Curiosities
The human, curious and historical side of chess — water, chairs, coffee houses and the eccentric geniuses behind the game.
Water on the Board: Hydration and the Hidden Athleticism of Chess
Why grandmasters lose weight sitting still — and what a glass of water has to do with how well you calculate.
The Throne at the Board: Why the Chair Decides Long Games
Bobby Fischer had a chair flown across an ocean for his title match. He wasn't being a diva — he was being an athlete.
The Lighting, the Cameras, the Chair: Bobby Fischer's Stranger Demands
How perfectionism nearly sank the Match of the Century — and then produced one of its greatest comebacks.
Coffee, Revolution and the Royal Game: the Café de la Régence
For two centuries, the center of the chess world wasn't a federation or an arena — it was a Paris coffee house.