I realize that for many readers, the very question in this article's title may sound absurd. GM Bobby Fischer has long been regarded as the epitome of a chess prodigy. With Fischer's own famous remark, "When I was eleven, I just got good," even as...
We live in an age of world records. Stories about a boy who wins the world title at 18, a girl who becomes World Champion at 16, or a pre-teen who becomes a grandmaster are not surprising anyone anymore. That's why when I read the news about yet a...
One of my first chess books had a very interesting feature: Every three to four chapters, it would present about a dozen short games. Initially, I just enjoyed playing through them, but as I started participating in tournaments, the thought of tra...
One of the greatest features of chess is that we can enjoy the games played decades or even hundreds of years ago. This is something very unique to chess. The best tennis rallies or soccer goals are completely lost for us if they happened before t...
Imagine a situation where your pawn has reached the seventh rank, just one square away from fulfilling its dream of becoming a queen. However, none other than the opponent's king steps in front of the pawn, preventing its promotion. Who is going t...
While I have been playing competitive chess for almost 50 years, the question in the title of this article never occurred to me. It looked so natural: if you find yourself in a completely hopeless situation where you see no way out, then you resig...
Chess is a significant part of human culture, which is why it is often referenced in movies and, especially, in financial advertisements, where it symbolizes intelligence and acumen. I remember watching a kids' show with a famous Russian a...
Recently, WGM Maria Manakova posted an interesting position on her Facebook page. She wrote: "A fun puzzle for third or forth category players." According to the old Soviet chess classification, it refers to people with a US Chess rating somewhere...
With the recent passing of GM Vlastimil Hort, the chess community reflects not only on the loss of a great player and very nice person, but also on the huge chess heritage he left behind. While for most people, Hort is associated with his games, o...
There are many gambit lines known in chess. Some of them are very sharp and dangerous, others are more positional and not even real gambits, like the Queen's Gambit. Today, I want to discuss one of the most dangerous gambits in chess, which you pr...
Many years ago, a young aspiring chess player was planning to play a big tournament abroad, but there was one problem: money! Just like many young players, he couldn't really afford the travel expenses, so he decided to ask for help at the depar...
If you like watching chess videos on YouTube, you couldn't possibly miss the catchy phrase, "Do you even rook lift, bro?" I don't know who came up with this meme, but no doubt a huge credit goes to IM Eric Rosen, who made it popular. Of course, ...
If you are wondering why I would talk about the blockbuster movie from the 1990s on a chess website, don't worry. This article is about the tenth World Champion, Boris Spassky, who passed away on February 27. While I saw Spassky on numerous occa...
Last year, I shared a powerful opening trap, and judging by the comments, you, my dear readers, liked it. Since I got numerous requests for more traps like this, I will share another one, which is even more powerful than the previous one...
I don't like popular disputes where people compare legendary champions from the past to modern players. In my opinion, such discussions are silly and pointless. Besides, there is no way to prove your opinion is right or wrong. That's why I just sm...
The 2024 Champions Chess Tour Finals was an exciting event with many thrilling encounters, combinations, and blunders: everything chess spectators love to watch. In this smorgasbord of "tasty" chess, you could easily miss the following one: Wh...
As we start our journey in the magical world called chess, one of the very first things we learn is the ultimate importance of time. "Each move should have a purpose," "Don't waste time," and "Develop your pieces as quickly as possible." These and...
In his book The Game Of Chess, Siegbert Tarrasch, one of the greatest players of his time, famously said: "It is not enough to be a good player, you must also play well." Indeed, all great tournament results, ratings, and titles boil down to a sim...
If the title of this article made you think that it is another showcase of GM Mikhail Tal's magic, you would be wrong. Today, we are going to talk about a brilliant player from the past who is partially forgotten or at least not as well known as o...
Recently I was explaining a concept of a chess X-ray to one of my students. I don't need to do it too often since surprisingly, most chess players, even quite inexperienced ones, know about it. So, I described chess X-rays as a situation where a...
Chess is more popular now than it has ever been. We see articles about chess and chess players in all major media outlets. As a result, chess fans know very well the current chess stars, from established elite players like GM Magnus Carlsen to upc...
One of the first things we learn in chess is the enormous power of the queen. Then, after we discover the tricky Scholar's Mate, the importance of the queen reaches a truly mythic proportion in our minds. Not surprisingly, for many inexperienced p...
Pictures taken at chess tournaments can tell fascinating stories. Just look at the faces of the players and spectators, and you'll see the whole gamut of human emotions. The Washington Chess Federation has recently posted a brilliant photo on its&...
The news of the Argentinian prodigy Faustino Oro becoming the youngest IM ever at the tender age of 10 made headlines worldwide. Faustino plays an attractive, aggressive kind of chess, and those of you who want to get better can learn a lot from h...
The recently-concluded Clash Of Claims was definitely one of the most anticipated chess events of the year. For most people, this unusual match was interesting mostly due to the well-publicized controversy, but personally for me it was an opportun...
