PGN Base
The Blog
Guides, strategy, and stories from the world of chess — written to be read, not just skimmed.
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Players
Ding Liren — The Champion Nobody Expected
How a quiet endgame specialist from Wenzhou overcame a ban, a pandemic, and Ian Nepomniachtchi to become China's first world chess champion.
Elena Voss · June 2, 2026 · 9 min read
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Players
Fabiano Caruana — The American Who Took Carlsen to the Brink
Fabiano Caruana scored 7/7 against the world's elite in 2014, then drew all twelve classical games against Magnus Carlsen in the 2018 World Championship.
Elena Voss · June 2, 2026 · 11 min read
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Players
Gukesh Dommaraju — The Boy Who Became the Youngest World Chess Champion
In December 2024, Gukesh Dommaraju, 18, defeated Ding Liren in Singapore to become the youngest undisputed world chess champion in the 140-year history of the title.
Elena Voss · June 2, 2026 · 10 min read
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History
Kramnik vs Deep Fritz 2006 — The Match That Ended the Human Era
In Bonn 2006, Vladimir Kramnik — the unified world champion — lost 2–4 to Deep Fritz running on standard PC hardware. The last man-vs-machine match in chess history, decided in part by one unforgettable blunder.
Elena Voss · June 2, 2026 · 9 min read
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Strategy
Opening Explorer — See What the Masters Played from Any Position, Free
Navigate any chess position and see exactly what grandmasters have played there — with win rates, draw rates, and model games from the master database.
Elena Voss · June 2, 2026 · 10 min read
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Tournaments
The Sinquefield Cup: Inside America's Strongest Chess Tournament
Since 2013, the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis has hosted the world's elite grandmasters, producing landmark results — including Caruana's record-breaking seven consecutive wins in 2014.
Elena Voss · June 2, 2026 · 10 min read
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Tools
Analysis Board — A Free Online Chess Board with Engine and Variations
Step through any game, branch alternative lines, and let the engine guide you — the analysis board is the fastest way to turn review time into real chess understanding.
Elena Voss · June 1, 2026 · 9 min read
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Players
Botvinnik — The Man Who Built the Soviet Chess Machine
Mikhail Botvinnik won the world title three times, lost it twice, and won it back both times — then trained the champions who defined chess for 30 years after him.
Elena Voss · June 1, 2026 · 9 min read
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Players
Magnus Carlsen's Best Games — Ten Masterpieces, Annotated
From a 19-year-old's attacking brilliancy against Topalov to the queen sacrifice that closed the 2016 World Championship — ten Carlsen games every chess fan needs to know, each playable in your browser.
Elena Voss · June 1, 2026 · 11 min read
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Players
Emanuel Lasker — 27 Years No One Could Take His Crown
Emanuel Lasker held the world chess title from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign in history. The story of chess's first psychological grandmaster.
Elena Voss · June 1, 2026 · 10 min read
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History
Rook Endgame Essentials: Philidor and Lucena Positions
The Philidor and Lucena positions are the two rook endgame blueprints every chess player must know — here's how they work and why they matter.
Elena Voss · June 1, 2026 · 10 min read
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Strategy
The Sicilian Dragon — Opposite-Side Castling and the Yugoslav Attack
The Sicilian Dragon is chess's most explosive opening: both sides castle opposite and race to checkmate. Here is how the Yugoslav Attack and Black's queenside counterplay work.
Elena Voss · June 1, 2026 · 11 min read
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Strategy
The Najdorf Sicilian — Black's Most Feared Weapon, Explained
Why 5...a6 made the Najdorf Sicilian the most analysed opening in chess, and how Fischer and Kasparov turned it into a weapon no one could stop.
Elena Voss · June 1, 2026 · 10 min read
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Strategy
The Sveshnikov Sicilian — The Pawn Weakness That Isn't
Black hands White a d5 outpost and a backward d-pawn on move five. Here's why the world's best players have trusted this trade for fifty years — and how to play it.
Elena Voss · June 1, 2026 · 11 min read
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Players
Alekhine — The Exile Who Dethroned the Invincible
Capablanca hadn't lost a match in 15 years. Alekhine spent two years preparing to beat him, claimed the world title in Buenos Aires 1927, and died as world champion alone in a Portuguese hotel.
Elena Voss · May 31, 2026 · 9 min read
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History
AlphaZero — The Engine That Taught Itself Chess and Rewrote the Book
In four hours of self-play, AlphaZero mastered chess from nothing. Then it beat Stockfish 28–0 and showed the world that chess still had secrets to reveal.
Elena Voss · May 31, 2026 · 10 min read
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Strategy
What the Eval Bar Actually Means — Centipawns, Mate Scores, and Why +1.5 Isn't Winning
The eval bar number isn't just a score — it's a compressed engine opinion. Here's what centipawns mean, what mate scores actually count, and why a big number doesn't always mean a won game.
Elena Voss · May 31, 2026 · 10 min read
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History
The Evergreen Game — Anderssen's Second Immortal
In Berlin 1852, Adolf Anderssen sacrificed a rook and his queen to deliver a double-bishop checkmate so precise that Wilhelm Steinitz named it 'a green immortal that never fades.'
Elena Voss · May 31, 2026 · 11 min read
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History
Game of the Century — Byrne vs Fischer, 13 Years Old
In 1956, a 13-year-old Bobby Fischer sacrificed his queen against international master Donald Byrne and produced one of the greatest chess games ever played.
Elena Voss · May 31, 2026 · 14 min read
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History
144 Games That Almost Broke Both Men — Kasparov vs Karpov
Across five world championship matches from 1984 to 1990, Karpov and Kasparov played 144 games — more than any other rivals in the history of the world title.
Elena Voss · May 31, 2026 · 11 min read
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Players
Wilhelm Steinitz — The Madman Who Invented Modern Chess
Before Steinitz, chess was won by attacking. He wrote the laws that changed everything, then beat every player of his era to prove them right.
Elena Voss · May 31, 2026 · 9 min read
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Players
Mikhail Tal — The Man Who Sacrificed Everything for a Win
At 23, Mikhail Tal dethroned Botvinnik with sacrifices no one could calculate. His style redefined what attacking chess could be — and cost him his health.
Elena Voss · May 31, 2026 · 12 min read
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History
The Immortal Game — Anderssen vs Kieseritzky 1851
In London 1851, Adolf Anderssen sacrificed his queen, both rooks, and a bishop to deliver one of the most spectacular checkmates in 170 years of competitive chess.
Elena Voss · May 30, 2026 · 11 min read
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Strategy
The Queen's Gambit — The Opening That Isn't Really a Gambit
White offers a pawn it almost always recovers. The complete guide to the Queen's Gambit: QGA vs QGD, why the world's best still play it, and the game that mattered most.
Elena Voss · May 30, 2026 · 12 min read
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Strategy
The Ruy Lopez — 500 Years of the Spanish Torture
Named after a 16th-century Spanish priest, the Ruy Lopez is the backbone of elite 1.e4 play. This guide covers the Closed, Berlin Defense, Exchange Variation, and the Marshall Attack.
Elena Voss · May 30, 2026 · 13 min read
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Strategy
The Sicilian Defense — Why the Best in the World Trust Black's Sharpest Weapon
The Sicilian Defense is Black's most popular answer to 1.e4 — sharper, richer, and more asymmetric than anything else. Here is how to find your way through it.
Elena Voss · May 30, 2026 · 12 min read
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Strategy
The London System — One Setup Against Almost Everything
The London System lets White reach the same solid position against nearly any Black defence — here is how it works, where it came from, and the attack it hides.
Elena Voss · May 29, 2026 · 11 min read