Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Nightmare
Losing a game after having the advantage is painful. If you are a frequent reader of these series, you will remember such a situation happening to Gukesh in the London Chess Classic, 2023. It’s...
Nairobi Chess Club Blog
Match “Nairobi vs Wedel”
Following the tradition started 17 years ago, NCC embarked in a new international online match. 6 members of NCC had the privilege of playing an overseas online match against the German team of Schachfreunde...
Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Luck
Is there luck in chess? Objectively, in chess all the information is available. Both players see the same board, the same pieces and the time available in their clocks. Starting with that information, each...
Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Morphy’s Secret
Paul Charles Morphy (1837 – 1884) was a genius American chess player. Despite his short chess career, his contemporaries considered Morphy as the world’s greatest chess master. In Morphy’s time, chess theory was poorly...
Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Powerful Pin
The Maroczy formation against the Sicilian Defense features the two characteristic White pawns c4 and d4 against Black’s d6. White’s idea is to restrain Black’s typical central advance d5 while enjoying space advantage. Because...
1st Nairobi Chess Club Grand Prix – Peter Majur crowned Champion
1st Nairobi Chess Club Grand Prix – Peter Majur crowned Champion Peter Majur of South Sudan powered his way to victory in the 1st Nairobi Chess Club Grand Prix with a perfect score of six points out of six...
Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Critical Magic Moment
The 2023 Sinquefield Cup was the strongest international classical chess tournament in the U.S. and the final event of the 2023 Grand Chess Tour. Ten top international players played in a Round-Robin system with...
Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Wrong But Succesfull Attack
The Champions Chess Tour (CCT) 2025 was a competition featuring two online events: “Chessable Masters” and “Chess.com Classic”. Each event consisted of three sections: Qualifier, Play-In and Playoffs. The Qualifier section was open to...
Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Master Lesson Forgotten
Nowadays, the chess community has access to a myriad of books, articles, videos, courses … about all aspects of the game. Many title players have contributed with theoretical innovations, openings, and new ideas. And...
The 1st Nairobi Grand Prix Tournament 2026
The 1st Nairobi Grand Prix Tournament; Where Every Move Told a Story (as written by Aurelia Jemutai Chumo) For decades, Nairobi Chess Club has been synonymous with classical chess. Mention the club, and many...
Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Zero Chances
The 2025 Prague Chess Festival was a round-robin with 10 players that took place on February 26-March 7 in Prague, Czech Republic. The venue was the prestigious Don Giovanni Hotel. The tournament used a...
