Est. 1897 · Reborn 2016
The chess magazine America deserves
Six issues a year of deep analysis, real interviews and the stories behind the games, written by the grandmasters and champions you follow. Made to be read cover to cover and kept on the shelf.
Free U.S. shipping with every subscription · First issue goes out the next business day · Delivered worldwide
- 6
- issues a year
- 52
- issues published
- 10
- years, since 2016
- 7×
- CJA Best Overall Chess Magazine
New: American Chess Magazine #52
Rediscovering Reshevsky
After special issues dedicated to Fischer, Marshall, and Morphy, ACM turns to another titan of American chess. Samuel Reshevsky defeated seven World Champions in his career and in 1961 held a young but already formidable Fischer to 5½–5½ before their match was stopped. ACM #52 devotes 33 pages to Reshevsky’s life, career, rivalries, and lasting legacy.
Also inside: an exclusive interview with Timur Turlov, then a FIDE presidential candidate and since elected FIDE President, on why the next four years will shape the future of world chess.
What’s inside
Built like a premium magazine. Written like a chess book.
Heavy paper, full-color photography and real editing, wrapped around the kind of analysis you’d expect from a serious chess book. As good as any premium golf or tennis magazine on the rack, and it happens to be about chess.
Learn and improve
Thoroughly annotated games, opening surveys and instructive columns you'll come back to for years, not a news feed that expires next week.
America first, the world always
National championships, state scenes and club life, alongside the super-tournaments and title matches everyone's talking about, all through an American lens.
Written by players, not ghostwriters
Grandmasters, champions and coaches write for us under their own names. Every column is one person's real thinking, at the level they actually play.
What your non-chess friends will say
“Wow. This is a chess magazine?”
Every other month you get something between a book of instruction and a magazine of close-ups and news, and it looks good enough to leave on the coffee table. That’s the point. Chess is a lifestyle game, and its magazine should look like one.
“I was expecting quite a lot from it, but I still was completely blown away by how good it really was.”Chris W., Wisconsin
The chess magazine as it was meant to be
Real interviews, behind-the-scenes reporting and expert analysis from the people who were actually there. Champions read it. Champions write for it. Champions end up on the cover.
Since 2016
10 years10 years. 52 issues. Every cover, right here.
American Chess Magazine launched in November 2016 with one job: keep serious chess readers in touch with everything that matters in the game, at home and abroad, in a magazine worth keeping. We’re 10 years in, still in print, still bi-monthly, and still made by people who play.
Is it for you?
One magazine. One level: the real one.
Beginners, club players, coaches, parents and grandmasters all read the same American Chess Magazine. Here’s what that means for you.
I'm new to chess. Is this over my head?
No, and that's on purpose. We don't publish a watered-down edition for beginners; every article is written at the real level, because that's how chess is actually learned. Run into an idea you don't recognize yet? That's not a wall, it's a map of what to study next. Our readers span total beginners to grandmasters, and they all read the same magazine.
I love chess but I'm busy. Can I keep up?
That's exactly what a bi-monthly magazine is for. Instead of chasing tournament news across a dozen sites, you get the state of world chess, curated and explained, six times a year. Sit down with it when you have an evening. It waits for you.
I'm a tournament player. Will it actually help my game?
Yes. Our analysis is written by grandmasters and players with the highest titles in the game, and we're proud of that level: original ideas and instructive annotations for practical play, not recycled engine lines. A large number of very strong players subscribe, and they're not doing it for the pictures.
I'm a coach. Is there material I can teach from?
Every column can be a lesson, or several. Thoroughly annotated games and educational articles from contributors who write with real depth and never lower the level to reach a wider audience. Keep your training material current without writing it all yourself.
I'm a chess parent. Is it right for my kid?
Give them the real thing. Strong young players grow by reading above their level, learning winning techniques and ways of thinking straight from top players, not from a simplified version. American Chess Magazine is where that habit starts.
What readers say
Unedited, from subscribers across the country
“The American Chess Magazine is the ‘Mercedes Benz’ of chess magazines. There are a plethora of contributors, topics, and well-written articles … something for everybody. The organization layout and color photos are excellent.”
Cover to cover, my favorite chess publication. It has everything I want to see and the physical quality of each page is outstanding; great pictures that just jump off the page, and print that doesn't come off on your fingers.
David K.
Virginia
American Chess Magazine does a great job of covering American chess and Worldwide chess through an American lens.
Steve C.
Massachusetts
Wanting to support American Chess, I took the leap of faith and subscribed. And I am so glad I did! This is the finest chess magazine I have ever held in my hands and I am 70 years old!
Richard A.
Indiana
Have already shared the magazine at our local chess club. All were impressed. Arrived in stellar condition.
Paul D.
New York
I love everything about it. The articles, the strategic lessons, the tournament insights are all thrilling. Can't wait for the next issue!
Angel H.
Texas
In general, I do not recommend things. However, I am impressed by the magazine, and I wish it continued success.
Anonymous
Of all the chess magazines that I have seen in the past, ACM is by far the best. Ads are kept to a minimum so that more space is given to the articles. It does a fantastic job of providing the arm-chair enthusiast with a lot of pertinent info in the world of chess.
Melvin D.
New York
Ten out of ten! Because the mag is absolutely superlative. Very educational with complexity and easier explanatory analysis. Something for everyone. Plus the stories are great.
Rick R.
California
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Five wins, three honorable mentions, and Chess Journalist of the Year
The Chess Journalists of America named our founder and Editor-in-Chief, FM Josip Asik, Chess Journalist of the Year, a first for the magazine. Alongside it, ACM writers took home four more category wins and three honorable mentions.
Josip Asik
Editor-in-Chief, American Chess Magazine · 2026 CJA Chess Journalist of the Year
2026 winners from American Chess Magazine
- •Chess Journalist of the Year — Josip Asik, Editor-in-Chief, American Chess Magazine
- •Best Interview — Pete Tamburro, “How Chess Saves Lives,” Interview with Danny Rensch, ACM #49
- •Best Tournament Report (Nat/Intl) — John Burke, “Five Star Fabi,” ACM #48
- •Best Personal Narrative by a Junior — Zoey Tang, “No Stepping Back!,” ACM #47
- •Best Review — Carsten Hansen, “Fresh Leaves from the Bookshelf,” ACM column
Honorable mentions — Story of the Year — Jon Jacobs, “The Long-Forgotten Master Behind Chess’s Climactic Checkmate,” ACM #49; Best Column — Sarunas Sulskis, “The Magnificent 3,” ACM column; Best Analysis — Spyridon Kapnisis, “When Modern Means Classical,” ACM #49.
Caught reading ACM
Limited Collectors’ Edition
The Spirit of 1897
Own a piece of American chess history: American Chess Magazine No. 1, June 1897.
For the 125th anniversary of the original American Chess Magazine we re-set the very first issue for modern readers, keeping every word of one of the most influential chess publications in American history and making it a pleasure to read today.
$19.99 · Subscribers pay $9.99 (50% off)
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