On May 17, 2026, the MVP Chess K-12 Quads were held at The Link in Old Town. In our new venue, 22 players from Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia competed over the 64 squares. The event used a three-round G/25 d5 quad format, providing competi...
Detesting draws, he always seeks the path of hazard in preference to that of safety, and is sometimes unduly optimistic about the strength of his own position. Games Played in the World’s Championship Match by F.D. Yates and W. Winter (Lond...
A chess master vs chess amateur sort of event. Margate featured four foreign matters tearing through a field of British players. The tournament had an exhibition-like aspect, with Capablanca and Flohr almost knowing from the start that they weren&...
Chess is a game for everyone, and we believe that every player should be able to enjoy the full experience of playing, learning, and improving—no matter how they access the site. We've recently had the chance to sit down and talk with former...
Good evening and welcome to the first installment of The Evaluation Bar, a blog series where I interview chess players in a relaxing environment. This was inspired by a whimsical blog I wrote two years ago, where I came up with 52 questions that I...
Why do grandmasters make blunders? Because they are human, just like the rest of us. In 2025, several blunders were very shocking. Do you remember these? Five-Time World Chess Champion Blunders Forced Checkmate Missed Game-Ending Blunder Resigna...
Stop wasting moves. I see the same mistake in almost every game below 2000: players make moves that look useful, but very often they slow down their opening progress. In this video, I explain a simple method I use with adult improvers to help th...
Dear Chess Friends! I'm excited to share highlights from my recent workshop "Turning Defense Into Counterattack", where we explored one of the most thrilling and misunderstood skills in chess: surviving a dangerous attack and then turning the tab...
The regular season is over, and the moment has arrived. This Thursday evening, the top eight teams from the North American Corporate Chess League will face off in a team-vs-team knockout tournament with a chance to become the league's thirteenth c...
Today, we are releasing ChessEver Desktop beta. How we got here Earlier in 2025, I was walking with a fellow grandmaster in Baku. He pulled out his phone and opened FollowChess. I was shocked. The app was basically dead by then. I remembered its...
If You're Going Through Hell, Keep Going - Winston Churchill Welcome everybody, to another rapid edition of the Osaka Papers... In the last few months, I have encountered that all too familiar infernal locale, where chess dreams go to die. Call...
If you see a good move, try to find a better one. - Damiano. Often attributed to Lasker and other chess masters. This is my take on the greatest chess authors of all time...and some who didn't quite check the box. Today I present the fifth in t...
There is so much I want to say, to share with you all! And it has to do with the humanism intrinsic in chess! Some players increase my love for the game of chess....their humanity vibrates forth in the words they write; it is their consciousness, ...
With his victory at the annual Hastings Christmas tournament, Reuben Fine now joins our merry band of top-level talent. Fine, born in 1914 in the Bronx, epitomized the American ‘straphanger’ style. Opening theory and endgame theory wer...
Good afternoon everyone. Yeah, an unusual header picture for me - don't worry, I haven't gone all clickbait - all will be revealed as I go along. So, would you believe that I have had my head in a chess book! I have finally managed to get my h...
Hey Impressive Chessers! A few weeks ago, on Saturday, May 2nd, I played a tournament at my favorite chess club: the San Diego Chess Club. It’s located in the beautiful and historic Balboa Park in Downtown San Diego. If you’r...
Dear Chess Friends! I'm excited to share the recording of my recent simultaneous exhibition on Chess.com, where I played 14 games at once against players from all over the world. Instead of a regular workshop, I wanted to give you a real‑time lo...
Today I will bring you a different kind of blog. Today I felt like Bobby Fischer… why? Very simple: I just discovered the secret to gaining 500 ELO points… getting a beautiful chess set that actually makes you want to train! hahaha...
Hey everyone, Albert here. I joined Chess.com in 2024 as the Chief Growth Officer, and unless you caught my brief appearance on last year’s State of Chess, you probably don’t know me. So here’s a quick intro, before sharing some ...
There is only one week left in the North American Corporate Chess League's regular season, and the playoff race is tight. The top eight teams in the final standings will qualify for a knockout championship tournament scheduled for May 28, but only...
Analyzing your own games with/without an engine is one of the best ways to improve. I would prioritize recent games. Old games may tell you what you misunderstood, but not always what is holding you back now. If you can find a partner and do thi...
There are many ways to win a chess game- you can have a positional advantage, or the game can be even until move 40, and then your opponent makes a small mistake in the endgame. Other ways are more exciting to us chess fans; an attack on the opp...
Sometimes Fine gets facts right: ‘Paul Morphy (1837-1884)’, page 3. Sometimes he gets them wrong: ‘Paul Morphy (1836-1883)’, page 89. His judgements are equally schizophrenic. Reuben Fine, Chess and Psychology by Edward Wi...
Hello everyone! After killing Magnus Carlsen, I was fortunate enough to be released from prison in under 15 days, thanks to my exemplary behavior and the support of this incredible chess community, which raised money to pay my bail. Thank you! ...
Quick role-swap this month. Varun usually writes the Chessalyz updates because he handles the technical side while I focus on chess, but May’s headline improvement is on the coaching quality of Matty (our AI coach), so I’m taking this ...
