - Becerra vs. Blehm from the match Miami vs. Baltimore (US Chess League, I suggest you visit this site frequently and find a team to route for).  See the diagram 1 below.  The way White dismantled Black's position was very impressive, but I did have a strange Déjà Vu feeling.  Then I  recalled a few of positions I saw and stored in my workbooks that were somewhat similar.  See diagrams 2-4..."
   

• Reviewing Games After A Tournament, with IM Igor Khmelnitsky.  "Reviewing your own games is the most important part of the training process. Why it is important and how to do it have been discussed in numerous books and publications.  In this article I want to show some highlights from the recent review of the games played by my student - he is retired, enjoys chess and is been making a steady progress (rated now about 1100).  My focus when reviewing the games is on identifying critical positions worth discussing and then highlighting concepts and ideas in hope that they will stick in the memory of my student..."
   

• Watch Your Back...Rank! by IM Igor Khmelnitsky.  "Back rank checkmate is rather unique attacking situation where one doesn’t really need many pieces to finish the game on the spot. No matter what the material balance is, what other targets and threats are, if one has a Queen, or even a Rook and the other side has the King stuck on the back rank (1^st for White or 8^th for Black), there is always a chance for a game ending back rank checkmate.  Many tactical operations are based on the back rank checkmate. Among them elimination of defender, deflection/decoy, skewer etc… It is amazing, how the situation can turn 180 degrees in a single move because of the back rank problem. In fact, in my new book Chess Exam Tactics, I list Back rank amongst the 6 critical Motives or reasons for combinations.  Here is an example from a recent game of my student..."
   

• The World Open 'Knights' in Valley Forge and a little bit of Shakespeare by IM Igor Khmelnitsky.  "In early July, 2007, the 35th World Open (projected prize fund of $400,000) was going full speed in the Valley Forge Convention Center (20 minutes drive from downtown Philadelphia).  Thanks to the short commute, I visited the event almost every day, checking on my friends as well as my students.  Also, spending time with the always busy dealers (Rochester Chess Center and Chess4Less); the store was packed with newest as well as rare chess stuff.  And, of course, I mingled with readers of my books.  I even played in a side event.  The World Open will be covered in depth in many chess media outlets.  I’d like to share with you here a few interesting positions that I spotted scanning the boards and the common theme of them is the actions of the Knights..."
   

• Test Yourself, a new Lesson of the Month from IM Igor Khmelnitsky.  "All Positions - spend no more than 15 minutes on each.  (1) Check whose move it is.  (2) Evaluate the position (i.e. White is Better, or Black is Winning, or Equal...)  (3) Find the best move and, if necessary, support it with variations.  The subject of today’s mini-test is a misplaced bishop.  The first two positions should be extremely easy for all, except for true novices..."
   

• A Funny Side of Chess by IM Igor Khmelnitsky.  "Chess is a grueling mental battle. Anyone who plays in the official rated tournaments can attest to that. It is not that unlikely, that when one participates in a weekend Swiss (Friday - Sunday, 5 rounder), he or she can spend 25-30 hours total at the chessboard.  To play successfully, you also need to put a strong effort during your preparation. Professional chess players spend 6-8 hrs each day. Non-professionals struggle to find the time to study while balancing their work and family obligations.  So basically, as soon as you leave the school, chess stops being a pure fun and becomes a stressful hobby.  Everyone deals with the stress in their own way. I try my best to incorporate humor and fun in my personal training as well as in my sessions with my students..."
   

• (Mis)Adventures of the Rook:  "A rook is the second most valuable piece after the queen (not counting the 'priceless' king).  Just like the queen, it is a long-range fighter that can do a lot of damage.  Also, just like the queen, it can be an easy target, thus often prefers to operate from a safe distance.  It is rather clumsy in cluttered positions and can be attacked by minor pieces, pawns and even the king (this is something that the queen doesn't need to worry about.)  Recently, while reviewing games of one of my students, I've stumbled across several situations in which he 'issued wrong assignments' for his rooks.  Well, as I discussed these problems with him, I thought it might be beneficial to share the fragments with you..."
   

• A Sacrificial Lamb:  "Chess books and software tools dedicated to the subject of Tactics always have a section devoted to the advanced passed pawn.  In my Chess Exam Tactics, one of the six Motives I am rating the readers on is the “Advanced Pass Pawn”.  However, the majority of the examples are usually on the themes (or methods) that are aimed at getting the passed pawn through.  Eliminating and deflecting the defender(s) are the most popular ideas.

• Bishop Off-Side:  "...a bishop is a long ranged piece and needs open space to show its strength in attack.  On defense, a bishop is often a solid force as well.  Depending on its placement, a bishop's range is anywhere from 7 (ex. from a1, a7) to 13 (ex. from d4 or e5) available squares.  When some of these squares become unavailable, the bishop can get into trouble..."
   

• Desperate Measures:  "When a threat is met by a counter-threat, precise calculation is required.  One possibility is yet another counter-threat, when a piece that was attacked, finds a target and gives itself up no matter how valuable that target was.  The latter method is a variation of an intermediate move and is called a 'desperado'..."
   

• Coach Foygel!:  My good friend and former coach, Intentional Master Igor Foygel turned 60 last October 29th.  He remains an active player and also has a chess coaching practice in Boston area.  Among other things, Foygel helped me in proofing my Chess Exam books.  Best wishes!  You can check his website here.  Today's training positions all came from Foygel's games.  Enjoy!
   

• King in the Corner - Trapped or Safe?  "Sending your King to the corner often may seem too dangerous or even counter-intuitive. While sometimes the King can be mated in the corner, in other times, he may find it to be the safest place, mainly due to a stalemate idea..."
   

• The b-pawn: Responsibilities and Possibilities  "There are many opening variations where you would want to have your bishop developed on the long diagonal.  This is especially true when there is a pawn on e3(e6).  Some examples are Caro-Kann, Queens Gambit for Black, the Benko Gambit, and some lines in the Sicilian for White.  Even though your Bishop might look much better on the long diagonal, you always must keep in mind that the b-pawn has certain responsibilities and advancing it may give some tactical possibilities to your opponent..."
   

• King and a Pawn vs. a Pair of Pawns:  "Test Yourself: The question - Review each position for 30 seconds - 3 minutes (the higher your rating, the less time you should spend). What result do you expect (White Win, Draw, Black Win) and why?  Next, analyze to check your initial decision. Then read my article below..."

Copyright © 2005-2008 by Igor Khmelnitsky & www.IamCoach.com and is used here by permission.  It may not be reprinted or reposted in any format without the express written permission of the author.

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