Last week we analyzed a line that could be a decent opening weapon for club players. As you remember, unlike the openings played by super-grandmasters, it didn't require any special opening knowledge and could be learned in one minute. The obvio...
Openings That Lead to a Draw Question: Chess.com member jos2001 wrote, “I’m a 1076-ranked player who wants to know the best openings to draw.” Answer: Though various openings are known to be drawish at the master level (and u...
The Cunningham Defense in the King's Gambit Accepted begins 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 Be7. White moves the Bishop to give his King a place to go with 4. Bc4. If Black continues with the threatened 4... Bh4+ ...
Every chess game begins with an opening, which means that when reviewing your own games, it's important to analyze what happened in the first few moves. Here are three ways to improve your openings: Evaluate the outcome of the opening. Did you...
Don’t call it a comeback; I’ve been here for years. In October I played in Millionaire Chess, my first international tournament in nearly two years. It wasn’t a triumphant return lik...
There are certain opening variations in chess which can be labeled "for top players only." The most obvious example would be the Berlin Variation of the Ruy Lopez. But club players shouldn't be jealous since there are also opening variations "fo...
Some of my recent articles were about chess psychology and striving to have a balanced skillset. This article (all in puzzle form) lets you test what you’ve learned (or what you thought you already knew). The puzzles can be tactical, po...
If you peruse old issues of "Chess Review," you will probably encounter the name Catherine Nye. You will mostly likely notice one of these photos of the pretty 34 year old lady from Syracuse, N.Y. 1941 ...
Just recently I have become a bit obsessed with strange and peculiar chess moves originating from knights and bishops. In my first article for Chess.com I took a look at what can be called The Nimzowitsch Knight Dance, and in t...
The King's Indian Defense is one of the great openings in chess history. A favorite of many of Caissa's greatest innovators — the King's Indian Defense was central to the development of new, dynamic ways to play chess. No more taking 1....
About a quarter of a century ago, I started playing in international tournaments on a regular basis. Just like thousands of other folks from the former Soviet Union I enjoyed the fall of the Iron Curtain and ability to freely travel abroad. Pret...
Two of the best chess players in the world will face off Monday morning in the biggest Chess.com Death Match of all time as American number-one GM Hikaru Nakamura is set to battle French number-one GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The match will be br...
When I was just turning 19, I would go with a friend to Berkeley and visit the Hare Krishna temple. Were we into them? No, not at all. But every evening they offered free (very tasty!) food, and when you are broke and starving, you are willing t...
I get countless questions that ask about taste in chess (No, don’t eat the pieces!). Taste, in this case, refers to a preference for positional or tactical situations. (However, if you MUST eat the pieces, please buy a chess cake or a ches...
Like a poorly rehearsed play, nothing seemed to go right. What started out as a brilliant idea was fizzling out before everyone's eyes. Perhaps it was ...
The European Team Chess Championship that took place last month in Iceland is already a part of chess history. There were many remarkable games and memorable moments over there. Some people will remember the double win by the Russian men...
After I learned how to play chess (age 12), I jumped into the game head first by playing in a chess tournament (even though I didn’t know the difference between checkmate and stalemate). Let’s just say that I was absolutely awful. Wi...
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...
[Editor's note: Here are more selected chess stories from IM Silman.] CELEBRITIES GONE WILD 1988 and I just landed in Mazatlan, Mexico. Though the main course was the world 30-minute championships (packed with the best players in the world)...
Miss Rosa Jefferson The champion women chess player of the world Rosa B. Jefferson Although she was a significant historical figure in American chess, Rosa Bradford Jefferson has remained largely unknown. Miss Jefferson edited a che...
Many players feel that chess is all about threats or attack or finding a combination or some other form of brute force moves. And, of course, that is exactly what many positions need. However, in many other positions those things are exactly what ...
Many people who have no knowledge of or even interest in Chess know the name Bobby Fischer because he is so iconic. There are such icons in all endeavors - those who transcend their fields and become pub...
How to Improve Your Tactics Chess.com member shivendu2059xyz asked: I would like to discuss how to get better at tactics. Is solving tons of puzzles the only way to improve? Mr. shivendu2059xyz: There are many ways to study ...
The title of this article sounds like the name of a cheap horror flick, perhaps a low-budget rip-off of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A spine-chilling monster known as the Grinder terrorizes the inhabitants of a fictional town... A quick...
