Daily Dacha Tactics
Each day we add a Dacha color-themed tactic for interactive play. Test your color theory and enjoy!
Dacha Tactics #118 - Silent dark!
Student Shimmy has the white pieces. The black king is surely getting feisty... to the naked eye it sits pretty on f4. Or does it? Color money is were ahead on light but behind on dark. Maybe just maybe we can rebuild dark and tie the noose around the wayward
Dacha Tactics #117 - Pathway to light heaven!
Our Caro Kann has been a massive success. The white king is hanging on by a thread! Note how color money is equal but neither side has a light bishop. If we can overtake light, that might just be the end. Everyone should join the light party! Interact with the
Dacha Tactics #116 - Golden bishop shining bright
This was a cool position that arose from a healthy "Cheesecake dacha". My bishop pair rakes the board and the black king is under fire. Note we have a golden light bishop, and +$500 light money. Find the light knockout! Interact with the puzzle below. If you get
Dacha Tactics #115 - Abe turner - dark scorpion tail!
Here Mr. Turner is up an exchange, although White has some pawns as compensation. The rook is 750 light / 750 dark while the light bishop is 1000 light. How do we use our dark advantage? It's a nice blend of precise calculation with a color guide along the
Dacha Tactics #114 - Abe Turner - oozing dark
Recently I saw some positions from the legendary Abe Turner, a very strong player from the 50s and 60s. Here Mr. Turner has a golden dark bishop and White's weak dark squares around the king make for a delicious meal. Our own king isn't too great
Dacha Tactics #113 - All the players participate in the dacha!!
A cool position I just had in a tournament in Boston. The position is delicate and tense and the color money is equal. When we look closely, it becomes apparent that light is a key battle – e6 is somewhat weak and pressured by White's rooks. And the light
Dacha Tactics #112 - Golden light bishop doing magic
An incredible idea from a student's game. We are down a queen but white's king is naked. We also have a golden light bishop lurking and ready. Rxf4 is natural but runs into Qb8 check picking up the rook. Can our golden light bishop help make
Dacha Tactics #111 - Silent light!!
A cool puzzle I came across, the idea is to form a mating net for black's king. We are up a piece, a golden dark bishop – let's look to use our inherent dark and to infuse with light energy of all our pieces! Rooks, pawns, king.
Dacha Tactics #110 - Dark chocolate ... with a hint of light caramel
A cool position I saw from a game by Levy Rozman aka "Gothamchess". White's king is under fire and not all that content. Color money? It's our Golden dark bishop vs white's knight. Which means we are ahead on dark, but behind
Dacha Tactics #109 - Queen acts as...
The black king is naked, his forces are sleeping and the end is near! Color money is our golden dark bishop vs his knight, meaning we are +500 dark but behind on light. How to replenish our light and weave a mating net? Interact with the puzzle below. If you
Dacha Tactics #108 - Charlotte's light web
An interesting endgame I came across. Color money is +500 light, -500 dark. The agile knight and its light potential may very well pose issues for the limited white king. That and some dark bricks could be the end! How to tie the noose? Interact with the puzzle below. If
Dacha Tactics #107 - Queen goes back to acting school.
A fairly straightforward position with some color pizazz! White is looking to weave a mating net around the hapless king. He sits on light – how to complete the light dacha? Interact with the puzzle below. If you get stuck, you can always click the "lightbulb" icon in the
Dacha Tactics #89 - rarest of rare -- dark Dacha stairway to heaven!
I just came across this position and it is a beautiful one. The black king is a sitting dark duck on a1 but for now it seems mostly safe. Clearly the goal will be to lock up the black king with the knight, bishop – and hopefully the king. Let'
Dacha Tactics #84 - Dark investments paying light dividends
This was an interesting game of mine. Our king seems a bit safer than his , what with his dark weaknesses and the slight delay in castling. Also note on the queen side how our knights are in party mode and our dark bishop is enjoying the dark pressure. Color money
Dacha Tactics #40 - smooth dark knockout!
An exciting position! Starting from a YaacAttack Stonewall , where white usually plays on light, the focus here seems to have switched to dark. The color $ will also guide us this way – knight vs his light bishop means that we are -500 light, but +500 on dark. If we take note,
Dacha Tactics #35 - Nezh's dark magic!
A classic Nezh game here. The position looks normal and a sane player would try and save the queen. However this is Nezh, and to boot -- the dark squares on black's kingside are looking fine and tasty today. How to proceed? Try and procure the Nezh dark
Dacha Tactics #34 - cracking Naroditsky with strict cheesecake dark dacha.
A juicy smooth cheesecake has arisen. Where to look for plans? Well the color money is equal. However there are some weak dark squares in question --and with black's bishop on g7 relatively sleeping, our dark bishop on a3 is ready to pounce! Interact with the puzzle below.
Dacha Tactics #33 - king shows dark chops to hold draw!
White's bishop looks trapped. Is there a form of escape or is it simply over? Let's look at color $ -- both have light bishops, neither have dark. If there is hope -- it will be on dark. But how? Let's dig deep for underground
Dacha Tactics #32 - knight shows off dark.
From a blitz battle -- all seems normal-- but how about some color money investigation! We have a knight vs white's light bishop. Which means we are ahead on dark but behind on light. His king stands on dark, seemingly activating his king like the books tell us
Dacha Tactics #31 - battle versus Caruana, knight showing light juice!
Battle vs Caruana! We are black here, in a bit of a time scramble. How to begin? Well let's see the color $$ -- knight his dark bishop. So we are ahead on light, he's ahead on dark. There are some juicy opportunities for our knight on
Dacha Tactics #30 - oozing dark juices.
This was a cheesecake blitz game vs the strong IM Lawrence Trent. A juicy position has arisen, what with our "Sleeping" Knight on d6. Color money is equal. However , neither side has a dark bishop so it would be helpful to look to replenish our dark! How? Interact
Dacha Tactics #29 - light rebuild.
An interesting endgame from a blitz game of mine. Knight vs Bishop -- means that we are behind on light but ahead on dark. His d4 pawn might be a target one day -- who knows. His pawn on c6 is a nuisance and is on light. How to replenish,
Dacha Tactics #28 - Max Euwe shows faith in light golden bishop.
This is a classic game by Max Euwe. The position is very complex - how to begin? The same way we begin every position -- colors. so the color imbalance is light bishop for us, dark bishop for him. We are down 1000 dark, up 1000 light. In addition our
Dacha Tactics #27 - Reshevsky shows off golden light bishop.
We have a golden light bishop vs a knight. As such we look for color $$ -- we're ahead on light but behind on dark. The pesky knight must be neutralized... Interact with the puzzle below. If you get stuck, you can always click the "lightbulb" icon
Dacha Tactics #26 - oozing dark for the win!
From an exciting blitz game. Material is equal but the color money is not. We are ahead on dark and behind on light. Thankfully his kingside is ridden with dark holes! How to display our Golden dark bishop and take advantage? Interact with the puzzle below. If you get stuck,
Dacha Tactics #25 - dark nugget incoming!
From a blitz game of mine in a wild time scramble! Material is about equal – let's look for color $. So we have a light bishop vs a rook. This means we are ahead on light, but behind on dark. White's king is precarious but alas , stands
Dacha Tactics #24 - Nimzo light squeeze featuring triangulation!
Here black has a large advantage, what with the poor dark bishop sleeping in the b2 boondocks. That being said, our knight isn't great either and our king needs to find a way to invade. Color money time! We are behind on dark and ahead on light. Let&
Dacha Tactics #23 - Reti vs Romanovsky light magic.
A complex endgame we have here. Since there are opposite colored bishops, the color money swings are real and palpable. White is +$1000 light, Black is +$1000 dark. F5 is under some pressure, and if fxe6 then ooops!-- f5 mates us. How to break black on light, and show
Dacha Tactics #22 - Alekhine vs Yates dark magic.
This is a personal favorite of mine from my early childhood chess days. Alekhine is playing Yates, we have a great knight and 2 strong rooks. First -- what is the color $$? Well knight vs light bishop means we have extra dark $. Which squares are sensitive in black's
Dacha Tactics #21 - Capablanca dreams big for the golden bishop.
Black is clearly doing well here. More space, 2 bishops, and a very compact position. How to form a plan? Let's begin with colors naturally! The imbalance is black has a light bishop for the white knight. This means we are ahead on light. As a bonus --
Dacha Tactics #20 - Capablanca finds dark amidst the light!
An interesting endgame taken from a Capablanca game vs Janowski. Lots of funky pawns everywhere, which are strong which are weak and how to play? Well let's begin with colors! The imbalance is our Golden light bishop vs his knight which means we are +500 light and -500
Dacha Tactics #19 - dark dacha Capablanca vs Vidmar.
A Capablanca game. We are slowly squeezing black with the bishop pair. Well let's look for the pride and joy -- our dark Golden bishop naturally. If so , the knockout will likely be on dark ... Interact with the puzzle below. If you get stuck, you can always click
