Francesco Costa's web page on chess
Links about me
ENDGAMES & STUDIES

CHESS STUDIES
Train and improve your tactical capability  becoming familiar with the most frequent tactical themes occurring in a chess game.

KEY CHECK MATE POSITIONS
When can you force check mate? Analysis of the main piece endgames.

CHESS ENDGAMES TECHNIQUE
Technique plays a fundamental role in the chess endgames: few material has remained in the Board and the King begins to play an active role.

NALIMOV TABLEBASE
Online database containing all the possible endings with no more than 6 pieces on the board; upon request, it gives the final result of the inserted ending position. Very useful!

FIND THE MOVE
Five chess positions to solve of the kind "White to move and win".
 
OPENING THEORY

HOW TO STUDY OPENINGS
Some useful tips for beginners: how to choose and study openings, how to move pieces in the opening, strategy in the opening, understanding the Sicilian.

SOME THEORY
Sicilian Najdorf (Poisoned Pawn vatriation), Belgrade Gambit (Trajkovic variation), Caro Kann Panov Attack (Gambit variation), how to play against Modern defence.



CHESS OPENING DATA BASE
An archive of recent games, classified by opening, available for download.  It includes both OTB and correspondence chess games, played by strong players and Grand Masters.

ECO CODES
Openings classified by ECO codes.
REVIEWS

CHESS AND LITERATURE (in Italian)
Reviews of some novels and short stories related to chess as well as the famous essay by Fine on the psychology of the chess player.

CHESS AND SMARTPHONE
How strong are the apps to play chess in the smartphone?  Here are the results of a practical test.