Many years ago, a young aspiring chess player was planning to play a big tournament abroad, but there was one problem: money! Just like many young players, he couldn't really afford the travel expenses, so he decided to ask for help at the depar...
If you like watching chess videos on YouTube, you couldn't possibly miss the catchy phrase, "Do you even rook lift, bro?" I don't know who came up with this meme, but no doubt a huge credit goes to IM Eric Rosen, who made it popular. Of course, ...
If you are wondering why I would talk about the blockbuster movie from the 1990s on a chess website, don't worry. This article is about the tenth World Champion, Boris Spassky, who passed away on February 27. While I saw Spassky on numerous occa...
Last year, I shared a powerful opening trap, and judging by the comments, you, my dear readers, liked it. Since I got numerous requests for more traps like this, I will share another one, which is even more powerful than the previous one...
I don't like popular disputes where people compare legendary champions from the past to modern players. In my opinion, such discussions are silly and pointless. Besides, there is no way to prove your opinion is right or wrong. That's why I just sm...
The 2024 Champions Chess Tour Finals was an exciting event with many thrilling encounters, combinations, and blunders: everything chess spectators love to watch. In this smorgasbord of "tasty" chess, you could easily miss the following one: Wh...
As we start our journey in the magical world called chess, one of the very first things we learn is the ultimate importance of time. "Each move should have a purpose," "Don't waste time," and "Develop your pieces as quickly as possible." These and...
In his book The Game Of Chess, Siegbert Tarrasch, one of the greatest players of his time, famously said: "It is not enough to be a good player, you must also play well." Indeed, all great tournament results, ratings, and titles boil down to a sim...
If the title of this article made you think that it is another showcase of GM Mikhail Tal's magic, you would be wrong. Today, we are going to talk about a brilliant player from the past who is partially forgotten or at least not as well known as o...
Recently I was explaining a concept of a chess X-ray to one of my students. I don't need to do it too often since surprisingly, most chess players, even quite inexperienced ones, know about it. So, I described chess X-rays as a situation where a...
Chess is more popular now than it has ever been. We see articles about chess and chess players in all major media outlets. As a result, chess fans know very well the current chess stars, from established elite players like GM Magnus Carlsen to upc...
One of the first things we learn in chess is the enormous power of the queen. Then, after we discover the tricky Scholar's Mate, the importance of the queen reaches a truly mythic proportion in our minds. Not surprisingly, for many inexperienced p...
Pictures taken at chess tournaments can tell fascinating stories. Just look at the faces of the players and spectators, and you'll see the whole gamut of human emotions. The Washington Chess Federation has recently posted a brilliant photo on its&...
The news of the Argentinian prodigy Faustino Oro becoming the youngest IM ever at the tender age of 10 made headlines worldwide. Faustino plays an attractive, aggressive kind of chess, and those of you who want to get better can learn a lot from h...
The recently-concluded Clash Of Claims was definitely one of the most anticipated chess events of the year. For most people, this unusual match was interesting mostly due to the well-publicized controversy, but personally for me it was an opportun...
Nine years ago I wrote an article about the 2015 U.S. Junior Girls Championship. In that article I analyzed only one game and you might expect that it was played by the winner of the tournament, but instead I chose the player who finished eighth o...
Back in 1996, GM Garry Kasparov won 4-2 in a match versus the Deep Blue supercomputer. It turned out to be the last convincing human victory over an artificial chess player. The very next year, Deep Blue took revenge 3.5-2.5, and pretty soon match...
Chess has often been described as a mix of sport, art and science. This laconic definition long ago became an axiom for many generations of chess players. However, in the last 20 years or so, things changed dramatically. Yes, it is still sport; ju...
Last month marked 88th birthday of GM Eduard Gufeld, who was born March 19, 1936 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Even though he died over 20 years ago in 2002, he is well-remembered for his entertaining style of play and strong sense of humor. Among many pictur...
One of my first chess books was Richard Reti's Chess Textbook. The title of the book was a bit misleading, since the book was absolutely useless for total beginners. I assume that it was implied that any Soviet schoolboy knew the rules of chess as...
FIDE recently awarded honorary grandmaster titles to IMs Iivo Nei and Andreas Dueckstein. I think it is a very good practice to reward famous chess veterans for their past great results and lives devoted to chess. While reading this news, a questi...
When I was just starting in chess, our chess club's team went to participate in one of the national competitions. Here I need to mention that unlike the U.S. Nationals, open to anyone who knows how to move pieces, the Soviet Nationals were highly ...
Eighty-five years ago GM Mikhail Botvinnik won the premier tournament of the year, the Soviet Chess Championship, with a very impressive score 12.5/17 (+8−0=9). Later, in his book about the tournament, Botvinnik shared his methods of chess p...
The recently concluded FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships are already history, and chess actors have left the ancient city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. While it was a very exciting event, many less experienced players didn't follow it at all. W...
There are three things you can watch forever: fire burning, water falling, and movies with Sir Anthony Hopkins. The psychological thriller "Fracture" was a big blockbuster in 2007. A very smart screenplay coupled with brilliant performances by Ant...
