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Mike Klein began playing chess at the age of four in Charlotte, NC. In 1986, he lost to Josh Waitzkin at the National Championship featured in the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer." A year later, Mike became the youngest member of the very first All-America Chess Team, and was on the team a total of eight times. In 1988, he won the K-3 National Championship, and eventually became North Carolina's youngest-ever master. In 1996, he won clear first for under-2250 players in the top section of the World Open. Mike has taught chess full-time for a dozen years in New York City and Charlotte, with his students and teams winning many national championships. He now works at Chess.com as a Senior Journalist and at ChessKid.com as the Chief Chess Officer. In 2012, 2015, and 2018, he was awarded Chess Journalist of the Year by the Chess Journalists of America. He has also previously won other awards from the CJA such as Best Tournament Report, and also several writing awards for mainstream newspapers. His chess writing and personal travels have now brought him to more than 85 countries.
After reporting on five previous world championships, I decided last year to finally play in one. The only problem? I really don't care for the extreme pressure and grind the players go through. OK there's a second problem. A small concern of abou...
A lot has been said in the last few days about World Champion Magnus Carlsen soon to become "just" GM Magnus Carlsen. As someone who has interviewed him many times, socialized with him several times, and been in his orbit for weeks at a time, here...
Stay with me here. There was once an event in history that the entire country wanted to attend, especially New Yorkers. The event would bring together young people in a way that only that exact period in history could. The previous year had be...
Some people think that the Star Wars franchise is actual one giant allegory for Judaism. Maybe. Maybe not. But what I can tell you is that you can take the lessons from Star Wars to pass all of the ChessKid bots! Here's your step-by-step guide...
Here's a fun 3-Checks game that I played recently. What's that? You aren't on "Team 3-Checks" yet? Danny wants you there. And so do I. One of the most existential questions of 3-Checks is, "Why am I playing 3-Checks?" And, "Why can't I put...
In case you haven't heard by now, the sensational 8-year-old talent Tanitoluwa "Tani" Adewumi is pretty good at chess. Although he's only been playing for about one year, and despite being homeless and a refugee from Nigeria, he recently won ...
Ten years ago today, most of the world found out that former World Champion Bobby Fischer died. While he technically passed the evening before (on January 17, 2008), it wasn't until morning that all but his closest confidants heard the news. T...
AlphaZero's technology could be groundbreaking, but is leaving the chess world with so many questions. Maybe AlphaZero's little sister, Siri, can help? An actual conversation I had this morning with Siri on my iPhone... Siri, are you afraid of...
My friend the Lion King, ever the grandiose Blockbuster Rockstar, told me, the Knight, in his usual Soprano voice, that despite usually just being a lowly Mechanic who Surfs the internet, to fulfill my Destiny "expect the enemy to fight like a Nom...
The two most overused terms in chess journalism are "epic" and "blood spilled." Those qualities are, however, the oeuvre of certain Hollywood directors. But what if each of the 16 games was made into a movie, or into one compilation of vign...
In late 2013, Chess.com decided that all staff member raises would be decided by virtue of a company-wide tournament. Kidding, but I wouldn't object! We did have a tournament online just for fun, and two years later crowned a champion. Luckily f...
The chess world lost another soul last week, as Ukrainian master-strength player Daniil Kucherenko (FIDE 2365) succumbed to injuries sustained in a car crash. Kucherenko, who's name was sometimes spelled Danylo but was known to some friends by the...
Feel like playing a world champion next week? Probably every one in the world, short of Viswanathan Anand, would likely say "Yes!" Here's your chance. GM Magnus Carlsen, just two months removed from becoming the second-youngest world champion in...
With only a few days left before the end of the year (and with it the end of the Third Chess.com Death Match Qualifier), here is how the race shapes up. Note that players are playing dozens of games in a day sometimes and the rankings and ratings ...
UPDATE: GM Judit Polgar wins Death Match 18 over GM Nigel Short - 17.5-10.5. A longer news article will follow Sunday. We've had Super-GM clashes before. We've had Europeans play many times, and we've had all-female battles too. But Chess.com ...
In the first ever Death Match between two Super-GMs, Loek van Wely (FIDE 2701) and Arkadij Naiditsch (FIDE 2710) will battle it out over three hours on Friday, September 6 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific. While the real Superman promotes the...
Remember when ESPN began in 1979 and showed what sports coverage could look like? Yeah me neither - I was born a month later. But from what I read, the same breadth of coverage, wit, and insight is currently happening in the chess world. There a...
Start with two grandmasters. Add some Argentinian and Brazilian blood. Throw in some more from Connecticut, Armenia and Lebanon. What do you get? The most multicultural Chess.com Death Match ever! Death Match 16 will feature the Americas-hopping G...
Most of the best young chess players in the United States have never had their games broadcasted live all over the world. Chess has slowly been coming into its own as a “broadcast sport” over the past few years, but the events covered ...
Death Match 15 pits a world top-ten super grandmaster against a player who is 250 points lower and taking a break from tournaments. GM Fabiano Caruana, an American-Italian dual citizen who plays for Italy, will have the largest-ever Death Match ra...
Two Texas Tech Knight Raider teammates will square off in Chess.com's 14th Death Match this Sunday, May 19th at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific. The match could be the "Modesty Cup" as neither player gives himself a ringing endorsement in blit...
