With the recent passing of GM Vlastimil Hort, the chess community reflects not only on the loss of a great player and very nice person, but also on the huge chess heritage he left behind. While for most people, Hort is associated with his games, o...
What’s the best way to improve at chess? A new study from Stanford University sheds light on the most effective practices for players across various skill levels. The study (PDF version here) Deliberate Practice and Chess Mastery: Analyzin...
Ken Rogoff is a very hard person to pin down. He's both a GM and has a doctorate in economics. He's drawn Magnus Carlsen, Mikhail Tal, and Tigran Petrosian, yet he is better known as the former Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund. ...
Even the world's best players go through challenges. For GM Anish Giri, a brutal stretch of losses was more than just a slump. It was a defining moment, the grandmaster shared in a new documentary. The 30-year-old has been ranked among the world...
In my previous article, I discussed how to build a strong opening repertoire with the white pieces. Now, we will figure out the even harder challenge of getting a good game as Black. What To Play Against 1.e4 What To Play Against 1.d4 Wha...
FM/WIM Yosha Iglesias, who made headlines in 2024 as the first-ever transgender player to achieve the woman international master title, is also a passionate and insightful chess coach. Yosha recently shared several of these insights with Chess.com...
Greg Mustreader has made a name for himself in the chess world for his amazing interviews with several top players, among them GMs Fabiano Caruana, Daniel Naroditsky, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and IM Sagar Shah. Greg has had a successful career in law, ...
Greetings, chess fans! You might remember that in late December I published a study plan for advanced players. I gave a brief overview of what type of openings you should look for and where to look for reliable sources. Now, I'll attempt to expand...
Last month, several big matches were just starting, especially GM Magnus Carlsen against the world, and GM Ju Wenjun and Tan Zhongyi's impending fight for the Women's World Championship. One of these is still going and the other has been decided, ...
There are many gambit lines known in chess. Some of them are very sharp and dangerous, others are more positional and not even real gambits, like the Queen's Gambit. Today, I want to discuss one of the most dangerous gambits in chess, which you pr...
There aren't many chess players who are featured in the New York Times, have met former U.S. presidents, and have had their book sold to a major Hollywood studio. Tani Adewumi did all of that before he became a teenager! With the recent news of ...
When Adam Weissbarth founded Silver Knights Chess Academy in 2006, he had no idea how far it would grow. Joined two years later by his brother Daniel, the duo have built one of the most prominent scholastic chess programs in the United States. T...
Clash of Clubs is a new event pitting creators' clubs against one another in a two-hour multi-club arena. It takes place on May 8 and features a $2,500 prize pool. Everyone can participate and try to get the win for their favorite creator's commun...
Chess.com’s historic "Magnus vs the World" Vote Chess match has attracted a record-breaking attendance with 100,000 registrants breaking the previous 70,000 record against former World Champion Viswanathan Anand. Over a dozen moves into the ...
PogChamps 6 is just around the corner! Starting April 29, 12 celebrities will compete in the world's most exciting and hilarious amateur competition. But with so many star participants, it's hard to pick just one to root for. That's why we...
Losing in chess is a small death. — Albert Camus Picture this: You're playing an important game. Hours of intense battle (assuming it's an OTB game), you've built an advantage, everything's going according to plan… and then&md...
Everyone has a favorite chess tactic. Maybe you're a big fan of the fork. Or maybe you spend your nights vainly searching for discovered checks. But what if I told you there was a chess tactic that never fails, succeeds way more than you'd think...
The 2025 Reykjavik Open marked the return of one of the world’s longest running and ever-growing open tournaments. This year is special, sadly, due to the passing of Iceland’s first grandmaster, Fridrik Olafsson, just days before the t...
Not many chess careers are as long, as varied, and as successful as GM Susan Polgar has crafted. Not only was she the first woman to become a grandmaster via norms, the eldest of the famed Polgar sisters later became an Olympiad gold medalist, a w...
Many years ago, a young aspiring chess player was planning to play a big tournament abroad, but there was one problem: money! Just like many young players, he couldn't really afford the travel expenses, so he decided to ask for help at the depar...
What's in a name? Have you seen this famous clip of GM Hikaru Nakamura calculating a deep combination in seconds with his famous "check, check, check...." How can Hikaru calculate that quickly? He's amazing, but it helped that he knew the s...
After a successful playing career, including a peak FIDE rating of 2641, April 2025 Chess.com Creator of the Month GM Tamas Banusz spent several years as a second to world championship candidate GM Richard Rapport. After that, Tamas finally began ...
GM Ju Wenjun has been the women's world champion since 2018, and this month she is once again defending her title. The holder of the open world championship has changed hands twice in that time, first after GM Magnus Carlsen gave it up in 2023. No...
CM Can Kabadayi is one of Chessable's most popular instructors, and is now the Chess.com Coach of the Month! The 2024 Chessable Author of the Year and a cognitive scientist by trade, Can uses several tricks of that trade in order to teach importan...
Former world champion GM Magnus Carlsen recently lamented that it's "kind of sad to see how far you have to go to get a game, that you cannot really play the best lines anymore." Chess engines have demonstrated that all mainstream openings, and ev...
