Eighty-five years ago GM Mikhail Botvinnik won the premier tournament of the year, the Soviet Chess Championship, with a very impressive score 12.5/17 (+8−0=9). Later, in his book about the tournament, Botvinnik shared his methods of chess p...
From wrestling with boa constrictors to battling wolves in deep, dark forests… Playing a chess grandmaster can feel like being hunted by an animal much deadlier than yourself. It's no wonder many of the world's best players have nic...
Do you still remember when you were bitten by the chess bug? Followed by that feverish desire to improve in the game? Only to realize that you started “too late” to amount to anything? In this era of prodigies and 12-year-old grandma...
Some chess games played by legendary players featured such impressive new concepts that they instantly became iconic. As time passed, these concepts turned into chess axioms. According to Wikipedia, "In classic philosophy, an axiom is a statement ...
There have been many attempts to estimate ratings of chess players, both past and present, by looking at their game scores and comparing the moves with a top engine's choices, including one notable study here on Chess.com in 2017. These at...
Who is the best? It's a question we ask about almost every competitive endeavor, and chess is no exception. For many years, we here at Chess.com have bestowed the Chess.com Awards at the end of every year. But it's time to think with longer timesc...
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi is making his second attempt at winning the FIDE World Championship and is just three draws away from becoming champion. During last year's Sinquefield Cup, Nepomniachtchi sat down with Chess.com's GM Daniel "Danya" Narodit...
If you use a social media platform to follow chess content, there’s a chance you’ve seen a name come up on your screen: thechessnerd. With deep dives into chess history, instructive short clips, and action-packed games, this 21-year-ol...
Chess, like any form of competition, has always seen its fair share of unfair play. From prearranged draws to computer cheats, where there's the will for ill-gotten gains, players have found the way. Whether the side being cheated can prove it or ...
Note: As is always the case, but should be stated clearly in this particular context, the views expressed by GM Serper in his articles are his views alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Chess.com. Chess is in the worldwide news aga...
Today, the stage is set mainly for the young. Celebratory news pieces, including our own on Chess.com, often highlight the accomplishments of the next up-and-coming player. These days, there's lots of talk about GMs Alireza Firouzja, Nodirbek Abdu...
Few would question that, in an ideal world, the best chess player would be the world champion and vice versa. We can agree that GM Magnus Carlsen, who has been world number-one by rating since 2010 and world champion since 2013, is both. But at so...
The FTX Crypto Cup was an exciting tournament where any chess player could find something to love. For me, the most attractive part of the tournament was its abundance of blunders. Yes, you read that correctly! Now, let me explain my point. ...
Have you ever wondered how much money the top chess players can make by winning games? There are so many tournaments and matches run by various organizers that it's extremely hard to track how much prize money the best chess players have won in th...
GM Bobby Fischer produced hundreds of brilliant chess moves and it is very difficult to say which one is the most beautiful. We can argue that his famous move 19.Rf6!! against GM Pal Benko was the tastiest one, since it was depicted on a cake. H...
In honor of the 44th Chess Olympiad, we at Chess.com asked the question: If you could put every country's best five players ever on the same team, how good would those teams be? Now there are many arguments, and not just in chess, about how good...
The sixth game, described by GM Bobby Fischer as his best game in the match, was likely the major turning point of the 1972 World Chess Championship. The challenger, who started the match trailing by two points, began to take control. Losing the f...
After his first-ever win against the reigning world champion, GM Boris Spassky, GM Bobby Fischer begins to face his long-held dream: Can he really win the world chess championship? Spectators worldwide, especially in Iceland and the U.S., watch...
A child prodigy destined for greatness, GM Boris Spassky was an exemplary sportsman and a stoic character. The young Soviet fulfilled his prophecy in 1969 when he defeated none other than GM Tigran Petrosian to become the world champion. Facing ...
Tuesday, July 11, 1972, 5 p.m. local time. The 1,800 spectators at Laugardalsholl applaud as GM Boris Spassky, the reigning world champion, enters the stage. He sits down, makes his first move (1.d4), and arbiter GM Lothar Schmid starts the clock....
Chess has a long tradition of matches for the highest crown. Even after 50 years, perhaps the Match of the Century still reigns supreme as the greatest competition between a challenger and a defending champion. My reflection on the World Chess Cha...
I spent the end of March 1994 playing the Oslo Open in beautiful Norway. The tournament was very memorable for me mostly for two things: I tied for first place with GM Ilya Smirin and also I had the opportunity to talk to legendary GM David Bronst...
Today 50 years ago, on July 1, 1972, the opening ceremony of the world chess championship match between reigning world champion Boris Spassky and his challenger GM Bobby Fischer took place in Reykjavik, Iceland. Fischer, however, wasn't there, ...
If there's one thing The Queen's Gambit proved, it's that chess can be dramatic. Just ask those who have played or observed the Candidates Tournament, where one game can be the difference between playing for the world championship or becoming...
The main chess event of the year, the 2022 Candidates Tournament, is already underway and by now only a lazy person wouldn't provide a prediction. While I hate to be called lazy, I cannot give you my pick for the simple reason that I have no idea!...
