Learning Chess

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

Hand & Brain Chess

Chess variants where one plays with a partner, such as bughouse, tandem chess, or hand & brain, are amusing. In contrast to a standard chess game, where you control each of your moves, your partner may make a move for your team that you didn’t expect. Likewise, parts-of-speech games entertain because of unexpected results. More 🡢

The Cunning Cavalry of Chess

Grandmaster Sergey Kasparov has undertaken an ambitious task in his fifties. He is writing one book about each chessman. Published by Russell Enterprises, the “Power of the Pieces Series” began with The Bishop: Danger on the Diagonal. The second book in the series is The Knight: The Cunning Cavalry. More 🡢

Joys and sorrows of over-the-board and online chess

On July 18-19, WIM Alexey Root played in the third annual Queen City of the Prairie Open and Fort Worth Championship. More 🡢

This is why we play chess: Gata Kamsky

Grandmaster Gata Kamsky lives in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and is married to Woman Grandmaster Vera Nebolsina. Kamsky is a former World Chess Championship challenger. In this article, I look at one recent Kamsky win, which he played and commented on live on Twitch. More 🡢

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 🡢

Anish Giri: Grandmaster, Comedian, Lyricist

Grandmaster Anish Giri is ranked 10th in the world in chess. Giri also tells jokes and writes lyrics. Understanding his games and other creations usually requires an insider’s knowledge of chess. More 🡢

John Hendrick, photo by Dr. Greg Beaulieu

From Teenage Chess Students to Exemplary Adults

When I lived in Austin, Texas, from 1992 to 1996, I taught group chess classes and private chess lessons. Two of my private students were Heather Flewelling and John Hendrick. Heather became an astrophysicist and John became a chess teacher. This article is about their passion for chess. More 🡢

In-person Chess Teaching in the Time of Pandemic

One casualty of the pandemic has been in-person chess classes. With schools closed, on-site chess programs are closed too and many instructors lost their jobs. More 🡢