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Play Chess At Your Own Pace
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Play Opponents Anywhere In The World
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Play Without Additional Software
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Chess games can last for hours, days or even weeks.
Time per move is set at the beginning of the game, for example 'Timeout: 3 days'.
Each player then has up to '3 days' to make their move during
the duration of that chess game.
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You are not chained to your own country anymore.
Anybody with an internet connection worldwide can login and play against you.
An opponent from some exotic countries could be attacking your King!
Both of you can have 12 hours time zone difference and you will still have a nice chess game.
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No chess software to download before playing chess.
The game interface has been designed to run in your normal browser window.
Play online chess for free - no obligations!
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Out of Orbit, Astronaut Meets His Chess Foes
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 Six months and 21 moves into the game, an astronaut met his opponents: elementary school students from Bellevue, Wash.
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5,300 Students Battle It Out in Nashville
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 Judging by the results of the SuperNationals tournament last weekend, New York has a lot of competition in the chess universe, at least when it comes to scholastic chess.
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Playing Fast and Flying Blind at a Tournament in France
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Levon Aronian of Armenia, the defending champion, tied for first in both the rapid and blindfold sections of the Amber Chess Tournament, which ended March 26 in Nice.
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New York Teenager Stakes His Place Among the Elite
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Robert Hess, a junior at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, is balancing grandmaster dreams with the requirements of an academically rigorous high school.
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Untangling the Results After 11 Players Tie for First
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At the European Individual Chess Championships, a playoff was needed before Evgeny Tomashevsky was declared the winner.
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Youth Movement Threatens to Rearrange World Rankings
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Experience counts, but computers and databases have leveled the playing board among younger and older players when it comes to knowledge.
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From an Endgame of Draws, a Skillful Victory Is Wrung
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Each phase of a chess game opening, middle and end requires specialized knowledge and skill. But the ending requires the greatest precision and is sometimes the most complex.
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Grischuk Retains Lead at Linares; Wang Goes Hunting
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Alexander Grischuk preserved his lead heading into the final three rounds of the Linares tournament in Spain. Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine was a full point behind in second place while Viswanathan Anand of India, the world champion, Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Levon Aronian of Armenia were another half point back, tied for third. The Web site of the tournament, which is in Spanish, has additional information about the players and live broadcasts of the games.
All the games in Round 11 were draws, but that does not mean they were uneventful. Leinier Dominguez Perez of Cuba engaged in a slugfest with Aronian. Aronian had the upper hand throughout, but Dominguez found a way to force a drawish rook-and-pawn ending and then force a stalemate in one of those motifs that sometimes arise in such endings.
Carlsen seemed poised to make a move up in the standings after beating Dominguez in Round 9, but he was upended in Round 10 by Wang Yue of China in a rather spectacular game featuring a king hunt by Black. Carlsen’s king slithered away after Wang, who was Black, misplayed the attack, but it did not matter as the resulting endgame was winning for Wang.
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Cheating Allegations Are Up as Wireless Devices Multiply
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Growing concerns in the chess world that players are using high-tech gadgets to help them win games.
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Topalov Leads Kamsky With Two to Play
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Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria leads the challengers match against Gata Kamsky of the United States after six games. The winner of the best-of-eight game match, which is being played in Sofia, Bulgaria, is slated to play Viswanathan Anand of India, the world champion, in a title match. More information about the current match and the players is on the official Web site.
The match was all tied up after four games, but in Game 5, Topalov took the lead after Kamsky made a rudimentary blunder. Kamsky had played the French Defense and ended up with a difficult, although playable game. His only problem was that he had an isolated queen pawn. Topalov gradually improved his position, but Kamsky was still doing fine until his 35th move when he miscalculated and played 35 … Nb4. Topalov won a pawn (Kamsky overlooked that 37 … Rc2 loses to 38 Rd6 Rd6 39 Qa8 Kh7 40 Qe4, winning one of Black’s rooks) and then a second and Kamsky soon had to throw in the towel.
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Amateur Team Championships Celebrate Fun Over Profits
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At this year’s four tournaments, witty names and clever costumes proved to be winning strategies.
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Game 1 of Kamsky-Topalov Match Is Drawn
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The first game of a semifinal match for the world championship was an interesting battle of wills and nerve in which neither Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria nor Gata Kamsky of the United States blinked or backed down. Topalov, the No. 1 ranked player in the world, had White and uncorked a theoretical novelty on move 17 of the Grunfeld Defense, which is known to be one of Kamsky’s favorite openings. The move gave Topalov a dangerous initiative, but Kamsky, who is ranked No. 17, responded well, carefully defusing the pressure on his position. Topalov eventually ran out of pieces to send at Kamsky’s king and so he forced a sequence of moves that led to a perpetual check and a draw.
Kamsky’s decision to enter the Grunfeld was brave, or foolhardy depending on the perspective, because it was a certainty that Topalov would have prepared extensively to face that defense. That Kamsky managed to overcome the problems that Topalov created for him has got to boost Kamsky’s confidence.
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Match This Week in Bulgaria Will Set Up a Title Showdown
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On Tuesday, a semifinal match for the world title will kick off between Gata Kamsky of the United States and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.
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Peter Svidler won the Seventh Gibtelecom Chess Festival
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Peter Svidler won the Seventh Gibtelecom Chess Festival in Gibraltar last week. The five-time champion of Russia shared first place with GM Vadim Milov of Switzerland, but won both playoff games. Both players scored eight points in 10 games, edging grandmasters Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan, Emanuel Berg of Sweden, and two Americans, Hikaru Nakamura and Varuzhan Akobian, by a half point.
A Spanish Surprise
Svidler played entertaining chess throughout the competition. Against the former women's world champion Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria, the Russian GM created an important theoretical novelty in the Spanish against the Moller defense.
Svidler-Stefanova
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Still in Their Teens, but on the March to the Top
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The world rankings have long been dominated by players who are now in their 30s, but a new generation has nosed its way into the upper echelon.
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In Startling Finish, Karjakin Wins Corus
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In a finish that probably no one could have foreseen, Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine won the Corus Chess tournament, which wrapped up Sunday.
Karjakin’s victory was not surprising because he lacked the ability to win. He holds the record as the youngest grandmaster in history and has been ranked among the world’s top 30 players since 2006. It was practically inevitable that he would break through one day and win a major tournament.
No, what was surprising was that he emerged as the sole winner froma six-player tie going into the last round. He was tied for first with Levon Aronian of Armenia, Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan, Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia, Leinier Dominguez Perez of Cuba and Magnus Carlsen of Norway. With so many players in contention, it seemed very likely that more than one player would be tied for first after the final round. But, while Aronian, Radjabov and Movsesian only mustered draws against their opponents, Karjakin beat Dominguez and Carlsen lost to Wang Yue of China.
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When Aggression Backfires, and Attacks Turn Into Losses
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Being the aggressor requires accuracy and vigilance, but many brilliant attacks have turned into painful losses because the player overlooked a tactical nuance.
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Ronan Bennett and Daniel King on chess: Halkias-Perunovic, Serbia, 2008
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n the principle that when you're under pressure you should exchange if you can, I'm going to take the knight on e5. But first I have to check that the line actually works - my queen, after all, is en prise: 1...Nxe5 (obviously I need the bishop to defend the dark squares around the king) and if 2 Bxe7 Nxg4 3 Bxf8 Bxf8 Black is winning. So, in the absence of any unpleasant tricks, White will have to make a straightforward recapture of the knight with 2 dxe5.
Trouble is I don't like the look of this: White can either double rooks on the open d-file or swing the d3-rook over to the h-file, creating more threats against the king. And, of course, Black's queen is still en prise and there aren't a lot of available squares. Should it go to the back rank or c5, from where it threatens the e5-pawn? The more I look at the position the more worried I am.
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More questions and answers about late chess legend Bobby Fischer
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Question: Who is a better player, Bobby Fischer or Garry Kasparov? And who would win if they played a match?
Answer: If the match was played when both players were at their prime it would be incredible. But if I have to pick, I would say Garry has a very small edge because he was the first world champion that fully utilized chess databases and computer programs. That is how Garry raised his game to a whole new level and maintained it for so long. Without it, it is a major handicap, but both players are just phenomenal; two of the greatest world champions ever.
I don't think there would be a contest if they played a few years ago. Garry stayed at number one for an unprecedented 20 years or so. It is very hard to imagine that Bobby could win such a match with such a big age discrepancy.
Question: What do you think about Fischer-random chess?
Answer: I love it! It is a wonderful game and a wonderful contribution to chess. It certainly returns chess to the days when opening theory did not extend twenty five moves deep. Fischer-random forces you to think for yourself from move one. Another great contribution from Bobby is the Fischer clock.
Below is one of Bobby's instructional games that I discussed in my chess instructional DVD series. You can find a full line of instructional chess DVDs at www.PolgarChess.com. This was a game against former World Champion Tigran Petrosian, a very solid player, one of the hardest persons to beat.
Grandmaster Bobby Fischer - Grandmaster Tigran Petrosian
Candidate Match (7), Buenos Aires, Oct. 19, 1971
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In ‘Miniature’ Games, Errors Are Soon Magnified
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Even world-class players can make mistakes, and some of the best have lost a miniature.
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After Four Rounds, a Few Surprises at Corus
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The 2009 Corus tournament at Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands — the first super tournament of the year — has begun and after four rounds, only one of the pre-tournament favorites in the top group (Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan) has a share of the lead. More surprising has been the play of two of the top three seeds who have already each lost two games. The standings, information about the players and games is on the tournament’s Web site.
In addition to Radjabov, Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine, Jan Smeets of the Netherlands, Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia and Gata Kamsky of the United States are tied for the lead. Each player has won one game.
Of those victories, the most shocking was Smeets win over Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, the No. 1 seed. Not only is Smeets the lowest ranked player in the event, but Ivanchuk, in a difficult, but by no means indefensible, position lost by overstepping the time limit in Round 1. In addition to losing to Smeets, Ivanchuk lost to Radjabov. Even worse for Ivanchuk, in both games he had White.
Alexander Morozevich of Russia, No.3, has also struggled, losing in Round 1 to Karjakin and in Round 3 to Kamsky. The loss to Karjakin was caused by a blunder in a complicated position. Kamsky’s win was a smooth demolition as Morozevich was in trouble as soon as the opening was over.
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Polgar: Remembering a chess champion, the late Bobby Fischer
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One year ago on Jan. 17, Bobby Fischer, one of the greatest chess players in history, passed away at the age of 64 in Reykjavik, Iceland, just as the number of squares on a chess board.
I received many questions about Bobby. Here are some selected ones.
Question: How did you meet Bobby Fischer?
Answer: In 1992, Bobby played his second match against Boris Spassky in Yugoslavia and was unable to return to the U.S. because of his defiance of economic sanctions. The organizer Janos Kubat arranged for my family to visit Bobby at a hotel in Yugoslavia, near the border of Hungary, in order to convince him to go to Hungary rather than being in a cramped hotel room in a small Yugoslavian village.
Bobby expressed his wish to meet me, but unfortunately I was in Peru at that time. I accompanied my family on the following visit and eventually the idea of moving to Hungary became more attractive to Bobby.
Just to be sure everything was OK, we asked the border guards if Fischer could enter Hungary and they had no objection. With that assurance, Bobby moved to Hungary. At one point, he stayed in our summer home, which is about one hour from Budapest. He was accompanied by GM Eugenio Torre from the Philippines and his bodyguard.
Question: Did you play chess with Fischer while he was in Hungary?
Answer: Yes, I played many Fischer-random blitz games with him and we also analyzed a lot. I won some and lost some. Overall, I did well.
It was one of the most fascinating experiences in my professional chess career. He was still a very strong player and his knowledge for chess was phenomenal.
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9-Year-Old Defies the Ratings and Defeats a Grandmaster
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Nine-year-old Hetul Shah of India defeated Nurlan Ibrayev, a grandmaster from Kazakhstan, in a tournament in Delhi.
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World chess queen plots her next move
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The best women's chess player in the world flipped a dirty diaper into the trash as she pondered her next move after a dominating year.
''I want to open a chess academy online, keep training, doing the podcast,'' South Floridian Alexandra Kosteniuk said during a recent stroll with her baby, Francesca. ``But right now, my priority is being a mommy.''
Kosteniuk, 24, won the Women's World Championship in her homeland of Russia in September. After several months of traveling the globe, Kosteniuk, her husband, Diego Garces, and their 20-month-old daughter are settled back at their home in Key Biscayne.
An aspiring model who uses her good looks to promote chess, Kosteniuk has been compared to Russian tennis knockout (and Miami Beach resident) Anna Kournikova. (Kosteniuk debunks the comparison by noting that she has won individual tournaments, a feat the other Russian cannot claim.)
But, like Kournikova, Kosteniuk has managed to broaden her sport's appeal by selling her combination of talent and beauty.
About 3,000 people subscribe to her podcast at chessiscool.com, and about 10,000 others log on each month to her website, where they can see photos of Kosteniuk in bikinis and buy her instructional DVDs.
''It's the most popular chess site out there,'' said her husband, 49, who is also her webmaster and publicist.
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A Shocking Miniature
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Hansen writes that the knowledge and memory of opening variations are important skills for competitive players. "There is no way around it," he says. He gives his 13-move victory against the former U.S. champion Nick de Firmian in the English opening as a good example of how a harmless-looking move can turn into a nightmare. It was played in the Danish League in 1998.
Hansen-de Firmian
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.g3 Qb6 (IM John Watson covers this line well in the third volume of his epic work "Mastering the Chess Openings." It is another outstanding Gambit book on Watson's favorite topic, the English opening.)
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Players Busy Over the Holidays With a Flurry of Tournaments
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For many people, the holidays were spent with family and away from work. For others, the break was a time to play chess.
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Ronan Bennett and Daniel King on chess: Barbero-Mohr, San Bernadino, 1989
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White to play. Should he exchange rooks?
RB I'm going to take - no hesitation here - and after I trade rooks with 1 Rxf7 Kxf7 I'm going to continue by giving up the exchange: 2 Rxc3 bxc3 3 Kxc3. My reasoning is straightforward: with the black bishop supported by the passed pawn on b3 it will be hard for White to make progress. After the exchange, the white king will get to the centre before its black counterpart, threatening the black e5-pawn and well placed to support the advance of its own pawns.
I have to be careful not to make stupid pawn moves on the kingside that might allow the black king in, but this looks to me like a no-brainer: capture on f7, then capture twice on c3.
DK If you are a rook for a bishop ahead and you get the chance to exchange rooks, 99 times out of 100, go for it. Why? Because it often allows the king to step up the board without being hassled, and a rampant king can combine with the rook to attack the enemy king and pawns. After 1 Rxf7 Kxf7 White could play 2 Rf2+ Kg7 3 Kc4, and although Black has everything protected, one feels a zugzwang position is on the cards.
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Tournament form puts Topalov back in top spot
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Veselin Topalov won the Fide world title in 2005, lost the bitter 2006 Toiletgate match to Russia's Vlad Kramnik, was accused of computer advice via his coach's hand signals, then dropped down the ratings.
Now the Bulgarian's chequered career has taken another strong upswing. His superb tournament form in the second half of 2008 this week raised him back to No1 in the rankings, ahead of the world champion, Vishy Anand. Moreover, Topalov's latest impressive first prize at the Pearl Spring tournament in Nanjung, China, came after the ratings deadline. And with a little help from Fide officials he is seriously back in title contention. Next month he will be favourite in his home city Sofia to defeat Gata Kamsky of the US and so qualify as Anand's official challenger.
Topalov's new surge has been technically interesting in two respects. He has won several key games by pre-analysed positional sacrifices of rook for bishop, brilliantly judging that the minor piece was better in the specific position. And he again confirmed that he is the supreme exponent of the white side of the Exchange Grunfeld 4 cxd5. Both themes appear below in his fastest win at the recent super-GM event in China. Topalov's 13 h3 is new but the real idea is the exchange sac 19 Rb5! Black is forced to take but has an array of weak pawns and 26...Bf6? proves fatal. At the end the five-time Russian champion Svidler resigns since his weak b6 and e6 pawns will fall, giving Topalov's passed pawns a free run to queen.
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U.S. Chess Federation Seeks to Oust 2 Board Members
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The game’s governing body filed a lawsuit last week seeking the removal a married couple on its board, accusing them of harassing other members.
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Players Learn to Be Flexible in Choosing Their Openings
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At the third Grand Prix tournament in Elista, Russia, which wrapped up last weekend, no player stuck to just one or even two opening moves.
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