#chesscom

Hackers infiltrated a third-party tool used by Chess.com, snatching personal details of 4,541 players in June before the platform detected the breach.

Source: Recorded Future News | Maine Attorney General

That’s why the Devil moved “underground.”

In this article I will talk about some simple steps to improve your chess game. So let’s get started !

Chess is one of the most popular board games in the world. For many people, it’s also one of the most frustrating! Many players have a hard time memorizing their pieces and understanding what exactly it means to win at chess.

Becoming a better chess player can also be very challenging. If you’re just starting out in the game and looking to improve your skills, there are a few things you can do. If you’re looking for a little help, this article can help!a

“Practice, practice and practice!”

You’re right! The best thing you can do to improve your overall chess game is practice. You should exercise at least twice a day if possible. The more you play, the better your game will be. It’s best if you can find a friend to play with, but even if you don’t have a friend to train against, there are plenty of other ways to improve your game.

You should try to find online chess games and try them out. Chess websites often have forums and tutorials that you can use as well.

These are the most useful tips to get improve your chess game:

Join a tournament:

This is one of the best ways to see your progress in a chess tournament. If you are passionate about chess, you should always try to enter tournaments. You will be able to see your improvements when you also play with other people who challenge themselves! If you don’t want to be beaten every time you play, find a group of chess friends who compete and, even if they are stronger than you, never give up!

Some tips to improve your chess tournament:

Try to get as far as possible in the tournament! It is much better if you can place yourself in the top 10 than in the top 5.

Don’t be too nervous at the beginning of the tournament… play normally. Be confident and do your best to win.

Never give up unless you or your opponent has other options!

If you can, reduce the number of mistakes on every move you make to compete against stronger players!

Play online or with friends/family as much as possible:

This tip may seem a bit obvious, but sometimes it’s a bit hard to do. There are times when you move from one place to another and you get bored and want to do something different. Chess is definitely a good option if you want to do something fun and have fun with games!

Here are some tips to improve chess and play with your friends/family: Create a league or a club with your friends. Play as many games as you can!

Use your chess clock every time you play to familiarize yourself with the time limits involved:

If you don’t already have a chess clock, get one! It’s great to have when playing with your friends or against other chess players. You can also use it to try out new opening moves and see if they’re effective right away…if not, find a different opening!

buy a good quality chess clock.

You should also practice moving your pieces throughout the day and set time limits on what you have previously practiced.

Play chess against the computer online or on your computer:

A good way to improve your chess game is to play against a chess program online or on your computer. If you don’t know where to start, here are some of my recommended chess programs that you can use:

Chessmaster 9000 Deluxe Chessmaster 10 Chessmaster Tournament Edition

You can play it online or on your computer to practice or improve it.

If you don’t want to use these chess programs, there are other free chess programs that you can use too!

Here is a list of them:

Chess for Chrome Chess for Firefox Chess for Mac OS X

Read chess books and articles to learn more about the game and get inspired to improve your skills!:

There are so many different types of chess books and articles that you can read. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start, but here are some chess books I recommend:

1.How to reevaluate your chess

Bobby Fischer teaches chess

Perfect your chess openings

Chess openings for Black

Chess openings for White

Learn various knowledge and strategies by studying these books!

Improve your “mind game” by visualizing your moves and imagining what could happen:

Nowadays, it is really easy to visualize the movements in your mind. You can also see other possible moves in your mind seconds before the actual move is played! However, in order to do this, you must train yourself to stay in the present moment and not think about any of the possible moves to come.

Talk to a chess tutor to improve your skills even faster:

If you want to improve at chess at a faster rate than on your own, find a chess teacher in Your Nearby to help you along the way. There are many different levels of chess tutors and what you pay determines the type of assistance you can get.

Do not train with weak players:

You find yourself playing with players who are much weaker than you and don’t want to keep improving their game, it’s time to stop playing until you find someone else! If you train with weak players, you will start to lose motivation.

Chess is a game where players must learn to manage losses! If you start to get frustrated easily and want to stop playing, it’s probably because you’re playing someone too weak that you’ve deemed worth your time.

Always try to practice with people who are at or above your level.

Learn chess openings and endgames so that you are prepared for the different situations you will face:

You should always try to improve your strategic skills and be prepared for the different levels of difficulty that you will find in your chess games. The more you know about chess, the better prepared you will be to play against any player!

Here are some short tips that I recommend you follow to better understand what happens at the end of the game:

Get motivated about chess openings so you know what your opponent is thinking and trying to do when he plays his opening moves.

Play against the chess computer so you can get used to the different openings and tactics to use at the beginning of a chess game.

Watch as many chess games as you can! You can also learn new strategies by watching videos or going to YouTube.

Play with your friends and see what kind of moves they usually make during the opening and middle stages (middle of the game).

Find out about the structures of the pawns, the movements of the pieces, etc.

Track your wins, losses, and draws to better understand your improvements over time:

If you want to get better at chess, you should make a list of your wins and losses to see how well you’re doing! For example, create an Excel document or write it in a notebook.

Play blitz games online against as many people as possible:

Blitz chess is a very fun type of chess that requires constant thought from start to finish! There are no ties in Blitz matches, so the winner will always have to win by 1 point. Some people even say blitz games are the most exciting chess games to watch.

Practice learning to see different patterns on the board:

You may not realize it, but seeing the patterns on the board is very important in chess. try to look for patterns or “stories” (possible moves) that might take place on the board.

Chess players can look at a board and create different combinations of possible moves and sequences that could occur.

Also, you can use this method as an exercise when you are bored! Just try to see what might happen next or if you can make up a story about the pieces on the board. Find out how these pieces can be put into action!

This is all I have to say on the subject of how to get better at chess. I hope this guide will help you improve your chess game and have even more fun playing chess. Practice makes perfect, so if you really want to get better at chess, practice every day and don’t be afraid to lose!

Try to “think ahead” as much as possible:

It is important to think about the board as much as possible. You should watch to see what your opponent is doing and try to come up with a plan of action based on what they are doing.

Don’t let your turn pass without trying to come up with a plan for your next move.

Your ability to “think ahead” will determine how good you are at chess and how far you will go in the game. To improve this ability,

Chess is a very deep and complex game, so it is important to study different areas of the game to improve your overall game.

Some simple steps to think ahead:

Look for different types of openings. Read how to plan your use, then practice

Always make sure you understand the rules of chess,

You should always be aware of the rules of chess and how the pieces move on the board.

Learn chess tactics:

You should always familiarize yourself with the different chess tactics to use in a game. Read the Tactics chapter of my guide to increase your knowledge of these tactics.

Play different types of games against different levels of challenge and difficulty:

Most people play blitz games, but it’s important to create your own set of rules for the game and play different types of games against different levels of challenge/difficulty.

Practice hand-eye coordination:

You must constantly exercise your hand and eye coordination to increase speed and accuracy in chess.

Grab a stopwatch and see how many seconds it takes to finish a game of chess.

In this guide I will explain why you should be used to constantly looking at the clock or having other people tell the time for you. Here are some tips on 

How you have improved this skill:

Learn to play faster and get used to playing against others with different skill levels.

Ask a chess friend or opponent to constantly remind you of the time during your games.

Keep track of everything and get familiar with all the chess pieces:

It is important to keep track of everything that happens during a chess game and memorize the moves of your pieces so that you can think ahead more easily. Use the abbreviations you create to easily write on paper. If you don’t remember the names of the pieces, write the short version.

Try to focus more on reasoning why you are playing a certain move than on the memory of stored moves.

Keep a book of checkerboard layouts,

These are just a few tips that I recommend you follow to improve your chess game. If you have other suggestions, please leave us a comment and share them with us!

Find the right environment to think about chess:

The reason many people don’t like to play chess is because it takes time to play and think about the different moves. There are many things to think about on the board. You must find a way to teach your brain to play chess that you enjoy in order to increase your success in the game.

The environment you play in is what adds the most pressure and stress to the game.

If you can’t handle the pressure of the game, it’s important to find a new environment when that happens.

I know for a fact that I have never liked playing chess on my computer because I really can’t relate to the pressure of thinking about chess and memorizing all the moves. I get better results and enjoy more when I play with other people.

If you’re having trouble concentrating on your chess games, try creating an environment that you relate to.

End of article:

Winning is more fun than losing, I admit. Therefore, it is always better to play chess than to practice. The game requires a lot of thinking, but you don’t necessarily have to be good at math.You and your opponent share roughly the same number of pieces; every piece is important, but some are more important than others. One way to distinguish the most important pieces is by their chess move values (see our article on piece values and chess piece moves). The king is the most precious chess piece, because without him you lose the game! Then the towers, the flag bearers, the horses and finally the pedestrians are important. However, there are still some things you can do to improve your chess game.

Today, on 16 November 2025, I voluntarily and deliberately closed my chess.com account. 

That account was created in 2024, and my username was Mikromeister. 

Already in summer 2025, I cancelled my subscription and stopped playing on that platform. The reasons I cited in my blog were the following:

The platform ChessDotCom was politicising chess, doing so aggressively and in a biased, selective, discriminative manner. 

There were an awful number of cheaters, opponents using databases and chess engines during live, rapid games. According to the platform's own data, on some days, more than 50% of my opponents violated the rules of fair play and I got some rating points back. 

The way the platform handled complaints, cheaters and corresponding ratings was far from being transparent and understandable.

During that period when I used the platform, I was unaware of the scandals concerning Kramnik, Naroditsky or Navara.

Today, I closed my account, sending to ChessDotCom the following explanation:

"Asking questions about fair play, based on statistical evidence, is not the same as making baseless accusations. ChessDotCom's demagoguery is intolerable."

On 24 December 2024, ChessDotCom announced that GM Kramnik's, the former world champion, blog has been closed and his account has been muted. The platform provided an explanation, which contained confusion concerning the meanings of relevant terms:

"Our team carefully investigated many dozens of players about which GM Kramnik raised suspicions. In the vast majority of cases, we found his accusations baseless.  Unfortunately, GM Kramnik has continued to take his accusations public..."

Suspicions are not accusations. Kramnik's suspicions were not baseless - most of his questions were based on statistical evidence and anomalies discovered.

The issue is about possible cheating in online games.

Recently, again, ChessDotCom repeated its confusing demagoguery:

TarjeiJS  "FIDE Confirms Ethics Investigation Into Kramnik Following Death Of Naroditsky" ChessDotCom, 12 November 2025

That article was published on ChessDotCom's official News channel. Quotation:

"At the end of 2023, Chess.com muted Kramnik's account following repeated accusations against other players. He was later suspended from prize events and is now permanently banned, following what Chess.com called repeated, and egregious, violations of the company's Community Policy." 

ChessDotCom has completely dismissed, ignored or distorted Kramnik's own repeated explanations and arguments. For Kramnik's arguments, see, for example:

Kramnik, V.  "Kramnik Demands to Examine Nakamura’s Games" Levitov Chess World, 27 November 2023 

Quotations:

"I'm not trying to I'm not saying that Hikaru was playing not fair because I don't have uh not the legacy actually and I'm not a mathematician and that's not me who has to judge..." (8:01)

"...those statistics are very very unusual, let's say extremely nonstandard, and since if we are really trying to fight against, you know, against cheating, if we really take it seriously, I believe that such results, such performances must be very seriously checked, maybe the, and maybe the result of the check will be, you know, like that or like this, but you cannot leave such outrageous, I mean performances, without further check, and that is the only reason why I started this..." (8:26)

To those who understand probability theory, confirmation theory and the basics of statistics, ChessDotCom's demagogical accusations and denials amount to the declaration that

2 + 2 = 5

Hiljuti suri noorelt ja ootamatult tuntud malesuurmeister Daniel Naroditsky.

Enne seda olevat male eksmaailmameister Vladimir Kramnik pikka aega Naroditskit avalikult süüdistanud, et viimane teeb internetimales sohki ja kasutab ülikiirete partiide (bullet) ajal malemasinat.

Samuti olevat Kramnik teinud X-s (endises Twitteris) vihjeid, et Naroditski võib-olla tarvitab narkootikume.

Pärast Naroditski ootamatut surma puhkes tema poolehoidjate kollektiivne pahameel. Kramnikut sõimati ja süüdistati Naroditski surma põhjustamises. Kirjutati petitsioone.

Rahvusvahelise maleorganisatsiooni FIDE president teatas lõpuks, et FIDE eetikakomisjon algatab distslinaarjuurdluse Kramniku suhtes. FIDE presidendi avalikus teates anti mõista, et suurmeister Kramnik on oma ahistamise läbi süüdi suurmeister Naroditski surmas.

Ent selleks hetkeks ei olnud USA politsei Naroditski surma otsese põhjuse kohta veel mitte midagi ütelnud.

Alles päev või kaks hiljem teatas USA politsei, et vägivaldset sekkumist ei ole ja et Naroditski surma uuritakse võimaliku enesetapu või narkootikumide üledoosina.

Kramnik teatas, et kaebab teda ähvardanud maletajad kriminaalkohtusse. Samuti ähvardas ta kohtusse kaevata FIDE.

Lääne ajakirjandus tiražeerib süüdistusi, et suurmeister Kramnik laimas suurmeister Naroditskit ja põhjustas tema surma.

Internet ja sotsiaalmeedia on pungil täis väiteid, et Kramniku süüdistused Naroditski kohta olid täiesti alusetud.

Paraku ei vasta see tõele.

Naroditski ühe viimase avaldatud video puhul võib kahtlustada, et oma maleülekannet tehes oli ta narkojoobes.

Kramniku poolt esitatud kahtlustused, et Naroditski mängis internetis malet, kasutades malemasinat, ei ole samuti täiesti alusetud. Kramniku poolt esitatud kahtlustused rajanevad statistilistele korrelatsioonidele.

Kramniku kahtlustuste toetuseks aga puudusid tal otsesed asitõendid. Kuid ka maleplarvormid eemaldavad malemasinate kasutajaid mängust, toetudes peamiselt kaudsetele tõenditele ja statistilisele analüüsile.

Seejuures on oluline märkida, et Kramniku enda sõnul pole ta Naroditskit ja mõnda teist maletajat sohi tegemises otseselt süüdistanud. Kramnik väidab, et ta vaid juhtis tähelepanu statistilistele anomaaliatele ja tõstatas asjakohaseid küsimusi.

Niisiis Kramniku enda sõnul pole ta otseseid süüdistusi esitanud, põhjendatud kahtluste tõstatamiseks on ta aga esitanud piisavalt asitõendeid. Kramniku vastases kampaanias seevastu väidetakse, et Kramnik tegelikult on esitanud otseseid süüdistusi ja et tema süüdistustel pole üldse mitte mingisugust alust.

Kramniku tüli Naroditskiga on aga vaid osa Kramniku suuremast tülist maailma suurima, USA maleplatvormiga ChessCOM, mida Kramnik muide ka kohtu kaudu süüdistab.

Sotsiaalmeedias kasutab Kramnik seejuures väljendit "malemaffia" (chess mafia).

X-s (Twitteris) nägin suurt hulka Kramniku aadressil esitatud süüdistusi, sõimu ja ähvardusi.

Heitsin pilgu ka Tumblrisse. Üks esimesi Kramniku teemalisi postitusi, mida siin nägin, teatas, et laimamisega Naroditski surma põhjustanud malesuurmeister Kramnik "tuleks surnuks peksta".

Ütelge nüüd, et maletajatel on mõistus peas.

Ei ole.

Isegi mitmetel male tippsuurmeistritel pole raasugi aru peas.