1/31/2024 – Today is the 100th anniversary of the death of Curt von Bardeleben. A wealthy privateer, he was one of the best German chess players in the 1880s and 1890s. He lost his fortune during the First World War and fell seriously ill. On 31 January 1924 he fell to his death from a window.

1/29/2024 – Hans-Joachim Hecht, a Grandmaster since 1973, was a member of the successful German national team in the 1960s and 1970s, became German team champion eight times with his clubs SG Solingen and Bayern Munich and won the European Cup once. Today he celebrates his 85th birthday. Congratulations to him! | Photos: German Chess Federation, Münchener Schachakademie

12/6/2023 – Soon after Carl Schlechter's early death the wish arose to organise a memorial tournament in his honour. In 1923 several important chess masters met at the Café Universale and played such a tournament that ended on 4 December with a victory of Savielly Tartakower. Michael Ehn invites you to travel back in time to Vienna in the early 1920s. | Photo: The building with the former Café Universale | Photos: Archive Michael Ehn

9/9/2023 – The former Ken Whyld Association has since been renamed the Chess History and Literature Society. Its members meet regularly for exchange, most recently in Belfort, a magical place for bibliophiles and chess historians. The city library administers the 27,000 volumes chess library of the famous collector Dr Jean Mennerat (1917-2007). | Photo: From left to right: Clémence Tariol (curator) and a staff member, Dr Hans Ellinger (Germany), Henri Serruys (Belgium), Dr Jurgen Stigter (Netherlands), Jean-Olivier Leconte (France). ©Herbert Bastian

9/5/2023 – 1993 was a particularly memorable year in chess history. Short and Kasparov had decided to leave FIDE and organise their World Championship match on their own, and FIDE, with its then President Campomanes, then organised an alternative World Championship match with Karpov and Timman. But this was not under a good star. During the opening ceremony pyrotechnics set fire to a banner on the stage.

2/16/2023 – The name Erich Eliskases is familiar to only a few chess enthusiasts today. However, the Austrian was one of the best players in the world in the late 1930s. In 1941 he was supposed to play for the World Championship with Alexander Alekhine. But things turned out differently. 15 February 2023 is the 110th birthday of Eliskases, who was born in Innsbruck, Austria, and died in Cordoba, Argentina.

2/2/2023 – Today, chess legend Svetozar Gligoric, who passed away in 2012, would have turned 100 years old. In World War II he fought as a partisan against the Germans, and after the war he became one of the world's best chess players. He was very popular among his peers and even managed to be friends with Bobby Fischer. Dagobert Kohlmeyer remembers the King's Indian expert. | Photos: Dagobert Kohlmeyer

1/1/2023 – We have been trying to keep track of incredible playing strength and title wins at a very early age. It started with Capablanca and Reshevsky, and today we are seeing full grandmasters aged thirteen — and in two cases even just twelve! Most recently it was Abhimanyu Mishra who achieved the title at twelve years and just under five months. It is time to update our prodigy page, with better graphics and a few telling graphs. We also invite our readers to contribute.

12/13/2022 – "The Ink War: Romanticism versus Modernity in Chess", the new book by Dutch author Willy Hendriks, is definitely one of the most exciting and interesting chess books of 2022. Hendriks first of all looks at the bitter rivalry between William Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort, who in 1886 played the first official World Championship match. But Hendriks also analyses how chess understanding developed and takes a critical look at chess history and the way chess history is written. Thoroughly researched, well-written, entertaining, witty, and thought-provoking. Here's an appetizer to enjoy!

12/9/2022 – Amos Burn was one of the world’s leading players in the late 19th century. Competing mainly as an amateur in his long career, he was a highly successful player, theoretician, and journalist. Eugene Manlapao takes a look at the life, the career, and the games of this great English player. | Photo Source: www.liverpoolmuseum.org

8/17/2021 – The John G. White Collection of Chess and Checkers is the largest and most comprehensive collection of printed material on chess. While its physical location is Cleveland, Ohio, chess researchers and aficionados may also view parts of the collection online. On July 21, 2021, Woman International Master Alexey Root visited the Cleveland Public Library, which houses the collection. | Photos: Alexey Root

8/9/2021 – The game Adolf Anderssen against Lionel Kieseritzky, the "Immortal Game", played in London 1851, is arguably the most famous game in the history of chess. Anderssen won with a brilliant mating combination after sacrificing huge parts of his army. But his opponent Lionel Kieseritzky also played an "Immortal Game". Stephan Oliver Platz discovered this game and uses it as a starting point to take a close look at Kieseritzky's contribution to the King's Gambit.