WIM Alexey Root, PhD

Alexey Root is a Woman International Master and the 1989 U.S. Women's chess champion. Her peak US Chess rating was 2260. She has a PhD in education from UCLA. You can find her books on chess on Amazon.com.

Jennifer Shahade: Play Like a Champion

Two-time U.S. Women’s Champion Jennifer Shahade’s latest chess book is Play Like a Champion: Chess Tactics from the Greats. Its 700 chess positions have answers that range from checkmate in one move to checkmate in 13 moves. More 🡢

Grind Like a Grandmaster: Magnus Carlsen

The Champions Chess Tour Finals (CCT Finals) was the closing event of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour, run by Chess.com. Eight players met in Toronto from December 9 to December 16. They played for a $500,000 prize fund. The pre-tournament favorite was former World Chess Champion GM Magnus Carlsen. In the finals, Carlsen defeated GM Wesley So to win the 2023 Champions Chess Tour. More 🡢

Over-the-Board College Chess, 2024

Since 1946, the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship (Pan-Am) has attracted college chess teams from North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Since 2001, the top four U.S. schools at the immediately previous Pan-Am qualify for the President’s Cup, also known as the “Final Four of College Chess,” to determine the best U.S. chess college. More 🡢

U.S. Senior Women’s Championship

The first ever U.S. Senior Women’s Championship, an invitational for women 50 and older, was held November 3–5, 2023, at the Berkeley Chess School. The Eade Foundation was its sponsor, with help from US Chess. More 🡢

Chess Endgames: Pawn Principles

Chess endgames with passed pawns have many principles. A previous article explained the opposition. In this article, a game between two top grandmasters demonstrates two other principles: passed pawns must be pushed and the square of the pawn. More 🡢

Chess Grandmaster Susan Polgar’s Error

Grandmaster (GM) Susan Polgar was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 2019. Along with GM Lajos Portisch and GM Bent Larsen, Susan Polgar is scheduled to be inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame on November 13, 2023. There is an error in her biography, which is repeated by each Chess Hall of Fame. The error involves women chess players’ participation in college chess. More 🡢

Jennifer Shahade: Underestimating Girls Who Play Chess

Jennifer Shahade, a two-time U.S. Women’s Chess Champion, is one of the authors on a New York University study about parents and mentors underestimating girls who play chess. Earlier in Shahade’s career, Shahade asked girls easier chess questions than boys. More 🡢

Attacking in Chess: Rules of Thumb

Grandmaster Karsten Müller is the author of Attack: Rules of thumb for practice. His first rule of thumb is “All pieces should participate in the attack.” Bringing pieces to join in a chess attack can be creative and fun. More 🡢