Mementos of Morphy
Paul Morphy circa 1858 I had come across this blurb in an 1886 edition of the "British Chess Magazine" under the sub-title, "Foreign News" : The estate of the late Paul Morphy...
Who Is The Architect Of Modern Chess?
I am the proud owner of the obscure volume Pillsbury's Chess Career, published in 1922 by the American Chess Bulletin and written by two English amateurs, Philip Walsingham Sergeant and William Henry Watts. For several months i...
The Greatest Chess Minds Video Series
Let this video guide serve as the official reference point to help you find Chess.com videos on your favorite chess players throughout history! Chess.com has enjoyed lessons from the best coaches and players within our game. Hopefully, you&rsquo...
An Hour With Morphy
This article was published in the "British Chess Magazine" three months after Paul Morphy's death. It was obviously written as a memorial to Morphy and meant to showcase his genius as well as an attempt to explain his winning techniques. Th...
Tigran Petrosian's Breathtaking Exchange Sacrifices
It is impossible to become a world champion without mastering every facet of the game. Most champions, however, are remembered for their proficiency in one particular area of the game. To this end, Wilhelm Steinitz is remembered as the founder o...
Almost a Champion
To the chess-players of England the 18th century was just a fading memory. Philidor had died and Verdoni, a man with a forgotten first name, took up his reins as professional at Parsloe's in London until he himself died in 1804. At this poi...
Mr. Bone
Mr. Bone(Aug. 31, 1810 - Dec. 14, 1874) William Bone, along with the Rev. Horatio Bolton, is considered to have been one of the two best early English chess problemists. John Augustus Miles, a problemist (who knew them both and studied th...
The Most Remarkable Match
"This match is, in respect of its vicissitude, perhaps the most remarkable in the annals of chess." - from I. O. Howard Taylor's obituary of John Jacob Löwenthal in "American Chess Journal" of Sept. 1876 At precisely n...
Walter Browne's 9 Best Games
Last week, chess fans received the sad news that GM Walter Browne had died at 66. Browne was a legendary chess figure in the United States, a six-time national champion, and a fixture in the strongest chess tournaments for decades. FM Mike Kle...
Who Will Have The Faster Finger In Death Match 32?
We've known for a while that the former world blitz number-one GM Maxim Dlugy would play in this month's Death Match 32. Now we know his opponent: blitz maven and past Death Match champion IM Yaacov Norowitz. The match will be three hours of bli...
The Man Who Saved Philidor
"English chess owes more to the Rev. George Atwood than it does to any other person." - Dale A. Brandreth, chess historian and collector extraordinaire As most folks know, the custom of saving games didn't really begin in earnest un...
José Raúl Capablanca's World Championship Positional Wins
Last Friday, we discussed the first half of José Raúl Capablanca's chess career, tracing his meteoric rise through the lens of his finest positional wins. In 1921, after a decade of heated negotiations and parley, the final te...
José Raúl Capablanca's Greatest Positional Wins
José Maria Capablanca was a busy man. A lieutenant in the cavalry division of the Spanish army, he spent his limited free time playing chess with fellow soldiers. One day, his four-year-old-son José Raúl decided to reliev...
Nellie
1892 "BCM" In 1894 Nellie Love Marshall Showalter, the wife of then U.S. Chess Champion, Jackson Whipps Showalter, played Mrs. Harriet Worrell, the wife of the renowned chess player who had died in 18...
Lionel Kieseritzky
The ancient Estonian city of Tartu lies about 2500 miles from Paris, France. In the 19th century Tartu didn't exist as such but rather was known as Dorpat under the umbrella of the Imperial Russian empire. Dorpat lay in Livonia, a part ...
Louis Paulsen II
I'd written about Paulsen several times in different places. HERE is my article at Chess.com of which I'll consider this an extension. Why write more on Louis Paulsen? I am fascinated with the 19th century and chess during that era. ...
Today's Guest
Below is an article published in several periodicals in late 1900. It appeared just shortly after the death of Wilhelm Steinitz and offers some astute appraisals of the chess players who contributed to the development of c...
What If Death Match 31 Were Competitive Eating?
What if Chess.com added a food consumption element to its Death Matches? On which meal would GMs Sam Shankland and Georg Meier prefer to gorge? For this and other pressing and non-pressing questions, we caught up with the players. You can read b...
Little Mother
In the 1890s women's chess in England, as in most places, was considered nearly inconsequential. To bring this arena to the forefront required dedication, energy and persistance. It so happened that man...
Vassily No More
© 2015, José Diaz Links Interview with José Diaz José Diaz Official Website
Catalans
Joan Carbó i Batlle was born the same year as Paul Morphy. In fact, Batlle was just 3 weeks older than his more famous contemporary. Also a lawyer, though born in Tarragona, Catalonia, Batlle with his two friends, Judge Josep-Salvi Fàbregas...
An Incidental Champion
Some men and women are clearly champions and reach the pinnacle of their field in an almost predictable manner. Some are champion material, but the fates have conspired against them, keeping them from reaching the ...
The Mysterious Chess Doctor
There are many famous personalities in the history of chess. People talk about them, write books about them and follow their games. But there is an even bigger number of unknown chess players who never achieved any great tournament results or disc...
Chess-Playing Machines
Dr. Richard Eales' great book "Chess: the History of a Game" in part traces the popularity of mostly modern chess through time. I was chagrined, however, by its minor mention of the Turk in this regard. Obviously I consider the exploits of...