Figuring out your preferred "time control," how long each player has to move, is the first step toward playing a chess game. Each time control leads to slightly different decision-making processes for the players and affects how the game will like...
Editor's Note: We are proud to present this study guide from WGM Dina Belenkaya as part of our 2025 Chess Improvement Challenge. We encourage interested improvers to sign up for the challenge, set their goals, and join the official Improvers club!...
Losing is no fun! Unfortunately, all chess players end up in lost positions sometimes. The best ones know how to escape as often as possible and steal draws and wins from busted positions. Here are the techniques you need to know to be a chess Hou...
Rey Enigma, the king of mystery, is a player that many chess fans are talking about—but (almost) nobody knows who he is. Wearing his signature full-body suit that likens him to some sort of superhero, he traveled from Spain to New York at th...
Hey, chess lovers! By now, most of us have stopped saying "Happy New Year," but it's not too late to take a look back at the first month of '21 - and shine a light on some cool things that have been happening around the site. Let's take a closer l...
When the COVID-19 pandemic started, many people considered it mostly a nuisance that would be gone sooner rather than later. These days, popular opinion has shifted to another extreme. Life will never be quite the same even when the pandemic is fi...
"Every Russian schoolboy knows" is a well-known cliche to say that a certain position or a concept is an integral part of a classical chess education. A good friend of mine, GM Alex Yermolinsky, even used this cliche as the title of his weekly sho...
You know how the pieces move. Now it's time to learn everything else! Follow along and learn how to win chess games! Try The Challenges! Not what you're looking for? Go back to the video guide. The Language of Chess: This video demo...
The recent article by Vladimir Kramnik was quite fascinating. We've all had some weird "what if..." questions, like "what if people could fly?" or "what if there were no gravity?" Thanks to Kramnik and AlphaZero, we now see what happens to che...
This began many years ago as an experimental type of entry in the chess.com forums. Originally conceived to be an examination of the development of chess throughout the entire 19th century, since it never garnered the i...
There are many ways to end a chess game. Sometimes the result is clear. However, there are situations when some players have questions about the result or why the game suddenly finished. To clarify these situations, here are eight typical ways...
In my experience teaching, playing, and hanging out at the local chess club, I have come across many players who succeed in reaching a level in the 1600-2000 range but get stuck, often for life, trying to get beyond that and become an expert or ma...
GM Jonathan Tisdall shares his reflections on the Carlsen-Caruana world championship at halftime. (You can read his preview of the match here.) For convenience, we've copied the games with GM Sam Shankland's annotations from our news reports. I ...
Note: The cover image was modified from that of a novel of that name written by John Donoghue. The story, set in Auschwitz, is much deeper and serious than this article. There has never been any doubt that chess ...
From June 2-4, 42 of the most talented chess kids in the U.S. competed in the ChessKid Online National Invitational Championship (CONIC), held for the sixth consecutive year on Chess.com. The purpose of this event is to allow the young talents the...
Every chess game starts with a "time control" - how long each player has to move. And every game ends with a "result" - why did it end? A friend asked me about how each time control impacts the result, and I had no idea! So I took a look. ...
Target Skill Range: Advanced Path (Rated 1800-1999) Tasks: Play 50 standard time control games. Analyze your personal games. Document your mistakes. Work through these lessons. Follow Chess.com/news. Wow! You've venture...
When my journey to the chess world was still in its nascent stages, I picked up a dusty old copy of My System, settled down in a comfortable chair, adopted a grave, contemplative expression, and started to read. Everything went smooth...
This is the story of Kārlis Ozols that should be called, "When Chess Players Go Bad." The story is one of amazement, puzzlement and disgust. Kārlis Ozols had been a chess player in ...
The wait is finally over! You have tried every solution to fix those flabby pawn structures. You've cut every processed pawn from your diet. Yet, for some reason, you just cannot get rid of those doubled pawns! Finally, there is a better way! Fa...
Professor: Good afternoon, class. A congenial, but less than enthusiastic response was detectable. Professor: The class tournament is coming up, and so I've invited an eighth member to join our group. Lucian: The tournament starts this weekend,...
Professor: Happy day before Saturday, class. Zephyr: I wanted to bring something up. Professor: I'm fine. How are you? You couldn't wait to say "hello?" Zephyr: Hello, Professor. Now can we talk about it? Professor: About what? Zephyr: Double...
This is my first article on Chess.com and I thank you for reading! Now let's begin: Draws. - a mutual agreement to end the game and split the point. - result: 0.5 point given to each side - can be attained by offer, three position repetition...
Working on your chess doesn’t have to translate to results solely over the board. Experience in chess can go a long way in applications, university personal statements, and job interviews. However, you have to highlight the right skill...
After taking the title from Wilhelm Steinitz in 1894, Emanuel Lasker won a rematch against Steinitz in 1897. His reign as world champion lasted until 1921, and the 27 years he spent on the throne were the longest anyone has remained world champion...
