Johannes Hermann Zukertort (SOOK-er-tort) was born in Lublin, Poland on September 7, 1842. Zukertort said that his mother was the Baroness Krzyzanovska. Zukertort studied chemistry at Heidelberg and physiology at Berlin. In 1861, he enrolled at ...
Siegbert Tarrasch was born on March 5, 1862 in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland). In his autobiography (Dreihundert Schachpartien), he wrote that he was born with a club foot Breslau was one of the largest Jewish communities in the world....
Siegbert Tarrasch was another all-time great chess player. He was one of the top 5 chess players in the world for about 20 years. Here is an early game of his where he traps and mates the enemy king in the middle of the board. An...
Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal (born Mihails Tals) was born in Riga, Latvia on November 9, 1936. Hi father was a medical doctor, At age 7, Mikhail became interested in chess when he saw it being played in his father's waiting room. He learned the rul...
Akiba Rubinstein was one of the most dangerous chessplayers in the world and a great combination player. Here is a game where he first sacrifices his Queen, then the next move he sacrifices his Rook, and all this to force mate with the piece...
Viktor Korchnoi is one of my favorite players, as a player and a person. I have interviewed him and played him in a simul (I had to convince him that playing 50 players in a simul wasn't so bad in the United States - he won them all).&nb...
Wilhelm Steinitz (vil'helm shti'nits) was born to Jewish parents in a Prague ghetto, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) in 1836. His exact birth date is unknown. The best research comes from Dr. Hermann Neustadtl who establishes his birt...
Aron Nimzovich was one of the greatest chessplayers of the 20th century and a fine author. He wrote My System, considered one of the best books on chess. Here is a game where he finds a neat mating combination involving a tricky queen ...
Former US champion Frank Marshall played an interesting game where he tried to sac his Queen, but his opponent did not take the bait. The next move, Marshall made another Queen move, sacrificing his Queen again. This time his opp...
Cambridge Springs was a health resort in Pennsylvania, famous for its spas and mineral waters. It advertised that it was the town that was halfway between New York and Chicago when you took the Erie Railroad line. It is in northwestern Pennsylv...
Frank James Marshall was born on the west side of Manhattan on August 10, 1877. He was taken to Montreal when he was 8 years old and lived there for 11 years. He learned the game of chess at age 10 from his father, Alfred. In 1890 he...
Here is a game in which Emanual Lasker found a way to penetrate his queen in enemy territory, then sac it for a checkmate. See if you can find the winning moves.
Emanuel Lasker was born in Berlinchen (now Barlinck, Poland as of 1945), the Prussian province of Brandenberg, on December 24, 1868. He was the second son of Adolf Lasker, a Jewish cantor in a synagogue. His mother was Rosalie Israelssohn. They al...
Here is a game with lots of sacrifices that finally led to mate. Mikhail Chigorin played the King's Gambit Accepted and played some wild moves and finally trapped the King for mate.
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (Tchigorin) was born November 12 (October 31 Old Style), 1850 in Gatchina near St Petersburg. In 1860, at the age of 10, he was an orphan. He learned to play in 1866 at the age of 16. His schoolteacher taught h...
Here is an early game of Jose Capablanca when he lived in New York and was going to school. He accepts the King's Gambit, ignores the threat on his Queen and finds a neat mate.
Jose Raul Capablanca y Graupera was born on 19 November, 1888 in Havana, Cuba. His father was an army officer and Jose was his second son. Jose learned chess at age 5 by watching his father play. He defeated his father the first time they played. ...
Here is a game in which a young Karpov tries to sac his queen, but his opponent decided to resign instead. Karpov's Queen sac may surprise you. Click on the Move List button to play over the alternative moves and what moves could h...
Even at a young age, Garry Kasparov knew how to play tactics. In this game, when he was 14, he sacrificed his rook, then trapped the enemy queen.
Garry Kasparov retired from competitive chess in March, 2005. He gave up competitive chess after playing chess and being the best in the world for 20 years (1985 to 2005). He gave up chess to devote more time to politics. Other prominant chess ...
The age of becoming a chess master is geting younger and younger. We now have 10 year old masters and a 12 year old grandmaster. Here are some of the chess prodigies over the years.Alexander Alekhine learned chess at the age of 7 and w...
Here is a game by former world champion Mikhail Tal where he sacrifices his Queen to force mate. It was from a simultaneous exhibition.
On August 23, 1939, the 8th Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires was formerly opened. Play began on August 24, 1939. The world women’s chess championship also took place at the same time in Buenos Aires. Due to political events, prom...
In the film industry, there are many names of movie stars and other folks that have played chess. These celebrities include: Claude Akins (Sheriff Lobo) Alan Alda (M*A*S*H), Woody Allen, Lauren Bacall (once married to Humphrey Bogart), the B...
