Kevin Smith
@kevinchesssmith.bsky.social
Chess author. My two books are on chessable.com. Look for "Secrets of Trapping Pieces". "KIMPLODES!" is in progress with IM Turzo. Search the titles for an intro.
Husband. Dad. Son. Brother. Retired pilot, cybersecurity guy & marathoner. 2d dan black belt.
Husband. Dad. Son. Brother. Retired pilot, cybersecurity guy & marathoner. 2d dan black belt.
Announcing the Top Chess Quotemaster (QM) as Grandmaster and Quotemaster Savielly Tartakower enters the QM Hall of Fame at the #1 spot. Read a bit about him, enjoy 20 quotes, and decide if I made the best choice! www.chess.com/blog/KevinCh...
Chess QuoteMasters #1 Tartakower
I am one of those unlucky skeptics who never overlook the dark side of even the happiest experience. – Tartakower, Chess Review, June 1951, page 170 Savielly Tartakower by Edward Winter We've reached ...
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November 20, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Announcing the Top Chess Quotemaster (QM) as Grandmaster and Quotemaster Savielly Tartakower enters the QM Hall of Fame at the #1 spot. Read a bit about him, enjoy 20 quotes, and decide if I made the best choice! www.chess.com/blog/KevinCh...
One step closer to announcing the Big Kahuna of Chess Quotemasters. We're at #2 in the countdown, with twice the quotes, and some controversy regarding Aron Nimzowitsch's place in the chess theoretician's pantheon. He was once deemed #3 in the world. Enjoy! www.chess.com/blog/KevinCh...
Chess QuoteMasters #2: Nimzowitsch
To be great is to be misunderstood. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, his essay "Self-Reliance" We've reached the #2 entrant into the Chess Quote Master (QM) Hall of Fame (HoF). If you missed any or all of numbe...
www.chess.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:36 PM
One step closer to announcing the Big Kahuna of Chess Quotemasters. We're at #2 in the countdown, with twice the quotes, and some controversy regarding Aron Nimzowitsch's place in the chess theoretician's pantheon. He was once deemed #3 in the world. Enjoy! www.chess.com/blog/KevinCh...
Today I posted about #3 of the Top Ten in the Chess Quotemaster (QM) Hall of Fame, Siegbert Tarrasch, including some "Trash Quotes" by those imitating his style for fun. Please enjoy the pictures, a brief bio, and some musings. Cheers! www.chess.com/blog/KevinCh...
Chess QuoteMasters #3: Siegbert Tarrasch
Quixotic, querulous quests to qualify and question quote quality and quantity leave me dazed. Who actually said what, when, and why? Did someone else put some or all of those words in their mouth? Mor...
www.chess.com
October 24, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Today I posted about #3 of the Top Ten in the Chess Quotemaster (QM) Hall of Fame, Siegbert Tarrasch, including some "Trash Quotes" by those imitating his style for fun. Please enjoy the pictures, a brief bio, and some musings. Cheers! www.chess.com/blog/KevinCh...
Today I posted about the fourth person to enter the Chess Quotemaster (QM) Hall of Fame, Mikhail Tal, former World Chess Champion. Pictures, quotes, and some stories. Enjoy! www.chess.com/blog/KevinCh...
Chess QuoteMasters #4: GM Mikhail Tal
Play the opening like a book, the middlegame like a magician, and the endgame like a machine. (Rudolph Spielmann) Clearly, the Magician from Riga got that middle part down pat! Amusingly, Botvinnik sc...
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October 10, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Today I posted about the fourth person to enter the Chess Quotemaster (QM) Hall of Fame, Mikhail Tal, former World Chess Champion. Pictures, quotes, and some stories. Enjoy! www.chess.com/blog/KevinCh...
This completes the chess zodiac cycle with birthdays of titled players born in September. There are now posts for every month that list GMs, IMs, ..., chess couples, authors, and more. Links to all months in this post. Cheers!
www.chess.com/blog/KevinCh...
www.chess.com/blog/KevinCh...
September Babies: A Chess Zodiac
A very good month for my side of the Smith family. Both my daughter and my son were born in September!! Bonus: There are plenty of big chess names born in September! Did any of that influence my child...
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September 30, 2025 at 10:10 AM
This completes the chess zodiac cycle with birthdays of titled players born in September. There are now posts for every month that list GMs, IMs, ..., chess couples, authors, and more. Links to all months in this post. Cheers!
www.chess.com/blog/KevinCh...
www.chess.com/blog/KevinCh...
Two days ago, I hit the "Submit for Publication" button on KIMPLODES!, a book about how to analyze your chess games while playing and afterwards.
Meanwhile, I'm keeping busy with chess blogs. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Meanwhile, I'm keeping busy with chess blogs. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Chess Quotemasters #5: Robert (Bobby) James Fischer
To be great is to be misunderstood. Ralph Waldo Emerson A typical teenager's response (well, it was my response) to Emerson's quote might be the following, I'm the most misunderstood person in the who...
www.chess.com
September 11, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Two days ago, I hit the "Submit for Publication" button on KIMPLODES!, a book about how to analyze your chess games while playing and afterwards.
Meanwhile, I'm keeping busy with chess blogs. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Meanwhile, I'm keeping busy with chess blogs. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Time for chess player birthdays during the Dog Days of August! www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
August Babies: A Chess Zodiac
Leos are blessed with such self-confidence that they are natural entertainers--does that bring any chess streamers to mind? We'll find out! Meanwhile, Virgos are known for their attention to detail an...
www.chess.com
August 31, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Time for chess player birthdays during the Dog Days of August! www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Number 6 now enters the Chess Quotes Hall of Fame. IM Jeremy Silman wrote numerous books, provided chess insights to shows such as Harry Potter, and inspired me to write three chess books. Read all about him www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Chess QuoteMasters 6: IM Jeremy Silman
Of chess it has often been said that life is not long enough for it – but that is the fault of life, not chess. William Ewart Napier To my fellow, esteemed quotologists, the opening quote was a follow...
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August 15, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Number 6 now enters the Chess Quotes Hall of Fame. IM Jeremy Silman wrote numerous books, provided chess insights to shows such as Harry Potter, and inspired me to write three chess books. Read all about him www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Time for my monthly chess zodiac rendition of the biographies of famous and many not-so-well-known masters of the chess board born in July...and a smattering of chess bloggers www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
July Babies: A Chess Zodiac
Cancer (the Crab, but not "crabs") and Leo (the Lion, but not the cowardly one from Oz), do they form the nature of chess players born in July? The crab is intuitive, harnessing soft power inside a ha...
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August 1, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Time for my monthly chess zodiac rendition of the biographies of famous and many not-so-well-known masters of the chess board born in July...and a smattering of chess bloggers www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Number Seven now enters the Chess Quote Hall of Fame, David Bronstein. A world chess championship contender who tied the match at 12 points each, but the champ retained the title in case of a tie. An incredible chess author. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Chess QuoteMasters #7: GM David Bronstein
We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are. [probable Talmudic origin] [A note for my regular readers: The intro has not changed...much...except for the following paragraph. Feel free t...
www.chess.com
July 19, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Number Seven now enters the Chess Quote Hall of Fame, David Bronstein. A world chess championship contender who tied the match at 12 points each, but the champ retained the title in case of a tie. An incredible chess author. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Another GOAT of chess quotes blogging entry. Entering the Hall of Fame at #8? Garry Kasparov, former World Champion, author, and politician. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Chess QuoteMaster (QM) #8: Garry Kasparov
In chess the rules are fixed, and the outcome is unpredictable, whereas in Putin's Russia the rules are unpredictable, and the outcome is fixed. — Garry Kasparov [A note for my regular readers: The in...
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July 3, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Another GOAT of chess quotes blogging entry. Entering the Hall of Fame at #8? Garry Kasparov, former World Champion, author, and politician. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Know someone with a birthday in June who likes chess and wants to learn more about players born this month? Here's a post with pictures, bios, quotes, video links, and more! www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
June Babies: A Chess Zodiac
Gemini – the twins. Opposite sides of the same coin? Are they conjoined? They certainly seem inseparable. Perhaps they are descendants of Janus, the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, dualit...
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June 30, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Know someone with a birthday in June who likes chess and wants to learn more about players born this month? Here's a post with pictures, bios, quotes, video links, and more! www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
A return to my chess.com Hall of Fame series. A short bio, quotes, some analyzed games, pictures, and links to a treasure chest of other information sources about this grandmaster. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Hall of Fame #42: Najdorf–"Happy-Go-Lucky"
[A note for my regular readers: The intro has not changed. Feel free to jump to the Table of Contents or even to the Biography.] [A note for my new readers: I believe it is useful to read the full int...
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June 20, 2025 at 11:44 AM
A return to my chess.com Hall of Fame series. A short bio, quotes, some analyzed games, pictures, and links to a treasure chest of other information sources about this grandmaster. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
A return to the topic of who the GOATs of chess quotes were! This week, introducing #9 of the Top Ten of all time, imo. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Chess QuoteMaster (QM) #9: GM Rudolf Spielmann
People sometimes complain that there are fewer 'brilliant' sacrifices than there used to be in the past. However, the point is that players just don't allow them anymore! - Alexander Grischuk So, who ...
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June 13, 2025 at 12:38 PM
A return to the topic of who the GOATs of chess quotes were! This week, introducing #9 of the Top Ten of all time, imo. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
A return to my chess players Hall of Fame series. This time it's #43 Szymon Winawer, a one-time German CC, and former #2 worldwide. A previous video and puzzle series was executed by the GMs mentioned below. Mine is more amusing...imo 🤣 www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
HoF #43: Winawer (The French King)
This blog is a celebration that leverages an outstanding concept of GMs Nielsen and Gustafsson (both of whom are also popular chessable.com authors) but offers my unique take. The two GMs produced vid...
www.chess.com
June 7, 2025 at 12:22 AM
A return to my chess players Hall of Fame series. This time it's #43 Szymon Winawer, a one-time German CC, and former #2 worldwide. A previous video and puzzle series was executed by the GMs mentioned below. Mine is more amusing...imo 🤣 www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
A Chess Zodiac for May. No predictions, I leave that to the reader's imagination!! Instead, there are names, stories, quotes, images, and more about chess players born on every day of May. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
May Babies: A Chess Zodiac
Maybe, maybe not. Like mayflies, each day lasts only 24 hours (ignoring the fact a day is actually about four minutes less than that), so the opportunity to be born the same day as a famous chess play...
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May 31, 2025 at 10:22 AM
A Chess Zodiac for May. No predictions, I leave that to the reader's imagination!! Instead, there are names, stories, quotes, images, and more about chess players born on every day of May. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
A return to the topic of who the GOATs of chess quotes were! This week, introducing #10 of the Top Ten of all time, imo. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Chess QuoteMaster #10: GM Andrew Soltis
If drink is the curse of the working classes and work is the curse of the drinking classes, then chess is the curse of the thinking classes. J Ross So, who are the GOATs of chess quotes? Do you have a...
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May 23, 2025 at 10:30 AM
A return to the topic of who the GOATs of chess quotes were! This week, introducing #10 of the Top Ten of all time, imo. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
The seventh post on "Hall of Fame" chess players. GM Peter Leko is up this time. He was nearly the World Champion but lost the last game to Vladimir Kramnik in a 14-game match. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm... Next week, I'll introduce #10 in the Chess Quotemaster Countdown.
HoF #44: Leko–"The Cement Meister"
This blog is a celebration that leverages an outstanding concept of GMs Nielsen and Gustafsson but offers my unique take. The two GMs produced videos and multiple lessons regarding their top 50 chess ...
www.chess.com
May 16, 2025 at 1:43 PM
The seventh post on "Hall of Fame" chess players. GM Peter Leko is up this time. He was nearly the World Champion but lost the last game to Vladimir Kramnik in a 14-game match. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm... Next week, I'll introduce #10 in the Chess Quotemaster Countdown.
The beginning of a new series that starts with chess players renowned for great quotes and whittles that down to the Top Ten Chess Quotemasters (QMs)! This week, I will introduce the 23 candidates and provide some details on the selection criteria. Stay tuned for QM#10! www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
ANNOUNCMENT! The Top Ten Chess Quotemasters (QMs)
We are in truth but pieces on this chess board of life, which in the end we leave, only to drop one by one into the grave of nothingness. (c 1120) - Omar Khayyam So, who are the chess quote GOATs? Do ...
www.chess.com
May 9, 2025 at 10:57 AM
The beginning of a new series that starts with chess players renowned for great quotes and whittles that down to the Top Ten Chess Quotemasters (QMs)! This week, I will introduce the 23 candidates and provide some details on the selection criteria. Stay tuned for QM#10! www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Week six of posting on famous chess players with a brief bio, quotes by or about the individual, a quick review of any books they wrote, some games they analyzed, and any interesting external links with other fun tidbits. Cheers! www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
HoF #45: Maróczy–"The Bind"
This blog is a celebration that leverages an outstanding concept of GMs Nielsen and Gustafsson (both of whom are also popular chessable.com authors) but offers my unique take. The two GMs produced vid...
www.chess.com
May 2, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Week six of posting on famous chess players with a brief bio, quotes by or about the individual, a quick review of any books they wrote, some games they analyzed, and any interesting external links with other fun tidbits. Cheers! www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
I've compiled another chess birthdays zodiac, this time for April. Read about world champs, chess power couples, famous authors, streamers extraordinaire, and more! Do you or a family member or friend share a birthday with any of them? Time to find out!! www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
April Babies: A Chess Zodiac
April Fools! This post is just so I can get a badge🤪. Oh, wait. That's the people on the "All Blogs" page who just learned that if they post ten times, they'll earn a weightless and coinless merit bad...
www.chess.com
April 30, 2025 at 11:27 AM
I've compiled another chess birthdays zodiac, this time for April. Read about world champs, chess power couples, famous authors, streamers extraordinaire, and more! Do you or a family member or friend share a birthday with any of them? Time to find out!! www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
This is week 5 of posting on chess Hall of Fame players. This week, it's GM Gata Kamsky, who was #8 in the world at age 16! I provide a bio with games, video links, book reviews, and more. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
HoF #46: Kamsky–"London's King"
This blog is a celebration that leverages an outstanding concept of GMs Nielsen and Gustafsson (both of whom are also popular chessable.com authors) but offers my unique take. The two GMs produced vid...
www.chess.com
April 25, 2025 at 11:09 AM
This is week 5 of posting on chess Hall of Fame players. This week, it's GM Gata Kamsky, who was #8 in the world at age 16! I provide a bio with games, video links, book reviews, and more. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Time to post about one of the great chess players and authors of the 20th century, Lev Polugaevsky, this week's entry as I provide my unique takes on the Top 50 players in the Hall of Fame www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
HoF #47: Polugaevsky–"The Great Poluga"
This blog is a celebration that leverages an outstanding concept of GMs Nielsen and Gustafsson (both of whom are also popular chessable.com authors) but offers my unique take. The two GMs produced vid...
www.chess.com
April 18, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Time to post about one of the great chess players and authors of the 20th century, Lev Polugaevsky, this week's entry as I provide my unique takes on the Top 50 players in the Hall of Fame www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
My continuing hall of fame series on the top 50 chess players of all time. A bio, pictures, quotes, videos, games, links to other sources, you name it, this post has it. 🤣 www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
HoF #48: Portisch–"The Hungarian Botvinnik"
This blog is a celebration that leverages an outstanding concept of GMs Nielsen and Gustafsson (both of whom are also popular chessable.com authors) but offers my unique take. The two GMs produced vid...
www.chess.com
April 11, 2025 at 11:16 AM
My continuing hall of fame series on the top 50 chess players of all time. A bio, pictures, quotes, videos, games, links to other sources, you name it, this post has it. 🤣 www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Participated in a monthly chess blogging contest with 28 entrants. I won a gold medal for Best Analysis and bronze medals for Best Writing and Best Editing. Quite pleased, needless to say. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...
Analyze with KIMPLODES! Bishop Sac for Multiple Pawns
Count 'em up, folks! Black has four extra pawns, White has an extra bishop. Plus, White seems to have a lead in development, though that light-squared bishop looks like a problem, as does the rook on ...
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April 8, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Participated in a monthly chess blogging contest with 28 entrants. I won a gold medal for Best Analysis and bronze medals for Best Writing and Best Editing. Quite pleased, needless to say. www.chess.com/blog/KevinSm...