Is chess a sport? An interesting experiment taking place in the chess world right now, on whether playing chess can burn calories, might provide an answer. The organisers of the 2018 Isle of Man International, which is on this week, have offered competitors the chance to have their heart rates monitored during games. Round 6 #IoMChess …
Chess is a complex game. Often there will be positions that look very familiar to you. The familiarity triggers your wishes to play a known thematic move. However, even the slightest of nuances can turn a good move into a bad one. Perhaps it’s a tempo up or down, perhaps the “other” rook was moved. There …
I have only shared this with a few people, but one of the reasons I co-founded Chessable, was that I had watched almost every single chess video available on my favourite openings, and yet remembered nothing. I listened carefully, and I reviewed some of the videos more than once. However, time after time, nothing stuck, and …
By now, most of the chess world is familiar with the story of Max Deutsch, so I will keep it brief. Max is a 24-year-old chess amateur who wanted to beat World Champion Magnus Carlsen with a month’s worth of practice. No handicaps. Max completed 11 other learning challenges, one each month. Perhaps the most impressive one …
Hello everyone, I just wanted to add a note announcing that I have been invited to speak at the 4th London Chess Conference, covering the didactics of chess. I will be running a workshop about “Cognitive insights into chess improvement”, talking about my unique and insightful Master’s dissertation that was awarded Distinction by Bristol University. …
Let’s discuss chess and psychology. When I talk about Chessable’s vision, I have been comparing chess to a fruit fly. At Chessable we want to improve not only chess learning but education and learning in general. Despite not being able to take credit for this awesome comparison, I do embrace it. Let me elaborate. Simon and …
About a month ago I came across some interesting news. Playing chess does not make your kids smarter, the headlines read. I didn’t make much of them. I knew immediately that these recent scientific findings must be getting blown out of all proportion. I was hoping my inaction would let this quietly fade away and …
Today we have the pleasure to announce co-authored endorsed repertoires. From today on you can acquire GM Rafael Leitao’s Sicilian Najdorf, co-authored by GM Rafael Leitao and Chessable user logozar. While we have an explanation of what this entails available in the FAQ, I thought I would elaborate on the logic behind this new approach to chess opening …
When should I start to learn chess openings? Do I even need to? These are questions that every chess player asks at some point. The internet is full of people asking this, but no one is sure of the answer. Fortunately, recently I was reading some cognitive psychology journals, and I came across a study …
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