This series is about chess lessons and how a chess teacher tries to push key points home. If you are looking for a chess teacher, don’t grab anyone that comes along! Take your time, take a lesson or two from various teachers so you can get a...
The response from the Chess.com community has been overwhelming. Readers demand to see more of my ungainly intermediate chess. Once again, the brilliant grandmaster Roman Dzindzichashvili has stooped down to my level to analyze ...
The last month was rich for chess tournaments, so I cannot blame you if you missed the U.S. Junior Girls Championship. Meanwhile, I suspect that you'll hear a lot in the future about some of the girls who played there. If you ask me why I ...
Is chess art? I bet that’s not the first time you’ve been asked that, or something like it. To the basic question, all kinds of answers have been offered, sometimes logical, sometimes passionate, sometimes contrived. Many might wonde...
The 2015 edition of Norway Chess was a memorable event in several ways. Above all, it heralded the resurgence of Veselin Topalov and Viswanathan Anand, who both stormed through the field and turned in 2900+ performances. Topalov won the tournament...
In today's world of competitive chess, it is easy to imagine that you have to surprise your opponent every time. That you have to continually rotate your openings to avoid preparation. That you cannot develop a deep understanding of an opening wit...
Many players dream of getting chess lessons, though they aren’t quite sure what it would be like. The fact is, the experience (for both the student and teacher) depends on several factors: Question: Does the student want to learn or does h...
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It's hard to beat the convenience of a smartphone. Anywhere you are, at any time of the day, you can pick up your phone and access everything that's connected to the internet. You can check your social media, read the news, catch up with your emai...
    "This match is, in respect of its vicissitude, perhaps the most     remarkable in the annals of chess."      - from I. O. Howard Taylor's obituary of John Jacob Löwenthal       in "American Chess Journal" of Sept. 1876     At precisely n...
Today we are going to continue our analysis of "chess-boxing" combos. According to Wikipedia, in boxing, the one-two combo is a nickname of a jab and cross combo. In chess, the one-two combo starts with a queen jab, which we discussed here. Then...
If the Sicilian is the vehicle driving Black’s equalizing chances, the Dragon is its engine. For years, White has struggled to find a definite answer to counter the Sicilian. The Dragon variation, also known as the Draco Star, has only furth...
More than a decade ago, I took part in a small open tournament at a local chess club. After winning the first game in rather one-sided fashion, I became convinced that the next five games would follow an identical trajectory. In round two, I reach...
After six rounds of the Zalakaros Open in Hungary, I had four points -- which was not a bad score, since the average of my opponents' ratings was high. Earlier in the tournament, I was sure that it was time for me to give up chess, or at...
From time to time I put together various reader questions and comments (while ignoring the “Die Silman Die!” raves) and share them with the good folks on Chess.com. I try to give a good mix of subjects so that there will be a bit of so...
Last week, chess fans received the sad news that GM Walter Browne had died at 66. Browne was a legendary chess figure in the United States, a six-time national champion, and a fixture in the strongest chess tournaments for decades. FM Mike Kle...
In my previous articles, I discussed two "chess boxing" combos, "The Chess Uppercut" and "The Chess Sucker Punch." Today, I'll show you "Fischer's Jab." The definition of a jab is "a quick, sharp blow, especially with the fist...
 n 1616 Augustus of Brunswick‑Lüneburg, writing as Gustavus Selenus in his work, "Das Schach- oder König-Spiel," tells of his visit to Ströbeck where he encountered three types of chess being played. One was the Mediæval Chess, which had been...
In my last article, I gave you five tips to improve your tactics. If you did your homework and practiced your tactics (either Tactics Trainer, or my Chess Genie app) you will see the benefits right away! However, learning strategy is compl...
Many have tried to increase chess awareness over the years. None have succeeded to the degree GM Maurice Ashley did recently, in the Millionaire Chess Open of October 2014. GM Ashley, a brilliant entrepreneur, took a page from the NFL for his ow...
For my victory over Capablanca I am indebted primarily to my superiority in the field of psychology. Capablanca played, relying almost exclusively on his rich intuitive talent. But for the chess struggle nowadays one needs a subtle knowledge of hu...
In part one of my series on the Zalakaros Open, I described coming to Hungary and showed the first three games I played in the tournament. Honestly, the tournament didn't have a good start. Not only did I lose with the white pieces against GM Ga...
We've known for a while that the former world blitz number-one GM Maxim Dlugy would play in this month's Death Match 32. Now we know his opponent: blitz maven and past Death Match champion IM Yaacov Norowitz. The match will be three hours of bli...
I’m still going through some (sadly) neglected games, comments, and lectures. This time I’ll look at a game of one of the site’s best chess historians, Spektrowski, and I’ll also answer a question or two. The most p...
