It was as if the players really wanted to try out the new system. The first round of the 2019 Altibox Norway Chess tournament saw no fewer than five Armageddon games as all classical encounters ended in draws.
For the fans who prefer rapid or blitz over classical chess—and who take the lower level of chess being played for granted—the revolutionary experiment in Norway had a great start. A round of five relatively quiet draws that would otherwise have been (unjustly?) scorned upon, this...
Showing unforeseen bullet chess prowess, Sam Sevian defeated Nihal Sarin 17-8 on Monday. The next opponent for the American grandmaster in the Junior Speed Chess Championship is Alireza Firouzja of Iran.
This match was expected to be one of the closer ones, as it was hard to pinpoint the favorite. Even the SmarterChess predictions were hard to go by, as Sevian hasn't played enough official FIDE rated blitz tournaments yet to obtain a blitz rating.
SmarterChess gave Nihal a slight...
"What a stupid question!"
I bet this is the natural reaction of many readers once they see the title of this article.
Indeed it is a dream of any chess fan to play like Magnus Carlsen.
OK, let me rephrase the original question: Should we play our openings exactly the same way Magnus Carlsen does?
You would be surprised, but for the majority of chess players the answer is a resounding no!
Magnus Carlsen. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.
Whenever I attend a scholastic tournament,...
Want to get your Puzzle Rush score to a new all-time high? This video will teach you how to spot queen traps in the Puzzle Rush environment so you never miss this tactic again.
Recently, Simaginfan reminded me of a post which he published in 2017, titled "Lasker Learns from Blackburne"
https://www.chess.com/blog/simaginfan/lasker-learns-from-blackburne
It is a very good post, and it features two games: a game from 1892 in which Blackburne, playing Black, obtains an endgame advantage, and a game from Moscow, 1925, in which Lasker, playing Black, outplays Rubinsein in a similar endgame.
This got me looking at the encounters between these two players. I wanted to know what...
FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss is the official name for the strong Swiss tournament in Isle of Man in October, where the winner will qualify for the 2020 FIDE Candidates' Tournament. You can still qualify to play and get your expenses paid.
Mid-February it was announced that IOM International Chess Limited had won the bid to organize the Grand Swiss, a new tournament added to the World Championship cycle by FIDE. The winner will qualify for the next Candidates', which will produce a challenger...
In general, when a very strong player faces a lesser one, the result is usually easy to guess. However, once in a while the “victim” turns the tables and devours the giant. In this article I will give you six games where the little fish somehow eats the big fish. It’s up to you to see if you could have done the same.
Some are difficult, but this isn’t about ego. Instead, do your best, then look at the hidden notes by clicking the “?” at the bottom of the board...
The 2019 Altibox Norway Chess tournament took off on Monday with the traditional blitz tournament to determine the pairing numbers. The tournament was won by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, while Alexander Grischuk stole the show at the press conference.
The seventh edition of the annual elite tournament in Stavanger, Norway was opened on Monday with a cheerful press conference. The main focus there was on the new tournament format: Players who draw their game will play an Armageddon game right after (with...
This month we released "Games That Changed Chess History" by IM Anna Rudolf. Rudolf is always a dedicated and vibrant presenter, and in this series, she breaks down ten important games which impacted the course of chess. It's a great introduction to some spectacular games and a valuable overview of chess.
Try This Course
Course Outline
This course features ten distinct lessons covering hundreds of years of chess history. While the course presents a satisfying narrative when completed sequentially,...
