Chess.com started 17 years ago, in May 2007—just two years after the first YouTube video was published and the first Reddit thread was created. A lot has changed since then, but one thing remains the same: Chess.com has the most wonderful co...
What makes a photo "iconic" and not simply interesting or even outstanding? If you find that a difficult question to answer, you are not alone. The two leading dictionaries in the world can't exactly agree either. Merriam-Webster: iconic, ...
It's evening in Romania, and WFM Maria Yugina and GM Mihail Marin are sitting on the couch at home for our interview. Their rescue dog, Foxy, bounces around the room, playing around and chasing her own tail, at one point disconnecting the camera a...
As eight of the strongest women in the world gear up for the Women’s Candidates Tournament in April, let’s celebrate brilliant games played by female players throughout time. What is a brilliancy? Is it the most visually aesthetic mo...
March's monthly update is here; it's time to catch up on everything that happened in February and get a preview of all the March madness heading your way. Unleash your inner detective with a murder mystery, celebrate International Women's Day wi...
Look, we know that balancing your work, personal, and chess life is hard. I'd be lying if I told you I never let chess interfere with my life or work. (And I work at Chess.com, for crying out loud!) Sometimes, it seems like there are just not enou...
If you haven't heard of Guinness World Records, either you're a time traveler who departed sometime before the idea was developed in 1955, or you're even less aware of popular culture than I am. And I don't know which of those possibilities is mor...
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...
November has come, bringing with it a huge new partnership and lots of exciting developments in the chess world. Can you defeat Duo, or will this cultured green owl be your doom? Here's what this monthly update covers: Product & En...
Whether you're a fearless attacker or a calm defender, I promise there's a chess legend who shares similarities to your playing style. That is unless your playing style is memorizing 10 moves of theory and then blundering your queen. But I'm sure ...
IM Szidonia Vajda is an accomplished player and coach, holding the international master and woman grandmaster titles as well as two Hungarian women's championships. She has represented Hungary at multiple Olympiads and is now sharing her knowledge...
The Judit Polgar Global Chess Festival 2023 (JPGCF) is a series of chess events and activities hosted by the legendary GM Judit Polgar. The festival runs across two days, October 14 and 15, with the first day happening live in Hungary and the seco...
The Collegiate Chess League (CCL) began in 2020 and allowed top college chess teams to compete while over-the-board chess was inactive during the pandemic. It has quickly become a premier event in the space, joining the much longer-standing Pan Am...
September is here, much to the delight of Earth, Wind & Fire fans around the world. Find out what happened in August and what major events and activities you can watch (or even take part in) over the coming weeks. Here's what this mo...
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...
The game of chess didn't have a world championship until 1886. It took an additional 41 years for there to be a women's world championship, first held in 1927. Despite the shorter time period, there have been as many women's champions, 17,...
If you've enjoyed our previous data visualizations of the most accurate chess players over time and the countries with the most grandmasters over time, then you'll want to check out our latest: The top women over time! With the 2023 FIDE Women's...
April may have been the cruelest month as far as T.S. Eliot was concerned, but in the chess world it's shaping up to be pretty great. Find out what happened in March and get some sneak previews and insights into April's highlights! Hint: we're goi...
The subject of the female minority in chess has long intrigued the chess world. There are many theories and hypotheses as to why there are so few women in chess. However, one of the most obvious, and often overlooked, reasons is that the current s...
GM Krisztian Szabo is a Hungarian grandmaster with a history of competing at some of the highest levels in chess. He's also a respected coach who offers lessons on Chess.com for players of all backgrounds and skill levels, with a track record of i...
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 ...
We live in the internet age and trolling is part of it, whether you like it or not. Since chess is quickly transforming into an online game (we discussed this topic here), we all have seen numerous cases of chess trolling. In this article, I would...
If you are someone who has only started playing chess in the last year or two, you may already know about The Queen's Gambit or GM Hikaru Nakamura's stream. But if you want to understand chess culture at a deeper level, there are many more referen...
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...
