Siegbert Tarrasch (1862-1934) was “one of the best four players in the world for about 20 years” [David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld, The Oxford Companion to Chess, New Edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 411]. His fame bega...
We all chase different goals and dreams.What stands between us and where we want to go?
It’s often not what we think it is.It’s not the economy, it’s not the government, it’s not somebody who dominates the industry where ...
Hello, my fellow daily chess lovers, and welcome to my report on the first round of the Chess.com 2023 Daily Chess Championship.
In the 1st round of the Daily Chess Champs you feel like Paul Morphy, in the 2nd round you feel like NN. ~ Sheldon...
Dear Chess.com community,
On January 23rd, we shared an update regarding how much and how quickly chess has grown and how challenging that has been for our company, especially our "Live Server" on which games are played. Growth has only increase...
It’s a surprise to me, playing over games from this period, to realize how much Capablanca and Alekhine developed in tandem. Both had their first successes in 1909. Both emerged as international stars in 1911. But Capablanca arrived in inter...
It's a battle of chess generations! ChessKid is bringing in eight talented titled players to join forces and face off in the epic "ChessKid Stars vs. Streamers" event on Sunday, February 12 at 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. EST.
Four top ChessKid stars...
Afternoon everyone. Back with more from The Encyclopedia Of Latvian Chess Players. A big bag of goodies to browse through and take your pick from.
In the 1930s Latvia was one of the better teams in the Chess Olympiads - you can look it all up on...
In the previous article, we talked about biological rhythms, about the importance of listening to our bodies and not playing chess when our body doesn’t want to.
That was one of the main reasons why sometimes our results are very bad...
Dear Canadians,
What an exciting time for all of us! How many of you would love to see our favourite game of chess supported by the Canadian Government? We can now make this happen … with a bit of YOUR help!
When it comes to chess, for ...
Dear Chess Friends!
Imagine a situation when you do your best during the chess game, but the position is still equal and you don’t know what you can do to play for a win. Is this situation familiar to you? For me too!Once in 2019 I was pla...
Benjamin Franklin was a premier figure in the early history of the United States. In addition to all else, Franklin was an avid chess player. He wrote a famous essay: 'The Morals of Chess' (1786) which has become a 'classic.' Franklin looked beyon...
There isn’t much more time left. Ageing from a personal view, sure, time’s there but it still holds it’s distance comfortably. Ages on the other hand has started to inflict itself into intimate grounds, that personal sphere, t...
Dear all,
I'm pleased to announce that a couple days ago, part 1 of my new Neo-Catalan Repertoire was released on Chessable! I'm really happy with the final product.
The premise of the Neo-Catalan is to open with 1.c4 and 2.g3, aiming to quick...
As an intermediate chess player, you may have already mastered the basics of tactics and have a good understanding of chess openings. However, there is always room for improvement and further development of your chess skills. This study plan is de...
Memorizing complicated chess variations is a challenge for all levels of players – even for Grandmasters like me. So, what’s the solution?Well, I have 4 pieces of news. Three good 🙂 and one bad 😐
Let’s start with the first piec...
In 1913, Capablanca, with his new post in the Cuban Foreign Office, was dispatched to Europe as an emissary-at-large. His titular post was as consul in St Petersburg, but, really, his task was to be a professional chess player, playing as widely a...
It was just last night when I actually had a dream that I defeated the world champion Magnus Carlsen (which was a step up from when I merely drew because he played some timid Queen move instead of the infiltrating Rook one, but that's for another ...
All of us have set goals before. Whether it's in chess, or simply in life, having aims to achieve is a much more fun and effective way to improve. On the long treacherous journey of achieving your desires, especially in chess, you'll find that you...
“All coaching is, is taking a player where he can’t take himself.” – Bill McCartney
Finding the right chess coach can be a real game-changer. But it’s not easy – especially with so many fake coaches out there....
IM Nurgyul Salimova of Bulgaria almost achieved the dream of every young woman chess player—she almost won her country’s national chess championship. In the 2023 Bulgarian Chess Championships, she ended half a point short of first plac...
Master Study
Fischer vs. Najdorf
The year is 1970, and the Olympiad is being held in Western Germany in the city of Siegen. It was here that rising star Bobby Fischer would face against one of the strongest grandmasters of the time, Miguel Naj...
The discussion surrounding the "greatest of all time" (GOAT) in chess has been ongoing for many years, with various players being considered for the title. Some commonly mentioned contenders include Garry Kasparov, Bobby Fischer, and Magnus Carlse...
While driving NM Juan Sena to the train station one day, already knowing he was fatally ill, a student of his asked:
At the end of the road, what matters more? What we achieved or what we gave?
Years later, Juan is lying in a hospital bed ...
Recently, one of our ChessMood group members Jonathan delightfully surprised me! He posted in our group a question about improving tactical accuracy and before I could reply, he answered himself, "Maybe right mood to find the right moves is a good...
Amidst all the hype around the multi-million player website, it may be surprising when I say that I think that Chess.com is actually going backwards. What I mean is this: in its heyday (say, 2014-15, around the time when chess streaming really sta...