When we talk about blitz chess, we usually think about tactics, blunders and opening surprises that force our opponents to spend their precious seconds. I doubt that many people would mention good endgame technique as an integral element of blitz.
Indeed, most times when a blitz game reaches an endgame, both players have just seconds on their clocks and usually have only two rules to play by: Do not lose on time and do not blunder too much.
Here is a very recent example. Just watch the last...
The PRO Chess League Summer Series group stage comes to an end on Saturday, and with the Montreal Chessbrahs clinching first place in Group D, the Minnesota Blizzard, Norway Gnomes and the Cannes Blitzstreams enter the fight for the group's final automatic qualifying spot in the Summer Series Championship.
Fans will get their last chance to play in the Summer Series in Saturday's Live Club Matches (August 17, 8 a.m. PDT) to compete for the final $250 best...
Do you want to learn an excellent and diverse opening without a lot of theory?
IM Keaton Kiewra teaches the course for you! The Trompowsky Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) is an excellent try for an advantage that can easily throw Black into shark-infested waters.
IM Kiewra is a theoretical player who has long relied on the "Tromp" as one of his core weapons. He shows you the ideas that have worked for him, presenting you with many lines, traps, strategic weapons that you can deploy in your next game at...
It's not every day you get to learn a popular chess variant from a chess legend. GM Yasser Seirawan introduces you to the growing game of Fischer Random, also known as Chess960, where the starting positions are shuffled and the chess excitement is through the roof.
Every bughouse player has different reasons for being drawn to the game. Some like the collaborative aspects, some like the increased depth, and some like the fancy checkmates. I'm sure if you try bughouse, you will be hooked like I was. This is a quick guide to getting started with some discussion of chess.com's features. Feel free to skip the first section if you already know the rules to bughouse.
The Rules
Bughouse is two teams of two, and each team has mixed colors; White on one board,...
Young chess fans from all over the world now have a chance to become a world-record holder.
ChessKid and GM Judit Polgar are teaming up to set the all-time record for the world's largest online chess tournament. To achieve this, we need as many kids as possible to participate. You can start by joining the CK/Polgar World Record Club.
This will be an official Guinness World Record if more than 20,000 individual kids compete. Read this article to find out how kids can join this once-in-a-lifetime...
At one time there were no official titles in chess. In 1950 FIDE created the Grandmaster, the International Master and the International Women Master titles. The first two sets of titles weren't based on ratings, which were almost non-existent at that time anyway, but on other criteria:
Of the 27 Grandmasters, one was the world champion and 14 were qualifiers (not participants) in the 1950 Candidates Tournament. These were:Mikhail Botvinnik, Isaac...
Despite losses in his first and last game of the day, Levon Aronian ended on top at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz Grand Chess Tour. The Armenian GM scored half a point more than Yu Yangyi, Ding Liren and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
Right after his last game, Aronian said he was extremely happy with this victory.
“At this point I already don’t care if I blundered anything," said Aronian. "The win just brings the relief. Before today I was thinking OK I am playing so badly,...
I am sure that you've encountered the situation where your opponent played an opening move that breaks all known chess rules.
What is your second thought when this happens? (I assume that the first thought is usually: "You gotta be kidding me!")
Can you keep your cool and play your best chess?
Outrageous opening moves can be played for a variety of reasons, which we discussed in this article. So a beginner-like move doesn't necessarily mean that your opponent is a beginner, and therefore you need...
