Mark's Chess Blog

If you look at the list of current chess bestsellers on Amazon.com, you can't help but notice that two books by Robert M. Snyder rank first and third. We recently ... Read More

Linares, usually the strongest chess tournament in the world in any given year, is under increasing criticism that the seven player, double round robin format is conducive to draws. Let ... Read More

According to at least one chess champion, Chess Proverbs Fit The Sport of Boxing. The BoxingScene.com article by Tom Donelson discusses six chess proverbs and their appropriateness to boxing. We had never heard ... Read More

Eight weeks after our last report (31 December 2004) on Robert J. Fischer's detention in Japan and seven months after he was first detained, Bobby was again making mainstream news. When we last reported ... Read More

When we created this category, its original name was 'Magazines and Columns'. Some months later we added 'Blogs'. If you're scratching your head wondering, 'What's a blog?', the best way ... Read More

In Halloween Gambit, Cutip47 asks, 'What does everyone think of the Halloween Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5)? What are some lines for white?' • Do you know the difference between the ... Read More

The chess cup runneth over. This week we offer an overview of upcoming world class events, including the Linares super grandmaster tournament, the Aeroflot Open, the HB Global Challenge, World Championship reunification, the FIDE World ... Read More

'What could possibly be less romantic than chess?' you might be asking. After all, chess is a game of war based on logic, isn't it? Chess once served a social ... Read More

In Opening vs Endgame Study, SteveToyne asks, 'If you had to choose one, which do you think is more beneficial for chess improvement and is more important?' • It's no secret that ... Read More

This week we take off our 'lovers of chess' cap. After blowing off the dust accumulated since Valentine's Day 2004, we put on our 'chess for lovers' cap. Although chess and love don't have ... Read More

Introducing our new email course Chess 102. Learn to play better chess in six email lessons, one lesson per day. In these lessons, we introduce the principles behind openings, middle ... Read More

What was the top chess story of 2004? The polls are closed, the votes are in, and Bobby Fischer detained in Japan wins by a landslide. We join chess fans around ... Read More

FIDE is promoting a new chess program to 'train the trainers', a concept which we wholeheartedly approve. IM Jovan Petronic, Chairman of the FIDE Computer and Internet Chess Committee, has submitted a ... Read More

What if they cancelled the World Chess Championship. Would anyone care? We don't have to guess the answer. It's happened twice in the last few months. First, FIDE pulled the plug on its World ... Read More