This guest post was contributed by Kamryn Hellman, a writer, chess player and video creator. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Creative Writing and Literature through Harvard Extension School. Kamryn’s journey in ...
What’s the first thing you connect with the name Garry Kasparov? Probably the words World Champion come to mind, images of his epic battles against Anatoly Karpov, his brilliant immortal game against Topalov or his legendary match against...
It’s easy to look back at your games and find dazzling tactical shots. A moment of brilliance is like fireworks against the night sky. Tactics feel tangible and are easier to spot. It’s hardly a surprise given how often our chess tr...
Imagine you’ve been released from prison. What is the first thing you would do? Most people would stay as far away from the place where they were incarcerated. But upon release, a former inmate in a prison in Catalonia, Spain,...
Not many people are lucky enough to find a job that fulfills their sense of purpose — a job that doesn't really feel like work. The path to these is rarely direct. As was the case for Andras Toth, one of our most successful authors, whose...
Many of us would think that parenting three kids and working as an elementary school teacher doesn’t leave much time for pursuing another career. Not NM Laura Smith! The Brooklynite manages to be both a chess coach and Chessable author. I...
As you probably know, real improvement in chess requires studying all key aspects of the game: strategy, opening, tactics, and endgame. Among our latest releases from the last two weeks, you'll find a course for each one of them...
Are some chess positions more critical than others? This guest blog post by Dr. Marc Barthelemy answers this question, using a "fragility score" which quantifies the tension in chess positions. Dr. Barthelemy is a French theoretical physicist b...
Few authors can boast about having a course on a chess opening that matches their origin. This is the case of Grandmaster Àlvar Alonso, who hails from Catalonia, Spain, and wrote the highly regarded course Lifetime Repertoires: Alonso&rs...
It took months of anticipation, careful judging, fierce competition… and now, we have the winners! The 2024 Create Your Own Course Contest once again proves that: Valuable, game-changing chess insight can come from any rating...
From step-by-step piece setups for making tactics happen... Rare defenses that exploit the gap in every White opening... To tournament-proven opening prep that wins 9 times out of 10... This February roundup has it all!&...
Inside Washington Square Park’s Street Chess Community This guest blog post by 2024 Chessable Research Award winner FM Eugene Choi Yoo introduces us to one of the most famous street chess communities in the world. At Washington Square Park,...
The 2024 Chessable Research Awards had five student winners, including Alex Knopps, the author of this guest blog post. Knopps explores whether solving chess puzzles alone or with a partner leads to better outcomes. His research also accounted for...
Everyone aspires to play the best move in chess. But playing for positions you excel in can be just as game-winning... Which is the theme of our February roundup. Kicking things off is our latest Variation Preview update. Now, ...
The year was 2017. GM Eugene Perelshteyn was playing in the 2nd round of the Chess.com Isle of Man International Tournament. He was facing Magnus Carlsen, the reigning World Chess Champion. Having prepared a bold, double-pawn sacrifice for one of ...
Awards season is here! Move over Grammys, it’s time for the Chessable Awards. The contest was closer than ever, with thousands of votes cast and some categories being decided by just a handful of votes. This year, we’re featu...
This guest post was written by Woman International Master and FIDE Arbiter Patricia Llaneza Vega, a chess enthusiast who has contributed to the game in various ways. She started as a player and a coach and has combined these roles with arbiter and...
Our brand-new Variation Preview is already getting an update! Now, anytime you buy a course, all your tokens refill automatically. So you don't have to wait until next month. If you’re hearing about Variation Preview for the first time,...
2025 is racing past us and we're already at the end of January. This month we launched Variation Preview, a new way for you to grab free variations from any Chessable course, so you can make up your own mind on whether the course is for you. L...
Tik tik tik tik tik! That’s the sound of your relaxation ruined by a woodpecker. It stands no more than 2 feet tall and weighs less than a pound. But it holds the secret to skyrocketing your chess rating! Inspired by the bird...
This blog is a guest post by Karel van Delft, Science Project Manager at Chessable. “For me, as a photographer, the most beautiful thing is to report on a chess tournament and the emotions that players show throughout.” - Len...
“Could you explore this position a little please - for example, if White plays 12 Rhg1 do we play Rc8… still feels rather unclear?” asked a learner inside the course Master the French Defense. Within 24 hours, NM Bryan Tillis...
Applications Now Open for Chessable Research Awards 2025 Cycle Chessable, the leading online chess learning platform and part of Chess.com, is now accepting applications for the 2025 cycle of the Chessable Research Awards. Undergraduate and gr...
The 2024 Chessable Research Awards had five student winners, including Julia Engel, the author of this guest blog post. With the gender gap in leadership remaining an important area of study in economics, Engel uses chess, specifically Chess.co...
You can now try any variation of any paid Chessable course for free with our newest feature, Variation Preview. Every 30 days, you’ll receive 10 free variation tokens which you can use to try out any course you’d like. Here&r...
