Mars and Venus playing Chess!

(Marte e Venere giocano a scacchi…) This painting from circa 1630 is showing Mars and Venus who are playing chess. The painting is located in the Augusteum in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. It’s titled, “Marte e Venere Giocano a Scacchi” (“Mars and Venus Playing Chess”), painted by Alessandro Varotari (Il Padovanino) is in the Baroque style.

Winning the World Open…a Review!

In 1973 legendary organizer Bill Goichberg created the model for what would become an iconic American chess tournament. The deal at the World Open was plain and simple: high entry fees, big prizes, and no frills.

From that moment onwards grandmasters and amateurs have been flocking to the World Open in an annual pilgrimage. Every year around the 4th of July, Philadelphia – the home of the World Open barring a few excursions to other cities – has been the scene of countless epic battles on the chess board.

Sergio the modern Philidor!

DN: Spider Man was bitten by a radioactive spider, Captain America was a secret army experiment in creating a super soldier, what is your super hero story which brought you to the chess world? ST: A really interesting question! My story is a bit particular. When I was very young I suffered an infection that

Chessbase Magazine 203 a review…

Listening FM Giannatos saying it’s important to read books with game collections, it made me think that today, thanks to technology, the chess improvement of an average player like me changed a lot. We can have a game collection with many annotated games every 2 months! How? Just getting the latest issue of Chessbase Magazine. A wealth of games coming from different tournaments, with different time controls, teaching us the latest ideas in terms of opening theory, as well as strategic maneuvers, or very important endgames one should know in order to convert a material advantage into a win.

Vijay Pandit –An Eulogy

by Manuel Aaron Recently Vijay Pandit, the Indian chess historian passed away. Covid-19 claimed yet another precious life. Apart from numerous articles on chess history,  Pandit authored quite a few books. They include Ahmedabad 1955, Western Chess in British India and the Indian Chess History (co-authored with Manuel Aaron). -Ed. It’s with great sorrow that

How to study the openings – Part 1

Many will not believe one would share the correct way to study the openings, because they believe in chess secrets. Instead here there is a method, based on a good amount of studying hours, which will help everyone to learn any opening and form an opening repertoire. It’s possible that in few months, thanks to