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 I few months ago I posted a lightning chess game in which I lost, and then proceeded to write about the irrationality of lightning chess (see previous blog post).  Well, some people agreed but some didn't, and so this post.  There has to be anot...http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/rational-chess-2Sun, 15 Feb 2009 07:19:35 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/rational-chess-2More than 2 weeks ago, I tried a Live Chess game against a member of Chess.com.  I intended to accept  an open challenge with a duration of at least 10 minutes but inadvertently clicked a Lightning game (I guess it's 2 minutes per side)....http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/rational-chessMon, 08 Sep 2008 02:52:55 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/rational-chessSometimes I come across people who ask about the best openings in chess.  The following 2 tables are taken from a large database of games (5,025,077 total).  There are 20 different first moves as seen in the first column.  Table 1 i...http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/first-move-statisticsThu, 31 Jan 2008 07:20:33 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/first-move-statisticsIt's common knowledge that there are 64 squares in a chessboard.  There are actually 204 squares. If the smallest square's side measures 1 unit, then there are 8² or 64 1x1 squares.  Continuing the math, there are 7² 2x...http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/more-squares-than-64Tue, 22 Jan 2008 06:20:46 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/more-squares-than-64The great legend, Grandmaster Bobby Fischer passed away yesterday, sending shock waves all over the chess world.  He was 64 years old, symbolically representing all the 64 squares of the chessboard.  He might have been a controversial fi...http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/robert-james-fischer-1943-2008Sat, 19 Jan 2008 07:29:59 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/robert-james-fischer-1943-2008There is a lot of posting about making games as live as possible, clamoring for fast games (blitz, etc.).  I still long for those years past when chess is played leisurely, no time involved, as if chess is some form of meditation.  I ima...http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/leisurely-chessSat, 05 Jan 2008 06:35:12 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/leisurely-chessGod grant you...the light in Christmas which is faith;the warmth of Christmas, which is love;the radiance of Christmas, which is purity;the righteousness of Christmas, which is justice;the belief in Christmas, which is truth;the all of Christmas, ...http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/its-christmas-timeSun, 23 Dec 2007 04:25:50 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/its-christmas-timeThe Sicilian is a popular reply to the usual 1. e4, and masters say that it is a strong defense and gives equality and even advantage to Black.  But Black is often warned against an early attack from White.  In short, don't use the o...http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/sicilian-snareThu, 01 Nov 2007 06:24:04 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/sicilian-snareSometimes it's better to underpromote a pawn to a knight instead of the usual queen.  In this game almost a century ago, Showalter shows the way how in this masters' game.  In this game, queening would have been okay but it would...http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/knighting-the-pawnWed, 17 Oct 2007 07:49:49 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/knighting-the-pawnIn my readings in the forum and blogs, I often find people having problems with the chessboard and some others.  I'm using the latest Firefox web browser and I don't have any glitches.  People who want to take advantage of free a...http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/use-firefoxWed, 03 Oct 2007 05:40:03 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/use-firefox Sometimes we play half-awake and then realize that one of the pieces is trapped.  With the Bishop's frequent foray to the fifth rank, one must always decide if a retreat is better than going to the edge (rook file).  In this game (s...http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/bishop-trapSat, 22 Sep 2007 06:49:27 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/bishop-trapThis was taken from a recent game.  It should be instructive to the beginner especially, and perhaps to the absent-minded expert as well. There are two diagonals which should be protected especially at the opening: the e1-h4 for White and e8...http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/dangerous-sixth-fileWed, 19 Sep 2007 08:55:22 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/dangerous-sixth-fileThe game is finished in just four moves!  And the players were masters in a 1924 tournament.  Beware of the galloping knight. It's not the end of the world when we make similar mistakes or blunders; even the masters fall in the intri...http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/shortest-masters-tournament-matchMon, 17 Sep 2007 06:15:36 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/shortest-masters-tournament-matchI'm presently looking into the King's Indian Attack (KIA), popularized by Bobby Fischer.  It's the King's Indian Defense (KID) except for the color of the pieces.  I placed here probably the most famous example of this op...http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/kia-prideMon, 03 Sep 2007 07:27:39 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/kia-prideI have gone to different Chess websites, but chess.com seems to be the site to be.  It is simple and clean and puts the fun back into the game.  I'm slowly getting into the site and looking at all the sections.  I'm a little...http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/modern-chessTue, 28 Aug 2007 06:22:42 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Charlie91/modern-chess