Pruess on Polgar and Adams

Thanks to Chess.com for this free video showing recent interesting positions played by GM Judit Polgar and GM Michael Adams with analysis by IM David Pruess.

Bobby Fischer - Checkmate

I recently discovered that Bobby Fischer's Checkmate columns for Boy's Life magazine could be viewed online via Google Books. I do remember seeing copies of Boy's Life when I was young, though I was never a scout myself. Here is Fischer's very first column from December 1966:



Here's the problem featured in this first column:


You can find a detailed solution to the problem at YACPDB.
You can find links to Fischer's other columns here.

Nakamura Beats the World Champion!

Hikaru Nakamura defeated Vishwanathan Anand in the 4th round of the 3rd London Chess Classic to become the first American to defeat a world champion in 19 years. Here's how he did it:

Hou Yifan Wins

Hou Yifan has defeated Humpy Koneru with a score of 5.5-2.5 to retain her title as the Women's World Chess Champion.

Find out more at the official match website.

I Need Help!

I.A. Horowitz

I've been putting together all of the game scores from the Chess Review series called Solitaire Chess by Horowitz. I am missing 3 issues (or the relevant pages from those issues) and so don't know the gamescores for those. Could anyone please help me to find which gamescores were used, or even better, a copy of the column?

April 1945 (probably Yates and MacDonald)
February 1948 (probably Nimzowitsch and Stahlberg)
November 1948 (probably Colle and Tartakower)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Get Ready for T4545

It's time to get ready for T4545 league chess on the ICC! T51 will begin on Tuesday night, November 8, at 10pm with the posting of pairings for the first round.

I'll be playing regularly on 2 teams this season as well as substituting when needed on another. My under-1600 team is Knights of Ni, the team that I began the league with. I'm playing 3rd board again this season. I've also started a new team in the under-1400 league: Knights of the Square Board. I'll be captain and playing the 1st board. When needed, I'll also be playing again as a substitute on the under-1800 team: Don't Throw in the Tal.

Two of my Saturday study partners are also playing this season. Sir-Sinister will be playing 1st board on the under-1800 team: Masakatsu Agatsu. And nosir will be playing on two teams, as 3rd board on the under-1600 team: The Untouchables, and as 1st board on the under-1400 team: Golden Pawns F. Our under-1400 teams are in the same division so we will likely play 2 games against each other this season!

If you haven't joined the league yet, then get in there! But if you'd rather watch, that's great fun too! Find the games available to see each week here.


Serious chess. Serious fun!

The 3-1/2 Minute King's Gambit

Want to get started with the King's Gambit in just 3-1/2 minutes? IM David Pruess gives it a go!



Check out other free videos from Chess.com. You can subscribe, or watch for the latest in the right-hand column at the Pied Chessman.

Maroczy and Vidmar follow Morphy and Max Lange

Geza Maroczy

Milan Vidmar

Today's puzzle on Chessgames.com came from this interesting game between Geza Maroczy and Milan Vidmar. A straightforward Italian Game opening is answered with a Two Knights Defense and Morphy's push with d4 leads to the standard starting position of the Max Lange Attack. Classic stuff. Accurate play is absolutely necessary for Black to hang in, and Vidmar's 11...Bf8 leads to ruin. Follow along with the gamescore below:


Paul Morphy

Max Lange

Chess From Europe

Get a European perspective on chess with weekly videos from ChessTV.eu.



Get the latest tournament news, explanations of the chess openings, chess puzzles, and a look at the historical side of chess (the last in Swedish with English subtitles). Find all the latest episodes listed here at the Pied Chessman, or subscribe for yourself to their channel on YouTube.

Can I Have That Chess 2 Go?

Did you know that The Pied Chessman is mobile-friendly now?

Yep. You can check out the blog from your mobile device such as an iPhone or Android and it is automatically formatted for the smaller device.

Blogger is still working on getting features such as our video links in the right-hand column to work, but reading our posts is easily done now.

So when you are on the go, take The Pied Chessman with you!