Speed Chess Championship season is in full swing now as the open qualifier starts Tuesday, July 10 at 12 p.m. Pacific time (3 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. UTC). The winner of the qualifier tournament will join 15 of the world's top chess playe...
There was an anniversary a few days ago that was completely missed by the chess world. I am not talking about any chess player's birthday since they generally are covered by many chess publications (believe it or not, I even saw a note about Kar...
Find out who won the major chess tournaments in 2018. Click here for the upcoming Chess Tournament Calendar. Completed 2018 Chess Tournaments: MAY 2018 May 24: Bundesliga Playoff (Baden-Baden, Germany) Despite bringing top guns Fab...
I bet many of you have heard the famous chess saying: "If Tal has an open file, there will be mate," but do you know how this expression was born? Mikhail Tal's second, Alexander Koblencs, who coined this phrase, tells the story in his book...
The Candidates' Tournament was a real nightmare for Levon Aronian. Aronian, one of the pre-tournament favorites, ended the competition dead last. While Aronian's numerous fans hoped for a miracle for a long time, it was absolutely clear tha...
The bald eagle is the official bird of the United States, and this weekend, the Eagles are flying home. By virtue of becoming the Eastern Divisional playoff champions, the Armenia Eagles are soaring to San Francisco for the PRO Chess League's semi...
The tournament of the year is over and we have a deserved winner. The quality of Fabiano Caruana's games was higher than anyone else's in the Candidates' Tournament and he kept his cool throughout the whole competition. Now we all are waiting fo...
Headed to the PRO Chess League's in-person semi-finals and finals in San Francisco April 7-8? You've probably read over the schedule of official events, but that may still leave you worried about how to tailgate before the event and where to host ...
A popular saying insists that there are no bad questions: there are only bad answers. Well, I have a confession to make. There is a sort of question that is really difficult to answer. It usually goes like this: A student rated around USCF 1200 co...
Magnus Carlsen is a genius. I doubt that many people would argue about this well-established fact. It is a totally different question why we call him a genius. Is it because he is the world champion? I don't think so. Max Euwe was the world cha...
Tired of regular chess and all the loads of opening theory? Then try Chess960 or the variant also known as Fischer Random Chess. Play Chess960 The 11th World Champion Robert James Fischer was the most fam...
This article was inspired by Kramnik's 7...Rg8! that led to a devastating attack and quick victory over Levon Aronian in the Candidates' Tournament in Berlin. I quickly recalled several more games, including classics, where a similar move with the...
About a hundred years ago, the third world chess champion, José Raúl Capablanca, expressed concern about the death of chess due to its drawish tendences. He said that in times when there were no computers claiming "0.00" and when che...
Despite severe criticism for a very high number of draws, the London Chess Classic was an interesting event followed by chess players around the world. After the first three rounds where every single game was drawn, many people, including the s...
Whew. Let's all sit down and breathe for a minute. It's been an exciting, and tumultuous year. 2017. How did it go so fast? For both Chess.com directors of content, Peter Doggers and this writer, it flew by largely from the window seat, as b...
This has been a very intense year chess-wise, with very high-quality games and really exciting tournaments. It is not easy to make a selection of the best games. The problem with this sort of article is that there's always someone who thinks that ...
Never in Speed Chess Championship history, or really in any of Chess.com's head-to-head matches, have two GMs approached their face-off so soon after an over-the-board meeting. A scant five days after playing a classical game against each other ...
GM Magnus Carlsen has been beating anything with a heartbeat in November. First he won by the largest margin in the Champions Showdown with a day to spare, then he scored the most game points ever in a Speed Chess Championship match. You can throw...
The best players in the world, sweat dripping down their faces. Win or go home. Big money on the line. One shot at glory. Pawn sacrifices. No, this is not your traditional sporting event. This is the Chess World Cup 2017. In the 128-perso...
The Chess.com Speed Chess Championship resumes today with a battle of two closely-matched super-GMs: Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Levon Aronian. Nepomniachtchi is technically the higher seed, starting the Speed Chess Championship with a bett...
The question whether to trust computers might sound pointless since we really have no choice in the modern world. Think about it: if a computer of one of the nuclear superpowers goes berserk, then it can potentially end humankind as we know it. Si...
One of the best blitz chess players ever will face a young but supremely talented challenger today as GM Alexander Grischuk battles GM Richard Rapport in the first round of the 2017 Speed Chess Championship, the strongest tournament ever...
Chess is both a game, and a sport! Here are ten ways that chess is a sport: 1. Chess is physically demanding. Chess players do not compete based on athletic prowess, but it is essential for elite chess players to be in excellent physical s...
When I read the recent news that the Azerbaijani GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov crossed the magic 2800 mark, I wasn't surprised. Well, actually I was surprised that it didn't happen many years ago. You see, while it is difficult for me to tell wh...
