Best of the 2015 U.S. Chess League – Mastering the Middlegame

November 20, 2015 NHaselton Chess Lectures

♛

Ready to play?

Play and learn chess for free on Chess.com

Play on Chess.com →

Mike Kummer is excited that the 2015 Saint Louis Arch Bishops of the U.S. Chess League are going to the championship once again. To celebrate, Mike looks back at two great games from this season.

2015.11.17
Doug D Eckert (STL) vs. Atulya Vaidya (DAL), 2015: A45 Trompovsky attack (Ruth, Opovcensky opening)
Elliott JL Liu (LV) vs. Vignesh Panchanathan (SF), 2015: D47 Queen’s Gambit Declined semi-Slav, Meran, Wade variation

♟ More videos — same opening

How to WIN with the QUEEN’S GAMBIT | 1400-1500 ELO

Dec 6, 2025

Sicilian Dragon vs Yugoslav Attack, Climbing Lichessladders, Game 15

Dec 5, 2025

Alireza vs Nodirbek || London Chess Classic 2025

Dec 4, 2025

How to WIN with the QUEEN’S GAMBIT | 1300-1400 ELO

Dec 4, 2025

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

<div id="puzzlebot-container"></div>

<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.polyfills.min.js"></script>

<script>
  var board = null;
  var game = new Chess();

  function onDragStart(source, piece, position, orientation) {
    // do not allow dragging when game is over
    if (game.game_over()) return false;

    // only allow white pieces to be dragged
    if (piece.search(/^b/) !== -1) return false;
  }

  function onDrop(source, target) {
    // see if the move is legal
    var move = game.move({
      from: source,
      to: target,
      promotion: "q" // always promote to a queen for example simplicity
    });

    // illegal move
    if (move === null) return "snapback";

    // update the board position
    board.position(game.fen());

    // get a random move from the engine
    window.setTimeout(makeRandomMove, 250);
  }

  // make a random move
  function makeRandomMove() {
    var possibleMoves = game.moves();

    // game over
    if (possibleMoves.length === 0) return;

    var randomIndex = Math.floor(Math.random() * possibleMoves.length);
    game.move(possibleMoves[randomIndex]);
    board.position(game.fen());
  }

  // initialize the chessboard
  function init() {
    var config = {
      draggable: true,
      onDragStart: onDragStart,
      onDrop: onDrop,
      position: 'start'
    };

    board = Chessboard('puzzlebot-container', config);

    makeRandomMove();
  }

  $(document).ready(init);
</script>