All About Chess

Chess-related article archive, from news about SparkChess to in-depth chess lessons and strategies, commented games, analysis and more.

Final Four of College Chess – and YOU could be a Winner!

New year, new contest! Read on for which colleges are competing in the 2019 Final Four, coming up April 6-7 at the Marshall Chess Club in New York City. Predict the winner and the order in which the four teams finish to win a SparkChess Premium Live Membership. More 🡢

Infographic: All World Chess Champions

We all know that Magnus Carlsen is the World Chess Champion, but who was the first one? And when? Even less is known about women champions. You probably have heard about Susan Polgar, but who is the current woman chess champion? More 🡢

Infographic: Chess Players Titles and Ratings in 2019

Have you ever wondered just how many chess players are in the world? How many of them are women? And what’s with all the titles like chess master and international master? Who is the top chess player ever? More 🡢

Infographic: Countries With Most Chess Grandmasters

Have you ever wondered which countries produced more chess grandmasters? Or in which countries are women more interested in chess? Is there a correlation between the population of the country and the number of grandmasters it produced? More 🡢

Elliott Neff teaching Boys & Girls Club children how to play chess- Fall 2016. Photo by Sarah Smoots

Chess coach Elliott Neff answers your questions

Thirty-two SparkChess readers had questions for chess coach Elliott Neff. Alexey Root chose the best ones and Elliott has the answers. All five readers received one-year Premium Live SparkChess memberships. Read on to find out which of the five also won a one-year Chess4Life Online Premium membership. More 🡢

Elliott and Phiona on the Red Carpet in Hollywood, CA, September 2016

Prizes for your questions for chess coach Elliott Neff

Want to win a one-year SparkChess Premium Live membership and a one-year Chess4Life Online Premium membership (valued at $99) at online.chess4life.com? In the comments to this article, ask National Master Elliott Neff a question. On May 25, SparkChess writer Alexey Root will select the five best questions from the comments. The commenters who asked the “five best” questions will each win a one-year Premium Live membership to SparkChess. More 🡢

The “ask a chess celebrity” winners are…

SparkChess readers had questions for chess IM John Bartholomew. We decided which questions were the best ones. All five readers received one-year Premium Live SparkChess memberships. Read on to find out which of the five also won a three-month PRO membership to Chessable and for John Bartholomew’s answers. More 🡢

Prizes for your questions for chess celebrity John Bartholomew

Want to win a three-month PRO membership to Chessable or a one-year SparkChess Premium Live membership? In the comments to this article, ask International Master John Bartholomew a question. On April 22, I will select the five best questions from the comments. Those “five best” will each win a one-year Premium Live membership to SparkChess. Then John will choose the very best question from my top five. The person who asked that “best question” will receive both a one-year Premium Live membership to SparkChess and a three-month PRO membership to Chessable. John will answer all five questions in my next article for Spark Chess. Read on to win (and to learn the Lucena position). More 🡢