Your favorite annual chess tradition is back. Chess.com is proud to celebrate the holiday season with an all-new puzzler for 2016—and we believe this is the hardest (and most rewarding) quiz yet. The 10 Chess.com members who score the hi...
Most of us know that the legendary Emanuel Lasker was a philosopher and a world class mathematician — he earned his doctorate in math in 1902 and published a theorem which, even today, is critically important for the ins and outs of alg...
Is 51.Qe6? from Magnus Carlsen in game 8 one of the worst blunders in world championship history? Well... probably not After all, Sergey Karjakin did need to find the incredible only-move 51...h5! to win the game. However, the world champi...
In our last article, we discussed the importance of typical chess patterns using a pin as an example. As you become proficient in recognizing chess patterns, you'll see them everywhere! Suddenly you'll realize that the Morphy's "Ope...
Charles de Maurian, well known as Paul Morphy's childhood and life-long friend, developed very quickly as a chess player. He began learning the game from Morphy during the 1853-4 school year at Spring Hill College ...
Target Skill Range: Advanced Path (Rated 1800-1999) Tasks: Learn the power of the pieces!!! Improve your knowledge of dynamics and tension in chess. Know how to exploit exchanges. Improve your prophylactic thinking and defense! ...
Target Skill Range: Master Path (Rated 2000-2199) Acquire the knowledge you need to approach the opening with confidence and achieve success! Tasks: Learn About Advanced Opening Preparation Expand Your Knowledge of Thematic Middlegam...
Axorcist wrote: “My question is this: Who do you consider to be the greatest chess theorist of all time? I have never read a good review on who really had the most influence on the development of knowledge in our beautiful game. Was i...
There are basically three ways a tactic can occur, both for and against you: The opponent makes a threat for a tactic (or a check or capture), which either can't be met, or can be, but is missed. There is no existing threat of a tactic, bu...
Most chess enthusiasts are aware that the young Wilhelm Steinitz was sometimes referred to as "the Austrian Morphy." Some might even know that Cecil de Vere had been called "the English Morphy." Few, ho...
Throughout the years there have been hundreds, maybe thousands, of brilliancy prizes offered. Some are just games, albeit extremely clever ones, while others have their own stories. Some even have stories that hove...
Avenida de las Palmeras, Habana, ca. 1904 A large island in the Caribbean, this former Spanish colony lies just 93 miles from the state of Florida. Its proximity to the United States, the inherent beauty of the...
Francis Eugene Brenzinger has been mostly forgotten. It's true that he wasn't even close to being a world champion contender, maybe not even a likely U.S. champion, but during his chess-playing days, he was...
I’ve gone out of my way to write articles about the importance of balance; everyone needs both tactical and positional/strategic skills (you also need endgame skills, but at the moment we will concentrate on tactics and strategy). To add a...
During the romantic era of chess, MEN WERE MEN. They played gambits. They went for mate. They drank whisky while pondering their next attacking move. If someone made a material sacrifice (which loses if the opponent simply refuses the “...
Many openings go by various names. The opening(s) we'll be looking at below not only go by many names, but the situations, like gambits themselves, can get messy, muddy and uncertain very quickly. The title of this article is Martin...
George Walker George Walker's life (1803-1879) spanned one of the most remarkable periods of chess. As a chess player, he met and played such personalities as John Cochrane, William Lewis, Alexander McDonnell, Labourdonnais, Pierre Charles S...
"At the root of all advances in the science of chess-play lies the necessity of discovering an intelligible system of notation, by means of which the squares of the board may be easily defined and the moves of the pieces recorded." —...
Even the barest novice can appreciate and learn from the exquisite artistry and logic in the conceptual masterpieces to be found here. Join some of Chess.com's finest teachers on a tour of the most dazzling and instructive ches...
I stumbled upon the following article while reading through the March 1903 edition of "Checkmate: Monthly Chess Review." It looked familiar and I was able to determine I had seen it before in "Pollock Memories,"&...
In 1935 a surprising thing happened. The fourth world champion, Alexander Alekhine, widely considered a genius, lost a match to the Dutch master, Max Euwe. Euwe was unique among world champions for several reasons. First, he was the only one who...
The Vienna Chess Tournament of 1898, one of many tournaments sponsored by Albert von Rothschild, ran from May 31 to July 25 and was played at the Vienna Chess Club. It attracted many strong and now-famous masters. Tarrasch and Pillsbury e...
A Superior Tactician Chess.com member Mzeekimaro wrote: “I am a big fan of you and your chess books. I am rated 1581 by FIDE. I want to be very good at tactics. What do you recommend I do? I want to be labeled as a superior tactician.&rdqu...
The second world champion, Emanuel Lasker, is a difficult one to include in this series, but it must be done. There is hardly any opening to which he is closely attached. He played a wide variety of solid, "common-sense" openings, w...
