Beginning chess students are quickly introduced to the remarkable concept of "zugzwang" -- German for "It's your move, pal" -- in which a player's position may be perfectly fine as is, but any move makes things worse, and may even lose. Unfortunately under the rules, passing is not allowed when it's your clock that is ticking. Published January 12, 2021
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dropped the diplomatic niceties Friday and said President Trump and his supporters were directly responsible for the clashes in the halls of the U.S. Capitol this week attempting to block the ratification of the 2020 U.S. presidential vote. Published January 8, 2021
He didn't win the tournament, but Russian GM Daniil Dubov's performance at the just-concluded Airthings Masters online tournament may have cemented his reputation as the one grandmaster whose games are must-watch viewing. Published January 5, 2021
A major new Russian pipeline designed to bypass Ukraine to supply southeastern Europe got a major symbolic boost on New Year's Day as Serbian President Alexandar Vucic officially proclaimed the first nearly 250 miles of the Balkan Stream natural gas pipeline to be open for business. Published January 1, 2021
While many of the world's great cities were eerily quiet on a New Year's Eve clouded by the COVID-19 pandemic, North Koreans partied on. Published January 1, 2021
There are still a couple of days left to turn things around, but the consensus seems to be building that 2020 will not go down as a banner year. Chess was not exactly spared: tournaments big and little scrubbed for the first in decades, top players -- including both the U.S. and U.S. women's national champs this year -- surviving nasty brushes with COVID-19. Published December 29, 2020
When it's your game and your clock ticking and your rating points on the line, even a Friday night ladder pairing at the local club can be a highly stressful exercise. Put some higher stakes on the table -- say, oh, the last available slot for next year's U.S. championship field -- and things really start to get interesting. Published December 22, 2020
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday expressed confidence that a massive natural gas pipeline to Germany will be completed despite the determined opposition of the Trump administration, telling a national audience in his annual holiday press conference that the Nord Stream 2 project is nearly completed. Published December 17, 2020
The spirits of the season may soon be more affordable as U.S. and U.K. trade negotiators work toward a deal that would bring down tariffs on a range of goods, including prized Scottish whisky. Published December 17, 2020
Chess players were into the Queen's Gambit long before "The Queen's Gambit." The runaway Netflix hit may have made chess cool this year (at least for a little while), but the Queen's Gambit -- accepted, declined or counter-gambited -- has been opening royalty since at least the late 19th century. Published December 15, 2020
Former women's world champion GM Hou Yifan of China was the clear winner of the recent Belt and Road World Chess Summit, an online tournament replacing the traditional December event in Danzhou, China. It was not all smooth sailing for the top-rated Hou. Published December 8, 2020
Who's up for a little more political talk? It's just a game, but chess with its global appeal can't help but get caught up in the great controversies of the day. From the Napoleonic wars to the Cold War, battles at the chessboard too often come to be stand-ins for ideological debates on whose faith, race, country or form of government is best. Published December 1, 2020
In this weird, disjointed year, for the world of chess and the world in general, there are still plenty of reasons for our annual Thanksgiving count-your-blessings column. Published November 24, 2020
Relationship tip: Do not watch a chess movie with a chess player. Published November 17, 2020
If you're scouting about for early holiday gifts, two of the year's best chess books present a nice package gift. Published November 10, 2020
He's already mastered Bobby Fischer's preferred form of chess. Now GM Wesley So is turning in performances that some are already calling Fischeresque. Published November 3, 2020
The election is still (still!) a week away as this is written, but this columnist can report that two crucial voting demographics -- seniors and women -- have already selected this champion. Published October 27, 2020
A first-timer and a repeat winner have captured this year's U.S. junior and junior girls national titles, respectively. Published October 20, 2020
The Streak is over. For the first time since the summer of 2018, Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen was forced to tip his king in a game played at classical time controls. Polish GM Jan Krzystof Duda did the deed, defeating the champ at the Altibox Norway Chess Tournament now underway in Stavanger, Norway. Published October 13, 2020
As the Good Book says, a little child shall lead them. A month of U.S. championship tournaments got off to a nice start for 13-year-old California IM Christopher Yoo, who easily captured the U.S. Cadet Championship last week with an undefeated 6-1 score. Published October 6, 2020
