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smoke, alcohol, sport and chess
You may have never imagined that some elements which seem to be irrelevant to chess can significantly influence players’ performance by affecting their health. Smoke The 8th World Champion Mikhail Tal was reproached for his addiction to smoking. Boris Spassky recollected
How to keep balance between chess & academics
Last September, I began my college life in London, with excitement, curiosity, and expectation. But at the same time, I felt worried. School would be very busy, and I would not be able to spend too much time on chess.
Confrontations during the cold war (5): the end of a perilous battle
Bobby Fischer Against the World, by Oliver Schopf It was 1992, 20 years since Fischer won the world champion title and disappeared from the chess world. The United States still maintained its strength and remained as the only superpower in
confrontations during the cold war (4): unimaginable “abdication”
Year 1972 was a turning point of the Cold War for the Soviet Union. Losing the honor of world champion, the Soviet government was in dismay, as if it had lost its decisive advantage against the United States. The person
Confrontations during the cold war (3): struggle to subvert the order
Spassky won the first game. In the second round, Fischer did not come. Spassky played the first move and waited for one hour. In this weird fashion Fischer lost another game. Fischer protested against the disturbance of TV cameras and
Confrontations during the cold war (2): dispute and compromise
The Candidate tournament in 1971 was the ideal tournament for Fischer. No one had thought that he would win the tournament so miraculously. He defeated Taimanov and Larsen with the identical perfect score 6-0, and defeated the previous world champion
Confrontations during the Cold war (1): the rising star of the united states
The Cold War was a fight without head-on clashes. Had there been a real war, the nuclear weapons of the two superpowers would have taken billions of lives, and brought the earth endless devastating catastrophes. It had to be a
chess talents of the soviet union (4): let machine cooperate with men
Chess engines are improving rapidly. In 1985, the World Champion Kasparov played against 32 chess computers and won all games. But in 1997, a supercomputer called Deep Blue challenged Kasparov and defeated him with difficulties. Kasparov recollected that he felt
Chess talents of the soviet union (3): the rebellious chess king
“My move gave Karpov a clever defense and suddenly he was one move from reclaiming his title. But his hurried response also proved second best, although our mutual exchange of errors would not be discovered until well after the game,”
Chess talents of the soviet union (2): the pioneer of computer chess
Botvinnik, the founder of Soviet chess school, became the World Champion in 1948. He should have been the World Champion Challenger of Alexander Alekhine, but this was cut short by Alekhine’s sudden death in 1946. Thus the 1948 World Chess
Chess talents of the soviet union (1): The rise of a superpower
The Soviet Union was a superpower in chess. From 1948, when the Soviet grandmaster Mikhail Botvinnik became the World Champion, to its collapse in 1991, the Soviet Union enjoyed hegemony in chess all the time, except for the three years
Chess Psychology (2): Strategies
Preparation before chess games or tournaments is important for players, and it involves the study of psychology. Which opening you choose and whether you intend to play aggressively or solidly, all these factors can be decisive to the result of a
Chess Psychology (1): “Drama” on the Chessboard
The results of chess games or tournaments are not only decided by the strength of players, but rather, psychology plays a crucial role. Some shrewd players manage to manipulate their facial expression and movement in order to make their opponents
GLORY TO “LOSERS” vol. 2: ANDERSSEN
In the history of World Chess Championships, since 1886, there were only sixteen champions, but there were many great chess players who remain unknown to the wider chess public. One of those is a German master Anderssen. Meet the second
GLORY TO “LOSERS” – vol. 1: CHIGORIN
There is room for only one champion at the time. In this series of articles, I focus on top chess masters that never set foot on a throne to become a world champion, although they were either very close to winning
Chess in the Turbulent Era – vol. 5
Alekhine, a Russian chess player you can read about in the previous article of the series, began to drink increasingly from the early 1930s. His health was severely harmed; that is one reason why he was defeated by Max Euwe,
Chess in the Turbulent Era – vol. 4
While the whole of Europe was drafted into the First World War, Russia quit halfway. There another genius player was born in 1892. Read about Alekhine, a player for whom chess was an irresistible desire. A dilemma If you stay, you
Chess in the Turbulent Era – vol. 3
Twenty years after Lasker, whom we meet in the previous article of the series, became the World Champion, the First World War begun. With Europe being in the center of this turbulent time of history, a young chess player in
Chess in the Turbulent Era – vol. 2
As we mentioned in the first article of the series, chess became a science under the first world champion Steinitz. On another side, the second world champion, Emanuel Lasker, integrated other subjects into chess. Find out more about his approaches
Chess in the Turbulent Era – vol. 1
Looking into chess development after ancient times brings us to the turbulent era before and during the First World War. In the first article from the new series on chess history meet Steinitz, one of the crucial figures in the
The Spread of Ancient Chess – vol. 2
After learning all about the beginnings of chess in the first article of the series, see the game of all games from a brand new perspective by learning about chess in the Prohibition and Renaissance era. As we mentioned last
The Spread of Ancient Chess – vol. 1
The game of chess has rich origins. In this series of articles, start the journey in 500 AD in India and learn how Arabs spread the knowledge of the game to the Middle East and Europe. By unfolding a part of the
