Jayden's Chess Journal Edition #11

Joke of the Week

Two chess players walk into a bar.

The first one immediately says, "Check please."

💡Puzzle #11

Black has checkmate in two moves, can you find this hard move?

✅Solution

In order to find checkmate Black must sacrifice the ROOK! Rh1+ forces the White king to capture it and Black can play the very nice move of Bf2+. White can try to delay with Bh5 but after Rxh5# it is game over.

♟️Tip of the Week

A rook is most effective on an open file. An open file means exponentially more control, clamps the opponent’s position, and creates more attacking chances for your pieces.

🪶Chess History

Today we will look at one of the most dynamic and brilliant minds in the game of chess, The Magician from Riga, Mikhail Tal. Known as one of the greatest creative minds in chess, and for his attacking and daring tactics, Tal is arguably one of the greatest tacticians of all time. Mikhail Tal was born in Latvia in 1936 and joined a chess club as a child. Even early on, Tal used creative combinations to win games. He used these sharp strategies to defeat the analytic Botvinnik in 1960 to win the World Chess Championship. Let’s look at one of the great tactics of the mighty Mikhail Tal.

Tal just played the move Rd8+, seemingly losing his rook. But it is actually a sacrifice, Tal offers up his rook in exchange for Black’s Queen! This was a brilliant move and represents just a minute part of Mikhail Tal’s tactical thinking.

 That wraps up this edition of Jayden’s Chess Journal

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and if you know anyone looking for more chess knowledge, send them this link so they can access this awesome newsletter.

Thank you so much for reading this edition, until next time.