Online chess community where you can play chess, learn strategies and tactics, read chess news, see book reviews, find rules & tips, get free downloads, and more! http://www.chess.com/ 2007 Chess.com Nowadays powerful chess engines have become routine assistants of competitive chess players. Both amateurs and professionals use them to analyze their games, prepare opening lines, evaluate certain positions, etc. Most websites that broadcast game... http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-engines-evaluations Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:50:49 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-engines-evaluations Today's article will be based on a game that was played by me against GM Monika Socko at the recent European Club Cup. I will elaborate not only on the course of the game, but also offer general tips and approaches that can be applied in any chess... http://www.chess.com/article/view/a-story-of-one-ruy-lopez-game Mon, 17 Oct 2011 23:03:47 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/a-story-of-one-ruy-lopez-game                              The Chess Instructor 2009 Edited by Jeroen Bosch and Steve Giddins Softcover:218 pages New in Chess.2008 http://www.newinchess.com/ http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-chess-instru... http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-instructor-reviewpart-ii Mon, 30 May 2011 16:26:22 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-instructor-reviewpart-ii                              The Chess Instructor 2009 Edited by Steve Giddins and Jeroen Bosch Softcover:218 pages New in Chess.2008 http://www.newinchess.com/ I have been meaning to write about this book for a... http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-chess-instructor-2009review Fri, 27 May 2011 12:02:13 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-chess-instructor-2009review As an active member of the U.S. chess scene, I of course know of Ray Robson, currently the youngest Grandmaster in the country at 16. In fact, as an active tournament player I have even had the chance to meet him, and play ping pong and chess with... http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-child-americas-youngest-grandmaster Fri, 25 Feb 2011 18:17:54 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-child-americas-youngest-grandmaster Chess players often find themselves in a situation when they need to win at all costs, or at least draw. Most of the time it happens during last rounds, but there are exceptions. Knowing how to handle such moments is an essential skill for any str... http://www.chess.com/article/view/decisive-games Mon, 31 Jan 2011 22:49:36 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/decisive-games There are many different types of chess mistakes, but some of them are especially widespread. They keep occurring in one game after another and are popular with lots of players. These mistakes may be dubbed typical and fixed via purposeful work. ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/typical-chess-mistakes Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:12:11 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/typical-chess-mistakes   2nd Annual Brooklyn  Scholastic Chess Championship                           The Brooklyn Lyceum                 227 4th Avenue Brooklyn, N.Y. 11215                   Trophies to to... http://www.chess.com/article/view/2nd-annual-brooklyn-scholastic-championships Tue, 21 Dec 2010 02:56:42 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/2nd-annual-brooklyn-scholastic-championships Let me speak from my heart...in English! By "start of a tournament" we usually mean the first 2 or 3 rounds. They define the tactics for the whole event. However, unlike the finish, the first few rounds are less important. In a perfect world the ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/tournament-tactics-start Mon, 13 Dec 2010 21:40:54 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/tournament-tactics-start Thousands of chess players dream of learning all the subtleties of the game of chess. There are different ways to do so, but all of them are related to one and the same question: How do we study correctly on our own, so that we don't waste our tim... http://www.chess.com/article/view/an-optimal-self-preparation-program-for-1400-ndash-1600-uscf-rated-players Mon, 22 Nov 2010 01:24:45 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/an-optimal-self-preparation-program-for-1400-ndash-1600-uscf-rated-players Originally my column has been titled "Preparing for international competition," so today I decided to be more to-the-point and cover one of the most important topics in this field - planning one's tournament schedule. Choosing where and when to... http://www.chess.com/article/view/planning-your-tournament-schedule Mon, 08 Nov 2010 18:18:06 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/planning-your-tournament-schedule Time is an essential component of each serious (e.g. tournament) chess game. Just like the moves, it can affect the course of the match substantially. Being able to control your time, avoid time trouble, and take advantage of your opponent's slow ... http://www.chess.com/article/view/playing-in-time-trouble Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:39:25 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/playing-in-time-trouble One of the most efficient ways of improving in chess is analyzing one's own games. The legendary world chess champion Botvinnik emphasized the importance of this activity and urged masters to publish analyses of their games in the media. I believe... http://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-analyze-chess-games Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:45:08 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-analyze-chess-games Every chess player fails to convert a winning position once in a while. Sometimes it happens even in situations when any move seems to secure the whole point. What is the reason for this? Chess is a sport, so the following three aspects are impor... http://www.chess.com/article/view/converting-winning-positions Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:35:37 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/converting-winning-positions In the following game we see how young super grandmaster Carlsen executed a "simple" three-step strategy: 1.step:  Creating a pawn majority in center     This is the pawnstructure white reached after 10 moves. He has a pawnmajority in cent... http://www.chess.com/article/view/breakthrough-in-center-and-later9-on-kingside Tue, 29 Jun 2010 02:37:59 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/breakthrough-in-center-and-later9-on-kingside Alice sighed wearily. `I think you might do something better with the time,' she said, `than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers.' `If you knew Time as well as I do,' said the Hatter, `you wouldn't talk about wasting IT. It's HIM.' `... http://www.chess.com/article/view/time-management2 Tue, 08 Jun 2010 01:12:16 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/time-management2 By browsing Chess.com's forums, I noticed that there are numerous threads dedicated to improving in chess, certain training practices, coaching and other issues of that sort. Let's talk a bit about who and what can assist us in becoming a better p... http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-assistants Mon, 31 May 2010 22:51:01 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-assistants Psychology is an integral element of chess. To win a game (tournament, match) one needs to be strong not only in chess, but in the psychological sense as well. Every chess player can recall moments when he/she could not recover from a terrible los... http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-psychology Mon, 24 May 2010 23:56:55 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-psychology Every day I get a lot of fan mail (thanks, guys!), and many of the messages are dedicated to the evergreen subject "how do I get better in chess?" I am trying to do my best to offer individual advice to everyone. However, there is a very widesprea... http://www.chess.com/article/view/getting-better-in-chess-critical-mistake-to-avoid Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:02:38 -0800 http://www.chess.com/article/view/getting-better-in-chess-critical-mistake-to-avoid When I was a kid, PCs weren't that widespread yet, so books were our #1 choice when it came to chess studies. Of course, innovative technologies speed up the process of learning chess, but the old methods shouldn't be totally neglected too. That's... http://www.chess.com/article/view/10-chess-books-you-dont-want-to-miss Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:49:26 -0700 http://www.chess.com/article/view/10-chess-books-you-dont-want-to-miss