There are a lot of specific reasons why you might be interested in the science of chess, but I think in general these can be grouped into two broad categories. On one hand, you might think that studying the cognitive and neural processes that supp...
A Conversation with FIDE Master Ted Wang Three Time US National Champion FIDE Master at 11 National Master at 10 “When it comes to chess training, quality is more important than quantity.” Ken: When did you first start playin...
Andor Lilienthal made his claim to be one of the best in the world with a convincing victory here, scoring +7 to win by a half-point in a fast field. He had impressed by coming shared second with Alekhine at Hastings earlier that year and done wel...
Two questions I’ve been asked more than any others are: what to study and how to study. The first one is easy to answer. Openings, tactics, endgames, strategy - pick your passion. The second one is harder, and it’s where most improve...
What should you do when the opening is over? That is the moment where many games are decided.There is no theory anymore, no memorized moves - you have to think for yourself. In this post, I show a simple way to think in critical positions and ...
One Move at a Time IM John Donaldson Purchase Inside the Mind of Bobby Fischer at https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/chess/inside-the-mind-of-bobby-fischer/ Watch the full interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af96Grkt_no&nb...
Testing Privacy
Even though I stopped playing chess professionally over 10 years ago, the lessons I learned from the game continue to shape my life. Last year, when I turned 36, I wrote down 36 lessons chess had taught me about life. I thought that was the list...
Kushager Krishnater has quickly emerged as one of the most exciting young chess coaches and authors in chess. Hailing from India, this International Master began making waves not just for his playing strength but also for his precocious coachin...
Good afternoon everyone. I am going to try to limit my chat here, as there is a lot in the game notes for you. This week I have been browsing The extraordinary Sergei Voronkov's book 'Masterpieces and Dramas of The Soviet Championships. vol 3. I...
Today would have been the late Professor Lim Kok Ann's one hundred and sixth birthday. He is recognized as the father of Singapore Chess and his manifold contributions to developing and popularizing Singapore Chess is immeasurable. In 2018, the ...
Madonna, the Queen of Pop, is widely known for her versatility in music production, songwriting, and visual presentation. But how many are aware of her interest in chess? Madonna has a reputation for being an avid chess player, chess is routinely ...
Hey everyone, here's a quick Fair Play update from the month of December. There were 136k accounts closed for cheating. Additionally, there were 11 titled player accounts closed for violations. We continue to see clean events in Titled Tues...
Catapult to 1642: Quads, Tunnelvision, and a Month That Finally Clicked January wasn’t just a good month it was the month where everything stopped moving sideways. After two years of grinding, tinkering, studying, and trying to figure out w...
With five victories and a half-point bye in six rounds, GM Awonder Liang has topped yet another Charlotte Chess Center event, placing clear first at the 2026 Charlotte Open. A flawless tournament for Charlotte Open champion GM Awonder Liang. ...
One of my goals in my Modern Masterpieces series is to be able to cover all classic topics with great recent games. If a student wants, my goal is that once published, you would be able to go through this entire series and feel like you had been e...
Welcome everybody, to another edition of the Osaka Papers... There are four things that no one likes losing: your house keys, your wallet, your cell phone, and your ELO rating points... Sure technically they are just numbers on a screen, but th...
You learn the opening principles and try to play solid chess. Yet, some guy can break all the rules and beat you anyway. Here’s what’s really going on, and how to punish it:
INTRODUCTION That time of year is upon us once again. As the holiday season winds down, the largest online chess tournament of the year in terms of field size takes off: the annual Chess.com Daily Chess Championship. This is my third year pa...
In our last blog we featured Filip Kaczmarek's chess journey from beating his maths teacher to captaining his school team in the ECF schools team rapidplay competition. This week we feature Yury Krylov's report on this year's schools team rapidpla...
I reached a 2,000 rating at age 7.Grandmaster loading soon.Except it stopped loading. All I improved in the next 5 years was only +100 rating points. That’s it. One reason.I was lazy. I loved chess. But I loved video games more. A LOT ...
You didn’t lose that last game because you don’t know chess. You lost because your thinking process broke down for a move or two. Maybe three. That’s all it takes. One moment you’re playing solidly, the next you’ve ...
Do you enjoy defending? Most chess players would definitely say no! Playing defense feels like suffering sometimes. But... it's one of the most underrated skills in chess. If you hate being attacked, you are going to feel misera...
One of my students recently asked me a very good question: If opening theory is over exaggerated, what should I actually aim for in the opening?Is it more than just a bank of ideas? Why choose one opening and not another? This is a question I ...
I am pleased to share the book review AND the youtube interview with IM John Donaldson with Chess Reads Here is the Book Review of Bobby Fischer and His World https://chessreads.com/review/bobby-fischer-and-his-world/?fbclid=...
