Hi chess players I recently opened a Twitch channel at twitch.tv/samcopeland and am streaming puzzles, tournaments, 4-player chess, and whatever else piques my and the viewers' interest. Here's a highlight from a recent stream with a tense...
"Is my child ready for a chess tournament?" As a chess coach, I get this question all the time. My answer is invariably yes! If your child knows the rules to chess and enjoys the game, they are quite ready to try their first tournament. Every ...
Note: This piece is a blog. The opinions are the author's. So are the errors The World Open is a uniquely American tournament. Held this year for the 45th year (which a little math dates back to 1973), it is always held over the 4th of July wee...
Blindfold chess is becoming quite trendy these days. GM Timur Gareyev has been a big promoter of the discipline and is ramping up for a blindfold world record attempt. Currently, FM Marc Lang holds the record at 46 boards (played in 2011...
How did it come to be that, in chess, stalemate is a draw?! In the most ancient known forms of chess, such as shatranj and chaturanga, stalemate was a win. Today in the (arguably) most played form of chess, Xiangqi, AKA Chinese Chess, stalema...
Last night I fell victim to a unique and pretty trap from a young opponent in the South Carolina State Championships. I don't want to preface the combination too much so I'll simply ask this... In the below position, I intended 22.fxe5 fxe5 23. d...
I don't know about you, but I constantly get chess earworms stuck in my head. Sometimes these are simply popular chess sayings such as "Patzer see check; patzer give check." or "Every Russian school boy knows." Other earworms include chess phrases...
I would like to take a moment to celebrate Topalov's piece play. Veselin Topalov is a player who doesn't always receive the admiration he is due. In his career, Topalov has been ranked number 1 in the world for 27 months, longer than any players b...
As I write this, GM Peter Svidler and GM Sergey Karjakin are perparing to do battle on the finals of the 2015 chess World Cup. In my opinion, winning the World Cup is one of the most impressive achievements in chess in any given year. There are so...
Magnus just voiced his support for a knockout World Championship format via Facebook (post). It's an incredible position for the World Champion to take, and whatever one thinks of the notion, one must admire the integrity of the World Champion in ...
Congratulations to each of the South Carolina representatives at this year's Denker, National Girls' Invitational, and Barber (crosstables linked)! They each performed admirably, and crafted many interesting, fighting games, inspiring young player...
The first three rounds of the Denker and National Girl's Invitational have been generally promising for South Carolina players. Rounds 2 and 3 of the Denker each featured moderate upsets from SC players. Neha Dias scored a draw in round 3 against ...
For non-US players, the Denker, National Girls Invitational, and Barber are tournaments to which the top K-12, K-8, and top female players, respectively, from each state are invited. Usually, they win their spot at their respective state scholasti...
Cheating in chess is widely deemed to be the greatest threat to the future of chess. Many amateurs and even many professionals regularly state that cheating is rampant. Accusations pervade every level of chess from the lowest levels of online ches...
Like many, I'm a huge fan of cinema. Last year, I completed a personal challenge to watch all of the Best Picture winners from 1927-today The best? I unoriginally stand by "The Godfather". The worst? Unquestionably 1933's "Cavalcade" - there is a...
I'm a big fan of GM Mihail Marin's book "Learn from the Legends." Marin takes some of the greatest chess players and showcases them in their element. Chapters are dedicated to Rubinstein's famous rook endgame wins, Karpov's opposite-color bishop e...
I am constantly asked by students why stalemate is a draw and not a win. My answer (rightly or wrongly) is that chess is a better game because stalemate is a draw. Narrowly superior positions such as pawn up endings and even equal pawn endings oft...
Last week I shared 7 king hunts in which the opposing king was driven all the way to his opponent's home rank. This week I have another 7 I've come across. These games are somewhat more recent than the first 7 so there may be a touch more sophisti...
There is probably nothing more exciting in chess than king hunts. Usually a king hunt involves sacrificing material (often a lot) to extract the opponent's king. Personally, I think it's only really a king hunt if the king is forced out in front o...
What is the greatest chess playing family in history? I cannot argue against the Polgars, but I would like to make a case for the Laskers as strong contenders. It is impossible to be a serious chess player and not know of Emanuel, but what about h...
Yesterday, Magnus Carlsen posted a nice chess problem on his youtube page. The problem is taken from a game against Norway's number 2, Jon Ludvig Hammer (great name). The problem features a nice Anastasia's Mate. My personal favorite version...
GM Ernesto Inarkiev won this year's Moscow Open with a remarkable 8/9 score. Inarkiev is one of those many players who have been playing incredible fighting chess at a high level for many years. These days, we are so blessed in the chess world tha...
How to Improve The most common question I hear from chess students and friends is some version of "How can I improve?". Every strong player has heard this question countless times, and every aspiring player has asked it. My stock answer is to so...
Despite a rather unsuccessful track record, I really enjoy New Year's resolutions. I've kept track of my New Year's resolutions for the past several years, and it's pretty cool to look back and see what I have and haven't achieved. 2012 Earn the ...
It is a rare thing to see a strong GM fall prey to a queen sacrifice. It is far rarer to see a strong GM lose in 10 moves. Both of these sad fates befell GM Qun Ma against Danny Raznikov in the Groningen Open. This game is a wonderful reminder o...
