How does the Queen move in chess?

We all know the chess King is the most important chess piece on the board. But we also know the King is not the most valuable piece on the board as far as mobility goes. Who is the most valuable piece on the board? I present to you, the Queen! When we look at comparative piece value on the chessboard, the pawn = 1, Bishop and Knight = 3, Rook = 5, and Queen = 9. No wonder people make a fuss about losing their Queen! She is almost twice as valuable as … Read more

How does the pawn move in chess?

“Pawns are the souls of chess”. These were the words of Francois Andre Danican Philidor. The pawns are extremely mysterious pieces. They seem so non-valuable, yet they have great potential. So to learn how the pawn moves in chess, as well as key strategies that pertain to them, are critical.

Compared to the Queen (9), Rook (5), Knight/Bishop (3), the pawn is only worth one material point. Three pawns make the value of a Knight. However, as we will delve into later, the pawns have far greater potential than what they … Read more

The history of chess

Chess is such an amazing game. There is no doubt about that. Part of what makes this game amazing is that as digitized it is right now (we are taking advantage of that during the pandemic), it is yet so ancient, and we have not even changed the rules in hundreds of years! Exactly how old is chess, who invented it and came up with the rules? Many chess players ask these questions, and we will do our best to answer them in the most satisfactory way possible!

How old is chess?

To be frank, … Read more

Classical chess players

Some funny anecdotes about Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer, Boris Spassky, Jose Raul Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine.

Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal: 11 points without playing a single game!

During the Havanna Chess Olympiad (1966), which was attentively organized by the Cuban government, the chess teams were treated very warmly. On one occasion, when Korchnoi and Mikhail Tal went to watch the spectacle of the famous cabaret Tropicana.

Mikhail Tal noticed a beautiful woman at the next table.

Being as he was, very sensitive to feminine beauty, he didn’t hesitate to pay her a compliment. Suddenly, the partner of … Read more

The Soviet chess team and Mijail Botvinick

Mijail Botvinnik had many problems these years. In the summer of 1952, there was much nervousness in the Soviet chess team.

The Kremlin had announced that they were seriously considering their participation for the first time, in the Olympics. (Not only in chess, as the same year, also took place the Olympic Games in Helsinki).

Hence, many undiscovered intrigues, mini-assemblies, rumors and secrets were on the aisles.

Finally, the highest spheres had confirmed the decision – the USSR chess team will be in Helsinki.

Once the western world became aware that the Soviets … Read more

Classical chess players

Some funny anecdotes about Samuel Reshevsky, Miguel Najdorf, Mikhail Botvinnik, Nicolas Rossolimo and Efim Bogoljubov.

Samuel Reshevsky

Samuel Reshevsky and Miguel Najdorf

In 1952 the grandmasters Samuel Reshevsky and Miguel Najdorf were playing chess in a double match for the title of Champion of America (North America, Reshevsky, vs. South America, Najdorf). Mr. Miguel Najdorf recalled this with much grace, in an old interview with Eduardo Scala:

“We had to play chess in three countries: United States, Mexico and El Salvador. When we played in New York, maybe because I enjoyed life in excess, I have lost … Read more

Anecdotes about chess openings (I): Trend and research

Let’s start with some anecdotes about chess openings. Back in the 1950s, the soon-to-be world champion Vasily Smyslov considered the King’s Indian Defense as incorrect. Playing the Scandinavian was seen as folly, not to say absurd. And because of that, there were no signs of it in the high competition. A man named Tigran Petrosian responded to all the openings for semi-open with a 2.d3 and the King’s Indian Defense. There was no news of the Giuoco Piano (or Italian chess opening) and its variant ‘pianissimo’.

A few decades later, … Read more