Do you know what chess studies are? They’re one of the most fascinating parts of chess composition, and I’m curious if you’ve seen any interesting ones.

White is clearly down in material, but Black’s last move, Kd7, looks like a mistake. Let’s break down why. White might actually be able to launch a strong attack here. What do you think?

What is one chess habit you think you should start applying to improve your game? It can be anything, from reviewing your games, solving puzzles daily, to managing your time better over the board. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Hey CP family! I played in a weekly OTB 90+30 game last night and I wanted to share my game with you guys. I play in the U1600 section of the tournament. I've been struggling lately with confidence and have been losing frequently as of late over the board. I'm currently sitting at about 1350 OTB while my online rating ranges between 1800-1900. So there's a big gap there. Online I don't seem to care much about opponent ratings and I feel more confident, but OTB, I just don't have the right mindset. Last weekend I lost to 2 players rated 800 and 900 because of 1 move blunders on my part. I mention this because last night, I played against the highest rated playing in my section and I went in with the mindset that "I can beat anyone as long as I keep my focus." So I was happy with the game. Here it is: 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 dxe4 4. fxe4 e5 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Bc4 Nd7 7. O-O Ngf6 8. c3 Be7 9. Qb3 O-O 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Bc5+ 12. Kh1 Nxe4 13. Rxf7 Rxf7 14. Bxf7+ Kh8 15. h3 Qh4 16. c4 Qe1+ 17. Kh2 Qg1# 0-1 There is one move in the game where I took about 15 mins to think. This was move 12. I decided to play Nxe4, but I really thought hard about playing Nh5 instead, but I didn't see the follow up, while taking the pawn on e4 came with a check threat on f7 that was supported by the bishop. So I thought that was clearly the best move because it came with an additional threat on top of winning a pawn. YET, that move lost all my advantage and equalized the game. Even looking at the engine line, doesn't seem to help me understand why there is such a big swing between this move and the Nh5 move. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Garry P.

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