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...
It's a shame that the grandmaster Nigel Short is not as well known to the general public as much as he used to be. In the 1990s he was one of the best chess players in the world and even played a match vs. Garry Kasparov, trying...
As in attics where things once used get stored out of sight and mind, old articles have a way of burying themselves under the weight of those that follow, becoming lost and forgotten. Sometimes it pays to put on an apron and gloves, wall...
Yes.* *Speed chess is good for you (meaning it can help your slow chess, too) but doing it "incorrectly" could be harmful. Let's digress... A few years ago our Main Line Chess Club hosted a seminar by WGM Jennifer Shahade. At the end...
At of this writing, GM Hou Yifan is the sole leader of the super tournament in Baden Baden. Her play in this tournament so far is simply unbelievable and each game is a textbook example of good chess. Photo: Georgios Souleidis. Here is t...
Simultaneous exhibitions are a great thing. A player who would normally never come face-to-face with a famous chess international master or grandmaster is able to live a dream and do his best to beat a legend and hang the signed scoresheet on his ...
GM Emil Sutovsky recently posted some shocking news on his Facebook page: a computer program, Ponanza, beat the best shogi player in the world. Not only that, but the computer program pretty much introduced a novelty on the very first move: no pro...
The Chess.com member Cubronzo asked: “I’ve been playing chess for about a year now and my playing strength keeps going up and down. My main problem is my ability to see ahead in a chess position. Do you have any advice on how I could c...
There are many different ways to improve your chess, but few of them can compete with the time-proven method of studying games played by great chess players. Indeed, this way you learn all the elements of chess from opening to endgam...
Amateur chess is often a back-and-forth, muddy, and even stormy adventure where a position’s assessment changes from move to move. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. The “trick” is to learn as many basic patterns (...
Chess and poker are frequently compared as both games are based on strategic thinking and decision making. I know many professional and semi-professional chess players who've completely abandoned chess in favor of poker. At some point ...
While wanting to write an introduction, putting my thoughts on the topic into words has proven to be a most difficult undertaking. Although I predominantly scour books, newspapers and periodicals for the bulk...
When chess players say "match of the century," usually they refer to the famous match between the USSR and the "rest of the world" that took place in Belgrade in 1970. In reality, many famous chess competitions (mostly world championship matc...
As I explained in this article, modern life forces me to recollect the episodes from my childhood years. One such memory is something that every Soviet schoolboy was supposed to know if he wanted to get into a good college, something I t...
After showing all of Tal’s 15 best game prizes in my previous article, it struck me that many Chess.com members might not have heard of Rashid Nezhmetdinov (born 1912, died 1974), who tied with Karpov for the third and fourth place...
In the beginning of the 1990s, I established a certain routine. Whenever I set foot in Moscow (and I did it pretty frequently), I would visit the Central Chess Club and climb a narrow staircase to the third floor to meet Botvinnik in his labo...
Before you read this article, have some fun and try to guess who has won the most best game prizes (usually a brilliancy prize but sometimes a positional masterpiece). Did you pick a player? Okay, then let’s see if you’ve picked the ...
Preface: An official U.S. Women's Chess Championship has existed for nearly 80 years. The USCF lists 1937 as the first year. There have been many strong and important women players over the early...
One of the biggest open tournaments of the year (Gibraltar) was marred by a bizarre incident that happened in the last round. The women's world champion, Hou Yifan, lost her game in just five moves! Media instantly spread the news thro...
