Some 20 years ago I had a conversation with a grandmaster who grew up in a bad neighborhood. He was recollecting his youth years when street fighting was pretty common. I don't remember much from his stories, but one of his phrases has stu...
I get so many questions and statements about chess, but being old (yep, 108 years old…don’t worry though, the friends that are still alive tell me that I don’t look more than 98) means that all those questions have been asked ov...
The biggest event in online chess is back for 2018, and the field of 16 grandmasters is set for the 2018 Speed Chess Championship. While the best players in the world battle it out on the chessboards, you can be a part of the action by predictin...
Nowadays, it is normal for chess players of all levels to make a quick draw once in a while. The so-called "Sofia Rules" and other measures that attempt to prohibit draws by mutual agreement are typically applied in elite tournaments and even worl...
Speed Chess Championship season is in full swing now as the open qualifier starts Tuesday, July 10 at 12 p.m. Pacific time (3 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. UTC). The winner of the qualifier tournament will join 15 of the world's top chess playe...
The coming world championship match is going to be Magnus Carlsen's biggest challenge since he won his crown. As I mentioned in my recent article, it is the first time he will defend his title against a younger challenger, the 25-year-old Americ...
"We work 25 hours a day." "But there's only 24 hours in a day!" "We just wake up an hour earlier." —Eternal Call, a Soviet TV series (1973-83) Our society's obsession with time knows few bounds. It is the golden age of at...
The Chess.com member KBToys7 wrote: I am writing to you out of frustration. I’ve bought several books on chess; on openings, middle games, endgames, tactics, strategy and more. I’ve completed dozens of lessons offered here on Chess....
Find out when the top chess events and tournaments are taking place! Missing a strong event? Please let us know in the comments. Click here for results of completed chess tournaments and events in 2018. JULY 2018 Date Event Location...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE— Looking for a great way to kick off your school's chess club in the fall? The fourth "Hour of Chess Week" is the first time we will host the event outside of the spring! This back-to-school edition still gives...
At the very end of my article about MVL's trapped rooks, I mentioned that Tal was famous for his queen play. There was even a joke that a regular queen is worth nine pawns and Tal's queen is worth 12 pawns! The Chess.com member "fiercebadge...
1886 was an epic year. Though past players were viewed as the world chess champion, there never was an official title. Now the two best players in the world (Zukertort and Steinitz) would butt heads and the fans of both players would have to accep...
Every day at Chess.com we get a lot of suggestions, feedback and bug reports—and we really appreciate it! One of the most common bug reports looks something like this: In my game, I moved my pawn to h4 and somehow his pawn from g4 ...
The most-awaited online chess event is back for 2018 as the Speed Chess Championship kicks off its season next week with a new invitational knockout qualifier. Follow the action live at Chess.com/TV and Twitch.tv/chess on Tuesday...
Some chess tactical ideas are very common. For example, I cannot imagine any experienced chess player who never had back-rank problems in his games. Interference is pretty much at the opposite end of chess spectrum. Here is how Wikipedia describ...
I really appreciate my readers' feedback and therefore always read your comments to my articles. One of them, by the Chess.com member rossmckinley1224, made me think. Ross wrote: "For those of us struggling to achieve a 1000 rating on Ches...
When Wilhelm Steinitz stepped into 1870 he was still tossing tactics here and there, never fearing anything at all. He was also coming up with various new opening ideas. One of these (eventually named the “Steinitz Gambit”) called for ...
A classic movie and literary ploy is when the hero must stay out of sight behind enemy lines, and decides to disguise himself as one of his foes. Students of classical literature might recall the ancient story about Achilles, the Greek hero of the...
Note: The cover image was modified from that of a novel of that name written by John Donoghue. The story, set in Auschwitz, is much deeper and serious than this article. There has never been any doubt that chess ...
Chess is more than just a game, at least for chess aficionados. As proof of this statement we like to mention that since the dawn of the computer age, our beloved game has been the main test of computers' ability to "think." Also, don't ...
The English Opening starting with 1.c4 is a modern way to handle the opening phase of the game. This opening is a "flank" opening since it starts with a side pawn rather than the central 1.e4 or 1.d4 moves. Many players from chess history and toda...
This series on Wilhelm Steinitz isn’t about every detail of his life. It’s about some basics and, most important, the games. I’m writing this since whenever chess players get together and talk about the past top players...
Note: The cover image was modified from that of a novel of that name written by John Donoghue. The story, set in Auschwitz, is much deeper and serious than this article. There has never been any doubt that chess ...
Pattern recognition is one of the most important chess skills. Some time ago I even suggested an idea that Magnus Carlsen is so great in chess due to his incredible pattern-recognition ability. Through the years I've written a series of articl...
The 1860s were very good for Adolf Anderssen, who was still at his peak. He won several important tournaments and was also successful in most of his matches. However, new players were appearing, such as Ignatz von Kolisch, Steinitz, and Zukertort....