10+ Best Articles on Chess
The most useful articles and videos on chess from around the web—beginners to advanced—curated by thought leaders and our community. We focus on timeless pieces and update the list whenever we discover new, must-read articles or videos—make sure to bookmark and revisit this page.
Top 5 Chess Articles
At a glance: these are the articles that have been most read, shared, and saved on chess by Refind users in 2023 so far.
- Theory of mind: What chess and drug dealers can teach you about manipulation
- James Stanley - Cheating at chess with a computer for my shoes
- The cheating scandal roiling the chess world has a new wrinkle
- Playing chess is an essential life lesson in concentration
- A Good Chess Cheater Might Never Be Caught
Videos
Watch a video to get a quick overview.
A brief history of chess
Trace the storied history of the game of chess, from its origins in 7th century India to the computer software we use today. -- The attacking infantry advanc...
Inside Magnus Carlsen's mind: How he visualizes the chess board
Lex Fridman Podcast full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZO28NtkwwQPlease support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:- Shopify: https://shop...
How to ...?
How to Get Good at Chess, Fast
How to Get Good at Chess, Fast A step-by-step guide to rapid chess improvement Last updated: March 1, 2016 Edit: This article was unexpectedly popular, reaching #2 on Hacker News and being linked t…
Trending
These links are currently making the rounds on chess on Refind.
What Does It Mean, Now, to Be the World Chess Champion?
Ding Liren defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi to take the title. But the game has changed, and the old status markers may not carry the same weight they once did.
How Did the Chess Pieces Get Their Names?
One player’s pawn is another’s farmer. And at one time, the queen was the virgin, and rather powerless.
Short Articles
Short on time? Check out these useful short articles on chess—all under 10 minutes.
A Good Chess Cheater Might Never Be Caught
The line between human and computer play is very hard to find.
«In an era when chess engines entirely dominate the game—when they’ve so monopolized human players’ thinking, strategy, and preparation that chess has, in certain ways, come to resemble poker—is it really possible to disentangle creativity from computing?»
Why teens are suddenly obsessed with chess
In some schools, it’s become a problem, but at most, it’s encouraged
The cheating scandal roiling the chess world has a new wrinkle
World champion Magnus Carlsen abruptly resigned after making a single move in his highly anticipated rematch with Hans Niemann. Calls have increased for an investigation.
James Stanley - Cheating at chess with a computer for my shoes
Sat 30 July 2022 Tagged: software, 3dprinting, chess, electronics I have come up with a new way to win at chess: I have connected up a Raspberry Pi Zero in my pocket to some buttons and vibration…
Theory of mind: What chess and drug dealers can teach you about manipulation
From grandmasters to drug dealers, people who make deft use of "theory of mind" can remain several steps ahead of their rivals.
«Every social interaction is a game of chess, trying to get inside someone’s head to navigate what they are thinking or what they will do.»
Long Articles
These are some of the most-read long-form articles on chess.
What is Chess? What to think and how long for
Your knight for my pawn, and you have to take it. Things are about to get worse, sunshine. This is my game now. You have been out-calculated. I don't want the piece, I want your soul. My attack hurts…
Playing chess is an essential life lesson in concentration
The challenge of chess – learning how to hold complexity in mind and still make good decisions – is also the challenge of life
«I believe concentration is a defining feature of a fulfilling life, a necessary habit of mind for a viable civilisation, and that chess can teach us more about what concentration really means.»
Reconstructing Turing's "Paper Machine"
Can you guess when the first chess program was written – relative to the invention of computers? Ten years later? Wrong. The great mathematician Alan Turing did it earlier than that. During the…
The Chess Master and the Computer by Garry Kasparov
In 1985, in Hamburg, I played against thirty-two different chess computers at the same time in what is known as a simultaneous exhibition. I walked from one machine to the next, making my moves over a period of more than five hours. The four leading chess computer manufacturers had sent their top models, including eight […]
Garry Kasparov on AI, Chess, and the Future of Creativity
Change is inevitable, says the chess grandmaster, and we should speed up our search for the edge of human potential.
Publications
We monitor hundreds of publications, blogs, newsletters, and news sources in Chess, including:
The Ringer
Sports. TV. Movies. Pop Culture. Music.
Chess.com
The world's largest chess community. Join today! Need support? Contact @chesscomsupport. For live event coverage, follow @chesscomlive.
Quanta Magazine
Big ideas in science and math. Because you want to know more. Launched by @SimonsFdn. 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting. http://quantamagazine.org
JSTOR Daily
Online magazine that draws on scholarly research @JSTOR. Offers fresh insight into current affairs. Subscribe for free: http://daily.jstor.org/newsletter
MIT Technology Review
Our in-depth reporting on innovation reveals and explains what’s really happening now to help you know what’s coming next. http://technologyreview.com/newsletters
What is Refind?
Every day Refind picks the most relevant links from around the web for you. Picking only a handful of links means focusing on what’s relevant and useful. We favor timeless pieces—links with long shelf-lives, articles that are still relevant one month, one year, or even ten years from now. These lists of the best resources on any topic are the result of years of careful curation.
How does Refind curate?
It’s a mix of human and algorithmic curation, following a number of steps:
- We monitor 10k+ sources and 1k+ thought leaders on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
- In addition, our users save links from around the web using our Save buttons and our extensions.
- Our algorithm processes 100k+ new links every day and uses external signals to find the most relevant ones, focusing on timeless pieces.
- Our community of active users gets the most relevant links every day, tailored to their interests. They provide feedback via implicit and explicit signals: open, read, listen, share, mark as read, read later, «More/less like this», etc.
- Our algorithm uses these internal signals to refine the selection.
- In addition, we have expert curators who manually curate niche topics.
The result: lists of the best and most useful articles on hundreds of topics.
How does Refind detect «timeless» pieces?
We focus on pieces with long shelf-lives—not news. We determine «timelessness» via a number of metrics, for example, the consumption pattern of links over time.
How many sources does Refind monitor?
We monitor 10k+ content sources on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
Which sources does Refind monitor on chess?
We monitor hundreds of sources on chess, including The Ringer, Chess.com, Quanta Magazine, JSTOR Daily, MIT Technology Review, and many more.
Can I submit a link?
Indirectly, by using Refind and saving links from outside (e.g., via our extensions).
How can I report a problem?
When you’re logged-in, you can flag any link via the «More» (...) menu. You can also report problems via email to hello@refind.com
Who uses Refind?
200k+ smart people start their day with Refind. To learn something new. To get inspired. To move forward. Our apps have a 4.9/5 rating.
Is Refind free?
Yes, it’s free!
How can I sign up?
Head over to our homepage and sign up by email or with your Twitter or Google account.