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 Here I'll give a quick review of the important events of rounds 1-4 of Wijk aan Zee, along with a few cool chess moments explained. Round 1 To me the big story here was Aronian failing to convert a good position against Van Wely. I would r...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/wijk-2013-part-1Thu, 17 Jan 2013 04:14:45 -0800http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/wijk-2013-part-1Hey Chess-heads! We've got some exciting news.... in about 9 hours the first ceremonial moves of the 2013 Tata Steel Chess Tournament will be played... and then mass chess excitement will be experienced for a full 17 days!! The traditional Wijk ...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/wijk-aan-zeeFri, 11 Jan 2013 20:44:56 -0800http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/wijk-aan-zeePhiladelphia and Seattle Brace for Chess Championship by David Pruess, man-about-chess reprinted with permission of The Chess Onion* This Saturday, at 4 pm Eastern, the Philadelphia Inventors and Seattle Sluggers clash in 4-player match that...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/philadelphia-and-seattle-gearing-up-for-chess-championshipThu, 29 Nov 2012 18:38:44 -0800http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/philadelphia-and-seattle-gearing-up-for-chess-championshipHey everyone, I just wanted to briefly check-in and let people know some of what we've got going on these days, and some of what goes on in my job. Over the past 3 weeks, Danny and I have been working as chess consultants on a feature film in ...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/goings-onWed, 14 Nov 2012 17:08:56 -0800http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/goings-onAs some of you know, Danny and I have been working as chess consultants on a movie the past 2 weeks. It's been a really fun experience! This coming weekend, they are shooting tournament scenes... and they need real chess tournament players to ma...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/live-in-la-areaThu, 08 Nov 2012 10:18:36 -0800http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/live-in-la-areaMagnus Carlsen, world #1 chess player, G-star Model... and Music Video star! His manager just sent along this video, and I'm sure most of you will be very interested to check it out :-) What's next for Magnus? http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/carlsen-music-videoThu, 01 Nov 2012 14:24:06 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/carlsen-music-videoSo Danny (IM Rensch) and I, in order to spice up the Fantasy US Chess League competition, decided to each week elect a couple games as the "Clutch Performance of the Week" and the "Choke of the Week." (For those who have never seen sports in ...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/clutch-and-choke-the-best-of-uscl-week-1Wed, 19 Sep 2012 00:55:56 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/clutch-and-choke-the-best-of-uscl-week-1I did an interview the other day, with the excellent journalist Mike Klein. He was online at midnight in Istanbul (covering the olympiad), and I was in between appointments at the Mechanics in SF. The quality of the skype call wasn't amazing, but ...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/recent-interviewThu, 13 Sep 2012 23:19:56 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/recent-interviewHey friends! So, obviously I'm very excited about the US Chess League coming to Chess.com this year. I believe this is one of the two most marketable U.S. chess events there is, and I'm hoping (and expecting) that we will see great growth in the...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/us-chess-league-on-chesscomWed, 29 Aug 2012 21:23:28 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/us-chess-league-on-chesscomWe are now seven (of 11) rounds into the Biel International, and so far my results have gone: White v. lower rated: Win Black v. higher rated: Loss W v. lower: W B v. higher: L W v. lower: W B v. higher: L W v. lower: W 7-0 for whi...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/holding-serveTue, 31 Jul 2012 01:23:02 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/holding-serveAfter yesterday's tussle in a mainline, today my opponent lead me far off the beaten paths. GM Sebastien Mazé of France is a nice guy with a fun chess style: he plays all kinds of different stuff! I could tell from playing through a few of ...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/outside-of-theorySat, 28 Jul 2012 12:10:38 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/outside-of-theory[previous round] Given that I spend no time studying openings, while the general trend in tournament circles is studying more and more openings, I have a persistent question of what openings to play. Throughout my chess-playing career, I have gr...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/back-to-mainlinesFri, 27 Jul 2012 15:50:23 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/back-to-mainlines[previous round] Grandmasters are good. Grandmasters are better than me. Many grandmasters are almost unbeatable when they play white. Throughout the part of my chess life where I have had the chance to play against GMs, I have always had incred...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/the-usual-storyThu, 26 Jul 2012 15:30:07 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/the-usual-story[previous round] A surprising thing happened 1.5 days ago, after the second round here in Biel: I was completely exhausted. Having just spent all that time hiking, I thought I'd be in good enough physical shape not to tire too quickly in a one-g...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/exhausted-updatesThu, 26 Jul 2012 01:05:47 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/exhausted-updates[previous round] Any player with a decent amount of experience knows that sometimes your instincts and your calculations are at odds. What do you do then? Trust your instincts, or trust your calculation? This is a hard-to-resolve question! Somet...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/intuition-vs-calculationMon, 23 Jul 2012 11:42:51 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/intuition-vs-calculationToday, the Biel International Chess Festival kicked off in Biel/Bienne Switzerland with an exciting knock-out blitz exhibition tournament between five of the players of the A group, and three invited GMs. Two game blitz matches were played; in the...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/biel-2012-preparationsSun, 22 Jul 2012 16:00:37 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/biel-2012-preparationsThis coming Sunday (May 20) is the soon-to-be-unforgettable Death-Match 5! Giorgi Kacheishvili and Jorge Sammour-Hasbun will clash for chess, for pride, and for $1000 in cash. Kacheishvili is a strong Grandmaster with many tournament wins (inclu...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/us-chess-league-rivals-clash-on-sundayThu, 17 May 2012 14:01:37 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/us-chess-league-rivals-clash-on-sundayQualification for the April Death-Match will take place at midnight between this coming Saturday-Sunday. Today I want to take a look at the leading players who have a chance at qualifying as of right now. (If you don't know the rules for qualifica...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/who-will-play-a-death-matchTue, 10 Apr 2012 12:59:02 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/who-will-play-a-death-matchOn Sat, April 28th, the 4th Chess.com Death-Match will take place, with a prize of $1000. And you just might be one of the two players! My purpose here is just to lay out all the ground rules, so that everyone knows how they could qualify. On Ap...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/so-you-want-to-play-a-death-matchWed, 28 Mar 2012 15:40:18 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/so-you-want-to-play-a-death-matchThis coming week is a huge week for chess entertainment! We have a huge schedule of shows (the full schedule can be seen at chess.com/tv by scrolling down), including several special events and several shows open to basic/gold members; so if you h...http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/big-week-for-chess-tvSun, 25 Mar 2012 15:57:47 -0700http://www.chess.com/blog/dpruess/big-week-for-chess-tv