For an average beginner, the road to a rating in the range of 1400-1600 is pretty straightforward. Learn as many tactical patterns as possible, get yourself familiar with some basic opening principles, and you are there! Notice, I said that the ro...
Your favorite annual chess quiz tradition is back for the 2020 holidays. Enjoy this year's quiz, and see if you can win one of our prizes for a top score. Play the puzzler here. [Jan. 5, 2021 update: click here to see the correct answe...
Stockfish made huge waves earlier this year when the release of Stockfish 12 pushed computer chess to new Elo heights. Stockfish remains the premier chess engine on the planet on this update, topping all rating lists—bullet, blitz, and rapid...
Endgames. The word, alone, may conjure up feelings of happiness, dread, or even despair for many chess players. Some adore the endgame while others despise it. There is a grain of truth in the old Soviet saying that amateur chess players "play t...
There are lots of “chess firsts.” In nearly every category we can think of there are those who achieved something for the first time or who were considered premier in some way. This puzzle looks at some “chess firsts.” They...
There was a study published last month by PNAS titled "Life Cycle Patterns of Cognitive Performance over the Long Run" which looked at chess as a way to measure cognitive performance. The study looked at the move-by-move performance of top profess...
Ask a dozen chess players what their favorite square is, and quite likely you'll get a dozen of different answers. I suspect all four central squares (d4, d5, e4, and e5) will be on the list. While it is difficult to dispute the importance of...
Hey, chess lovers!... What's new!? That's what we're here to find out! October 2020 was a fun & busy month, as the crazy-popular Netflix series The Queen's Gambit inspired many people to give chess a try—or rekindled a passion for...
Let's face it. As chess players, we don't have the best rep regarding social skills. No one has ever said, "You know what this party needs? More chess players!" I get it. There's a certain stereotype attached to people like us. On the bright sid...
Over the past few weeks “The Queen’s Gambit” has taken the world by storm. The story of a young girl, Beth Harmon, who escapes the difficult childhood thanks to her immense chess talent and beats the best men in their game has ca...
The Queen's Gambit has become more than "a chess show." The seven-episode Netflix miniseries has captured the attention of audiences worldwide and was the #1 show in over 12 countries. It has introduced or re-ignited viewers' interest in the royal...
Chess.com is pleased to announce the Chess.com Computer Chess Ratings. These ratings are calculated based on performances in the Chess.com Computer Chess Championship, Chess.com's 24/7 computer tournament platform where the best engines are consta...
Chess is just a game, but as long as it is played by humans, emotions will be a factor. Sometimes we are faced with moves by our opponents that may ratchet up our sense of fear, even if they are not 100 percent sound. We've all played games wher...
In just three days from now, one of the biggest events of 2020 starts: the $100,000 Speed Chess Championship Main Event with GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Magnus Carlsen as the top seeds. What can we expect? How to watch? The game...
The Oxford Companion to Chess, 1984. Hooper, Wyld eds. The idea of classifying players by the handicap offered them by master class players was first recorded by Pietro Carrera in 1617 (Il Gioco degli Scacchi). Since there was no possibili...
Not many people know this, but a few centuries ago, chess had a piece so strong that it had to be replaced by a weaker one—the queen. It's hard to believe, but the age-old game of chess wasn't always like the one we know and love today. Th...
The news that the player formerly known as Igors Rausis returned to the chess arena under a new name has shocked the chess world. Chess.com spoke to the former grandmaster, who now uses the name Isa Kasimi, in an attempt to understand more of the ...
Dear friends, today I'd like to talk about the Karpov vs. Korchnoi World Chess Championship match (Baguio, 1978) and to analyze one moment from the most controversial game of the match. As is well known, Viktor Korchnoi wrote the book "Anti-chess"...
The chess media has used a lot of ink and pixels to lavish praise on the greatest chess players of all time. We've got articles for the best world champion ever, the five most dangerous players ever, the 10 best players of all time, the best che...
The number of chess moves made in the history of the royal game is incalculable. Data taken from the study of the 2015 MegaBase (a database that contains over 4.5 million games) indicates that the average number of moves per game is roughly 38. In...
The PRO Chess League finals start on Friday, so it's high time to take a closer look at the four teams that will be fighting for the title. Today, in our final preview: the Saint Louis Arch Bishops. The PRO Chess League finals will take pla...
Even people who are not interested in baseball remember Yogi Berra as the author of so called "Yogi-isms." Indeed, his catchy phrases which mix humor and wisdom will make you smile and think. Pretty frequently they contradict to themselves. Who ca...
The PRO Chess League finals start on Friday, so it's high time to take a closer look at the four teams that will be fighting for the title. Today: the China Pandas. The PRO Chess League finals will take place on September 25-27 on Chess.com...
The PRO Chess League finals are six days away, so it's high time to take a closer look at the four teams that will be fighting for the title. Today: the Armenia Eagles. The PRO Chess League finals will take place on September 25-27 on Chess.com/...
