Levon Aronian

Levon Grigori Aronian (1982-) is an Armenian chess player. In 2000 he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE. In 2019 he was number 1 in Armenia and seventh in the world rankings.

The Saint Louis Chess Conference: Grandmaster Maurice Ashley

The Saint Louis Chess Conference will be October 24–26. If you are interested in presenting, the proposal submission deadline is April 5. Early bird pricing ends on April 30. Keynote speakers are Grandmasters Maurice Ashley and Judit Polgár and former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. More 🡢

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, “Do ratings favorites win World Chess Championship qualifiers?” More 🡢

2022 American Cup: Double Elimination Chess

From April 18–29, 2022, the Saint Louis Chess Club held the American Cup. The tournament’s format was a rare one for chess: double elimination. With $300,000 in prize money on the line, each game counted. 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 🡢

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 🡢

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave; Photo courtesy of the Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes

Queen Sacrifices by Top-Level Chess Players

Sacrificing a queen is rare in chess games. Since the queen is the most valuable piece, giving her up for lesser chessmen or for an attack is difficult to contemplate. Within the last two months, two top-level chess players have sacrificed their queens. More 🡢

World Cup

The skill of “dribbling” in soccer is perhaps the game’s most fundamental skill. Dribbling is running or moving with the ball under the control of your feet. Beginners learn how to dribble and World Cup players demonstrate excellent dribbling in their games. Likewise, as a beginning or intermediate chess player, you learn the endgame checkmates. The king and queen versus king and rook win should be in the top of the endgame fundamentals that you learn and practice. More 🡢