What is pawn structure? From my online glossary, I define it as "the positioning of the whole pawn mass. Also referred to as the pawn skeleton. This positioning of the pawns is what usually dictates the types of plans available in a given ...
If you are a tournament organizer looking for a way to reach a wider audience, now is your opportunity to broadcast your top boards' moves to the world. Chess.com and Chessbomb are interested in broadcasting your tournament to our over twenty-ni...
I learned the phrase "a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse" in school when I studied Richard III by William Shakespeare. These days, people use this expression when they want to underline the importance of something. There is a story about a...
Do you find that you sometimes miss opportunities to punish your opponent when leading in development? This week we are proud to release our new Mastery course, Using Time In Chess by GM Simon Williams. GM Williams shows you ho...
This year, Chess.com has been working on new resources to help you connect with the chess community. Our latest project, Top Chess Players, is now in alpha mode, and you can start learning about your favorite players and giving us feedback. ...
Most chess players are bilingual. Besides their mother tongue, they also speak the language of chess. Don't tell me that you have no idea what I am talking about. If you have been playing chess for a long time you can hear how chess pieces talk ...
One of the most promising Dutch junior players of the early 1970s was Roy Dieks from Amsterdam. In the final of the 1972 European Youth Championship, held in Groningen, The Netherlands, Dieks played a crucial game against Tony Miles (who would lat...
"What a stupid question!" I bet this is the natural reaction of many readers once they see the title of this article. Indeed it is a dream of any chess fan to play like Magnus Carlsen. OK, let me rephrase the original question: Should ...
The classical format of our beloved game is under attack. People are complaining about boring games that lead to an abundance of draws in super-GM tournaments. They are trying to change everything: the scoring system (three points for a win, one...
In general, when a very strong player faces a lesser one, the result is usually easy to guess. However, once in a while the “victim” turns the tables and devours the giant. In this article I will give you six games where the little fis...
This month we released Games That Changed Chess History by IM Anna Rudolf. Rudolf is always a dedicated and vibrant presenter, and in this series, she breaks down ten important games which impacted the course of chess. It's a great introducti...
Did you know that Chess.com's interface is available in 54 different languages? Currently most common (and many uncommon) left-to-right languages¹ are supported in Chess.com, but more than 85% of users use Chess.com's interface in English&sup...
I doubt that there is a chess player who never cried after losing a game. We all did it at some point. Why do chess players cry? Usually it is not the loss itself that upsets us the most; it is the sense of injustice and failed expectations. A...
Every day, thousands of chess lovers from all over the world use Chess.com to connect - playing, learning and sharing our favourite game. The chessboard has incredible power to erase differences of language, culture, and age; that's a huge part of...
We all love our ancient game for its beauty and inner logic, but have you thought about what attracts you most to chess? Some people would swear that there is nothing better than Jose Capablanca's positional masterpieces or one of Magnus Carlsen's...
Tactics are short term opportunities to gain material, checkmate the enemy king, or force a draw in an otherwise lost game. Most chess games are decided based on tactics, so it is vital to recognize common tactical patterns in your...
Anish Giri tells David Cox about the multicultural upbringing that shaped his chess talent, why social media has been huge for the game and the moments when he’s believed he can become world champion. As the current world number-four, Anis...
WHO ARE THEY? Everyone wants to win a brilliancy prize, but few get to experience it. In this article, I’ve found several “unknown players” who actually were able to grasp that dream. Can you solve these positions? If you ...
Chess.com is thrilled to announce the release of our "Mastery" series of chess lessons. On New Year's Day 2019, we released an update to Chess.com/lessons, providing over 130 videos with interactive challenge questions to help players advance fr...
The Introduction The U.S.S.R team totally demolished the U.S.A. team in a Radio Chess Match played from Sept.1-4, 1945. Not only did this event shine a glaring spotlight on the Soviet chess advancement, but it sp...
The Junior Speed Chess Championship kicks off on May 16 and will feature 16 of the top players in the world age 21 and under. The players are seeded by their FIDE ratings at the time the invitations were sent out. Here's a look at the 2019 ...
Here you'll find updated standings and leaderboard information for Arena Kings season four. You can read the season four announcement here for complete details. FINAL Standings Rank Player Points Twitch Channel Name / Ti...
The recent Grenke chess tournament turned out to be a one-person show, since everyone was watching and talking about Magnus Carlsen. The world champion's game against a young prodigy, Vincent Keymer, was especially intriguing. While the ...
Magnus Carlsen is off to a hot streak to begin his 2019 chess season. Carlsen won the Tata Steel masters tournament (9/13), Gashimov Memorial (7/9) and Grenke Chess Classic (7.5/9). Carlsen's performance ratings at the three events we...
