ChessForSharks Blog
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How To Get Better At Chess: A 12-Step Guide
Chess is a game that requires a lot of focus, practice, and hard work. When a player starts learning the…
How To Be A Chess Grandmaster In 11 Detailed Steps – ChessForSharks.com
The grandmaster title is the ultimate achievement in chess, second only to the world championship. 600+ players have earned the…
The Best Chess Books of all Time: From Beginner to Advanced
Reading chess books is one of the primary ways a chess player acquires knowledge. However, the most instructive and suitable…
How To Play Chess For Beginners: Learn Rules, Moves, Setup, Efficient Tactics & Strategy
Did you recently encounter a fancy-looking game, and you'd like to know more about this mysterious game? Would you like…
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DownloadChess News
“It Was More Logical For Him [Dubov] To Remain Neutral” – Ian Nepomniachtchi speaks in
Ian Nepomniachtchi, former world championship contender has come out to clear the air regarding the recent Dubov vs Russians controversy.…
Alireza Firouzja Breaks 2800, Becomes World No 2
Grandmaster(GM) Alireza Firouzja just became the new world #2 after crossing the legendary 2800 rating barrier. The 18-year old Grandmaster…
Nodirbek Abdusattorov Wins World Rapid Chess Championship 2021
Pleasant surprises make everything sweeter. Seeing underdogs triumph in a field of favorites makes the crowd go wild. Chess has…
Ian Nepomniachtchi Slugs It Out With Russian Billionaire Businessman
December 24th brought about an exciting atmosphere of Chess in Russia. The Central Chess Club located in Moscow organised a…
Openings
10 Weird Chess Openings with Animal Names
We have always been fascinated with the creative and amusing names of some chess openings. Openings like these are usually…
Know Your Chess Openings: The King’s Gambit
So we all know about The Queen’s Gambit—huge thanks to the hit Netflix miniseries. But what about that of the…
How To Play The Evans Gambit For White And Black
The Evans Gambit is a very sharp attacking line that stems from the Italian Game. The opening starts with the…
How to Play the Catalan Opening: Ideas And Variations
The Catalan Opening is a very flexible opening that White can employ to gain a solid position before moving into…
General
African Chess Grandmasters: Who They Are And Why They Are So Few
According to the Oxford dictionary, the word "MASTERY" means comprehensive knowledge or skill in a particular subject or activity. However,…
16 Hilarious Chess Memes From The 2021 World Chess Championship
This article presents a compilation of funny chess memes with inspiration gotten from the 2021 world chess championship match between…
The Dark Side Of Chess (And What Can Be Done)
Chess in all its broadness, is a game that unites people from the ends of the earth. People find solace…
Why Chess Pieces Move Like They Do: A Historical Context
Chess remains one of the oldest and most influential games in human history. Aside from its strategic depth and symbolism,…
Chess Players and History
A Biography of Josh Waitzkin (and Why He Stopped Playing Chess)
After watching the award-winning movie 'Searching For Bobby Fischer', a lot of people ask this familiar question: "Does Josh Waitzkin…
Bobby Fischer vs Garry Kasparov: Comparing Two Legends
As a chess fan, you must've wondered what a match or even a game between some World Champions across different…
Top 5 Underrated Chess Players in History
Chess, as we know, is a game that has been in existence for centuries. Some chess players have played the…
Top 10 chess players likely to dethrone Magnus Carlsen
The chess world is currently blessed with a host of players that would’ve probably borne the World Champion title if…
Chess Basics
What is Stalemate In Chess?
A stalemate is a type of draw that occurs when your opponent is unable to make any legal moves to…
What Is Material Advantage In Chess?
Material refers to the number of pieces and pawns on the board. An advantage in chess refers to a situation…
How To Castle Queenside In Chess
The game of chess is a game of strategy; It involves both the art of attack and defence. Every chess…
What Is the Exchange Sacrifice in Chess?
An exchange sacrifice is a chess move where a player trades their rook for the opponent’s bishop or knight. This…
Chess Advice
How To Get Better At Chess: A 12-Step Guide
Chess is a game that requires a lot of focus, practice, and hard work. When a player starts learning the…
How To Start A Chess Club in 5 Easy Steps
The entire essence of chess depends on having someone to play with. There can be no chess game without an…
How to Plan a Chess Tournament?
Perhaps you're trying to organize a chess tournament for kids in your school or employees in your workplace but you…
How To Beat Your Friend At Chess: Quick Tips To Win
You and your buddy have been playing chess for years. At first, you were evenly matched, winning and losing in…
Openings For White
How To Play The Queen’s Gambit Opening: Typical Ideas And Variations
The Queen is the most powerful piece on the chess board. So it comes as no surprise that it has…
How To Play The Evans Gambit For White And Black
The Evans Gambit is a very sharp attacking line that stems from the Italian Game. The opening starts with the…
How To Play the Ruy Lopez Opening For White And Black
The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest and most decorated openings in chess. It dates back centuries ago and…
How To Play The Larsen’s Opening For White And Black
The Larsen's opening is an unorthodox or flank opening that starts with 1. b3. b3 is an unconventional opening that…
Question And Answers
Why Is Chess So Popular? Here Are 5 Reasons
It's no longer news that chess's popularity has boomed in recent years. You turn here, you turn there, you see…
Do I Have To Say Check In Chess?
No, you don't need to. Saying check after an attack on an opponent's king used to be required but it…
Is Chess a Hobby?
YES, Chess is a great hobby that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and skill levels. It is…
How Many Squares Are On A Chessboard?
It's easy to jump to a conclusion here and come up with 64 squares, but is it actually correct? Of…
Openings For Black
How To Play The Alekhine’s Defense For White And Black
The Alekhine's Defense is a hypermodern opening that starts with the development of the knight. The opening is an option…
How To Play The Scandinavian Defense: Major Ideas For White And Black
The Scandinavian Defense is a way for Black to immediately challenge White's efforts to control the center from the very…
How To Play the Petrov Defense For White And Black
The Petrov's Defense which is also called the Russian Game, is a solid defense for Black against the King's pawn…
A Complete Guide To Playing The Pirc Defense For White And Black
The Pirc Defense is one of the most popular openings in chess. This opening leads to positions that can take…
Chess Pieces Movement
Which Chess Piece Can Only Move Diagonally?
There are six(6) distinct chess pieces, and four(4) of them can move diagonally. The four chess pieces that are allowed…
How Do Bishops Move in Chess?
For both players (White or Black), there are two bishops each – named the light-squared bishop and dark-squared bishop. These…
Can Bishops Jump in Chess?
The answer to the question is NO. Bishops can't 'jump' in chess. These long-ranged pieces only move along diagonals and…
How Does A King Move In Chess?
The world of chess is a realm of hierarchy. The chess pieces or chessmen have their respective worth and value.…
Chess Career
Top 10 Exciting Careers In Chess To Earn A Living
You're a chess player—a chess freak even, but you don't earn from it. It's difficult to earn from it, right?…
The Ultimate Guide to Professional Chess Streaming
Chess has always been a game of intellect, but now it’s also a game of entertainment. With the rise of…
How Can You Become A FIDE Organizer?
Imagine hosting a chess event that attracts players from around the world. Imagine your name linked to an official FIDE-rated…
Why Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu Could Be One of the Greatest Chess Players
When a chess prodigy from Chennai begins toppling the biggest names in the game before turning twenty, the world pays…
Tactics
12 Important Chess Tactics You Should Know
Chess Tactics is a move or a combination of moves that pose one or more instant dangers to an opponent.…
X-ray Attacks vs Skewers
The x-ray attack and skewer are two powerful tactics in chess that every chess player must know and understand. In…
How Does the Secret Zwischenzug Chess Tactic Help You Improve?
Every chess player dreams of pulling off a brilliant tactical sequence, a stunning move that completely catches their opponent off…
How to Solve Chess Puzzles
Solving chess puzzles is one of the most effective ways to improve your game. It sharpens your tactical vision, deepens…
Fide Titles
How to Become a FIDE Certified Chess Coach?
Being a certified chess instructor is a fantastic method for chess players to earn more money with their chess talents,…
How To Become a Candidate Master
To become a Candidate Master (CM) in chess, you need to achieve an established classical FIDE rating of 2200. The CM…
How To Become a FIDE Master
To become a FIDE Master (FM), a player must achieve a FIDE rating of at least 2300 Elo points in…
How To Become a Woman Grandmaster in Chess
To become a Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in chess, you'll need to achieve three norms and have a minimum Elo rating…
Boards And Pieces
The Game Of Thrones Chess Set (And Characters Represented)
It is not news that chess is a way of life. An excellent chess player can see life through the…
How Wooden Chess Pieces Are Made
Chess pieces come in different forms: plastic, ceramic, aluminium or wood. Some of the luxury ones are even made with…
How Many Chess Pieces Are In A Set?
The number of chess pieces in a set is 32, and each player has 16 pieces. Chess pieces in a…
Chess Boards: A Complete Overview
Chess is a battle of minds in which a player's wildest imaginations become reality. There are endless possibilities that can…
Checkmate Patterns
How To Play The Two Bishop Checkmate
The king and two bishop checkmate is another basic checkmate that occurs in chess games. While this type of mate…
How to Checkmate With Two Rooks? A Beginner Friendly Guide
Checkmating with two rooks is a common form of checkmate in the endgame, especially in beginner games. It involves the…
How To Play The 2 Move Checkmate
The 2 move Checkmate, also called the Fool’s Mate, is a combination of moves in a chess game that allows…
40 Checkmate Patterns Sure To Win You Games
A large percentage of chess skills ride on pattern recognition. For instance, you see certain pieces placed in certain positions…
Flank Openings
How To Play The Larsen’s Opening For White And Black
The Larsen's opening is an unorthodox or flank opening that starts with 1. b3. b3 is an unconventional opening that…
How To Play The Bird’s Opening For White And Black
The Bird's Opening is a unique opening that starts with the development of a flank pawn (1. f4). That's why…
How To Play the Benko Opening For White And Black
The Benko Opening (also known as the Hungarian Opening) is a unique opening that begins with 1. g3. It is…
An Introduction To Flank Openings
Flank openings are openings where the earliest moves do not emerge from either of the centre files (c and d…
Chess Variants
Popular Chess Variants You Probably Didn’t Know Existed
What makes a game or sport more fun than its original form is its variants. Variants of a game or…
Chess960: The Ultimate Guide to Freestyle/Fischer Random Chess
What if we could make chess even more unpredictable by adding a chaos factor? Something that could reignite creativity from…
How to Play Bughouse Chess Variant
Bughouse is fast, chaotic, and addictive. It takes the classic rules of chess and throws in a twist: teamwork. Also…
How To Play Three Player Chess: A Simple Beginners Guide
Chess is a popular strategy board game that is played worldwide. There are over 600 million people that play the…
Chess Hypotheticals
Can Online Chess Cheating Be Stopped?
Cheating has always haunted chess, but the digital age has made it more complicated. Online chess brought excitement, convenience, and…
Where Will Online Chess Be in 5 Years?
Imagine logging into a chess site that feels less like a website and more like a living, breathing chess city.…
Ranking Movie Characters That Would Make Great Chess Players
We all have our favorite movie characters. The larger-than-life figures always seem to come out on top of obstacles and…
Why Does Elon Musk Hate Chess?
Many famous people have expressed their admiration for chess, but one of the biggest celebrities in recent times and the…
Unconventional Openings
10 Weird Chess Openings with Animal Names
We have always been fascinated with the creative and amusing names of some chess openings. Openings like these are usually…
Top 5 Most Effective Chess Traps for Beginners and Intermediates
There's something very satisfying about springing a well-laid chess trap. That moment when your opponent's confident smile fades as they…
10 Openings Named After Famous Chess Players
There are thousands of openings (along with variations) in chess theory. Many chess players discovered chess openings and stamped their…
Top 10 Popular Chess Gambits To Try Out
As chess players, our styles of play sometimes depend on our mood and, of course, the importance of the game.…
Books
10 Of The Best Chess Books For Intermediate Players
A huge portion of chess players gets stuck on the intermediate level. This is why attaining mastery in chess is…
The Best Chess Books of all Time: From Beginner to Advanced
Reading chess books is one of the primary ways a chess player acquires knowledge. However, the most instructive and suitable…
Famous Chess Players Who Wrote Great Books
Some players dominate on the board. Others leave their mark on paper. A few do both, and those are the…
ChessForSharks News
5 Surprising Facts Behind Why We Celebrate International Chess Day
Each year, on July 20th, the global chess community gathers, on and off the board, to celebrate International Chess Day.…
ChessForSharks Summer Showdown 2025: Blitz, Brilliance, and Global Rivalry
When 380 chess players from across the world gathered on Lichess this October, no one expected such an electrifying contest.…
Endgame
5 Endgame Concepts You Must Know to Play Better Chess
At a point in the game, you say to yourself "Stockfish ought to take a few lessons from me". You…
Chess Endgames: The Great Element Of Chess Mastery
Introduction Chess is categorized into three phases; the opening, the middlegame, and the endgame. The phases are identified to enable…
Chess Tournaments
ChessForSharks Summer Showdown 2025: Blitz, Brilliance, and Global Rivalry
When 380 chess players from across the world gathered on Lichess this October, no one expected such an electrifying contest.…
2025 U.S. Chess Championship: Caruana and Yip Triumph Amid Tragedy
The 2025 U.S. Chess Championships concluded in St. Louis with Fabiano Caruana and Carissa Yip lifting the national crowns. It…
Chess Traps
3 Popular Traps in the English Opening
The English Opening is renowned as one of the most strategically rich openings. It is a positional and calm opening.…
3 Popular Traps in the Caro-Kann
The Caro-Kann Defence begins with 1.e4 c6 and is known for its solid structure and counterattacking potential. But even this…
Strategy
3 Popular Traps in the Scotch
While the Scotch is sound enough to appear at the top level, it hides some nasty traps that can punish…
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