Jackson Showalter, born on February 5, 1860 in Minerva, Kentucky, was the first officially-crowned Chess Champion of the United States! According to some sources he won the title five times! After being defeated in a match against Frank Marshall (...
Emanuel Lasker was born December 24, 1868 in Germany and died January 11, 1941 in New York. He was the World Champion for 27 years, from 1894-1921, while also being a mathematician and a philosopher. He dominated chess while champion and competed ...
Roberto Grau was born on the 18th of March 1900, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was a strong Argentine chess master and, above all, an exceptional and marvelous chess columnist and chess writer. It was his father, an amateur, who initiated him in...
Sultan Khan, born in 1905 in Mittha in the Punjab, India, was the strongest chess player from Asia in his time and is unofficially recognized as the first Asian Grandmaster. According to the Oxford Companion to Chess ‘The greatest natural player...
Peter Romanovsky was born on the 29th of July 1892 in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the Soviet Champion in 1923 in Petrograd and in 1927 tied with Fedor Bogatyrchuk in Moscow. Years later these successes would cost Romanovsky the GM title! That ...
Frederick Yates, born on the 16th of January 1884 in England, was a respected Yorkshire neighbor. He started a career in accounting, but similar to others colleagues, abandoned it and became a professional chess player. Also he was a journalist. ...
The tournament at St. Petersburg in 1914 took place in two stages. The results of the first part, the preliminary, was reported at http://www.chess.com/article/view/tarrasch-sacs-two-bishops-and-nimzowitsch . The five players (with their scores) w...
Semyon Alapin, Chigorin's rival, was born on the 19th of November 1856 in Vilnius, Lithuania, later moving to St Petersburg. He was one of the strongest players in Russia in the late 19th century. He played chess throughout many years although wi...
Every year the best Russian chess players get to compete at the Russian Superfinal. A round robin featuring 12 world-class grandmasters is always an exciting event. To qualify for it, you either have to be in the Russian top-3 by rating, get a med...
James Mason was born on the 19th of November 1849 in Kilkenny, Ireland. His real name is unknown; it seems James Mason was adopted by his father to avoid prevalent anti-Irish prejudice when they arrived in New Orleans in early 1861. There he learn...
I. Opponents’ profiles. A standard dossier featuring one of your opponents should reflect his opening repertoire, as well as weaknesses and strengths. This information might prove extremely useful both during preparation for the game and over-the-...
Larry Melvyn Evans was born March 23, 1932 in New York, New York and died November 15, 2010 in Reno, Nevada. He won the US Championship in 1951, 1961, 1962, and 1968. In 1980 he was in a three way tie for first, but lost the playoff. Evans was kno...
Here and there we hear all types of things about “home prep”, but how do grandmasters prepare for their games in real life? The pre-game stage is often as important as the game itself. So, what is the most efficient way of preparing for your next ...
The Major Georg Marco was born on September 29, 1863 in Czernowitz, Romania, later moving to Vienna and becoming secretary of the Viennese Chess Association. He was a professional chess player and journalist.In tournament play Marco debuted in Dre...
Sure, he was a great writer. Yes, he was a mighty political force at times. Always a great storyteller. But what about the chess? Here are some moments from a fine career, not necessarily the best known. An actual checkmate: Drsagonslay...
Oldrich Duras, born October 30, 1882 in Bohemia is one of the most famous Czech Grandmasters and a renowned master of the early 20th century. He was also an outstanding composer. Duras became Czech Champion three times, in 1905, 1909 and 1911; an...
Grigory Levenfish was born on the 9th of March 1889 in Poland which was then part of the Russian Empire. He was the second Soviet chess player, after Botvinnik, who was awarded the title of grandmaster of the USSR in 1937. He played chess since th...
Right on the heels of the Chess Olympiad came another strong team tournament. The European Club Cup has a long history. The first event of this type was held in 1956. Women’s teams have been participating since 1996. This year the tournament took ...
It's playoff time, in the US Chess League!! The most exciting chess event in the US is sponsored by Pokerstars and involves four board matches between 16 teams representing a variety of American cities. For more info check here or here. My goal t...
A few weeks ago, Joanne Addison, widow of International Master Bill Addison, saw an article I wrote at chess.com about players that quit chess. I used a statement that Pal Benko wrote in his autobiography that wasn't quite true, and Joanne correc...
Alexander Kotov was born on the 12th of August 1913 in Tula, Russia. His trilogy of books “Think Like a Grandmaster”, “Play Like a Grandmaster”, and “Train Like a Grandmaster”, are his best coverletter! The first one is one of the best-selling ...
In the recent Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, Judit Polgar played in the Men’s Olympiad. The Women’s Olympiad is for women only. The Men’s Olympiad is not limited to men and is now called the Open Olympiad when you can find that term used. J...
Alexander Tolush was born on the 1st of May 1910 in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was a Soviet Russian chess grandmaster and also one of Boris Spassky's mentors! He got the title of International Master in 1950 and Grandmaster in 1953. He also earned...
One of the key ingredients in a team’s successful performance is choosing the strategy and tactics of team play: the correct team composition, chess preparation for the round, and team tactics during the round. Let’s take a look at these component...
