Chess Improvement

New Substacker Tripp Southerland had a breakthrough tournament at a recent ALTO. He writes about the hidden role of luck, as well other as factors that have helped him improve. (Tripp’s Substack)

GM Alex Colovic shares some helpful advice on how to study, and how not to study. “If you look at the above “do-nots” you will notice that they are result of technological advancements that didn’t exist until more or less the beginning of this century, perhaps even later for the majority of people.” (GM Alex Colovic’s Blog)

Misc.

Sheldon of Osaka wrote about the challenges of playing in a tournament when distracted by life events. “There is a fire that needs to burn inside you, if you want to play your best chess” (Chess.com Blog)

Why do LLMs always pick knights if asked to pick a chess piece and sevens if asked to pick a number? Jenn Shahade riffs on these questions in an insightful post. (See the Sideways Move)

Reviews

Maybe it’s just because of my age, but I feel like a lot of people I know are excited for GM Alex Fishbein’s book, Fighting Father Time. NM Han Schut reviews it on his YouTube Channel. (Han Schut)

Magnus is going to play in some sort of newfangled rapid-format tournament in Barcelona in January. (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)

After a lengthy boycott, Lichess is satisfied with the direction of US Chess and will resume partnering with US Chess on event coverage. (Lichess Blog)

It is hard to believe that it has been a year since the passing of GM Daniel Naroditsky. Kelly Centrelli provided an update on the fellowship established in his honor. “I know a lot of you had doubts about our intentions with the fundraiser and the Naroditsky fund. We've been challenged, called names, threatened, and more. I hope this has since been alleviated a bit with the Naroditsky Memorial (NMRB) and the Naroditsky Fellowship, which will give $50,000 to promising American Junior players, much like the Samford Fellowship that Danya himself received.” (Chess Reddit)

Chess Improvement

GM Alex Colovic offers advice for dealing with openings that annoy you. “The main preparation against annoying lines is psychological. Acceptance, patience and calm state of mind are required.” (GM Alex Colovic’s Blog)

Dan Bock built a free chess website that lets you tag your games by category of mistake. “When you’ve entered tags and notes for at least five games, chesslog.me will show you some data visualizations. These might be pretty to look at, but they don’t use fancy math — they just show you your data in a useful way.” (The Chess Improvement Lab)

Misc.

What factors contribute most to the growth of scholastic chess within a state? NM Adam Weissbarth of Silver Knights Chess found some fascinating patterns. “After speaking with players and parents, we learned that younger players found the idea of mandatory ratings, clocks, and notation intimidating.” (Silver Knights Chess)

Today, Bodhana Sivanandan became one of the 10 youngest IMs in history, and broke Judit’s record as the youngest female. (Leonard Barden for The Guardian)

WFM Fruzsina Szente-Varga provides a helpful overview of some basic king and pawn endgame concepts. As she points out, they are always trickier than they look. (WFM Fruzsina Szente-Varga’s Blog)

IM Junta Ikeda is back with another brilliant post in which he highlights a paradox of chess. Whether you are the World Champion or a weekend warrior, you need to remember the nature of your mistakes in chess games, while also being able to put them behind you quickly. (Infinite Chess)

FM Dalton Perrine notes his students’ tendency to panic at the first sign of an attack and suggests asking oneself the following question: “If I gave my opponent their next three moves for free and did absolutely nothing, would I be getting mated?” (Chess Chatter)

The Financial Times featured an op-ed called How I Used AI to Become a Grandmaster by teenage GM Aarav Dengla. I have been unable to read it due to the paywall, but Path To Chess Mastery shares his thoughts on it. (Path To Chess Mastery)

Chess Books

I’d like to break from form and highlight a few new chess books that I have read or will be reading soon…

• The United States College Chess Championship: A History of the President’s Cup, by WIM Alexey Root. The book features games and vintage photos of many future chess notables, including GM Susan Polgar, IM John Bartholomew, GM Cristian Chirila, GM Davorin Kuljasevic, and GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez, just to name a few. Well worth checking out!

• The Life and Games of Vassily Smyslov, Volume 2, by FM Andrey Terekhov. I am reading this one now, and the level of research is very impressive (as with Volume 1). Andrey wrote a bit about this labor of love here.

• Fighting Father Time by GM Alex Fishbein. GM Fishbein writes about aging and chess improvement, and looks at the approaches of some of the greats who defied the odds, such as Smyslov and Korchnoi. Excited for this one!

• Chess Metamorphosis by GM Nikita Vitiugov. An excellent read about Nikita’s own chess career, and its intersection with his boyhood rival turned friend and colleague, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. Nikita worked on Ian’s prep team for years, and the book includes behind-the-scenes details, annotated games by both players, and great candid photos. “Tell all about work on a World Championship match team” is one of my favorite genres of chess book.

IM Levy Rozman is also out with a sequel to his first book, How to Win at Chess, Next Level. Nick Visel reviewed this one and was a bit disappointed. “There is good advice in Next Level, but in my opinion, it is too sparse and too generic to get a player up to 1600 on chess.com — they will have to see lots of practical examples, which this book doesn’t really provide” (Nick Plays Chess)

Chess News

Yet another young star is on the verge of breaking a record. 11-year-old IM Roman Shogdzhiev is 29 FIDE points and one norm away from becoming the youngest GM ever! (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)

The US Championship has been tough to keep up with, thanks to lots of movement atop the leaderboard. FM Dennis Monokroussos sets the stage heading into today’s round. (The Chess Mind)

Tickets are now on sale for the World Championship in Geneva. (Rasika Ratnaparkhi for Chessbase India)

Misc.

On the occasion of his 75th birthday, Chessbase looks at a few highlights of Armenian legend Rafael Vaganian’s career. “From 1984 to 1986, Vaganian was among the world's very best players, with a peak rating of 2645 in January 1986. This placed him fourth in the world rankings behind Kasparov, Karpov and Timman.” (Andre Shultz for Chessbase News)

Chess Improvement

IM Junta Ikeda continued his interview with GM-elect Rishi Sardana on his road to the GM title. “My number one favourite chess book is Gelfand’s Positional Decision Making in Chess because when I read that, I could hear Gelfand think out loud in my head. That book is essentially his internal monologue.” (Infinite Chess)

FM Dalton Perrine shares the latest updates to Chessalyz. It’s fun to see the website’s capabilities expand month over month. (Chess Chatter)

GM Noël Studer wrote about the importance of enjoying your chess games, rather than trying to please a future self. “No achievement of a goal will change your inner state.” (Next Level Chess)

Reviews

Nick Visel reviews the IM Willy Hendriks modern classic Move First Think Later. “Move First, Think Later is all about deconstructing generalities used to teach chess, in favor of the concrete.” (Nick Plays Chess)

News

Misc.

What is it like to analyze with a GM? While reflecting on GM Jonathan Speelman’s 70th birthday, Simagin Fan shares some fun stories. “His calculation speed was terrifying.” (Chess.com Blog)

Josh Smith, an 1800 USCF bullet specialist from Arizona is going to play GM Daniil Dubov in a high-stakes bullet match, where he will give Dubov $10,000 if he wins all 100 of their games. My money is on Josh to not lose all 100. (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)

Chess Improvement

Chris Wainscott built a really cool website that lets you pick games or openings and play “Guess the move”/”Solitaire Chess” (On the Road to Chess Master)

9 years ago, GM Alex Colovic wrote a post that I still occasionally think about. It chronicled his many struggles to earn the GM title. This week he republished it on his Substack. A must read! “I knew quite a few cases in the chess world where people had all the norms but never reached 2500. I became very scared that I may have the same destiny.” (GM Alex Colovic’s Blog)

FM Andy Lee annotated a couple of games for Chess Life Online, and lifts the curtain of the challenges it can create, especially when short on time. “When I started thinking about the task this way — human games, machine variations, human explanation — I realized that I was really doing the work of a translator.” (Lit & Chess)

Fruzsina Szente-Varga shared some advice about how to deal with an opponent’s potential distractions (whether intentional or not) . “When I feel myself getting distracted by anything while playing, I gently try to bring my focus back to chess with related questions.” (Fruzsina Szente-Varga’s Blog)

News

On the heels of a record-setting performance at the Olympiad, Bodhana Sivanadan was featured in the Guardian. ““I want to become a grandmaster as soon as possible, but I’m doing it because I like it, not to just chase records,” she said.” (Matthew Weaver for the Guardian)

Popular Australian Twitch streamer WCM Hannah Sayce has been the victim of a stalker. Yikes, this guy belongs in jail for a long time. (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)

In another disturbing story, GM Garry Kasparov confirmed that he received security warnings regarding potential death threats from Putin’s regime. (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)

That concludes this week’s linkfest, thanks for reading and catch you all next week. 👋- Ben

The Olympiad!

Uzbekistan beat the U.S. in a back-and-forth affair to cement their leadership in the Open section, while China leads the Women’s Olympiad. (NM Anthony Levin for Chess.com)

With WIM Bodhana Sivanandan, GM Yagiz Erdogmus and others putting up impressive results in Samarkand, SimaginFan fondly recalls some other young stars of previous Olympiads, with a few great photo finds. (Chess.com Blog)

Chess Improvement

FM Dalton Perrine is back with another great post to help you blunder less. “For players under 1500 …you are almost never punished for missing the best move in your games. You’re punished for playing a move that allows a reply your opponent finds in four seconds.” (Chess Chatter)

Kamryn Hellman tried a unique experiment, speed-running an opening she had never played before in order to learn it. It worked out pretty well! “At this point, I was pretty sure I would be able to reach my goal of 2000, because although I was becoming more familiar with 1. e4, I was also recognizing that the opening usually didn’t make a tangible difference in the outcome of the game.” (The Little Pawn)

What was GM Alex Colovic’s training routine like when he was at the peak of his game? Hour after hour of chess study, and then a night on the town! “People who knew what I was doing often found it “insane” how I could work non-stop for days on. But there was no secret really - I loved what I was doing.” (GM Alex Colovic’s Blog)

IM Rishi Sardana tells IM Junta Ikeda about his long journey to the GM title. “Once the draw was made, I was in complete shock. I didn’t know how to process the emotions because it’s been, not even a 12-year long journey but since I’ve started chess. It’s one of the things I wanted the most in my life.” Inspiring! (Infinite Chess)

Tarjei Svensen shares the story of Dionisio Sganzerla, a recently deceased Italian-Brazilian who devoted the latter part of his life to playing friendly chess games with all-comers at the local mall. R.I.P. (Chess.com)

Books

Path to Chess Mastery shares his thoughts on Anand’s Mind Master. “Anand himself remains relevant in the chess world and this book is a rare, valuable and highly self-reflective treatment on what it takes to be a champion, including dealing with ugly personal and professional moments.” (Path to Chess Mastery)

GM Noel Studer shares some helpful advice on how to figure out whether your chess is suffering due to a knowledge deficiency or a skill deficiency. (Next Level Chess)

WFM Fruzsina Szente-Varga wrote about how one little pawn move can change the course of a game. (Fruzsina Szente-Varga’s Substack)

What is it like to move to a new community as a senior and check out the chess scene? Dawn Lawson wrote about it. “I still battle self-defeating thoughts about my chess, but they don’t get the upper hand as often when I am able to shift my focus to calculation of the position at hand.” (An Older Woman’s Chess Journey)

The Olympiad

So far in the Olympiad there have been a fair number of individual upsets. but not as many team upsets. NM Anthony Levin catches you up on the day 2 action. (Chess.com)

Magnus Carlsen gave a pretty interesting interview about his career and the World Championship cycle. “I don’t have any ambitions in chess at this point," he said. "I just like playing." (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com

Misc.

I am often impressed by FM Dennis Monokroussos’ consistent interest in the absolute torrent of professional chess events that occur these days, but even he was disappointed in the recent Kasparov-Topalov exhibition match, Dennis writes “What I most dislike about this event is that youngsters who grew up hearing geezers and semi-geezers (e.g. like me) claiming that Kasparov was the “GOAT” or that it’s at least a close call between him and Carlsen (and maybe Bobby Fischer) will see these games and think that we’re all deluded by nostalgia for the past. [I’d put Carlsen at #1, in case you’re wondering.] No, kids, we’re not: Kasparov really was something special. What you’re seeing in this match isn’t that guy. When Adolf Anderssen got smoked by Paul Morphy in 1858 after being relatively inactive for several years he remarked that “[i]t is impossible to keep one’s excellence in a glass case, like a jewel, and take it out whenever it is required.” Kasparov has been retired from professional chess for 21 years now, so please, youngsters, don’t hold this against him. Look at his games from the late 1970s through until his retirement from chess in 2005: that’s the real deal.” (The Chess Mind)

A new chess documentary called Grandmasters will be released soon, and it will be screened in 90 theatres in the U.S.! (Chess.com News)

What is the optimal way to allocate rating points in a team competition with an average rating cap? GM Awonder Liang used LLMs to try to answer this age-old question. (A’s Substack)

2 New Podcasts

We’ve got two news Perpetual Chess episodes for your next bout of driving/exercise/household chores 1) I chatted chess improvement with popular author/Chessable author IM Thomas Willemze. At age 40 he took a year off from his day job as a data scientist to pursue the GM title, and found it extremely challenging to progress. 2) Today I dropped a new podcast with Jan Henric Buettner, who is running for FIDE President. He talked about why he still thinks chess has vast untapped potential. (Perpetual Chess YouTube) (Spotify)

News

In which FM Dennis Monokrossos reveals that Anand said that Praggnanandhaa is “the #1 player in the world.?!” Magnus would like a word. (The Chess Mind)

On the FIDE election front, this made me lol.. “In his closing comment, Rosenstein said he would be accountable to all chess federations and that he would be available 24/7. "I will be there for all of you," he said, before unexpectedly disconnecting from the call without returning. (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)

Leonard Barden provides a few notes on the Olympiad, which is almost here! “India, China and the US are Uzbekistan’s most dangerous rivals.” (The Guardian)

GM Volodar Murzin (the surprise winner of the 2024 World Rapid) spoke with Susan Ninan about enduring an abusive childhood, and his efforts to find a new chess federation. (Hindustan Times)

Applications are now open for the inaugural Naroditsky Fellowship. (Chess.com)

Books/Courses

Which calculation book is best for you? Forward Chess provides a helpful overview of a bunch of them. (Forward Chess)

I don’t think FM Andy Lee enjoyed Ben Mezrich’s Checkmate. 🤣“ (A chess player said that) This book reads like the author put a bunch of chess words in a hat, shook them up, and wrote down whatever fell out.” (Lit & Chess)

Chess Improvement

What are the most common mistakes at different rating levels? As the kids say, FM Dalton Perrine “has receipts” and dug through years of notes from lessons to answer this. (Chess Chatter)

GM Noel Studer wrote about the importance of training uncertainty. “I’ve had the pleasure to work with world class Grandmaster coaches from Yusupov to Aagaard, RB Ramesh and Ragger. All of them tested me in positions without any hints, where I felt the same uncertainty I’ll feel in a game.” (Next Level Chess)

WFM Fruzsina Szente-Varga has joined the Substack ranks! She’s got a few posts worth checking out, starting with the most recent about dealing with blunders. That’s why in this article we’ll talk about how to take poor performance seriously without taking it personally. “When (chess) disaster strikes, I imagine that a friend or a student is going through what I’m going through, and I try to offer them comfort. I use the same words with myself” (WFM Fruzsina Szente-Varga’s Blog)

Banger post from IM Junta Ikeda “A lot of players spend more time getting ready to play chess than playing it.” (Infinite Chess)

Misc.

Why does Elon Musk seem to hate chess? Jen Shahade writes “I think the reason goes much deeper than him “not being good at chess.” Instead, I think what irks Elon is that chess is so inherently tied to its history.” (The Possible and the Impossible)

Former Iranian #3 GM Pouya Idani will henceforth be representing, and living in France. (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)

Faustino Oro is officially the world’s youngest GM. (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)

Carlsen will face Sindarov (twice) in the upcoming Global Chess League (Leonard Barden for The Guardian)

Books

Forward Chess provides an overview of the Timman Classic Curacao, 1962. (Forward Chess)

GM Jesse Kraai provides a video rundown of the Chernev Classic, Logical Chess Move by Move (ChessDojo YouTube)

GM Gregory Serper’s latest column is an ode to the value of chess books by former World Champions. “The next time you open a book of classical games, don't think of it as simply a collection of old chess games. Think of it as a collection of lessons from some of the greatest chess minds who ever lived.” (Chess.com)

Chess Improvement

Chris Wainscott on how he is trying to make the most of his study time. “ A few years ago, I lost a couple of games that had really gone off the rails, and I had lost practically without a fight. I spent a long time telling myself that my opening play was bad, and I “just wasn’t on tactically” that day, etc. However, one of my friends I analyze with took one look and, in about 15 seconds, said something like, “Dude, you didn’t castle in either game.” … A couple of hours of contemplation and self-flagellation reduced to the fact that someone a few hundred points stronger can glance and just weigh in. (On the Road to Chess Master)

GM Noel Studer shared some reflections on dealing with the pain of losing. (Next Level Chess)

Hi again! I am back from some travel, and its great to catch up on so much thoughtful chess writing. I have not been in the chess ring lately, but reading about the experiences of those who are still makes me feel the feelings. If you read a piece you enjoy, be sure to like and subscribe. It is not quite the least you can do, but it’s pretty close. Have a good weekend everyone!

Chess Improvement

Kamryn Hellman has built a sizable audience by sharing what she has learned from an impressive improvement arc, but she had never won a tournament… until recently. “This tournament was filled with games where I had to act more confident than I necessarily felt.” (The Little Pawn)

Dr. Nick Vasquez wrote about his continued quest to avoid blundering. Before each move he makes, he now asks himself “What’s my opponent’s most annoying response?” (Chess in Small Doses)

IM Junta Ikeda has been focusing on a different category of moves, consciously working to play “interesting” ones. “For me, looking for or prioritizing interesting moves helps me choose the scarier move in games that I’m curious about and can learn from, and just feel excited about.” (Infinite Chess)

Chris Wainscott wrote about his efforts to resist the allure of gamified streaks and to work on what he deems most helpful to chess. (On the Road to Chess Master)

It was the “summer of Kevin” in California, and Kevin Scull drew some lessons from having an unusual amount of free time. “The final takeaway is that as I’ve thought all along, improvement seems to be more about time than age.” (Chess Journeys)

Dr. Ronei also wrote about the surprisingly addictive nature of online chess, and how he has learned to curb his worst impulses around it. (32 on 64 Squares)

Why do you need a chess community, even if you think you don’t? Because “Getting better at chess is a goal that will tear you apart like nothing you have tried before.” (The Ono Zone)

Martin Justesen built another cool chess tool. (Say Chess)

Books

Chris Wainscott reviews a little-known but fascinating-sounding chess memoir, The Grandmaster I Never Became by Kerim Demirkol (On the Road to Chess Master)

Ben Graff interviewed GM Danny Gormally about his book “Classic Amateur Mistakes and How to Fix Them.” (Chess Moves)

Pro Chess

In case you missed the ESports World Cup, Magnus won! Leonard Barden, among many others, has covered it. “GM Alireza Firouzja is a creative talent, but he has been involved in several disputes with organisers over the years, which most recently included his withdrawal from the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis in favour of Paris. It amounts to a negative track record which could seriously limit his future invitations.” (The Guardian)

And FM Dennis Monokroussos has been all over the Grand Chess Tour Finals. GM Praggnanandhaa won it and took home $200,000! (The Chess Mind)

Chess Improvement

Dr. Nick Vasquez looks back at the core tenets of chess improvement that he wishes he had identified sooner. “If I had known how important it was to emphasize quality in my training over quantity I would have done things very differently.” (Chess in Small Doses)

IM Junta Ikeda wrote about the importance of overcoming performance anxiety, and competing when opportunities present themselves. “Going into the event, knowing I may not be at my sharpest made me think this: ‘Hey, I might make some game-losing mistakes, and that’s ok. Let’s just focus on playing my best on every move’. (Infinite Chess)

What might you learn if you used an LLM to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses (using Stockfish move analysis). Martin Justesen reviewed his own games. “After reviewing the output, I think that some chess sites that deliver these light reports with a spiderweb chart showing playing strength based on your last 10 games have something to worry about, because models like Opus 5 can access all the games I have ever played online since 2012 and analyze them, while giving a more helpful and comprehensive output.” (Say Chess Blog)

TheOnoZone went from beginner to 1700+ FIDE as an adult. Unfortunately, the secret to his success is hard work. (The Ono Zone)

News

IM Alice Lee became the youngest ever winner of the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship! (Colin McGourty for Chess.com)

WGM Zoey Tang wrote a round-by-round recap of her successful defense of the US Girl’s Championship. She touches on the challenges of balancing chess and academics and reveals that she will be attending Stanford University in the fall. (Chess Life Online)

A youth movement is afoot in British Chess, as 17-year-old GM Shreyas Royal became the youngest British Champion, and WIM Bodhana Sivanadan won the Women’s Championship. (Leonard Barden for The Guardian)

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GothamChess played basketball and chess with Victor Wembyana at his Hoops/Chess Summit in France. (NM Jeremy Kane for Chess.com)

Legendary Tournament Director, player, and US Chess Hall of Famer FM Bill Goichberg passed away at 82. NM Jeremy Kane wrote about his lasting legacy. “Goichberg's contributions as an organizer will leave their mark on the American and global chess scenes for generations.” (Chess.com) (US Chess) (The Chess Mind)

FM Andy Lee honored the death of FM Goichberg by writing about the thankless nature of organizing tournaments, and his own formative experiences doing so. (Lit & Chess)

Chess Improvement

A reader sent me a cool, free chess tool he built- Auditchess enables you to make a full opening scouting report on any Chess.com or Lichess account. (AuditChess)

FM Dalton Perrine provides some good advice for how to play after you’ve won material. “When you win a pawn or an exchange, you usually pay for it in some small way. Your development skips for a move, your king stays in the center a little longer, a file or diagonal opens up for the opponent, or a square near your king becomes weak.” (Chess Chatter)

Chess News

Its never too early to write an Olympiad preview, Tarjei Svensen provides an early look at the star-studded September 16 event. (Chess.com)

In an interview with Jonathan Zhi, GM Zhu Jiner reveals that she was self-taught as a child and benefited from Gelfand and Dvoretsky’s books, among others. (Underpromoted)

Books

Here is what you can expect if you read the Seirawan classic Chess Duels. (Path to Chess Mastery)

Nick Visel reviews Botvinnik’s Best Games by GM Alexander Khalifman “For players looking to study Botvinnik, Botvinnik’s Best Games is obviously a great choice, but the analysis is very heavy, and for many club players, including myself, it borders on oppressive” (Nick Plays Chess)

Misc.

Jen Shahade wrote about a consequential, inexplicable hand at the World Series of Poker final table as it relates to the “long think, wrong think” concept. (See the Sideways Move)

FM Andy Lee wrote about the necessity and shortcomings of chess puzzles. “I’ve worked through about half of Think Like a Super-GM and it certainly confirms my belief that calculation is the important chess skill. When I play much lower rated players I find that they frequently hold it together until the position demands precise calculation.” (Lit & Chess)

What makes a chess move beautiful? What makes a human face beautiful? Dr. Benjamin Balas gives a primer on what scientists have determined (so far) about both. (Science of Chess)

Books

Forward Chess previews Ulf the Attacker. “In conclusion, this is an excellent collection of attacking games from the Swedish GM. It also has a lot of interesting biographical material and insights into Andersson’s thought processes during the games.” (Forward Chess)

News

Leonard Barden details some more record-breaking successes for Bodhana Sivanadan, as well as the news that the FIDE World Championship will be held in Geneva from November 25-December 15 (The Guardian)

GM Maurice Ashley announced the latest recipients of the Ashley Fellowship (Devansh Singh for Chessbase India)

Ray Lincville writes about the storied career of NYC legend IM Jay Bonin. Jay estimates that he has played 40,000 tournament chess games! (Chess.com Blog)

That’s all for this week- have a good weekend!- Ben

“Friend of the Newsletter” IM Junta Ikeda has launched his course, The Ten Habit Improvement System. Regular readers of Junta’s blog (like myself) know how knowledgeable and thoughtful Junta is is about chess improvement. I have already watched the first few chapters of his course, and it is direct and helpful. (Infinite Chess)

“TheOnoZone” has moved his popular Lichess Blog to Substack. His first post (on Substack) takes you behind the scenes of a dramatic Dutch league match. (The Ono Zone)

GM Eugene Perelshteyn’s friend NM Mike Mahoney held his own in the Naroditsky Memorial Blitz Tournament. Eugene shares five lessons we can learn from Mike’s comeback. (Grandmaster Secrets)

Chris Wainscott made a free website with a couple chess improvement tools that he has found useful in his own training. (On the Road to Chess Master)

Chess Politics!!

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich has been sanctioned by the EU and has stepped down as president, with GM Viswananathan Anand taking over on an interim basis. (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)

In more recently developing news, Kazakh billionare Timur Turlov announced that he will run with Anand to replace Dvorkovich. “Russian Chess Federation President Andrey Filatov told Russian state-run news agency TASS, "one is out [Dvorkovich], and the other is in," of the potential Russian candidates, though Turlov's ticket is likely the one that will mean continuity with the current FIDE hierarchy.” (Colin McGourty for Chess.com)

GM Judit Polgar turned down a chance to become interim President of Hungary (the whole country, not the chess federation!) (NM Anthony Levin for Chess.com)

Books

Nick Visel reviews Paul Morphy: A Collection of His Games with Detailed Notes. He writes “it is a wonderful collection of Morphy’s games, lightly annotated by Maroczy, whose analysis remains unmolested by any modern update or corrections” (Nick Plays Chess)

Forward Chess provides a helpful overview of many of the recent “1. e4 complete repertoire” books that are available on its platform (Forward Chess)

News

Bodhana Sivanadan became the youngest girl ever to beat a 2600-rated GM! (Leonard Barden for the Guardian)

Lastly, in honor of Lebron James unexpectedly signing with my beloved 76ers, here is my favorite Lebron James quote-

"I play a lot of chess, not in real life; I never played chess; I play it in my mind in theory; I play chess on the floor." - Lebron James

Have a good weekend everyone!

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Chess Improvement

Kevin Scull went to NYC and bunch a chess at Lincoln Square. He shares what he learned. “My main takeaway is that I need to have more fun with chess…Chess doesn’t just have to be a strenuous workout where the pain feels rewarding.” (Chess Journeys)

FM Andy Lee argues convincingly why should very rarely accept draw offers. “Draw offers are a legal way to distract the other player from what they should actually be doing: finding the best move!” (Lit & Chess)

As if to illustrate Andy’s point about draws, IM Junta Ikeda wrote about a time he took a draw for the wrong reasons. (Infinite Chess)

GM Alex Colovic shows how engines can help deepen our understanding of chess, through the lens of a classic Capablanca win. (GM Alex Colovic’s Blog)

Misc.

GM Jianchao Zhou is the most active GM in the U.S. so I have often wondered how and why he logs so many miles and games. A profile by Rick Massimo helps to answer this question. “He has a passion for chess, so a difficulty, like the logistics, is not a big issue for him.” (Chess Life Online)

Books

The Forward Chess Blog has posted a few overviews of books recently, including one of Attacking Strategies for Club Players by Michael Prusikin. It looks like an interesting book. (Arun J for Forward Chess)

IM Junta Ikeda shares a few takeaways from “the best non-chess book I’ve read for chess improvement.” (Infinite Chess)

How does Magnus Carlsen do when playing the Orangutan opening? Carl Portman reviews Carlsen Goes Ape (Chess Book Reviews)

Chess and the FIFA World Cup

How does Lionel Messi get away with running less than other players? Author David Epstein likens his pattern recognition to the chess players studied in the famed de Groot study . “When Messi is “mapping” the field, he is a grandmaster (playing speed chess!) unconsciously picking up on familiar chunks that will help him decide what’s coming, and where to attack.” (Range Widely)

FM Dennis Monokroussos links to a classic soccer/chess themed commericial (The Chess Mind)

News

The US team will face off against Uzbekistan in a team match in late July in Miami. (Leonard Barden for the Guardian)

Videos/Podcasts

Chessbase India’s coverage of the Naroditsky Memorial was fantastic, I particularly recommend this interview with Danya’s mother, Elena Schuman. I cannot imagine how difficult the past year has been for her. (Chessbase India)

FM Donny Ariel is not exactly in hot pursuit of the IM title despite some earlier proclamations, BUT, more importantly he is back to making instructive chess videos. In this one he crushes IM Greg Shahade. Please lavish him with praise in the comments! (Donny Ariel: The People’s Champion)

Chess News

FM Dennis Monokroussos assesses the strength of the U.S. Olympiad teams. (The Chess Mind)

Arkady Dvorkovich is running for FIDE President, contradicting an earlier promise to only seek two terms. (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)

As the FIFA World Cup Captivates the World, Tarjei Svensen recounts Norwegian Football Superstar Erliig Haaland’s Investment in Chess (Chess.com)

Chess Improvement

Even GMs grapple with the question of how to deal with slowly atrophying skills and limited time to compete. GM Alex Colovic will still find ways to enjoy chess, but is resigned to accepting this fate. “As it turned out, the European Individual Championship in Skopje in 2019 was the last tournament of my chess career. I didn’t know that back then, but 7 years later I realise that my professional career ended where it started - in my home city.” (GM Alex Colovic’s Blog)

Dr. Nick Vasquez wrote insightfully about his continued quest to improve his play in quiet positions. “One reason why kids learn differently than adults, they are far more likely to engage in play based learning.” (Chess in Small Doses)

FM Christoph von Puttkamer wrote about the parallels between chess improvement and training for a half-marathon. “In running, training plans are the norm. They span several months, schedule regular sessions, and prescribe exactly what to do: long runs, tempo workouts, or easy recovery kilometers. These plans aren’t theoretical; they have a proven track record verified by hundreds of thousands of runners.” (Chessable Blog)

Books

IM Junta Ikeda reviews ten of the most impactful chess books he has read. (Infinite Chess)

Ben Graff wholeheartedly recommends Jennifer Shahade’s Thinking Sideways. “This review can only do justice to a few elements of Shahade’s excellent book, which abounds with personal stories and intriguing insights” (English Chess Federation)

What makes a chess book good? Renowned author and chess bibliophile GM Mauricio Flores Rios breaks it down. “If you can't tell me what you've learned in words, then you probably didn't learn that much.” (Chessreads)

Improve Your Chess and Support this Newsletter!

This newsletter is committed to remaining free but does use affiliate links. One way to help support it (and your chess!) is to sign up for special offers using the following links:

Chessdojo- Great chess community for dedicated improvers, use- the code “Ben” at checkout for a for a 10% discount on your membership.

https://www.chessdojo.club/signup

Chessmood- Chessmood features a chess video library with opening, middlegame, endgame videos. Plus game analysis and opening explorer tools.

Chessmood Free one Week Trial-

Chessmood.com/Ben

Chess Publishing- Chess Publishing is a long-time newsletter with articles written by GMs and IMs about the latest in opening theory. GM Simon Williams has been working to make their online database modern and comprehensive. Check it out here:

chesspublishing.com/?ref=PCP

GM Noel Studer-

GM Studer has published two popular courses- one with the goal of getting you to 1200, and the second designing a study

Check out Noël’s updated course on studying chess the right way here (https://courses.nextlevelchess.blog/courses/simplified-chess-improvement-system?ref=bc4be0)

FM Andy Lee extracts some lessons from an uneven tournament performance. “A sports podcast I listen to talks about “the irrational confidence guy” — the basketball player who puts up a contested 3 in a close came despite shooting only 30% from deep — and that’s what I turn into from time to time at the board.” (Lit & Chess)

Dr. Benjamin Balas walks you through an interesting chess study that suggests that studying your WINS is actually more instructive than studying your losses. Color me skeptical, but I have been wrong before! (SciComm fron the Frozen North)

Kevin Scull hit a new rating high at age 52 and is starting to see hard work pay off. “After about a minute staring at the board, my opponent leaned into whisper to me. I prayed that he was going to say those two words that I longed to hear, “I resign.” Instead, he whispered, “nice combo.” That was even more shocking. Had I suddenly become Beth Harmon? My opponents cheering my moves.” (Chess Journeys)

How are chess sites measuring “Accuracy scores”, and what is the best approach? (The Chess Engine Lab)

Chess News

US Chess announced its 2026 Olympiad teams, featuring GM Hans Niemann, GM Awonder Liang and IM Rose Atwell as first time participants. (Chess Life Online)

A second private equity firm (CVC Capital) has taken a stake in Chess.com. I wonder what they are planning with the cash infusion. 🤔 (Chess.com News)

With Magnus dealing with an unprecedented slump, Leonard Barden contemplates whether he might be entering a less ambitious phase of his career. (The Guardian)

When I recently interviewed former Uzbek national team coach, GM Ivan Sokolov, he discussed working with Sindarov, suggested that he was a bit lackadaisical, and recounted telling him “Talent has an expiration date.” In this interview with Tarjei Svenson, Sindarov pretty much cops to Sokolov’s accusations. “Before, I didn't work with chess that much. From last year, I can really say I started working seriously.” (Chess.com News)

FM Dalton Perrine and Varun Kumar on the latest features offered by Chessalyz, including targeted opening review. (Chessalyz)

Wadim Rosenstein and Jan Buettner both announced they are running for FIDE President. With IM Malcolm Pein running alongside Buettner, I support his candidacy, although I wouldn’t mind if he pumped the brakes on Freestyle Chess events 😉. (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)

Kevin Scull concluded a period of doing 100 chess puzzles per day for 100 days. “Writing this a few weeks after the challenge, I’m happy to have done it. However, there were many moments during the challenge that it felt like a mistake. I wouldn’t do it again or recommend it.” (Chess Journeys)

GM Noël Studer writes about the joys of succeeding at difficult tasks. “That’s the quiet frustration behind so many adult improvers wanting to get better: not the rating points themselves, but the wish to actually enjoy the beauty of the game instead of constantly tripping over their own mistakes.” (Next Level Chess)

Why do many adults struggle to improve? IM Junta Ikeda says they aren’t focusing enough on feedback from their games. “What is my last serious game trying to tell me?” (Infinite Chess)

News

FM Dennis Monokroussos catches you up on the Uzbek Cup. “It has been an amazing few months for the players around Sindarov. First and foremost, there was his smashing win in the Candidates. Then his girlfriend, Kazakh GM Bibisara Assaubeyava, won the women’s event at Norway Chess. Now, to complete the trifecta, his main second from the Candidates, Madaminov, has won this prestigious tournament.” (The Chess Mind)

GM D Gukesh talked about his slump and the stress of life as the World Champion. “Right now, its a challenge to enjoy chess.” (Susan Ninan for the Hindustan Times)

Misc.

Is AI killing writing? Jen Shahade writes about the parallels between AI in chess and writing books (including a knock off of hers.) (See the Sideways Move)

As the world is captivated by the World Cup (soccer/football, not chess), Sheldon of Osaka composes a soccer lineup of chess legends based on their chess styles. Personally, I think Fischer should be in the mid-field with Kasparov as a striker, rather than vice-versa.) (Chess.com Blog)

Improve Your Chess and Support this Newsletter!

This newsletter is committed to remaining free but does use affiliate links. One way to help support it (and your chess!) is to sign up for special offers using the following links:

Chess Publishing- Chess Publishing is a long-time newsletter with articles written by GMs and IMs about the latest in opening theory. GM Simon Williams has been working to make their online database modern and comprehensive. Check it out here:

chesspublishing.com/?ref=PCP

GM Noel Studer-

GM Studer has published two popular courses- one with the goal of getting you to 1200, and the second designing a study

Check out Noël’s updated course on studying chess the right way here (https://courses.nextlevelchess.blog/courses/simplified-chess-improvement-system?ref=bc4be0)

Chessiverse:

If you have not already, be sure to check out IM John Bartholomew’s new site, Chessiverse. It offers over 600 human like bots to spar and practice openings against, and is rolling out more features and courses, including IM John Bartholomew’s Comprehensive Scandinavian. Playing is free, but you can use the code “Perpetual30” to save 30% on premium courses and subscriptions.

Chess Improvement

GM Alex Colovic shares some sage advice for how to approach a game where you are higher rated player. “You are the stronger player. So calm down. In a normal game when nothing unexpected happens, you’re expected to win. What you should be striving for therefore is a normal game.” (GM Alex Colovic’s Blog)

Why do so many players get stuck at the 1500-1800 level? Sam Asaka has some ideas. (Road to Infinity)

How should one incorporate the engine into a game review routine? (On the Road to Chess Master)

Chess in the Media

Kevin Lincoln wrote about Ben Mezrich’s book and the future of chess cheating. “One confrontation between Niemann and another American grandmaster in a parking lot, the details of which Mezrich admits are hypothetical, is so stilted and confusing that it risks knocking the entire narrative off its axis.” (Bloomberg News)

A chess documentary “Grandmasters” premiered at the Tribeca film festival, and as far as I can tell, it is NOT about the Niemann-Carlsen scandal. Rejoice! (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)

Chess News

In Leonard Barden’s latest he writes about Roman Shogdzhiev, an 11-year old Russian kid who recently got his first GM norm, and is receiving 7 lessons from GMs per week. (The Guardian)

Reviews

IM Junta Ikeda reviews GM Igor Zaitsev’s classic Attacking the Strongpoint. “It’s probably the most Proustian chess book I’ve read.” (Infinite Chess)

Nick Visel gives a thumbs up to IM Herman Grooten’s Chess Strategy for Club Players (Nick Plays Chess)

That’s all for this week- catch you next time- Ben

Chess Improvement

When I interviewed NM Han Schut about some of the cool chess tools he had built using Claude code, I was inspired, but struggled to come up with unused chess ideas that I could build myself. FM Dalton Perrine is full of ideas, and built many of them, including a “Guess the Move” training tool. In this article he shows you what he has built. (Chess Chatter)

There is a tendency to aim for perfection in your chess games, writes IM Junta Ikeda, but its often sufficient to find moves that are “good enough.” (Infinite Chess)

Why is chess so hard? Dr. Nick Vasquez boils it down to, “(When playing chess), We are asked to do the hardest thing ever, to remain aware of our thinking while fully engaged in calculation” (Chess in Small Doses)

Dr. Benjamin Portheault on NBA star Victor Wembayama, crying in sport, books, and chess. (Mindcreaser)

GM Alex Colovic shares advice for combatting pre-game nerves. “There are two states of mind you can have before a game of chess: you are either afraid or you are not.” (GM Alex Colovic’s Blog)

Mindful Chess Author, GM Paul van der Sterren reflects on learning to let go of results-oriented thinking. “Everybody loves to win; nobody likes losing, but winning and losing, satisfaction and disappointment, happiness and unhappiness, sunshine and rain, inevitably alternate in human life. There is no escaping the rainy days.” (Chess Life Online)

Misc.

Has the continued development of engines led to significantly stronger play from humans? When looking at human move accuracy over time, Dr. Benjamin Balas was (surprisingly) unable to find convincing evidence. (Science of Chess)

Lauren Goodkind and Megan Chen wrote about what it was like to represent the U.S. in Peru. “For any female chess players reading this who are on the fence about competing internationally: take the leap.” (Chess Life Online)

Touching, long read from the NYT about how a casual Central Park chess game ended up changing two lives. (John Leland for the New York Times)

Books

GM Tiger Hillarp Persson’s book continues to receive well-deserved praise. He rounds up some recent reviews and mentions. (Chess at the Bag of Cats)

FM Dylan Loeb McClain summarizes the good and bad of Ben Mezrich’s Checkmate: Genius, Lies, Ambition, and the Biggest Scandal in Chess. “Unfortunately, the subject at the heart of the story — chess — is not one that the author knows well, and in those sections of the book where he tries to explain the events of individual games, he can go wildly astray.” (New York Times)

Chess Structures Author GM Mauricio Flores Rios wrote about the books that helped him become a GM. (ChessReads)

Chess News

Assubayeva has won the Norway Chess Women’s Event, while the Open section was tightly contested headed into the final round. UPDATE- now Pragg won. (NM Anthony Levin for Chess.com)

Improve Your Chess and Support this Newsletter!

This newsletter is committed to remaining free but does use affiliate links. One way to help support it (and your chess!) is to sign up for special offers using the following links:

Chessdojo- Great chess community for dedicated improvers, use- the code “Ben” at checkout for a for a 10% discount on your membership.

https://www.chessdojo.club/signup

GM Noel Studer-

GM Studer has published two popular courses- one with the goal of getting you to 1200, and the second designing a study

Check out Noël’s updated course on studying chess the right way here (https://courses.nextlevelchess.blog/courses/simplified-chess-improvement-system?ref=bc4be0)

Chess Publishing- Chess Publishing is a long-time newsletter with articles written by GMs and IMs about the latest in opening theory. GM Simon Williams has been working to make their online database modern and comprehensive. Check it out here:

chesspublishing.com/?ref=PCP