Learning Chess

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

Suitcases, war, chess, and the d5-square

Refugees may pack suitcases before fleeing their countries. Professional chess players pack suitcases to travel to their next tournaments. While refugees do not know where they will live, chess players know to control the d5-square. More 🡢

From Wild Card to Candidate: Hikaru Nakamura

Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura won the 2022 FIDE World Chess Grand Prix, earning his spot in the 2022 Candidates. Nakamura was originally a “wild card” pick by FIDE to participate in the Grand Prix. More 🡢

Jarred Tetzlaff and Alexey Root, photo by Ryan Deering

Emotions in chess: Let it Go

Certain emotions may distract chess players from finding good moves. This article suggests two strategies, let it go and avoid obsessions, that may help players achieve emotional states which are better for chess. More 🡢

Chess book review: Defending Under Pressure

Dr. Steve Hrop, a psychologist, achieved a peak US Chess rating of 2192 in 1988. His book Defending Under Pressure: Managing Your Emotions at the Chessboard was published in 2021 by Mongoose Press. This article is a review of Hrop’s book. More 🡢

Like Cats and Dogs: A Chess Fight

Some chess games resemble fighting like cats and dogs, with each side’s chessmen engaging in attacks and counterattacks. This article presents one such chess game, played in the first leg of the FIDE Grand Prix 2022 Series. More 🡢

Chess Fundamentals on Forward Chess

José Raúl Capablanca was the World Chess Champion from 1921 to 1927. In 1921, his book Chess Fundamentals was published. It is now in the public domain, so you have many choices for where to read it. Your best reading experience is likely with Forward Chess. More 🡢

Tolstoy playing chess with the son of Vladimir Chertkov

Leo Tolstoy, Anish Giri, and Chess

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) named Anish Giri its “Person of the Day” for September 13, 2021. Giri had just won the Tolstoy Cup, a nine-round, all-play-all rapid chess event with a time control of 15 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move. Games won by Leo Tolstoy (in 1906) and by Anish Giri (in 2021) are explored. More 🡢

Igor Khmelnitsky and US Chess Board Member Kevin Pryor (August 2021)

You versus Bobby Fischer

International Master Igor Khmelnitsky participated in three U.S. Chess Championships. An actuary by profession, Khmelnitsky is also a chess player, coach, and author. In this article, I highlight one of his books, Chess Exam – Matches against Chess Legends: You vs. Bobby Fischer. More 🡢