Alberto Chueca - Alberto Chueca - High Performance Chess Academy

I am International Master and Chess coach. I like to help people to improve their chess level. Starting teaching them the basic concepts and adding more complexity to every lesson. I have designed a special methodology to improve in chess which we are using in the lessons with very good results. If you are finding how to improve your chess level, I recommend you to check The Chueca Method to see how I work :)

03 Chess middlegame ♟️

How to handle the Isolated Pawn in Chess

Isolated Pawn Definition

A pawn is said to be isolated if there are no pawns of the same color beside it. In other words, the isolated pawn is a lonely pawn that does not have support from neighboring pawns and can be a worrisome weakness depending on the nature of the position.

The concept of the isolated pawn is very important because most beginners, intermediate, and even advanced players in chess having such pawns in their games lose regularly due to improper handling of the position.

Isolated pawns can arise from different openings such as the Queen's gambit, Tarrasch … Read more

01/02/2021 No Comments

05 The ways to improve in chess ♟️

Castling in chess: How to survive the Opening

How to castle

Castling in chess is a special movement that allows the player to move the king and a rook simultaneously to one side of the board. This movement is unique, as it allows the player to move two pieces in one move.

The king has two sides to castle, the kingside or the queenside. No matter which way the player chooses to castle, the king will move only two squares in one direction and then put the rook right beside the king.

Rules to castle

There are a few things we have to notice before thinking about castling, … Read more

01/02/2021 No Comments

02 Chess openings ♟️

Bogo-Indian Defense

Bogo-Indian Defense is an interesting variation Black can play against Queen’s Pawn. It is named after the strong master Efim Bogoljubov. Since the beginning, the second player develops the pieces on the Kingside very quickly, and very often they can misplace some white minor piece on the Queenside.

We have Bogo-Indian Defense on the board after the moves

d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+

This is the main position in the theory of Bogo-Indian Defense. When White plays 3.Nf3, they intend to avoid Nimzo-Indian Defense, since after 3.Nc3 Black can play 3 … Bb4, … Read more

01/02/2021 No Comments

02 Chess openings ♟️

Réti Opening

Réti Opening is a solid, flexible, and interesting system for White. It is named after the great master Richard Reti. Something good is that as this is not such a popular variation, very often Black does not know the theory and it could be confusing for the second player.

We have Réti Opening on the board after the moves

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4

Usually, this is followed by a Kingside Fianchetto, although, in general, it is said we are in Réti Opening when White plays Nf3 and c4 to face d5 by Black, and in the next moves … Read more

01/02/2021 No Comments

02 Chess openings ♟️

Trompowsky Attack

In this post, we study a very good system to play as White: Trompowsky Attack (named after the Brazilian master: Octavio Trompowsky). This Opening is good for players who like to avoid too theoretical lines. In general, the middlegames are more or less balanced, but as Trompowsky Attack is not mainline, very often Black is not familiar with the positions and this could mean a small additional advantage for the first player, who, by the way, will know much better the subtleties of the positions.

We have Trompowsky Attack on the board after the moves

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5… Read more

26/12/2020 No Comments

02 Chess openings ♟️

Alekhine’s Defense

Alekhine's Defense

Alekhine's Defense is a sharp Chess Opening, named after the World Champion Alexander Alekhine, who played it for the first time at Budapest 1921. It is considered a good variation for aggressive attack players. One of the main characteristics of Alekhine’s Defense is that it breaks the symmetry since move number 1, leading to unbalanced and dynamic positions.

We have Alekhine's Defense on the board after the moves

1.e4 Nf6

The idea with this move Nf6 is to attack the central pawn, so, White is tempted now to advance it threatening the Knight. Also, the “c”, “d” … Read more

19/12/2020 No Comments

02 Chess openings ♟️

Grünfeld Defense

In this post, we analyze an aggressive variation against Queen’s Pawn: Grünfeld Defense. This is a sharp asymmetric line for aggressive players. Something interesting about this line is the fact that the Game of the Century, between Donald Byrne and Bobby Fischer (who was 13 years old at the moment of this game) in 1956 was a Grünfeld Defense by transposition.

It is not so good about Grünfeld Defense, that White can play so many different variations and sidelines more or less interesting and strong. However, the good news is that usually the general ideas for … Read more

19/12/2020 No Comments

02 Chess openings ♟️

King’s Indian Attack

King's Indian Attack

In this post, we will analyze a really special opening: King’s Indian Attack. More than an opening variation, this is an interesting and easy to learn system for White. As it is stated in the name, the main goal is to create a powerful attack on the Kingside against the black King. In general, when Black knows the theory very well, they can manage to get a balanced middlegame, but the good news is that this does not happen very often among beginners or club players.

The name King’s Indian Attack is related to King’s Indian Defense… Read more

19/12/2020 No Comments

02 Chess openings ♟️

Scotch Game

Do you want to learn a new opening as White and escape out of the too well-known routine of Ruy Lopez or Italian Game? Then you are on the right site. In this post, we are going to study the dynamic and interesting Scotch Game with White pieces.

This variation was very popular in the 19^th Century. However, the best players in the world stopped playing it after about 1900, because Black was getting good positions more or less easily. But this has changed in the last decades after Garry Kasparov started playing it and found some … Read more

01/12/2020 No Comments

02 Chess openings ♟️

Benko Gambit

The Benko gambit is one of the best options to win quick initiative with black. It’s an opening that makes you feel you are playing with the white pieces instead of black. You gain a quick attack over white’s queenside in exchange for one pawn, and you get to develop your pieces harmoniously.

Playing the Benko gambit is always refreshing, one of the best things you can do with black undoubtedly. The best part is that playing the Benko gambit is really easy, the opening is linear and has many ideas.

You will always have a plan to … Read more

01/12/2020 No Comments