The Day the Stars Came Out
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 ...
What Happened To Magnus Carlsen?
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...
Old Age, Great Chess!
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...
Walker
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...
Carlos Castaneda And The Penthouse Suite
[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)...
Memphis Belle
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...
The Eye Of The Beholder
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 ...
The Duke
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 Play Multi-Purpose Moves
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 Terrifying Grinder Of Chess
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...
Komodo Devours Lenderman; Hikaru Match Slated Jan.
Humans long ago relinquished their claim as the world’s best chess players to the computer engines that now play the most accurate version of chess and who now exclusively probe the leading edge of game’s discoveries. While play...
The Most Unusual Check In Chess
I run a chess club in a local school, and whenever I ask my students if a king can check another king, I hear a loud "No! Kings cannot kiss each other!" Of course, I know what they mean. Even beginners are well aware that this is the closest a k...
Melik Suggests Video Series
For 10 video lessons, GM Melikset Khachiyan is here to analyze his preferred variations of different openings. Melik is one of our favorite coaches but he is also a world-class player. Our lessons will come from games of his own and his students. ...
Remembering IM Emory Tate
On October 17, the chess world suffered yet another devastating loss: IM Emory Tate passed away at age 56. Though he was taken from this world much too soon, Emory has left behind an unforgettable legacy, and he will forever be remembered as ...
Targets, Time Pressure, And Reaching Expert
SPOTTING THE ELUSIVE TARGETS Chess.com member speedyg2 asked: “I have been reading your book How to Reassess Your Chess 4th Edition and I was wondering if move 23 for White (Rfe1) is following the imbalances. My imbalance breakdown was that Bla...
Combinative Chess
"Chess" circa 1913by Annti Favén "A combination is a tactical maneuver in which you sacrifice material to obtain an advantage, or at least to improve your position. So, strategy then, is...
The Last Cracked Grandmaster Tales
This is my third and final Cracked Grandmaster Tales article. Click the links if you haven’t seen Cracked Grandmaster Tales and More Cracked Grandmaster Tales. We’ll start with Najdorf again since some people felt that he wouldn’t resort to the g...
The Biggest Secret Of The Soviet Chess School
The famed Soviet school of chess has produced hundreds of grandmasters and dozens of world champions. Thousands of chess coaches teach their students using "the Soviet training method." But who can really describe what exactly was/is the So...
Why Solving Studies Is So Important
Genrikh Kasparian (1910-1995) was a very accomplished chess player. A 10-time Armenian champion, Kasparian was a strong IM and permanent fixture on the Soviet chess scene. However, Kasparian is remembered not as a great chess player —...
Talks a Good Game
The following piece was written by Paul Hugo Little, a rather diverse writer and a chess expert himself. Many people have probably encountered someone like the chess expert described in the story below. (The diagrams and Algrbrai...
More Cracked Grandmaster Tales
In my first edition of Cracked Grandmaster Tales, I shared stories about Grandmaster Rosendo Balinas, Grandmaster Igor Ivanov, a tribute to Igor Ivanov by Boris Spassky, a short tale about an unknown grandmaster, and a story about the late Wa...
Bobby Fischer's Overlooked Gem
Officially released on September 16, the biographical thriller Pawn Sacrifice is the latest development in an ongoing chess renaissance. Directed by Academy Award-winning producer and filmmaker Edward Zwick, Pawn Sacrifice offers a ...
Tigran Petrosian And The Queen's Indian
Tigran Petrosian, the ninth world champion, gained the title in his 1963 match with Mikhail Botvinnik. Thus the Botvinnik era came to a close, since the automatic rematch clause (which allowed Botvinnik to regain the championship after one year fr...
Notation
"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." —...