Mark's Chess Blog

Do you know when International Chess Day is observed? According to one source, '20 July; International Chess Day is marked on the day of foundation (1924) of the International Chess Federation (FIDE).' ... Read More

Sharp eyed visitors to About Chess might have noticed that the number of blog posts on the home page has been reduced from *lots* to two. What happened to the ... Read More

Learn from the World Chess Champions! The instructional series Every Move Explained features games from many of the World Champions (and near World Champions). These are short, tactical games where ... Read More

Looking for information about chess history? Don't miss our topic Chess History. It has six subtopics that include five of its own: Chess Events Man - Machine Matches Olympiads World Championships Years in Review and one related subtopic ... Read More

Congratulations to Yury Shulman, the 2008 U.S. Champion, and to Anna Zatonskih, the 2008 U.S. Women's Champion! In forum thread 2008 U.S. Championship we tracked the action using links from USchess.org, the ... Read More

GM Vassily Ivanchuk won the category 20, six player, double round robin M-Tel Masters, held 8-18 May 2008, at Sofia, Bulgaria. After winning the first lap with a perfect 5-0 score, he coasted to victory with four ... Read More

About Chess has an abundance of material on all aspects of the game, including basic beginner's material. How to Play Chess • The Rules: How to set up a chess board, move the pieces, ... Read More

GM Viswanathan Anand of India won the annual Chess Oscar, ahead of second place Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), and third place Gata Kamsky (USA). Among his other accomplishments in 2007, Anand ... Read More

In microscopic view of e5, forum member baltimoretom once again shares his special way of looking at chess moves. Along with 'Secret micropscopic view of e5', you'll find 'Torres versus (temporarily forgot name of ... Read More

It can't be a coincidence. Whenever the Chess Collectors International (CCI) meet, chess collector stories follow in the mainstream press. Here's an announcement from the U.S. Chess Federation about the CCI's ... Read More

Although chess is a difficult game, there are many rules of thumb that help guide you through the complications. Our tips cover general considerations, openings, middle games, and endgames, all ... Read More

Along with the Baku Grand Prix, the Russian Team Championship, Gausdal, and the start of the European Individual Championship (Plovdiv, Bulgaria), a favorite topic of the chess blogs in April ... Read More

The 2008 M-Tel Masters is the fourth edition of the supergrandmaster event that introduced the 'no agreed draws' rule to professional chess. While the rule doesn't eliminate draws completely, it does eliminate ... Read More

Three players tied for first in the 14-player FIDE Grand Prix tournament held 20 April through 6 May at Baku, Azerbaijan. Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan finished first on tiebreak ahead of Wang Yue and Magnus ... Read More

Here are some recommended opening moves to get you started in a game of chess. The key to these recommendations is that you play 1.e4 as White, and symmetrical responses ... Read More

The month of May means M-Tel, the elite, six-player double round robin tournament held in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. M-Tel means Sofia Rules, designed to combat the agreed draws, ... Read More

In WuChess, we posted email from a correspondent: 'I assume you've been following the story of Chesspark.com teaming with the RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan and the Hip Hop Chess Federation ... Read More

A Friday post in March titled Leonardo da Vinci Played Chess, should have ended with a question mark: Leonardo da Vinci Played Chess?. As one Leonardo scholar put it, 'There is not an ... Read More