Johannes Zukertort was born September 7th, 1842 in Lublin, Poland. It’s always interesting to wonder what a person will eventually become — a life in the military perhaps, a businessman, will he struggle to survive, a doctor or lawyer, or will he ...
During the first quarter of the 18th century when Deschapelles and Labourdonnais reigned supreme at the highest level of French chess, it's said that the next level was occupied by Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant, Hyacinthe Henri Bon...
David Smerdon from Brisbane, Australia is the fourth Australian to become a grandmaster. Smerdon became an International Master at age 14, won the Australian Junior Championship in 1999, and won both his Grandmaster title and the Australian Grand ...
Tschigorin had written in 1880: "In the chess world there are not a lot of names with such a wide and well-deserved reputation as the that of our compatriot Carl A. Jaenisch." Carl von Jaenisch (1813-1872) Jaenish, a railroad engi...
Here is a composition by chekhover from 1947. It seems the Black Rook will just enter White’s position and start capturing pawns. Yet White has a fortress like resource that Black could actually lose if he gets to clever and outwi...
On a site like this with active forums, one question comes up more than any other. Who is the greatest chess player of all time? There are many factors that influence people's opinions, including longevity and dominance, but one I like to use is c...
Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint Amant (also written: Pierre Charles-Fournié de Saint-Amant) After the death of La Bourdonnais, the mantle of leading chess player of France fell upon the shoulders of Pierre Char...
Benjamin Franklin - 1706-1790 Born the ...
Ivan Alexandrovich Butrimov, who was born in St. Petersburg March 7, 1782, produced Russia's first chess book, "Chess Play," in 1821. &nb...
I have some games of Prince Andrei Dadiani of Mingrelia that one usually can't find in any database. I had published these elsewhere, but wanted to put them all in one place. First a few...
Most people even remotely interested in 19th century chess know about Mrs. John W. Gilbert and her extremely long announced mates. What seems to be less appreciated today is the sheer strength of this lady chess pl...
Isaac Leopold Rice I had, of course, heard about Prof. Isaac L. Rice and his gambit as well as his famous Rice Gambit Tournaments. But my superficial impression over the years was that the gambit wasn't particularly good and that ...
Ernest Morphy was Paul Morphy's uncle. Ernest Morphy was probably also young Paul's greatest admirer. Besides sending Paul's games (and his only chess problem) to various publications, in Eu...
Louis Paulsen was a conte...
Today, especially on the Internet, fast games are probably more the rule than the exception. Most of the fast games played fall under the "Blitz" and "Bullet" or "Lightning" heading. Time clocks, particularly...
Grandmaster Melikset Khachiyan is a genuinely great conversation partner and a tough chess player, something former world champion Boris Spassky got to experience over a bottle of whisky in Teherean in 1992. Born in Aserbadsjan, Khachiyan left for...
According to a fairly trustworthy source: "Isidor Arthur Gunsberg (November 2, 1854 – May 2, 1930) was a chess player, best known for narrowly losing the 1891 World Chess Championship match to Wilhelm Steinitz." "In the late 1880s and early 1890...
He didn´t like school but has a masters degree in computer science, his nickname is "Captain Mag-Pan" (according to IM Danny Rensch) and he happens to be a fan of Gandhi... Meet Grandmaster Magesh Chandran Panchanathan from Madurai in India, host...
The media-shy grandmaster Roman Yakovlevich Dzindzichasvili, once the number four player in the world, has rarely if ever given an interview before. We learn about his meetings with some of the true giants and geniuses of chess - Fischer, Botvinni...
Sometimes this GM wishes he wasn´t a chess player at all.... But 19 year old Robin Van Kampen from the Netherlands always has the spirit to get back in the game, and he finds chess to be something that teaches him lessons in real life. He had t...
Woman Grandmaster Camilla Baginskaite from Sioux Falls in the United States has won the World Girls Under 20 championship, the US Women's championship, made top 16 in World Women's Championship and played in seven Chess Olympiads. She is also a ...
It's not the entire story - it's just what I know from talking to Michael on the phone, a series of email exchanges over a year+ period, and following the saga on the internet. As you will discover near the end, I only met Michael in person once.....
This week's featured subject is quite an eclectic person. NM Dan Heisman has written numerous chess books and he authors the award-winning Novice Nook column, and he has lived professionally from chess the last 16 and a half years. He is also a so...
Name: Eric Hansen &...
