In my first "Passionate About Squares" article I demonstrated how important it is to create weak squares in the enemy camp (often referred to as “holes”). In many cases putting one’s pieces (knights in particular) on these hol...
1943 The 1943 tournament was held from July 5th - July 11 Anthony Santasiere and Pfc. George Shainswift shared the $50 first prize award. Santasiere, who espoused Romanticism, played defensi...
Many chess players have a limited understanding of the game. They think it’s all about mating the enemy king. They think it’s all about tactics and attack. They think it’s about creating threats. Of course, all these things are i...
After my very first lesson at the chess club of the Pioneer Palace, our coach gave us a simple checkmate-in-three-moves puzzle. Immediately our most advanced players started shouting that it is an absolutely impossible task. Some 40 years later ...
Many years ago I wrote a Novice Nook column, "The Fun of Pros and Cons." This column was directed at the many players who play way too fast in long time-control games. The column and its sequel "Chess is Decisions" have proven very helpful as refe...
1941 The 1941 Ventnor City Invitational took place on the Municipal Pier from July 5-13. Of those initially invited, Jack Collins, Harry Morris and Olaf Uvestad couldn't accept and were replace...
When I read the recent news that the Azerbaijani GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov crossed the magic 2800 mark, I wasn't surprised. Well, actually I was surprised that it didn't happen many years ago. You see, while it is difficult for me to tell wh...
The clock now shows 12:18 am where I am sitting in Oslo. 19 minutes past a devastating day. I just got home from a very eventful day at work, and my initial plan was to pour a glass of wine and finish off the second article in this column. It la...
Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier was born in 1929 and he died in April 2017. The purpose of this two-part series is to let you enjoy the attacking genius of one of America’s most talented players (you can find part one here). My goal is to put ...
As the saying goes, a talented person is talented in everything. Therefore I wasn't really surprised when I saw Hikaru Nakamura's tweet about making a killing in the stock market. $LULU with the big miss as my puts go deep into the mone...
Below you will find the official rules of the PRO Chess League's Annual Qualifier tournament: Fair Play and Observation: Teams must choose a trusted and impartial arbiter to be present for the qualifier. This arbiter must be approved by Leag...
Though I played the late, great grandmaster Arthur Bisguier in Canada a long time ago (he beat me), I didn’t really know the man. Photo courtesy US Chess. However, knowing a man is one thing, but knowing his chess is quite another! Thoug...
Introduction Ventnor City is a charming resort community on New Jersey's Absecon Island, snuggled between Margate City and the more famous Atlantic City. In the Spring of 1939 Richard W. Wayne...
Many chess tournaments have taken place in casinos, and many famous grandmasters have left the lion's share of their prizes at the playing tables. I personally know a guy who won a good prize in the Knock-Out World Chess Championship in Las Vega...
The Gothenburg Interzonal (Sweden) in 1955 was a 21-player round robin that was held from August 15 to September 21. The top group was the Soviet players (in no particular order): David Bronstein, Efim Geller, Paul Keres, Tigran Petrosian, Bori...
Last time, we started to analyze the old game Charousek-Alapin and learned a useful trick that can be used in variety of openings. As a rule, you can learn more than just one idea from a game played by a strong player. Let's see w...
This series is all about the classic games that affected me in a profound manner as a young teen (15 years old). In general, they were positional games, since for a kid that grew up on attacking chess and combinations (12 to 14 years old...
In his book "School of Excellence: Endgame Analysis," IM Mark Dvoretsky analyzes two very similar endgames. He writes: "The game Sultan Khan-Tartakower, played in 1931, was indeed almost completely identical to Dolmatov's [game played in 1988]. ...
The Chess.com member mnuwan wrote: "I’m a middle-aged guy who has taken up chess again seriously after a hiatus of many years. I currently have a USCF rating of 2100, and I am trying to get the master title. These days, I read a few che...
First let me introduce myself: My name is Kaja Snare. I am a sports journalist from Norway. When asked by Chess.com if I can write this column, I said yes, because 1. It is great to be able to share with you my experiences following chess—...
In the latter part of 1941 the USCF, only three years old, started finalizing its plans for the 1942 performance of its crown jewel, the U.S. Championship. But in December the unthinkable happened and the United St...
Most chess players like to study games by masters and grandmasters. Indeed, many of these games are real works of art and you can enjoy them immensely. Of course, you can also learn from such games. I still remember the shock I experienced ...
It’s just a jump to the left. And then a step to the right. With your hands on your hips, you bring you knees in tight...Let’s do the time warp again! That’s right! Once again I will take you down a time warp that pus...
Probably no timepiece with a connection to chess is more famous than Morphy's watch. Earlier this year, inspired by it's uniqueness and historic significance, the RGM Watch Co. of Mt. Joy, P...
