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...
"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...
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....
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. JUNE 2018 Date Event Locatio...
If you were to list your five favorite chess moves, how would you pick them? Would you have to research them, or do you already have them memorized? When it comes to memory, research suggests that you are more likely to remember a move you've se...
There was an anniversary a few days ago that was completely missed by the chess world. I am not talking about any chess player's birthday since they generally are covered by many chess publications (believe it or not, I even saw a note about Kar...
Find out who won the major chess tournaments in 2018. Click here for the upcoming Chess Tournament Calendar. Completed 2018 Chess Tournaments: MAY 2018 May 24: Bundesliga Playoff (Baden-Baden, Germany) Despite bringing top guns Fab...
Adolf Anderssen (born 1818) was born in the German Empire (Breslau, which is now Wroclaw, Poland). He learned how to play chess at the age of nine, and learned much of his chess understanding by going over all the games of the legendary Labourdonn...
If you've been online the past two days you've probably seen the great debate about what you hear in the now-famous audio clip: "Yanny vs. Laurel." While the audio debate may never be settled, it didn't stop Serious News Organizations from...
Here you'll find updated standings and leaderboard information for the Arena Kings Streamers Championship Season 1. Season 1 press release and announcement. For weekly results, click here. Rankings as of June 21 Rank Player Points...
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's result in the last Candidates' tournament has cemented his position as one of the world's very best players. In a year-old article, we already discussed what makes his chess so sparkling and powerful. Today I would like t...
For those that enjoyed my previous article, Test Your Positional Chess, let’s do it again. It’s fun to follow positional concepts, and it’s also extremely instructive. Please keep in mind that these puzzles aren’t li...