WIM Alexey Root, PhD and William Root

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.

William Root was a public school music teacher. William also taught chess in schools and camps. Now, he works in a library. His US Chess rating is 1743.

books

Full-ride College Chess Scholarships

Full-ride scholarships cover four years of college expenses, including tuition, fees, books, housing, and meals. Several U.S. universities offer full-ride college chess scholarships. While players with FIDE titles are most likely to be awarded full-ride college chess scholarships, players with ratings as low as 2300 US Chess have been awarded these scholarships. More šŸ”¢

The London System

The London System Compared to the c3 Colle

The c3 Colle is suitable for beginners. It establishes a d4-pawn in the center and has easy to understand plans. Like the c3 Colle, the London System is an opening system. Opening systems are good for beginners because they do not often require adapting to opponentsā€™ moves. Still, White must always be paying attention to Blackā€™s moves. More šŸ”¢

Best 7 chess openings

Best Seven Chess Openings for Beginners (Part Two)

The classical way to control the center is to occupy it with one or more pawns. The four chess openings discussed in this article establish a d-pawn in the center. The center consists of the squares e4, e5, d4, and d5. A d-pawn is defended by oneā€™s queen, a good thing because that defense lessens the chances that beginners will emerge from their openings a pawn down. More šŸ”¢

King's Indian Attack

Best Seven Chess Openings for Beginners (Part One)

Beginnersā€™ chess games often include blunders in the first ten moves. For example, beginners may lose to the Scholar’s Mate in just four moves. Good chess openings for beginners avoid opening traps, are easy to memorize, and follow opening principles. This ā€œPart Oneā€ article introduces three chess openings; a ā€œPart Twoā€ article will give four more openings. More šŸ”¢

Hans Niemann

Is Hans Niemann the second-best classical chess player of 2022?

Imagine a ranking system in which defeating the World Chess Champion trumps other considerations. In this system, Hans Niemann would be #2 for 2022. Niemann is the only player with a classical chess win over World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen. This imaginary system is more like sports rankings than chess rankings and is loosely based on the Morphy number. More šŸ”¢

Ding Liren

Do favorites win World Chess Championship qualifiers?

Earlier in this World Chess Championship cycle was the 2021 World Cup. Its top two finishers earned spots in the 2022 FIDE Candidates Tournament. To pair its single elimination matches, the World Cup ranks each of its participants by their chess ratings. Thus, the World Cup provides data for the question, ā€œDo ratings favorites win World Chess Championship qualifiers?ā€ More šŸ”¢

Ian Nepomniachtchi

Greatest World Chess Champion of All Time?

How to judge which world chess champion is the greatest of all time? One might look at the number of years that the champion held the title, inflation-adjusted peak rating, dominance over peers, or abilities as a chess ambassador. Another criterion, adopted by this article, is how many different challengers has each world chess champion faced. More šŸ”¢

GM Nigel and IM Sophie Milliet in a round of Chess Thai Boxing

Chess Prizes in 2020: Who leads?

Who do you think are the top two chess prize money winners so far in 2020? I guessed World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen and Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. I was wrong. Two women lead the list. Read this article to learn who leads, and for a winning chess move by a former World Chess Championship Challenger and current FIDE Vice President. More šŸ”¢