The day my daughter was due was approaching. There was not much to do but wait. Another day passed. I couldn’t concentrate on work. Another day, and then another. I couldn’t write; my words were blocked. I couldn’t sleep. Another and another. When I tried to read, my attention wandered. Another, another, another. I couldn’t play chess—or shouldn’t have played chess, but I did. I played chess very badly. It had been my habit for some time to play a 30-minute rapid...
At the age of 14 years, one month, and one day, the Indian prodigy Nihal Sarin became the 12th-youngest grandmaster in chess history. He scored his third grandmaster norm at the 25th Abu Dhabi Masters held at Abu Dhabi, UAE. Nihal started strongly with 3/4. His round-four win against Australian IM Ikeda Junta was particularly impressive. In round five, Nihal played GM Ivan Cheparinov, who recently switched his federation to Georgia. He was pressing but had to...
On March 24, 1937, the leading Soviet chess magazine 64 published a theoretical article about a new opening system the magazine called the "Panov Defense." I challenge you to identify the moves of this opening line. Yes, you can Google it if you wish! Just don't confuse the "Panov Defense" with the "Panov Attack" in the Caro-Kann defense. Give up already? OK, here is the game that started the new system: I almost can hear your protests that the opening of this game is called The...
If chess is a balanced game, you need some inaccuracy by your opponent to win. IM Nazi Paikidze jumped on a mistake by her opponent in the 2018 U.S. women's championship to win a beautiful game and the title.
The game was way past its 4th hour at the 1995 Asian Teams Championships and there were only a handful of people left in the NUS tournament hall. The Singapore 2 and Malaysian representatives on board 4 were right smack into a drawish-looking ending. There was much pride at stake for the locals as we were down 1-2 against our neighbours and 53 year old IM Giam Choo Kwee kept the pressure on against young Malaysian student Abdul Haq. After the win, I congratulated 'Giam' on winning...
Hikaru Nakamura thought he needed 5.5/9 in today's second blitz session to clinch his first Grand Chess Tour win on home soil. He scored exactly that, winning the 2018 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz over a still-surging Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and a pesky Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. The win is his second of the season. He also won the 2018 Paris event. Chess.com conducted a video interview with Nakamura on his success. Watch Hikaru Nakamura On Winning The Saint Louis Rapid And Blitz from Chess...
The "Immortal Game" is one of the most famous chess games ever played! Played in 1851 as an informal match between two European math professors, Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky, this game has become a true showcase of classic 19th century chess where startling attacks and sacrifices were all the rage. The Game White: Adolf Anderssen Black: Lionel Kieseritzky 1. e4 e5 2.f4 The King's Gambit. This risky gambit opening was very popular in the 19th century! White sacrifices...
It's considered bad luck in many parts of the world to break a mirror, but for Ding Liren, even breaking his hip only barely slowed him down. Just 2.5 months after falling off a bicycle in Norway and being forced to withdraw from the tournament, Ding Liren beat Veselin Topalov in a match from August 10-14 by the score of 3.0-1.0. That pushed his rating over 2800 for the first time. He becomes only the 14th player to clear the crescendo (Topalov has the fifth-highest live rating of all...
Welcome again to another learning chess experience. You will look at eight positional puzzles and, as you finish each one, you will click the question mark (“?”) underneath the board next to the light bulb. This will allow you to see all the instructive prose. If you fail the puzzle, don’t worry! This isn’t a contest, it’s just an enjoyable way to learn new things. PUZZLE ONE DIAGRAM (Black to move) Black, who has a small edge, has a couple interesting...
