Chess News

General chess-related articles and information about SparkChess development; this section is for everyone interested in chess.

Magnus Carlsen vs Fabiano Caruana

World Chess Championship 2018: Fabiano Caruana vs Magnus Carlsen – Game 1

The first match was a grueling marathon that lasted 7 hours, and although Carlsen had the advantage, he wasn’t able to convert it to a win. More 🡢
Opening Ceremony-UT Dallas

Svetozar Gligorić Transatlantic Cup: UT Dallas wins!

At the same time that Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen played that marathon-length game, 16 students from The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) took on their counterparts from the University of Belgrade. The Svetozar Gligorić Transatlantic Cup is played via the Internet Chess Club and the games are available here. The Svetozar Gligorić Transatlantic Cup is an annual fall tradition. This year, the 13th in the series, UT Dallas won 12.5 to 3.5. Wins count as one point, draws as .5 points each. In this year’s match, UT Dallas lost only one game, drew five games, and won 10 games. A big improvement for UT Dallas from last year, which was an 8-8 tie! More 🡢
Magnus Carlsen vs Fabiano Caruana

Myths and unknowns about chess and the contenders for the World Chess Championship

If Fabiano Caruana wins the World Chess Championship match against champion Magnus Carlsen this month, he will be the first American to hold the championship title since Bobby Fischer won it in 1972. The match between Caruana, age 26, and Carlsen, age 27, of Norway, takes place in London, England, from Nov. 9 to 28. More 🡢
Ding Liren

Overloading at the Chess Olympiad

Teams from China won both the Open section and the Women’s section of the 43rd Chess Olympiad, which took place in Batumi, Georgia. Grandmaster Ding Liren was first board for China’s Open section team. This article features a tactic, overloading, from his win over Grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland. More 🡢
Strke Like Judit! The winning tactics of chess legend Judit polgar

Judit Polgar: Chess Connects Us

Although Grandmaster Judit Polgar retired from playing top-level competitive chess in 2014, she is one of the game’s most active promoters. On October 13, 2018, the second Saturday in October and thus also National Chess Day in the United States, Judit and her sister Sofia will give a simultaneous chess exhibition (a “simul”) as part of the Global Chess Festival. More 🡢
Chess Event

Queen of Katwe visits California

Although chess is a game of conflict, with White and Black battling to defeat each other, the world of chess features heart-warming stories of cooperation and success. The critically-acclaimed film Queen of Katwe tells the story of Phiona Mutesi. Phiona grew up in the slums of Katwe in Uganda. After attending the Sports Outreach Mission chess program as a girl, she became the first Woman Candidate Master from Uganda. 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 🡢
Chess photo

Final Four of College Chess 2018 – The Winner is…

In my first article for SparkChess, I asked readers to predict the finish order of the teams playing in the 2018 Final Four of College Chess (formally known as the President’s Cup). The President Cup’s award ceremony was on April 1. The winner was The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), with seven-and-a-half (7.5) points out of a possible 12 points. Second place was Webster University (WU) with seven (7) points, third place was Texas Tech University (TTU) with five (5) points, and Saint Louis University (SLU) was in last place with four-and-a-half (4.5) points. More 🡢