The Cochrane Gambit (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nxf7) is, perhaps, not well known by its name, but is a playable early assault on the Black King's position, which leads to dynamic positions with chances for both sides. John Cochrane was bor...
The wife (or husband or significant other) of an addicted chessplayer is a very lonely creature who must put up with her husband's (or wife or significant other) obsession with chess. The chessplayer's widow sees her husband...
Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp was a French chessplayer and renouwned artist. He was born in Blainville-Crevon, France on July 28, 1887 and died on October 2, 1968. He came from a family of artists and chess players. He had 4 brothers and 2 sisters. ...
In April 1914 an initiative was taken in St. Peterburg, Russia to form an international chess federation. In July, 1914 an attempt was made to organize an international chess federation during the Mannheim International Chess Tournament. In 1920...
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The Grünfeld defence relies on one of the main principles of the hypermodern school: a large pawn centre could be a liability rather than an asset. The opening is named after Ernst Grünfeld, the player who first employed the defence in t...
At the beginning of World War II, world chess champion Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946) was living in France (he later moved to Portugal, but the Nazis refused to let his wife join him). When the Nazis came into power, he became in...
The Queen's Indian is one of Black's most respected defenses to the queen's pawn opening. It's an established favorite among top GMs such as Kramnik, Anand, Adams, J. Polgar and (when he was at his best) Karpov. The opening is cons...
Chess and religion did not always get along. At one time or another, chess was forbidden by Muslims, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Jews, the Puritans, and the Taliban.Chess (shatranj) was a legal issue after Mohammad died in 642. I...
During a class after explaining how chess ratings work, a second grade boy raises his hand and says very seriously, "I don’t want to get a chess rating…because I want to be a professional hockey player." In one scholastic ev...
In the September 1, 1894 New York Times issue, an article appeared that a Women's Chess Association of America was formed. The article states that in the Spring of 1893, a few women met informally and organized the Women's Chess Ass...
Here is a game full of tactics in which a grandmaster (Frank Marshall) gets checkmated in 11 moves!
Dragon variation of the Sicilian defence has always been regarded as one of the sharpest variations of all chess openings. The name "Dragon" comes from the resemblance of Black's kingside pawn structure to the constellation "Dra...
Here are some chess links for beginners at chess. http://www.geocities.com/lifemasteraj/beginner1.html - beginner chess course http://www.logicalchess.com/resources/lessons/index.html - beginner chess lessons http://www.princeton.edu/~je...
Paul Morphy was born on June 22, 1837 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He had two sisters, Mahrina and Helena, and a brother Edward. His father's nationality was Spanish, but he was of Irish origin. His mother was French. From the age of 8 ...
The Slav Defense(1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6) is one of the most popular openings among grandmasters. It is a solid opening with a good reputation. There aren't too many opening traps in this opening at the highest level. So here is one ...
Alexander Alehine (1892-1946) was the 4th official world chess champion, after William Steinitz, Emamuel Lasker, and Jose Capablanca.Some sources say he was born on November 1, while other sources give October 31, 1892 (Halloween) as the dat...
Rook and two Pawns vs Rook and Pawn. White to play and win.
Here is another King's Gambit miniature.
The King's Gambit probably has more traps than any other opening. Here is a recent game that White wins when Black tries a new move in the opening and gets greedy.
It is very difficult to win an endgame with Bishops of opposite colors, even if you have more pawns. In this endgame I had a Bishop and two Pawns against a lone Bishop and King, and could not find a win. I did have a chance to win, but...
On January 2, 2005, Grandmaster Arnold Denker died at the age of 90 of brain cancer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was less than two months from his 91st birthday. I knew him for many years.A few chess masters have made it to ag...
The Dutch Defense (1.d4 f5) is a good alternative to 1...d5 and 1...Nf6 when faced with 1.d4. Here is a recent example in which Black wins in the Dutch and White doesn't follow best opening theory. It leads to a back rank mate in j...
Can White draw this game? It's Bishop plus Pawn vs Rook plus Pawn.
