The Chess Ghost

 We’ve all been there. You’re staring at the board, your heart is racing, and you have that nagging feeling that there’s a brilliant move hidden in plain sight. You spend five minutes calculating a complex 10-move sequence that ends in a glorious checkmate... only to realize, two seconds after moving, that your opponent can just take your Queen for free. In the chess world, we call this "tunnel vision." In the heat of battle, our brains love to skip the basics and jump straight to the "hero moves." If you want to stop hanging pieces and start punishing your opponents, you need a mental circuit breaker. Enter the CCT Method . What is the CCT Method? CCT is a simple, three-step mental checklist you should run every single time it is your turn to move. It stands for: C hecks C aptures T hreats It sounds elementary, but even Grandmasters use this framework to ensure they haven't missed a " forcing move "—a move that requires an immediate, specific respo...

 They are fast, they are brilliant on Lichess, and they have absolutely no idea how to write down a move. A look at a generation of self-taught players waiting for the school system to catch up. If you walk past Bilik Darjah 3A on a Wednesday afternoon, it doesn't sound like a chess club. It sounds like a riot. There is laughter, the screech of chairs on tiled floors, and the constant, high-energy chatter of ten-year-olds. Inside, you’ll find the school’s U12 (Under-12) "elite squad." They are the hopefuls for the MSSD (District Level) tournament in 2026. They are brilliant. They are enthusiastic. And they are almost completely guideless. This isn't a story of a disciplined Soviet chess school. This is a story of feral genius growing in the cracks of the Malaysian school system. The Lichess Generation Meet Amir, aged 11. On his father's smartphone, Amir is a terror. He plays "Bullet Chess" on Lichess (1-minute games) at frightening speeds. His thumbs mov...

 A real-life look at what happens when teachers with zero experience, limited resources, and administrative roadblocks are tasked with reviving a dying club in a local secondary school. Picture a typical sultry afternoon at SMK Seri Mutiara , a secondary school on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. The ceiling fans are working overtime in an empty classroom. Two teachers, Cikgu Sarah (a dedicated English teacher) and Cikgu Azlan (who teaches Sejarah), are staring blankly at a dusty, incomplete chess set they just pulled from a forgotten cupboard. They have just received a directive from the Pengetua (Principal): Revive the school Chess Club immediately as part of the new holistic curriculum push. There was just one massive problem. "Azlan," Cikgu Sarah whispered, nudging a plastic piece with her finger. "Do you know which one is the Rook?" "I thought that was the castle?" Azlan replied nervously. Neither of them knew how to play chess. Not a single move. They...

It has been awhile that we update this blog. Anyway, here are some awesome tips that amateurs need to know. Throughout the opening to middle game, most of us feel difficult to calculate or plan the moves because there were too many candidate moves (pawns, bishops, knights, rooks, etc.). Steps of thinking: 1. First of all, find those pieces that are not secured or undefended by any other pieces. 2. If there is no unprotected piece that you can not find, then it is best to search for the least unprotected piece. Thinking guides [CCTI] : 1. C heck - find a way to check, if any. 2. C apture - capture those unprotected or find a winning 'trade-in'. 3. T rap - set a 'capture zone' for a 'big' valued pieces, ie. Queen, Rooks. 4. I mprove - If there are none of the above, improve & secure your space and positions; cramped & push the opponent back to their home. Below you may see branches of thinking steps, simplified ways that we may use it, i...

Broadcast streaming here >> http://thechessghost.blogspot.com/p/live-chess-tournaments.html Standings of Tata Steel Challengers     Score Rating TPR 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1 Bok, B. 3.5 / 4 2560 2957     ½           1 1   1     2 Jobava, B. 3.5 / 4 2710 2831         ½         1     1 1 3 Saric, I. 3.0 / 4 2637 2747 ½           1 1     ½       4 Muzychuk, A. 3.0 / 4 2566 2746         1   ½ 1     ½       5 Duda, J. 2.0 / 4 2553 2604   ½   0   ½             1   6 Wojtaszek, R. 2.0 / 4 2711 2509         ½   0 ½           1 7 Reinderman, D. 1.5 / 3 2593 2638     0 ½   1                 8 Troff, K. 1.5...

Sergey Karjakin  is the new  World Rapid Champion ! He won the competition in Astana with 11,5/15, a full point ahead of the second Carlsen, after completing a fenomenal third day with 4,5/5. This adds yet another brilliant trophy to the carrer of Sergey Karjakin and one more time justifies  the transfer that the Russian Chess Federation  made  a few years ago . Magnus Carlsen was brilliant during  day 1  and  day 2  of the World Rapid chess championship in Astana. However, his third day games were in total contrast to the general performance so far. He started with a logical win against Ismagambetov, but scored back-to-back loses against Ivanchuk and Grischuk. A draw against Radjabov left him without much practical chances for the title, while in the last game he could have even lost the silver, had Veselin Topalov seen a forced mate in the endgame. Topalov himself had yet another strange mixture of irregular performances. He made nor...