By browsing Chess.com’s forums, I noticed that there are numerous threads dedicated to improving in chess, certain training practices, coaching and other issues of that sort. Let’s talk a bit about who and what can assist us in becoming a better p...
rosadot asked: I have a question concerning preparation for a specific opponent, and about move order. I am preparing for a tournament game (club closed championship final, one game a week). The player I am facing always tries to play the Stonew...
ankitthemaster asked: I posted this same question on chess.com and most of them insulted and/or discouraged me. My query was simple: I am age 22, keen to play chess professionally, and I will say that I am an advanced beginner who has mostly play...
Last article featured two positions from the Aeroflot Open, which was hosted in Moscow. Grandmaster Le Quang Liem won the event, scoring an impressive 7/9 with 5 wins and 4 draws, and 0 losses. Going into the last round Liem shared...
At any given moment in time one particular piece of software tends to dominate. In the 1980s it was clearly a combination of Chessbase and Fritz. In the 1990s, other engines emerged to relegate Fritz to a lower tier. The rise of Ribka took chess w...
I usually set aside time on Wednesday evening to write my weekly column. It has already become a routine, though for such tasks I typically rely on my mood to determine when and what to write and not a schedule. Tonight, I am in no mood to talk t...
Every day I get a lot of fan mail (thanks, guys!), and many of the messages are dedicated to the evergreen subject “how do I get better in chess?” I am trying to do my best to offer individual advice to everyone. However, there is a ve...
Creating a Study Program Mr. Svorcan asked: I am self-taught chess player. I have read a few books and have some chess software (Fritz, Chessmaster, etc). I play chess regularly on the net but my “real” rating is unknown, however on some website...
Chess training program for ratings < 1200 Disclaimer:These advice are taken from my personal (short) experience. They are written by a novice for the novice. I only release my ideas today to the public. Nobody ever tried these programs and I ...
Unknown asked: What do you think is the best food to be eaten during a big tournament? Dear whoever you are: Actually, this is quite an interesting question! Of course, most people eat all sorts of unhealthy things before an event, but shoul...
IM DAVID PRUESS asked: I do know a few things about planning-- I even teach “how to plan” to my own students sometimes. But I still come across positions fairly often, maybe one in ten games, where I feel I should have a plan, but can't come up w...
[Ed: this week, our daily columnists [may] have secretly traded columns. From this Sunday through Friday, read all the columns, and guess who wrote which. Mail your guesses to dpruess at chess.com. A couple prizes will be awarded at random to thos...
When I was a kid, PCs weren’t that widespread yet, so books were our #1 choice when it came to chess studies. Of course, innovative technologies speed up the process of learning chess, but the old methods shouldn’t be totally neglected too. That’s...
The Cheating Chess Tournament ©2002 by NM Dan Heisman “That was the third person we caught recently who had a handheld computer with Pocket Fritz!” Chester Nimfield was distraught. As a member of the Hookley Valley Chess Club’s Organizing...
International Master Andrew Martin from England presents a regular series of articles to answer any questions that Chess.com readers have about the game of chess. If you want to ask Andrew a question, then send an email to askandrew@chess.com an...
Study plan. Your strength as a chess player is in close ratio to the time you can play and study the game. Certainly allowances must be made for talent and age but these, if they are a handicap, can be overcome by spending more time on the game. ...
Resource What is it? Is it permitted DURING Turn-Based (and Vote Chess) play? Is it permitted DURING LiveChess play? Asking another person for advice Includes discussing a game-in-progress in the chess.com Forums NO* (except du...
Life and chess... I learned how to play chess when I was 19 years of age. Before this, the first time I saw people playing a game called chess was at school, when I was only ten. So, was it a coincidence that I would cross roads again with 'chess...
Most people don't know how to configure and maintain their computers. And that's OK... until something goes wrong and you want it fixed, and NOW! Trust us - we get dozens of bug reports and problem emails every day, and 90% of them are user-error,...
Curious if there is anyone out there interested in starting a chess club that shares common interests like Linux, graphic design, database design or information technology in general. I'm very fond of Ubuntu and open-source software. Any takers?
Some chess players have a chess coach. The really lucky players have a good coach. What about the rest of us?Well, there is a ton of material out there from which to study: books, magazines, videos, software, websites, and so on. So, just pick ...
This article is about a game I played about 7 weeks ago. Let me tell you a little background of myself as far as chess is concerned. I live in Lahore, Pakistan and I picked up chess from my cousins. One of my cousin is currently Lahore number 4 pl...
Raise your hand if you hate playing the endgame. That’s what I thought; I’m not alone. OK, well, “hate” might be a bit strong, but maybe “dread” is a better term. Nothing about chess is easy, b...
First, the preamble, in case you missed it from my last McChess article. At the moment, I run OS X and only OS X, so although Shredder Chess comes in Linux and Windows flavours, I won’t say much, if anything, about the alternativ...
