WELCOME TO GAMEKNOT! THE PREMIER ONLINE CHESS BATTLEGROUND.   » Join!
Play a friendly chess game online, or compete against rated chess players — all you need is 10 minutes, to enjoy playing chess online every day. You choose when to move and how often to move in your chess games — no need to finish each game in one sitting, they'll be waiting for you here online whenever you have time to play. We offer many advanced options and tools, some not even available anywhere else! Play several chess games online simultaneously, try different chess strategies and chess openings. No additional software to download, easy navigation, free registration, online chess at its best!
» Create an account
» Monthly tournaments
» Teams + Clubs
» Chess league
» Chess puzzles
» Chess games database
» Annotated games
» Chess openings
» Play online chess
» Premium membership
» Chess tools for blogs/websites
» Help? | More…
Win iPod nano!
» Chess puzzle contest
LOGIN TO PLAY ONLINE CHESS:
PLEASE LOG IN:
User name:
Password:
keep me logged in for one month
Don't have an account? Join us and start playing online chess right away! It is absolutely free for the basic access with an optional low annual fee for advanced features or more games. Join us to play online chess right now.
Totals: (since June 2000)
» Registered players: 938,289
» Completed games: 16,635,796
» Games in progress: 114,937
» Players online: 1,894
» Top 100 rated players
» Player stats by country
backgammon Play
Backgammon?
PLAY ONLINE CHESS:
Local GameKnot time: 15:18 PST (GMT-08:00)
Daily puzzle (easy):
Play online chess!
White to move, mate in 4
Daily puzzle (hard):
Play online chess!
White to move, mate in 8
Add Daily Puzzle to:  Blog  |  Website  | 
 |  Add to Facebook Facebook  |  Add to Google
» Badges and widgets
» Link to GameKnot
» What's new on GameKnot
» Animated checkmates
Link to GameKnot
WORLD CHESS NEWS:
Defence, part 1: How does Black fight back? -- 20-Nov-09, guardian.co.uk, play chess online
Svidler-Jobava, European team chess championship, 2009. Black, to move, is under attack. How does he save himself? Our theme over the next few columns is defence – hardly a glamorous subject, and little discussed, but of course vital in chess. White has just played his knight into the middle of the board, heading towards Black's king, and the rook and the queen are also in powerful attacking positions. What does Black have in his favour? Not much. But he does have a material advantage, rook for knight and an extra pawn. This gives him a little hope: if Black survives the attack, he could find himself with a winning position. So let's concentrate on survival. First we ...
Kramnik triumphant in Moscow -- 19-Nov-09, washingtonpost.com, play chess online
Former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik won the flu-stricken Tal Memorial on Saturday. Playing more deliberately and sharply, the Russian grandmaster reinvented himself. He did not mind dwelling in complications and kept his cool in difficult situations. He withstood the last-round charge of Ukraine's Vassily Ivanchuk, last year's winner of the same chess event. Magnus Carlsen sneaked in a tie for second place by winning the last two games. The Norwegian grandmaster gained enough rating points to move into the world's top spot. The world chess champion Vishy Anand of India had a chance to tie for first with Kramnik, but lost in the last round with the white pieces to ...
French chess star wins world junior -- 18-Nov-09, latimes.com, play chess online
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France edged Sergei Zhigalko of Belarus to win the World Junior Chess Championship in Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Each scored an undefeated 10 1/2 -2 1/2 in the 82-player tournament, the most prestigious age-limited chess event. Only players born in 1989 or later were eligible. Vachier-Lagrave, 19, earned the chess grandmaster title in 2005 and won the French championship in 2007. He entered the tournament as the top seed with a rating of 2718 (23rd in the world), but his triumph was hardly guaranteed in an upset-filled melee that included 16 other grandmasters, including six rated above 2600. Zhigalko, 20, was seeded third ...
Kramnik Wins Tal Memorial, Carlsen Claims No. 1 Ranking -- 17-Nov-09, gambit.blogs.nytimes.com, play chess online
In a wild and exciting final round, Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, the former world chess champion, drew his last game to claim the 2009 Tal Memorial tournament title. Kramnik led from Round 6 on and finished with three wins, six draws and no losses. Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, Kramnik’s last round opponent, missed several chances to win and settled for a tie for second with Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who beat Peter Leko of Hungary. With his victory, Carlsen overtook Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria to become the world’s top-ranked chess player. At 18, Carlsen is the youngest chess player to be No. 1. Viswanathan Anand of India, the world chess champion, was in second place before ...
Flu virus keeps competitors in check at Tal Memorial -- 16-Nov-09, guardian.co.uk, play chess online
Ten of the world elite are competing at Moscow's Tal Memorial, which ends today and is one of the strongest tournaments in chess history. But the winner in the chess event's first half was a flu virus which affected several grandmasters and encouraged a minimalist, cautious approach. Ukraine's Vasily Ivanchuk wore a face mask, and a high 80 per cent of the first five round games were drawn. The sickest chess player was Magnus Carlsen, 19, who had trained beforehand with Garry Kasparov and was expected to unleash some opening bombs in his campaign to become world No 1. But Norway's golden teen was close to defeat against Vlad Kramnik in the opening round and then ...
Norwegian, 18, Is Youngest to Be Ranked No. 1 at Chess -- 15-Nov-09, nytimes.com, play chess online
The chess world has a new No. 1 player, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, and he is only 18 years old — the youngest chess player ever to hold the rank. On Saturday, Mr. Carlsen beat Peter Leko, a Hungarian player now ranked No. 11, in the final round of a chess tournament in Moscow. Though Mr. Carlsen only tied for second in the tournament, his performance was good enough for him to edge out Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria for the top world ranking. Mr. Topalov, 34, did not compete in the tournament. Mr. Carlsen, who turns 19 on Nov. 30, is only the seventh No. 1-ranked chess player since the ranking system began in 1970. Garry Kasparov, the Russian former world chess champion ...
Kramnik Retains Lead at Tal Memorial; Carlsen Notches First Win -- 14-Nov-09, gambit.blogs.nytimes.com, play chess online
With one round to go in the Tal Memorial chess tournament in Moscow, Vladimir Kramnik of Russia holds a half-point lead over Viswanathan Anand of India, the world chess champion, and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine. Magnus Carlsen of Norway is alone in fourth after beating Ruslan Ponomariov in Round 8. Kramnik has held the lead since Round 6, despite being held to draws in the last two games. In Round 8, he launched a sacrificial attack against Peter Leko of Hungary, but Leko was never in any real danger and simply returned the extra material to achieve a balanced position, after which Kramnik forced a draw by perpetual check. Carlsen, the top seed in the chess tournament ...
A Bad Night at the Board -- 12-Nov-09, gambit.blogs.nytimes.com, play chess online
“Nobody told me there would be days like these, strange days indeed.” (John Lennon) Hikaru Nakamura is the reigning United States chess champion and ranked No. 24 in the world. He is one of the best chess players the United States has ever produced. As good as he is, it has probably been a very long time, if ever, since he played a game like the one he was involved in on Wednesday night. Nakamura was playing in the quarterfinals of the United States Chess League for the Seattle Sluggers and his team faced the Miami Sharks, who are led by Julio Becerra. Becerra is unquestionably a good chess player. He is a grandmaster and he is ranked No. 477 in the world among ...
» More chess news
Online chess links:
» Chess history
» FIDE | USCF
» Correspondence chess