Rudolf Charousek (September 19, 1873, Prague – April 18, 1900, Budapest) was a Hungarian chess player. He had a tragically short career, and he was once called by Reuben Fine the John Keats of chess. A brilliant player and a tremendous talent,...
Emanuel Schiffers, Russian chessmaster and chess writer, was born to German parents in St. Petersburg on May 4, 1850 and died there December 12, 1904. He was educated in his native city, studying the classical, physical, and mathematical faculties...
Isidor Gunsberg (November 2, 1854, in Budapest – May 2, 1930, in London), English merchant, future challenger for the World Chess Championship and chess journalist began his career as the hidden operator of the chess automaton Mephisto! Nowadays t...
Mikhail Chigorin (12 November 1850–25 January 1908) was born in Gatchina, near Saint Petersburg, and was the founder of the Russian chess school as well as the first grandmaster from Russia. He served as a major source of inspiration and influence...
“He was not popular with his colleagues; he was surly, arrogant, conceited, and almost paranoid. People were out to poison him. Noise bothered him. Everything bothered him. Not naturally, he was in constant controversy with other players. They obj...
Richard Réti (28 May 1889, Pezinok – 6 June 1929, Prague) was an ethnic Jewish, Austrian-Hungarian, later Czechoslovakian chess player, chess author, and composer of endgame studies. His older brother Rudolph Réti was a noted (musical) composer an...
The Evans gambit is a true chess link between the romantic past and the computerized present. This sharp opening was played by the biggest stars chess ever produced: Morphy, Fischer, and Kasparov. This fact alone should tell you that the Evans G...
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...
“Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy."Siegbert Tarrasch (March 5, 1862 – February 17, 1934) was born in Breslau the hometown of Andersen and Zukertort. The young Tarrasch learned to play chess when he was 15 years old. He...
Joseph Henry Blackburne (1841–1924), nicknamed "Black Death," started playing chess as an adult but reached master level in mere months. He learned how to play draughts as a child; however it was not until he heard about Paul Morphy's exploits aro...
The London 1883 chess tournament was one of the most important competitions of the nineteenth century where most of the leading player competed. It was won convincingly by Johannes Zukertort (22/26) ahead of Wilhelm Steinitz (19/26) by three point...
“The Scientist”In the Vienna 1873 chess tournament Steinitz unveiled a new "positional" style of play which was to become the basis of modern chess! Forget those wild attacks. Prepare a position and follow it through, using the logic of the positi...
Part 1: The Austrian MorphyWilhelm Steinitz, born in Prague on May 14, 17 or 18, 1835 or 1836! (the date has never been ascertained) was the last of thirteen children in a very poor family and the first acknowledged World Champion of chess. He was...
Last weeks we discussed the King's Gambit as an ideal opening if you want to beat your opponent in 20 moves or less. Of course if your opponent defends very well and your blitzkrieg fails... well then you might question your decision to sac a paw...
Siegbert Tarrasch was born March 5, 1862 and died February 17, 1934. He was close to the best player in the world around 1890. His match with Mikhail Chigorin, a contender for the world championship, resulted in 9 wins for each after 22 games in 1...
Hi today I would like to share with you one of my favorite openings. This opening is called Ponziani’s opening. I have played this opening both tournament play as well as in casual play. In both areas I have had high success rate. The Ponzi...
In his moment, Akiba Rubinstein (1882-1961) played the most perfect chess of the epoch! Many of his games were models of precision. He played the endgames like the gods! said Tartakower, a leading master at the time. Before World War I, Rubinstein...
I've noticed there are fewer resources available to those who want to learn about the Colle-Zukertort, a solid, positional chess opening system for White. Thus, I thought I’d make a quick-start guide for anyone who wants to try it out sometime. Th...
The king's gambit is a fascinating opening that has been in practice for more than four hundred years in chess history. If you try searching for King's gambit games in your database you will start seeing games starting from the early 16th century....
History The Vienna Game was originally called Hamppe's Game after Carl Hamppe (1815-1876) and took its current name in the 1890's due to its ongoing popularity in Vienna, for centuries the capital of the Holy Roman and Austro-Hungarian Empires. A...
Rabbi Evan Gary asks: Could you recommend a good old classic book (the more classical the more interesting) giving theoretical (perhaps even some philosophical, esoteric) information about Chess? Thank you very much. Dear Rabbi Gary: One ...
Siegbert Tarrasch was born March 5, 1862 and died February 17, 1934. He was one of the best players of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Around 1890, he may have been the best. World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz offered him the opportunity to p...
Nine years later after the match between Labourdonnais and Mac Donnell, the same situation occurred but this time, in Paris, with an Englishman challenging a Frenchman, and in both cases the guest triumphed. The match Saint Amant – Staunton ha...
This exciting game features a good alternative for Black to avolid the Four Knights, but Steinitz chooses the wrong defense and gets torn apart by Blackburne. Much of the action is at f7, though the center is the main battlefield.
