When I spoke to my father in the late 90s, he just received a new book from Chess Informant internationally known these days as Sahovski. His eyes were full of excitement, chess energy and pride. Back in the days you ordered their books by traditional mail. You actually do it today too. How far have they evolved since 1966?

One of the very important and leading contributors to advance chess these days are chess novelties. The authors of Opening Master databases since very beginning of the creation thought about chess novelties and how to best approach them using the chess database system. The game is all about the “right” opening.

Copyright is kind of a forbidden word in the chess world. You can study and play some chess openings or defenses, to be successful with them and then you will see, especially in the elite, how other players will start copying your choice of repertoire and novelties.

We all know chess is more than just a game; I usually refer to it, herein, as game/art. However, it is a game and, as any game, it is meant to be played. Or can it just be “contemplated”, like a painting? Its art side...

How early should children start playing chess? How early should children start studying chess? How early should children start using chess databases? Everything at once? Little by little? Or it will depend on the answer to the first question? I believe chess playing parents might be interested in this discussion. Curious children may read it too. Ideally, parents and kids: discuss this topic together and we will wait for the next young geniuses!

September 2015 is here, the summer is over, children and students return to their schools to learn something new. Believe it or not some elementary schools have chess classes part of their syllabus. Only three hours per week but the children who sign up for this class will be somehow different to their class mates who don't.

Most of the ICCF National Delegates know Eric Ruch very well and have met him during the last 20 years, but for those who do not know Eric, let's start some brief bio data:
Eric has started his correspondence chess activities thirty years ago, in 1984 playing in various promotional tournaments organized in France by the magazine Europe Echecs while he was student in Paris and became member of AJEC in 1989.

In our information society, everything changes so fast; could chess be an exception? An article on chess and time will be herein presented but now the changes in correspondence chess will be the matter of discussion. Until, let's say, twenty years ago, most correspondence chess was dependent on the postal system.

Far away are those days when playing a chess tournament meant arriving to the playing hall and just to discover (of course, on a handwritten pairing sheet) who was your opponent for that round five minutes before the start. Some pioneers dared to call to the referee the previous night, took some opening book and checked some opening which according to some friend was usually played by his next opponent.

Happy new year of Tiger to all our Chinese friends and players. The 2022 is the Year of the Water Tiger. Great interpersonal relationships, family oriented, courage, assertiveness and natural leadership. Tigers are hungry for thrill and crave for attention. Let's review the Tiger Grandmasters.

The original name Opening Master was born in 2004 when the website was also registered. The founder and creator Alexander Horvath, SIM (1954 - 2013) was a big fan of collecting data since the origin of correspondence chess back in the 80s. I personally remember him writing down all the games in a big red notebook, studying the opponents from the older notes, and having thousands of books on different openings.

Almost everybody has a close relative or a friend that is distressed by mental dementia or Alzheimer's. Temporary treatment techniques combine drugs and behavioral approaches to deal with the effects and growth of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), but there is no complete cure. Perhaps chess can help.

This is a game of the "Immortal Game" between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky, played in London in 1851. It is considered one of the most famous chess games of all time, known for its aggressive and sacrificial play by both sides.

Bernice Wambui is Kenya 2022 Chess Open Champion. She's also the Gift of Chess Global Youth Ambassador, AFI Child Ambassador to the United Nations and UNICEF Kenya Voice of Children Ambassador.  Did we forget to mention she is just 12?  Bernice believes chess is not just a game, it's a tool for education.

One of my favorite chess tournaments, if not the most, is the World Chess Cup. You have there plenty of interesting games, all kind of Grand Masters, classical, rapid and blitz games… what more can we ask for? But have you seen the hot drama between Kramnik and Bruzon? That was something.

Almost one hundred years ago, Don Capablanca wrote: There have been times in my life when I came very near thinking that I could not lose even a single game. Then I would be beaten, and the lost game would bring me back from dreamland to earth. Nothing is so healthy as a thrashing at the proper time, and from few won games have I learned as much as I have from most of my defeat.

Opening Master is proud to publish new release of its OM Correspondence chess database with 1,573,419 games. This month we focused on quality increase.

Opening Master is back. Stronger than ever, faster than ever. More service and more products. After summer period where we had little or no updates we were reconsidering our strategy...

Welcome to the most powerful (and free) chess database - OM POWER 2015. It is offered as freebie from us. All chess friends can download it for free and test it.