June's Coach of the Month is GM Gregory Kaidanov. One of the most decorated Soviet-born American chess players, he has won many international tournaments including the World Open (1992), U.S. Open (1992), and Aeroflot Open (2002). More recently, h...
Endgames. The word, alone, may conjure up feelings of happiness, dread, or even despair for many chess players. Some adore the endgame while others despise it. There is a grain of truth in the old Soviet saying that amateur chess players "play t...
The Queen's Gambit has become more than "a chess show." The seven-episode Netflix miniseries has captured the attention of audiences worldwide and was the #1 show in over 12 countries. It has introduced or re-ignited viewers' interest in the royal...
The number of chess moves made in the history of the royal game is incalculable. Data taken from the study of the 2015 MegaBase (a database that contains over 4.5 million games) indicates that the average number of moves per game is roughly 38. In...
There are many well-known world champions, challengers, candidates, world-class players, national champions, and grandmasters in chess circles. The best players our game has ever seen are constantly celebrated and for good reason! However, there a...
Grandmasters are the legendary icons that stand atop the chess world—they are our chess heroes. These giants are not only our favorite players but are also... human. Humans make mistakes (both on and off the board), and, as a species, are al...
Learning basic checkmates is one of the most important things a chess player can do when starting their journey through the magnificent labyrinth of chess. By learning the following checkmates, you can avoid some quick losses and maybe even notch ...
There are thousands of chess set designs in the world and a large community of chess set collectors. There is an enormous amount of information available on the various chess sets types and designs on Chess.com's Chess Books & Equipment forum,...
Our beloved game of chess has had many legends, world champions, challengers, world-class players, and grandmasters. The games of these masters delight, inspire, and teach us the ways of the royal game. It is common to discuss the greatest playe...
IM Cyrus Lakdawala contributed to this article. In 2018, the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen, played world number-two Fabiano Caruana for the world championship. Carlsen defeated Caruana in the rapid tiebreak, and successfully defend...
IM Cyrus Lakdawala contributed to this article. In 1975, Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov were set to play for the world chess championship. Fischer, the reigning world champion, argued with the world chess federation (FIDE) over the format fo...
Get your reading glasses out for this article! The number of books written about chess is tremendous. While that can be great for the chess world, it poses practical issues for many fans. Most chess players have their own favorites, but how do y...
Chess board dimensions aren't as simple as one might think. The basic geometry of the chess board isn't difficult to grasp, but chess board dimensions also include the size of the squares on the board. One of the most important aspects...
Chess has a long and storied history. The game has changed quite a bit from its earliest forms in India. The modern iteration we enjoy today wasn't known until the 16th century. There were no clocks, and the pieces were not standardized until...
