A friendly, easy-to-read guide to every chess rule beginners and club players should know. Learn the basic moves, special rules, how games end, and the rare cases that often confuse people. Placeholders are provided for your deep-dive articles. 1. Introduction Chess is simple to learn. It is hard to master. The rules are mostly straightforward. … Read more
Not every chess game ends with checkmate. In fact, about 60% of the games between strong players end in a draw, meaning neither side wins or loses.But when exactly is a draw declared? Let’s go over all the official draw rules in chess and how they work. 1. Draw by Agreement This is the most … Read more
Take one look at the August 2025 FIDE rankings for women’s classical chess. One country stands out right away: China. They don’t just have one or two stars. They have a whole army of strong players. From the very top to the rest of the top 100, China is leading the way. This isn’t luck. … Read more
Chess is a game of infinite possibilities—well, almost. For all the creativity you can bring to the board, there are some hard-and-fast rules that simply cannot be broken. When you make an illegal move, it’s like trying to sprint through a wall. You don’t get anywhere, and it’s probably not going to end well for … Read more
GM Vincent Keymer secured first place at the Super Chess Classic Romania 2026 after defeating GM Jorden van Foreest in the final round. The win gave Keymer the title outright and the $100,000 first prize, eliminating the need for a playoff. Final Round Decides the Tournament Round 9 produced only one decisive result. That game … Read more
The question “How long does it take to get good at chess?” has no single answer. Progress in chess depends on time invested, study methods, playing frequency, and starting level. However, there are clear patterns. Most players follow a similar development path, and rating systems make it possible to estimate timelines with reasonable accuracy. This … Read more
The 2026 World Team Rapid and Blitz Championships will take place in Hong Kong from June 16 to June 22, 2026. This event follows the 2025 edition held in London, United Kingdom. A total of 43 teams and over 300 players appear on the registration list for the 2026 tournament. Among these participants are 12 … Read more
If you’ve ever played over-the-board chess, you’ve probably had this moment: you make a move… stand up… maybe even walk away, then suddenly realize you never pressed your clock. It feels minor. But in competitive chess, it can cost you the game. Let’s break down exactly what happens, why it matters, and how tournaments handle … Read more
If you follow computer chess, you may have heard about Torch. It is one of the strongest modern chess engines, developed by a team of well-known engine programmers working with Chess.com. The engine became famous after competing against top engines like Stockfish in computer chess events. Unlike Stockfish, Torch is not officially released as a … Read more
If you’ve ever played both online chess and over-the-board (OTB) chess, you’ve probably felt the difference right away. The same player who crushes games online can suddenly struggle in a real tournament hall. Blunders appear out of nowhere. Time pressure feels heavier. Even simple positions become harder to handle. So what’s going on? Let’s break … Read more