"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...
Hale Grande is an actor, streamer, and confessed lover of all things nerdy. He also shares a common addiction with many people reading this: chess. In roughly two years, Hale has gone from a beginner to an 1800-rated player. Over 16,000 people a...
We've escaped the May-trix but June keeps us in the middle of a bullet-time showdown between some of the world's best players, as the 2024 Bullet Chess Championship continues. Also: a mysterious new bot, free lessons by titled players, and the r...
While commentating in 2021, GM Vladimir Kramnik shared his candid opinion of bullet chess: Why do you use a chessboard? There is no point, just put the clock and push the clock, and the first one who wins on time wins. There's no point to h...
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...
Do you lose at chess? If you said "no," then let's be honest, you're lying to me and to yourself and need to take a long, hard look in the mirror. If you said "yes," then you're in the right place. My name is Lula, and I'm a professional at lo...
You might want to win more blitz games or maybe strengthen your tactical skills and see how far you can go in Puzzle Rush. Whatever your goal is, Chess.com has many features that can help you achieve them. However, with so many different feature...
Especially in this era of social media, it seems like everyone's got something to say at almost all times. This has always been true of chess, about which a lot of stuff—some of it more useful than others—has been said. But of all...
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 Played Quick (CPQ), Chess.com's series of events where top chess streamers complete bounties for prizes, is back for another edition! Chess Played Quick—BlitzChamps Hyper Bullet Arena will take place on May 20 at 1:30 p.m. ET / 19:30...
Has someone ever crushed you with the Jobava London? Thwarted your plans using the Caro-Kann defense? There's a chance that this is the man responsible for teaching them. IM Alex Banzea has many accolades: Romanian U-18 champion, recipient of th...
Chess.com is thrilled to launch the Indian Streamer Program. To help grow the chess streaming ecosystem in India, we offer a number of benefits to chess streamers of all skill levels who want to get involved on YouTube, Twitch and other streaming ...
Chess.com started 17 years ago, in May 2007—just two years after the first YouTube video was published and the first Reddit thread was created. A lot has changed since then, but one thing remains the same: Chess.com has the most wonderful co...
Chess can sometimes be controversial, but some things about our beloved game are just true. While I may not be the best or most experienced player out there, I dare you to disagree with any of my hot takes: Stalemate Being A Draw Is Awesome C...
IM Novak Cabarkapa is an international master from Serbia with two GM norms under his belt. He has trained students of all ages and skill levels, and is available for regular lessons as well as training games. In this article, he shares some of hi...
When was the last time you read human-only annotations to a chess game, with zero input from artificial intelligence? Have you ever wondered how a human grandmaster's understanding stacks up next to Chess.com's Game Review, and vice versa? For t...
May's monthly update is here and we're recapping the Candidates Tournament, hooking the world's number one player up to a lie detector, and highlighting some of the chess world's true artists. Also, a much-requested dashboard for following event...
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...
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...
There's no way around it—every chess game starts with the opening. These first few moves are crucial to determining how the rest of the game will go. Because of this, learning how to play the opening well can drastically improve your results...
I would like to start this article with a warning: what you are about to see cannot be unseen. I'll understand if you click away right now. But if you're brave enough to power through this, get ready to see the nine most awful chess sets you've ev...
What makes a photo "iconic" and not simply interesting or even outstanding? If you find that a difficult question to answer, you are not alone. The two leading dictionaries in the world can't exactly agree either. Merriam-Webster: iconic, ...
“Liar, liar, pants on fire!” The seams of world number one GM Magnus Carlsen’s cream khakis set ablaze. He and chess commentator GM David Howell are brought together to rekindle the flame of this fun lie detector series. Last t...
It's evening in Romania, and WFM Maria Yugina and GM Mihail Marin are sitting on the couch at home for our interview. Their rescue dog, Foxy, bounces around the room, playing around and chasing her own tail, at one point disconnecting the camera a...
