What's in a name? Have you seen this famous clip of GM Hikaru Nakamura calculating a deep combination in seconds with his famous "check, check, check...." How can Hikaru calculate that quickly? He's amazing, but it helped that he knew the s...
Former world champion GM Magnus Carlsen recently lamented that it's "kind of sad to see how far you have to go to get a game, that you cannot really play the best lines anymore." Chess engines have demonstrated that all mainstream openings, and ev...
Figuring out your preferred "time control," how long each player has to move, is the first step toward playing a chess game. Each time control leads to slightly different decision-making processes for the players and affects how the game will like...
Chess is the most written-about game in history. People have been writing and studying chess books for 1200 years Even in the internet age, chess books are still a great way to improve your game, but with so many out there, what should you be read...
The Champions Chess Tour kicks off its 2025 schedule on February 16 with the Chessable Masters. Before it begins, let's take a look back at the most memorable moments from the 2024 edition and see what we may have to look forward to this year. ...
Are you looking to get better at chess but are overwhelmed by all of the content out there? Worry no more! Here's a complete guide to all of the training material on Chess.com. Play Chess Puzzles Lessons and Courses Analysis, Game Rev...
Have you heard of the 2025 Chess Improvement Challenge? It's a massive group of chess players supporting each other and working on their goals for the year. Members gain access to our Improvers Club, study guides, and year-round content. They...
GM Gukesh Dommaraju recently became the youngest ever undisputed classical chess world champion, at just 18 years old. He joins a long line of amazing chess prodigies dating back more than a century. You may have seen this famous photo of a young ...
How did Gukesh Dommaraju become the 18th World Champion? It took 14 grueling games for him to pull out a narrow victory against GM Ding Liren. Let's take a look back at the key moments that determined the match. The final handshake at the end ...
While the chess world is distracted by the FIDE World Championship, the Champions Chess Tour Finals are fast approaching. The in-person finals run from December 17th until 21st in Oslo, Norway. It's a fitting location, as the defending champion is...
On November 25, World Champion Ding Liren will aim to defend his title in a match against GM Gukesh Dommaraju. IM Rakesh Kulkarni has analyzed the match and its place in chess history. Here's what we can look forward to. Match Details The 2024 ...
Every chess player dreams of playing a brilliant move or a spectacular game. More serious players hope to put together a masterful tournament and claim first prize. Yet, it's only the best of the best who can lay claim to have played the best tour...
Have you ever played against a grandmaster in a chess game? How long did you survive? If you lasted more than than 12 moves, then you did better than former world champion GM Anatoly Karpov in his roughest game, against GM Larry Christiansen. See ...
"You guys are not going to see a nastier thing on the chessboard, maybe in your lifetime." That's what GM Aman Hambleton said right after delivering what is, without exaggeration, probably one of the most incredible checkmates the world has ever s...
The 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest featured 381 teams, but only one winning country. India totally dominated the event, winning both the Open and Women's sections with an unprecedented performance. A very impressive double gold achievement by...
Stockfish is the strongest chess entity in history. In seconds, it can find deep variations that masters of that past could only imagine. Last time, we examined the most famous move of GM Bobby Fischer's career. Today, let's examine GM Garry Kaspa...
The 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad runs September 11-22 in Budapest, Hungary. In many ways, this is the biggest chess event of the year with 1,893 players representing a record 381 teams across the Open and Women's sections of the competition! IM Rakesh...
A few weeks ago, NM Todd Bryant analyzed the speed of everyone who had ever taken part in the Speed Chess Championship. Since then, the 2024 edition has narrowed down a field of 16 participants to four finalists to compete in P...
FM Faustino Oro recently made news by becoming the youngest International Master in history. As amazing as that accomplishment is, what he's demonstrated in online play is even more impressive. Let's take a look at Faustino's most amazing achievem...
Chess engines have forced us to reevaluate many facets of the game. As each generation of engines grows stronger it's worth looking at some of the great moments in chess history to see which brilliancies hold up and which ones don't quite withstan...
The 2024 Speed Chess Championship is at full steam, with many impressive matches already in the cards. Every year the SCC features 16 top players from around the world competing in three ever-quickening time controls. While top GMs can play amazin...
Since the Speed Chess Championship (SCC) debuted in 2016, it's been completely dominated by two players. GM Magnus Carlsen won the first two editions in 2016 and 2017. After that, GM Hikaru Nakamura won five years in a row before Carlsen took back...
What separates a chess beginner from an experienced player? It's not just the brilliant moves that the star players find, it's also the bad moves that beginners play, which veteran players instinctively know to avoid. Here are five trades that ama...
"I captured on d5. I was terribly ashamed, and from the time I swore: to play for a draw, at any rate with White, is to some degree a crime against chess." - GM Mikhail Tal on the Exchange Variation of the French Defense. Mikhail Tal on a less...
Losing is no fun! Unfortunately, all chess players end up in lost positions sometimes. The best ones know how to escape as often as possible and steal draws and wins from busted positions. Here are the techniques you need to know to be a chess Hou...
