Learning Chess

Interested in learning chess? This suite of articles will help you understand the game, improve your skills and ultimately master it.

Chess or Health, Play or Forfeit

The World Senior Team Chess Championship brings together several hundred chess players in two age categories, 50+ and 65+. Along with babies younger than six months, people aged 65 and older are most at risk for hospitalization from complications from COVID-19. And large gatherings, held indoors, increase the likelihood of disease transmission. More 🡢

Sunrise in the Bronx: Chess and Life Lessons

I read MacEnulty’s memoir in one sitting. That’s in part because there are no chess diagrams and games to play through, making reading faster. But it is also because MacEnulty writes well about compelling subjects. More 🡢

Chess Books and Autographs

The Chess Book Collectors site on Facebook has 48,300 members. McFarland, a leading independent publisher of academic and general-interest nonfiction books, has 95 books on chess in print. With McFarland books at 35% off from November 15 to December 2, now is the perfect time to combine collecting chess books and chess autographs. More 🡢

Documenting Hopes, Dreams, and Chess

Katie Dellamaggiore made her feature film directorial debut with Brooklyn Castle, an award-winning documentary about inner-city junior high school students achieving chess success despite financial obstacles. Now Dellamaggiore is working on a new film called Queen’s Castle, profiling young women worldwide who are achieving chess success. One of those young women is Palestine’s top female player, 17-year-old Woman FIDE Master Eman Sawan. More 🡢

Recent Examples of Plagiarism in Chess Writing

The 2023 book Kings, Queens & Rookies:The Tata Steel Chess Tournament – A Celebration of 85 Years includes, without citing its source, a game annotated by Magnus Carlsen that appeared almost 20 years earlier in New in Chess magazine. Chess historian Edward Winter may want to add this example to his article on copying. More 🡢

Different Awards for the Same Chess Results

In some situations, scoring the same number of points results in more awards for one player than for another. In 2024, a middle grade novel and a Texas Chess Association initiative enable such situations by giving awards limited to girls. Will awards just for boys follow, as they did in 1970s Nebraska? More 🡢

Play chess better on a team? USA Senior Chess

The USA Senior (50+) Team won a gold medal at the 2024 FIDE World Senior Team Chess Championships. The three members of the USA Senior (50+) Team traveled from the FIDE World Senior Team Chess Championships in Krakow, Poland, to St. Louis, USA, to compete as individuals in the U.S. Senior Championship. More 🡢

Fischer Era Chess Prodigy Headlines Caveman Chess Festival

Chess Review first mentioned Salvatore “Sal” Matera in its July 1959 issue. In 1959, Matera was eight years old and had learned chess only the Christmas before. Yet Matera played well in the U.S. Amateur Championship, thus earning the 1959 mention. More 🡢