In round 4 of the Vezerkepzo 2022 May Grandmaster tourney I played with Tamás Tancsa a talanted young player from Hungary. You can check his chess.com games at https://www.chess.com/member/tomivezer2007 He played the King's indian d...
Hey ChessKids! Recapping the past few weeks: Young chess prodigy and ChessKid star NM Brewington Hardaway scored the 2022 K-8 National Champion title, and FunMasterMike got to meet with a bunch of ChessKids in Ohio. Check it out! 2022 K-8 MS N...
Chess.com prides itself on being a fair and fun platform for all of our users, and we need your help to keep it that way. Fair Play Moderators are a crucial part of Chess.com's online events, and ensure that all tournaments on Chess.com (including...
Hello there. Welcome to the Lightning Reports! Today we return to my Journey to NM series. If you are new here, or if you have forgotten, I have set a goal for myself to become a National Master before I graduate highschool on May 21st. If you've ...
In round 3 of the Vezerkepzo 2022 May GM tourney I played with International Master Stefan Mazur from Slovakia. He played the surprising e4-e5 pawn sacrifice in the beginning of the classical sicilian. I declined the present. He got a s...
In round 2 of the Vezerkepzo 2022 May GM tourney I played with Grandmaster David Berczes. Dávid Bérczes (born 14 January 1990) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster. FIDE awarded him the Internat...
Maintaining your chess ratings on familiar sites such as Chess.com has always been outrageous. However, it is observed that most players have 500-700 more ratings in chess puzzles as compared to live games i.e. rapid, blitz, etc. The chess interme...
"One more" might be one of the most repeated phrases in online chess. ("blunder" smiles and waves from the other side of the room). It's 3:00 AM and you refuse that this should be your last game, or, okay you will stop playing when you finally hit...
Bobby Fischer vs. Pal Benko. Yugoslavia, 1959. Bobby Fischer vs. Pal Benko
Hi everyone! 😊 It has been a long time since I wrote my last blog post. And finally, I have something to write about. In the last 30 days I have taken part in two classical chess tournaments. In April, in the period from 20 to 25, I played in an...
In round 1 I played the Slav defense against WGM Eesha Karavade. Eesha Karavade (born 21 November 1987) is a chess player from Pune, India.[1] She holds the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Gr...
Fred Reinfeld (1910-1964) has been called "The Man Who Taught America Chess"--and so he was! Reinfeld was amazing. Some have called him a “genius.” He produced perhaps 260 books (with varying editions and titles). His writings includ...
In popular culture and films in particular, chess has become a shorthand for “a battle of wits between two intelligent characters.” As such, chess-playing scenes are plentiful and I had no shortage of highlights to choose from for my e...
“Centralization of the king in the endgame is hardly ever incorrect. It can only be inopportune.” - from Endgame Strategy by Shereshevsky Mating the king is the primary purpose of chess; therefore, each side usually tries to ...
Hello to all primary and secondary school teachers and educators! We've got two exciting updates for you in this blog post. Whether you're an individual teacher looking to set up a chess club, or you're wanting to get every kid at your school a Ch...
This is the third post in a series of short games that will be released every Monday. If you want to be part of this journey you can share one of your games by sending me a message. Last week we analyzed an old game that shows the importance of ...
A quirk of chess history is the recurring figure of the lone American genius who travels to Europe and takes the continent by storm. This has happened more times, and had a more profound impact on chess, than one might expect. There's Morphy in 18...
A ruined pawn structure around the king is a recipe for getting mated in the middle game. However, closer to the endgame, the chance of the weaker side being able to defend the king increases, which is why they usually offer trades to make...
Puzzle Up Puzzles are a great way to improve your tactical skills. It's the reason people say to do your puzzles daily. Puzzles are like little tidbits of patterns and skills that can be helpful in finding a checkmate pattern or a brilliant tact...
Harry Nelson Pillsbury was one of the great masters of the early 1900s. Had his health been stable for longer, a world championship match between him and Lasker seemed nigh inevitable. With two rounds to go in the Munich tournament of 1900, Pill...
Hello there, and welcome to the Lightning Reports. Back in January, I introduced a new blog idea when I questioned several non-chess players about chess for the first time. 4 months later, I've brought you a part 2 to my Questioning NCPs series! Y...
Thomas Engqvist, 300 Most Important Chess Exercises. London: Batsford, 2022. 412 pgs. 9781849947510. Paper. If you like to work through chess exercises—this may be the book for you! Engqvist is a Swedish International Master wit...
Afternoon everyone. Day off today, so something quick while I have a couple of hours. Some of you may remember this offering - https://www.chess.com/blog/simaginfan/morphy-lasker-alekhine-and-moriau-a-chess-lucky-bag Well, the latest volum...
Dear Chess Friends! I believe every chess player wants to attack in a chess game. It’s easier to attack rather than defend. Moreover, if you make a mistake during the attack, you are unlikely to lose the game. But if you make a mistake bei...
Hey ChessKids! Get ready for more in-person events and chess fun! In this post, we'll cover an exciting meet-and-greet opportunity with FunMasterMike and the ChessKid team, show you how you can help support Ukraine by playing a real-life chess gra...