8-PLAYER DOUBLE ROUND ROBIN · CLASSICALLIVESEEDED
Candidates TournamentRound 7 of 14 · Madrid
Two players share the lead going into the second half.
- Nakamura4½
- Caruana4½
- Gukesh4
- Firouzja3½
For you
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One lesson, one position on The Board, and the chess world's best content around it.
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The Board
Files, ranks, diagonals and square names.
Practice for you
A little more time on how pawns move.
Forward one, two from home, capture diagonally.
PRACTICE THISWhere you are
Your journey starts on the next position.
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LIVESEEDED EVENT DATA
8-PLAYER DOUBLE ROUND ROBIN · CLASSICALSEEDED
Tata Steel MastersRound 4 today · 14:00 CET · Wijk aan Zee
The traditional January marathon by the North Sea.
SEEDED
Grand Chess Tour · Rapid & BlitzStarts Thursday · Zagreb
Nine rounds of rapid, eighteen of blitz, one very tired winner.
For you
Picked for where you are right now.
Because you have been working on how pawns move.
TUTORIALOne Setup You Can Play Every Game
The London System as a learning tool: fewer decisions in the opening, more attention on the middlegame.
Chess Mate Studio · Beginner
TUTORIALPins: The Pattern Behind Half of All Tactics
How to create a pin, how to punish one, and the two moves that break it before it costs you a piece.
Tactics Room · Beginner
INTERVIEWA Grandmaster on What Amateurs Get Wrong
A long, calm conversation about study habits, blunders and why most players skip the endgame.
The Long Game · All levels
TUTORIALFork Vision: Seeing Two Targets at Once
Twelve positions that train the same reflex — spot the two undefended pieces before you look for a move.
Tactics Room · Beginner
TUTORIALThe Italian Game, Explained Slowly
A patient walkthrough of e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bc4 — why the bishop belongs on c4 and what to do when Black copies you.
Chess Mate Studio · Beginner
TUTORIALPawn Structure Is the Skeleton of Your Plan
Read three pawn formations and let them tell you which side of the board to play on.
Positional Notes · Intermediate
TUTORIALKing and Queen Mate Without Panic
The box method, drawn out square by square, so you never stalemate a winning endgame again.
Endgame Hour · Beginner
Today in chess
What the chess world is talking about.
SEEDED EDITORIAL
CANDIDATES
Halfway, and the lead is shared
Round 7 ends with two players tied and four still within a point. The second half starts after tomorrow's rest day.
OPEN EVENTRESULT
World Rapid decided on tiebreaks
A last-round win with black settled a three-way tie at the top of the standings.
OPEN EVENTOPENINGS
The Italian is back at the top level
Quiet development, slow plans, deep preparation — the oldest opening in the book keeps reappearing in elite play.
ON THIS DAY
Reykjavík, game six
Fischer played 1. c4 for the first time in his career and won the game that broke the match open.
Learn something
Small ideas, five minutes each.
Great games
Rabbit holes worth falling into.
1972BOBBY FISCHER vs BORIS SPASSKY · 1–0
Game 6, ReykjavíkFischer opened 1. c4 for the first time in his life, played a flawless positional game, and Spassky applauded when it ended.
World Championship, Reykjavík
1959MIKHAIL TAL vs VASILY SMYSLOV · 1–0
The sacrifice nobody could refuteTal gave away material for a position no human could hold. Engines still argue; the opponent still lost.
Candidates, Bled
1918JOSÉ RAÚL CAPABLANCA vs FRANK MARSHALL · 1–0
Winning by tidying upNo fireworks. Capablanca traded into an endgame that was technically won ten moves before anyone else saw it.
New York
1985ANATOLY KARPOV vs GARRY KASPAROV · 0–1
The attack that arrived from nowhereKasparov let the centre close, then broke through on the kingside with an attack that had been building for twenty moves.
World Championship, Moscow
1999JUDIT POLGÁR vs VISWANATHAN ANAND · 1–0
Attacking chess, principledPolgár's development was ordinary until move fifteen, and then every ordinary piece had a job in the attack.
Dos Hermanas
Players to follow
Follow a player and their games surface here.
CUBAJosé Raúl Capablanca
1888–1942 · Effortless clarity
The endgame machine who made winning look like tidying up. Studying Capablanca teaches simplification.
LATVIAMikhail Tal
1936–1992 · Sacrificial storm
Sacrifices that engines still argue about. Tal proved that pressure on a human is worth material.
HUNGARYJudit Polgár
1976– · Attacking precision
The strongest female player in history, and a model of aggressive, principled attacking chess.
UNITED STATESBobby Fischer
1943–2008 · Relentless clarity
Made chess front-page news in 1972 and played the cleanest attacking chess of his generation.
Explore something new
An opening you have not tried yet.
C50–C54Italian Game
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4
Fast, honest development aimed straight at Black's weakest square, f7.
B20–B99Sicilian Defense
1. e4 c5
Black refuses symmetry, trading a wing pawn for a central one and playing for the win.
D06–D69Queen's Gambit
1. d4 d5 2. c4
Offer a wing pawn to own the centre, then squeeze for the rest of the game.
E60–E99King's Indian Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6
Give White the centre, then attack it — and often the king behind it.
D02London System
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4
A repeatable setup you can play almost every game while you learn the middlegame.
3 guided opening courses play out move by move on The Board.
Near you
Chess you can walk to.
Chess Mate never reads your location unless you ask it to. These are places worth knowing about in the meantime.
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