about chess

Falkbeer Countergambit

You’ve already seen that the King’s Gambit is a powerful weapon. If Black isn’t ready to respond properly in the opening, they will easily lose the game in a few moves. It’s clear as day that simply accepting the opponent’s sacrificed pawn is the wrong strategy. Why? It forces you to go on the defensive…

Borislav Ivanov – The False Prince Of Bulgaria 

Cheating is probably one of the biggest world chess problems. That means unfair play by participants. In most cases, it’s computer-assisted cues. However, today we’ll talk about the story of another cheater who became famous in the early 2010s. His name is Borislav Ivanov. Technologies are developing very fast: now everyone has access to the…

Defense Against the Scholar’s Mate

You probably already know how the scholar’s mate works. Now it’s time to learn how to save yourself from it! All players face such a threat from time to time. But there is nothing to be afraid of. We’ll tell you how to unfold a simple and reliable defense against the scholar’s mate. White goes…

Viswanathan Anand

This brilliant chess player is currently the world’s leading grandmaster. Thanks to his success, the game’s popularity skyrocketed in India, his home country. Viswanathan Anand was born in Mayiladuthurai, India, on December 11, 1969. However, his family soon moved to Madras (now Chennai, India’s chess capital). Vishy (as his fans call him) owes a great…

Mikhail Tal – Biography

Mikhail Tal, a Soviet chess player was a Grandmaster and the 8th World Champion in chess. Also, he was the World Blitz Champion. Years of life: 1936-1992. Mikhail was born in Riga to a Jewish family, on the 9th of November, 1936. His parents were cousins. Many researchers assume that it was the reason why…

Mikhail Botvinnik – Biography

Mikhail Botvinnik was a Soviet chess player, renowned grandmaster, the 6th Chess World Champion, and a Doctor of Engineering. He was born on August 4, 1911, in a family of dentists. Got into chess at a relatively late age of 12. From that moment on, he began to show intense interest in the sport. He…

Max Euwe – Biography

Max Euwe was a Dutch chess player, the 5th official World Chess Champion (1935-1937), and President of FIDE (1970-1978). He was born in Amsterdam on May 20th, 1901, in a teacher’s family. He learned to play at 4 years old from his parents, who were avid players. They even held friendly tournaments on a weekly…

Alexander Alekhine – Biography

Alexander Alekhine was a Russian chess player, the first champion of the Russian Soviet Republic, and the fourth official World Chess Champion. He was born in Moscow, in a prosperous family, on 10/19/1892. Alekhine’s father, Alexander Ivanovich, was a well-respected citizen and a member of the Fourth State Duma. Alekhine first became acquainted with chess…

José Raúl Capablanca – Biography

José Raúl Capablanca was a Cuban chess player (1888-1942) and the 3d World Champion in chess. He was a genius of middlegame/endgame, as well as a master of positional play.  The legend was born in Havana on the Cuban island, a colony of Spain. On the 19th of November, 1888 in the family of an army…

Emanuel Lasker – Biography

Emanuel Lasker was a famous German chess player. The 2nd World Chess Champion who kept his title for 27 years. This is an unsurpassable record for the whole history of the game.  The beginning of the path The chess legend was born in a town called Berlinchen in East Prussia, on the 24th of December,…