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Chess news, and what to do about it

Short pieces on what is happening in chess, each ending in something you can try.

25 October 2026How fast do beginners get checkmated? 4.5 million games, countedUnder 1000 on Lichess, 1 game in 17 ends in checkmate by move 15. Which traps do it, at which ratings, and which openings keep you safe.
10 October 2026Do famous chess traps actually work? Eleven of them, checked by StockfishEvery trap is a bet. We measured eleven famous ones with Stockfish: what each costs you if your opponent knows it, and what it wins if they fall in.
2 October 2026Was the Immortal Game sound? What Stockfish says, move by moveAnderssen gave up both rooks and his queen to mate Kieseritzky in 1851. We ran Stockfish over the game: where Black went wrong, and which sacrifices held up.
2 October 2026Morphy's Opera Game: how two amateurs lost in 17 movesPaul Morphy beat two amateurs in 17 moves at the opera in 1858. Stockfish shows no single blunder, just a lead in development that grew with every move.
2 October 2026Fischer's Game of the Century: did the engine agree?At 13, Bobby Fischer beat Donald Byrne with a queen sacrifice in 1956. Stockfish shows what Byrne got wrong and why 17...Be6 was the only move.