As eight of the strongest women in the world gear up for the Women’s Candidates Tournament in April, let’s celebrate brilliant games played by female players throughout time. What is a brilliancy? Is it the most visually aesthetic mo...
One of my first chess books was Richard Reti's Chess Textbook. The title of the book was a bit misleading, since the book was absolutely useless for total beginners. I assume that it was implied that any Soviet schoolboy knew the rules of chess as...
Dylan Quercia is a multi-faceted creator, chess player, and coach who has helped students improve their game for over 20 years. Dylan—a.k.a. Coach Q— is also one of the driving forces behind the film King Chess, an award-winning docume...
The world is full of chess advice. You will find all sorts of ideas in books, videos, and articles. While most of the wisdom you receive will help your game, here are five popular pieces of advice that you are better off ignoring. Don't Play B...
FIDE recently awarded honorary grandmaster titles to IMs Iivo Nei and Andreas Dueckstein. I think it is a very good practice to reward famous chess veterans for their past great results and lives devoted to chess. While reading this news, a questi...
I had the chance to sit down and interview Detroit legend, National Master John Brooks! FM James Canty, also a Detroit native and chess family to Brooks, was there to aid tech support and even give a few of his own thoughts about Brooks. They were...
It's a whopper of an update this month, with some exciting new features and improvements to make your Chess.com experience better than ever. How many visits did the website receive in January, and how many rating points were refunded by the Fair P...
Welcome to 2024. This year's first monthly Chess.com update focuses on handy new features, catches you up on the latest news, and previews some exciting events ahead. Here's what this update covers: Product & Engineering Events C...
Every chess player dreams about scoring a huge upset. Maybe you want to beat your dad or grandmother at chess for the first time. Perhaps you’re trying to get your first win against a player rated over 1000, or even 2000. Although it’s...
Do you still remember when you were bitten by the chess bug? Followed by that feverish desire to improve in the game? Only to realize that you started “too late” to amount to anything? In this era of prodigies and 12-year-old grandma...
Chess Played Quick (CPQ) is Chess.com's series of events where top chess streamers complete bounties for prizes. Chess Played Quick-Duolingo Bot Battles happens on November 16 at 12 p.m. ET/18:00 CET/22:30 p.m. IST. Top streamers have two hours ...
Whether you're a fearless attacker or a calm defender, I promise there's a chess legend who shares similarities to your playing style. That is unless your playing style is memorizing 10 moves of theory and then blundering your queen. But I'm sure ...
The Judit Polgar Global Chess Festival 2023 (JPGCF) is a series of chess events and activities hosted by the legendary GM Judit Polgar. The festival runs across two days, October 14 and 15, with the first day happening live in Hungary and the seco...
As many of you know by now, the collaboration between Chess.com and Supercell this month has brought us the delightful and interesting crossover between two strategy games, chess and Clash Royale. I’m Joseph Wan, a FIDE candidate master and ...
All chess players can remember the games that had ultimate importance for them. The level of the competition is irrelevant: it can be your local chess club's championship, national tournaments, or even the FIDE World Championship. What mat...
It was on July 17, 2019, that I lost all faith in humanity. That was my first loss to the shameful Englund Gambit, which left me wondering what type of person does this. Why would someone play a dubious opening trap that either gives them a quick ...
Who is the best? It's a question we ask about almost every competitive endeavor, and chess is no exception. For many years, we here at Chess.com have bestowed the Chess.com Awards at the end of every year. But it's time to think with longer timesc...
When initially working with beginner students, I am often told something like, "I struggle to remember opening theory that I have studied." This is because their study is not taking place in the right way to optimize their results. Luckily, Chessa...
Openings are always a point of discussion (and often a point of contention) for chess players of all ratings. Are you tactical or positional? Do you prefer open positions or closed positions? Knights or bishops? Long castle or short castle?&n...
You sit down at the board or your computer and wait to see how your opponent will start the game. As they reach for the e-pawn, in your mind you roll your eyes and mutter, "Here we go again." With that quick sulk out of the way, it's...
This month's featured chess content creator needs almost no introduction. He's the most-followed chess account on YouTube and is the recipient of multiple awards including Best Chess Streamer at the 2022 Streamer Awards and Best Content Creator fo...
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi is making his second attempt at winning the FIDE World Championship and is just three draws away from becoming champion. During last year's Sinquefield Cup, Nepomniachtchi sat down with Chess.com's GM Daniel "Danya" Narodit...
During black history month, we recognize pioneers that changed the game as it was before them and made a way for those after them. Though chess becomes a more global and diverse game each year, representation at the highest levels (and FIDE titles...
You may have seen the news: the Chess.com app has reached number one in popularity for free games on the App Store. I can hear your sigh from across the screen because you and I both know the gravity of the situation. This is no Flappy Bird, Templ...
The opening is the part of chess that players study the most. I doubt that this statement came as a big surprise to you, considering the humongous amount of books and videos on this subject. When I ask my students what kind of chess books they hav...
