IM Mateusz Bobula is one of the new coaches on Chess.com. His streams at www.Twitch.tv/matbobula emphasize opening theory and break down critical opening and middlegame structures during and after his games, many that he has pl...
[cover image from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll; illustrated by Peter Newell, 1902 ] ___________________________________________________________________________________________________...
What is pawn structure? From my online glossary, I define it as "the positioning of the whole pawn mass. Also referred to as the pawn skeleton. This positioning of the pawns is what usually dictates the types of plans available in a given ...
One of the most promising Dutch junior players of the early 1970s was Roy Dieks from Amsterdam. In the final of the 1972 European Youth Championship, held in Groningen, The Netherlands, Dieks played a crucial game against Tony Miles (who would lat...
"What a stupid question!" I bet this is the natural reaction of many readers once they see the title of this article. Indeed it is a dream of any chess fan to play like Magnus Carlsen. OK, let me rephrase the original question: Should ...
The classical format of our beloved game is under attack. People are complaining about boring games that lead to an abundance of draws in super-GM tournaments. They are trying to change everything: the scoring system (three points for a win, one...
Tactics are short term opportunities to gain material, checkmate the enemy king, or force a draw in an otherwise lost game. Most chess games are decided based on tactics, so it is vital to recognize common tactical patterns in your...
Anish Giri tells David Cox about the multicultural upbringing that shaped his chess talent, why social media has been huge for the game and the moments when he’s believed he can become world champion. As the current world number-four, Anis...
Chess.com is thrilled to announce the release of our "Mastery" series of chess lessons. On New Year's Day 2019, we released an update to Chess.com/lessons, providing over 130 videos with interactive challenge questions to help players advance fr...
Here you'll find updated standings and leaderboard information for Arena Kings season four. You can read the season four announcement here for complete details. FINAL Standings Rank Player Points Twitch Channel Name / Ti...
IM Attila Turzo is a familiar face to students on Chess.com. His streams at Twitch.tv/attilaturzo have a strong emphasis on instruction, breaking down lots of important points during and after his games, many of which he plays against viewers. A...
Chess has a long and storied history. The game has changed quite a bit from its earliest forms in India. The modern iteration we enjoy today wasn't known until the 16th century. There were no clocks, and the pieces were not standardized until...
What exactly is positional chess? I find some players get confused by the difference between tactical and positional chess, especially because both skills are needed to play a strong game. Therefore, I prefer to distinguish the two main approache...
The famous Ladies' Chess Club of London was organized at their first meeting on January 14, 1895. Predating that monumental event was the creation of the Women's Chess Club of New York. In 18...
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...
It is not a secret that the last world championship match was a big disappointment for many people. Indeed, 12 straight draws between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana in the classical part of the match were a turn off. Only a lazy person would...
We are thrilled to introduce a new series at Chess.com: coach of the month! Each month, we will be highlighting a coach at Chess.com/coaches and sharing an interview with that coach discussing his or her philosophy of chess, philosophy of coachi...
Wesley So tells David Cox about his remarkable journey from learning the game in an impoverished neighborhood in the Philippines to reaching the world's top 10. In many ways, Wesley So’s life story reads a bit like the script of a Ho...
It is not a secret that many inexperienced chess players love to give checks regardless if they're good or bad moves. What's worse, they always announce the check to their opponents. I guess it makes them feel empowered and cool. In reality, it ...
Well, here I go again, answering questions from the Chess.com members. We will start out with an oldie but goodie: planning. MAKING A PLAN The Chess.com member @001GENERAL_GRIEVOUS asked, “Isn’t planning good to know?&rdq...
This is our archive of older, completed chess tournaments and events. Click here for our calendar of current chess events! September 2021 Date Event Location September 7 Titled TuesdayOur weekly blitz event for titled players, an ...
Chess.com is looking to recruit volunteers for a study on the effectiveness of Chess.com lessons and training. Participants will be randomized into three groups: (1) members who complete exactly one Chess.com lesson per day; (2) members w...
A little perspective: At the turn of the 20th century Harry N. Pillsbury was the dominant American chess player. Most other well known American chess players of that time, such as Jackson Whipps Showalter, Albert Hodges and...
On Friday, GM Hikaru Nakamura won his second-straight Speed Chess Championship title, defeating GM Wesley So by the score of 19.5-14.5. So came back from a four-game deficit early in the match and at one point was even leading the defending c...
