Top 40 (Online) Chess Events, Resources and Boards
CHESS is a two-player strategy board game played on a chessboard, a checkered gameboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide in homes, parks, clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.
Each player begins the game with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. Each of the six piece types moves differently. Pieces are used to attack and capture the opponent's pieces, with the objective to 'checkmate' the opponent's king by placing it under an inescapable threat of capture. In addition to checkmate, the game can be won by the voluntary resignation of the opponent, which typically occurs when too much material is lost, or if checkmate appears unavoidable. A game may also result in a draw in several ways, where neither player wins. The course of the game is divided into three phases: opening, middlegame, and endgame.
The first official World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title in 1886; the current World Champion is Norwegian chess Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen. In addition to the World Championship, there are the Women's World Championship, the Junior World Championship, the World Senior Championship, the Correspondence Chess World Championship, the World Computer Chess Championship, and Blitz and Rapid World Championships. The Chess Olympiad is a popular competition among teams from different nations. Online chess has opened amateur and professional competition to a wide and varied group of players. Chess is a recognized sport of the International Olympic Committee and international chess competition is sanctioned by the World Chess Federation (FIDE), which adopted the now-standard Staunton chess set in 1924 for use in all official games. There are also many chess variants, with different rules, different pieces, and different boards.
Since the second half of the 20th century, computers have been programmed to play chess with increasing success, to the point where the strongest home computers play chess at a higher level than the best human players. In the past two decades computer analysis has contributed significantly to chess theory, particularly in the endgame. The computer Deep Blue was the first machine to overcome a reigning World Chess Champion in a match when it defeated Garry Kasparov in 1997.
Chess Events & Tournaments
- Linares chess tournament - since 1978. Sometimes described as the Wimbledon of chess.
- List of strong chess tournaments - this article depicts many of the strongest international chess tournaments in history.
- Sinquefield Cup - since 2013. Annual, invitation-only chess tournament in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, honoring Rex Sinquefield and his wife Jeanne, the founders of the Saint Louis Chess Club. Since 2015, the Sinquefield Cup has been a part of the Grand Chess Tour.
- The FISCHER Random Chess Championship 2019 - was the first world championship in Fischer Random Chess officially recognized by the international chess federation FIDE. The winner of the final was Wesley So, defeating Magnus Carlsen 13.5–2.5, to become the first FIDE world champion in Fischer Random Chess. Over the course of the competition, various time controls were applied, with longer games being weighted more heavily.
- World Chess Championship 2023 - The match is scheduled to be between the current World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, and the winner of the 2022 Candidates Tournament. However a few days after the previous championship in 2021, Carlsen said he may not be motivated enough to play another world championship match, and might not compete in the 2023 edition unless the challenger is Alireza Firouzja, who rose to number two in the world rankings in 2021. In April 2022 he went further, saying he was unlikely to play, making no mention of Firouzja. If Carlsen decides not to play, and if the match has the same conditions as the 2021 match, then the top two finishers in the 2022 Candidates will play a match for the World Championship.
Chess Media
- Chess Life - since 1946. The official magazines published by the United States Chess Federation (US Chess).
- Chess Magazine - since 1935. Chess magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom by Chess and Bridge Limited.
- Chess Today - was the first, and longest running, Internet-only daily chess newspaper,[1] having continued virtually uninterrupted from 7 November 2000 through to December 2020.
- List of chess periodicals - Wikipedia.
Chess News, Reviews & Resources
- 12-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra becomes youngest grandmaster in chess history - "To become a grandmaster in chess, a player must achieve three grandmaster norms - an award given for a high level of performance in a chess tournament - as well as achieving an 2500 Elo rating given out by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), the rankings that govern international chess competition."
- 16-year-old Indian chess sensation Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa stuns world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen - "Praggnanandhaa, nicknamed Pragg, belied his age and his experience as he remained cool and collected, while Carlsen appeared to make mistakes to present opportunities to the Indian youngster. And although the five-time world champion fought to get back into the game, Pragg didn't give him an opening, eventually holding on for a famous victory in the rapid chess tournament."
- An insight into the mind of a chess grandmaster - "How do you become a chess grandmaster? Magnus Carlsen is here to tell you."
- Armageddon - a game guaranteed to produce a result, because Black has draw odds (that is, for Black, a draw is equal to a victory). To compensate, White has more time on the clock. Common times are six minutes for White and five for Black, or five minutes for White and four for Black. This can also be played with a small increment. This is also known as "time odds" and it is used in various tie breaks for quick tournaments.
- BOBBY FISCHER - Wikipedia.
- Bobby Fischer - The match with Spassky (1972) - Game 4 - Sicilian Defense (B88). YouTube 26:04.
- Bobby Fischer Against the World - documentary feature film that explores the life of chess Grandmaster and 11th World Champion Bobby Fischer. YouTube 1:14:53.
- Bullet Chess - definition & explanation.
- CAFÉ DE LA RÉGENCE - in Paris was an important European centre of chess in the 18th and 19th centuries. All important chess masters of the time played there. It was opened as the Café de la Place du Palais-Royal near the Palais-Royal, Paris in 1681. By the 18th century it was known as the Café de la Régence ("Regency Café"). In 1852 the café moved temporarily to hôtel Dodun, 21 Rue de Richelieu. In 1854 the Café de la Régence moved to 161 Rue Saint-Honoré and remained there until it became a restaurant in 1910. The chess players moved to the café de l'Univers in 1916 and the Office national marocain du tourisme (National Moroccan Tourist Office) took over the site in 1918.
- Carlsen & Nepomniachtchi draw chess world title opener after flag furore - "Russian flag banned in buildup to showdown in Dubai. Defending champion Carlsen says he ‘was a little bit shaky’."
- Carlsen draws first blood against Nepomniachtchi in world title battle - "Carlsen edges longest game in world championship history. Both players miss chances in 136-move game-six epic. The gruelling back-and-forth marathon was the longest game in the 135-year history of world championship matchplay - surpassing the 124-move stalemate in game five of the 1978 title match between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in 1978 - with both players missing winning opportunities under extreme clock pressure at the first time control."
- Carlsen extends record unbeaten streak after beating world No 2 Caruana - "Norway’s world champion outplays his US rival in a 51-move rook ending in Stavanger amid multiple anti-coronavirus precautions."
- Carlsen v Niemann debate rages on after world champion resigns after one move - "Both hope for a quarter-final place at the Julius Baer Generation Cup so a possible third encounter could lie in wait."
- CHESS - Wikipedia.
- Chess 'boom' fueled by hit Netflix show - "Hit Netflix show 'The Queen's Gambit' will speed up chess 'boom,' say grandmasters."
- Chess champion Magnus Carlsen moves to top of world fantasy football rankings - "Magnus Carlsen, the world’s best chess player for the last decade, is leading the Premier League’s official fantasy football table, beating over seven million players. The Norwegian says his Premier League success is down to luck."
- Chess Championship Returns to New York - The New York Times.
- CHESS NEWS - chess news, chess programs, games, tournaments and databases.
- Chess Olympiad: India & Russia both get gold after controversial final - "India and Russia have been declared joint winners of a major international chess tournament after two Indian players lost their internet connection during the final round."
- Chess opening - Wikipedia.
- Chess robot breaks seven-year-old boy's finger during Moscow Open - "A robot broke a seven-year-old boy's finger during a chess match in Moscow last week, Russian news outlets report."
- Chess robot grabs & breaks finger of seven-year-old opponent - "Moscow incident occurred because child ‘violated’ safety rules by taking turn too quickly, says official."
- CHESS TOURNAMENT - series of chess games played competitively to determine a winning individual or team. Since the first international chess tournament in London, 1851, chess tournaments have become the standard form of chess competition among serious players.
- Chess.com swallows Play Magnus while Kushal Jakhria sets new world mark - "The merger between the two largest online chess groups will give the US-backed chess.com a dominant position, while the seven-year-old has set a record for the youngest ever 2000 national rating."
- ChessBomb - "Watch live chess online with computer analysis."
- CHESSCAFE.COM - daily chess news links.
- CHESSDOM - "Chess, chess news, live chess games." Chessdom is dedicated to professional and independent coverage of chess news and events from all over the globe! Join us for live chess games, interviews, video and photo reports, and social media reactions. Follow the development of the strongest chess software, which affects all chess today, via the Top Chess Engine Championship with its 24/7 live broadcast with chat.
- chessgames.com - "Online chess database and community."
- Cold War Intrigue in Chess Championship - The New York Times.
 - Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov - February, 1996.
- ELO RATING SYSTEM - method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess.
 - EMANUEL LASKER - (1868-1941). German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years (from 1894 to 1921). In his prime Lasker was one of the most dominant champions, and he is still generally regarded as one of the strongest players ever.
- Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (ECO) - classification system for the opening moves in chess. It is presented as a five-volume book collection (now also a computer database) describing chess openings.
- Fast Chess | Speed Chess - a type of chess game in which each side is given less time to make their moves than under the normal tournament time controls of 60 to 180 minutes per player.
- FIDE | FÉdÉration Internationale des Échecs - since 1950. World Chess Federation. Awards several performance-based titles to chess players. Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and norms (performance benchmarks in competitions including other titled players). Once awarded, FIDE titles are held for life.
- FIDE publishes the official statement on the Carlsen - Niemann case - "After Hans Niemann defeated the World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in the third round of the Sinquefield Cup 2022, Carlsen decided to withdraw from the tournament without detailed explanations. Rumors that Magnus Carlsen suspected Niemann was cheating started spreading over social media and the controversy over the Niemann - Carlsen case is not stopping. While Niemann spoke on the case on several occasions, the World Chess Champion gave his first interview on the case two days ago saying that cheaters should not be taken lightly either online or over the board."
- Fischer random chess - also known as Chess960, is a variation of the game of chess invented by former world chess champion Bobby Fischer. Fischer random chess employs the same board and pieces as classical chess, but the starting position of the pieces on the players' home ranks is randomized, following certain rules. The random setup makes gaining an advantage through the memorization of openings impracticable; players instead must rely more on their talent and creativity over the board.
- FranÇois-AndrÉ Danican Philidor - (1726-1795). Was a French composer and chess player. He is regarded as the best chess player of his age; his book Analyse du jeu des ÉÉchecs was considered a standard chess manual for at least a century. A well-known chess opening and a checkmate method are both named after him.
- Garry Kasparov Unveils Chess Esports Masterclasses For Future Stars - "Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov may have retired from competition over 15 years ago, but that’s not stopping him from his desire to help create the champions of tomorrow–and at a time when chess esports are bigger than ever. Through his Kasparovchess platform–which Kasparov launched in April in conjunction with global media company Vivendi - the Russian grandmaster has announced an exclusive 55-part masterclass for his multimedia chess playing and content portal, adding to the puzzles, online matchmaking, news coverage, tutorials, articles, and documentaries already offered by the service."
- going out of book - "When players go out of book, they enter territory where they must think on their own and respond to and engage their opponents independently, strategically, intuitively, decisively. They no longer simply algorithmically follow what has been done before. They have to create and improvise, and this is what makes chess such a gripping human enterprise."
- GRANDMASTER - Wikipedia.
- Grandmasters complain London's World Chess Championship logo looks like the Kama Sutra - The Telegraph.
- He's the prodigy who became an all-time great. Now he wants to revolutionize chess - "Magnus Carlsen: 'My emotions are usually outside my body and that's not what you usually connect to a chess player.'"
- Here's how to play Facebook Messenger's secret chess game - The Verge.
- How The Queen's Gambit became Netflix's unlikeliest hit of the year - "The glossy series on an orphaned girl’s inexorable rise to chess stardom is now the streamer’s most-watched scripted limited series of all time."
- How to get good at chess - "You don’t have to be a polymath like Beth Harmon in The Queen’s Gambit to improve your game."
- I never thought I was a chess person. Then Covid came, and I've found the game cathartic - "Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit has thousands of people interested in chess. The game is a great personal comfort for me."
- ICC | Internet Chess Club - founded in 1995. Commercial Internet chess server devoted to the play and discussion of chess and chess variants. ICC currently has over 30,000 subscribing members.
- In Just 4 Hours, Google's AI Mastered All The Chess Knowledge in History - Science Alert.
- King of chess Magnus Carlsen calls in Microsoft to fight off Russian hackers - The Telegraph.
- King's Gambit - chess opening that begins with the moves: e4, e5 & f4. White offers a pawn to divert the black e-pawn. If Black accepts the gambit, White has two main plans. The first is to play d4 and Bxf4, regaining the gambit pawn with central domination.
- Knock-out Tournament - definition & explanation.
- KRIEGSPIEL - Wikipedia.
- Lewis chessmen piece bought for £5 in 1964 could sell for £1m - "Missing walrus tusk warrior was purchased in Edinburgh and stored in a drawer."
- List of chess openings - Wikipedia.
- List of chess world champions - Wikipedia.
- List of chess world championship matches - Wikipedia.
- Long-lost medieval chess piece fetches $929K at auction - CNN style.
- Lost chess piece bought for $6 worth over $1M - "Lost Lewis Chessman worth over $1 million found in drawer."
- Magnus Carlsen - 'The Mozart of Chess.' Norwegian chess grandmaster, reigning World Chess Champion and the No. 1 ranked player in the world. His peak rating is 2872, the highest in history.
- Magnus Carlsen & Hans Niemann: The cheating row that's blowing up the chess world - "When Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann sat down to play each other earlier this month in the third round of chess's Sinquefield Cup, few could have predicted the chaos that would unfold."
- Magnus Carlsen breaks record for longest unbeaten streak in chess history - "World’s No 1 chess player makes it 111 games without defeat. Carlsen eclipses record set by Russia’s Sergei Tiviakov in 2005."
- Magnus Carlsen gets revenge on 16-year-old Iranian sensation in world's richest online chess tournament - "A few days after he was shocked by 16-year-old chess sensation Alireza Firouzja, world champion Magnus Carlsen has enacted his revenge on the Iranian."
- Magnus Carlsen in Olympiad action as world No 1 targets record rating - "The newly retired world champion will aim for a high score at Chennai to boost his chances of reaching the 2900 target which has twice narrowly eluded him."
- Magnus Carlsen is closing in on his target of a 2900 rating - The Guardian.
- Magnus Carlsen leaves Sinquefield Cup amid Niemann chess ‘cheating’ furore - "World champion withdraws from tournament after defeat. Hikarua Nakamura says Niemann ‘probably cheating’."
- Magnus Carlsen may opt against world chess defence due to lack of motivation - "Magnus Carlsen says he is ready to shock the chess world by giving up his world championship title – because defending it no longer motivates him. The five-time world champion retained the classical title in emphatic style in Dubai last week, crushing his Russian challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi 7½-3½, but now says he has other priorities."
- Magnus Carlsen retains world chess title after final Ian Nepomniachtchi blunder - "The imperious Magnus Carlsen confirmed his long-held place as the best chess player on the planet on Friday by retaining the world championship with a fourth win over Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 11th encounter of their showdown in Dubai."
- Magnus Carlsen will not defend his World Chess Championship title in 2023 - "Magnus Carlsen says he will not defend his World Chess Championship title in 2023 against Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi. The five-times winner is not retiring but promising 'to be the best in the world' even if that means taking no part in chess’s showpiece event."
- Magnus Carlsen’s epochal world title triumph proves an antidote to perfection - "The game of chess itself was the ultimate winner as Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi provided a human drama in the age of supercomputers."
- Magnus Carlsen's tense victory sends interest in chess soaring - "Intensity of championship and ease of watching the game online is bringing it to a wider audience."
- Manhattan Chess Club - was the second-oldest chess club in the United States (next to the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club in San Francisco) before it closed. The club was founded in 1877 and started with three dozen men, eventually increasing to hundreds, with women allowed as members from 1938. The club moved to several locations over the years. It closed in 2002.
- Marshall Chess Club - in Greenwich Village, New York City, is one of the oldest chess clubs in the United States. The club was formed in 1915.
- Pawn Sacrifice - American biographical thriller film directed by Edward Zwick and written by Steven Knight. The film stars Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer, Liev Schreiber as Boris Spassky, and Lily Rabe as Joan Fischer.
- Praggnanandhaa: How India is emerging as a chess powerhouse - "The frail-looking 16-year-old boy is the third Indian to beat world champion Magnus Carlsen in a tournament."
- Queen's Gambit: Meet the real Beth Harmon - "Judit Polgár became a chess grandmaster at 15 and beat the best just like the 'Queen's Gambit' protagonist Beth Harmon."
- Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa: After beating Magnus Carlsen, Indian teen chess sensation's first thought was to catch up on sleep - "While most people slumber, one 16-year-old sits back in his chair, covering his mouth with his hand in shock. It's dawning on him the magnitude of what he's just done. Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has just stunned Magnus Carlsen, grabbing a seat at the top table of the sport by beating chess' most dominant player."
- Round-Robin Tournament - definition & explanation.
- RULES OF CHESS - Wikipedia.
- 'Star Wars' holographic chess game is nearly a reality - engadget.
- The Grandmaster Who Got Twitch Hooked on Chess - "Hikaru Nakamura is the top-ranked blitz chess player in the world - and his channel has seen a meteoric rise as he coaches streamers in the ancient game."
- The Tortured Faces of International Tournament Chess Players - Wired.
- This wooden globe chess board uses magnets to change up the game - The Verge.
- Tournament categories - FIDE classifies tournaments according to the average Elo rating of the participants.
- USCF | THE UNITED STATES CHESS FEDERATION
- WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP - Wikipedia.
- WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 1972 - American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer and Soviet-French chess grandmaster Boris Spassky playing for the world championsship in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1972.
- WORLD CHESS FEDERATION | FIDE - since 1950.
- Zugzwang - definition & explanation.
Online Chess
 - CHESS24.COM - "Play, Learn & Watch Live Tournaments." Internet chess server in English and nine other languages, established in 2014 by German grandmaster Jan Gustafsson and Enrique Guzman. Among people collaborating with chess24 are World Champions, Grandmasters and International Masters including Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, Peter Svidler, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Francisco Vallejo Pons, David Anton Guijarro, Dorsa Derakhshani, Lawrence Trent, Sopiko Guramishvili, and Hou Yifan.
- CHESS.COM - since 2005. "Play Chess for Free on the #1 Site!" Internet chess server, news website and social networking website.[3] The site has a freemium model in which some features are available for free, and others for accounts with subscriptions. Live online chess can be played against other users at daily, rapid, blitz or bullet time controls, with a number of chess variants available. Chess versus a chess engine, computer analysis, chess puzzles and teaching resources are also offered. 57 languages. Users (2022): 77 million+.
- CHESS.NET - "A creative chess online community."
- INTERNET CHESS CLUB | ICC - since 1995. "The longest running, most popular & hands down best place to play chess on the Internet." Play with people from around the world. Improve with a brand new Learning Center. Watch thousands of top-quality video lessons. Learn from the world’s best masters. Impromptu tournaments and live event coverage. Best Support anywhere!
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