Perpetual Chess Link-Fest #2, August 26, 2022
Perpetual Chess Link-Fest #2, August 26, 2022
Articles on the Pending Chess.com Acquisition of PlayMagnus Group, players chasing the GM title, the Latest in Tournament News & more!
Thanks so all who have subscribed and given this newsletter a chance! This week’s biggest chess story happened away from the chess board, with the bombshell news that the two biggest for-profit chess companies in the world will be combining.
(As an aside, is 18 links too many? I am making this blog up as I go along, so please let me know in the comments or on Twitter) Anyway, let’s get to this week’s chess links:
Chess.com is Acquiring Play Magnus Group
PlayMagnus Group (Including Chess24 and Chessable) receives Chess.com offer for $82.5 million. (Chess24 Article) (Chess.com Article)
GM Hikaru Nakamura shared his reaction on his YouTube channel. He is pretty upbeat about the acquisition, and welcomes the possibility of playing Magnus more often “It is pretty exciting, there is definitely going to be a bump (in viewership) .”
Swiss GM Noel Studer was one of many who shared some thoughts on Twitter. He is circumspect about the impact the merger could have on the chess ecosystem, but he does see some potential benefits. Time will tell! (GM Noel Studer’s Thoughts)
IM David Pruess (who was an early employee of Chess.com) and IM Kostya Kavutskiy also shared some interesting thoughts on the pending transaction. “The two most valuable properties acquired (by Chess.com in the deal) are Chessable and Magnus Carlsen” (Dojo Talks Video)
Will LiChess be going anywhere?
Magnus wins FTX Crypto.Cup, Erigaisi wins Abu Dhabi, other tournament links
Peter Doggers writes about Magnus’ victory in the FTX Crypto Cup, Pragganandhaa places 2nd. (Chess.com Article)
GM Arjun Erigaisi convincingly wins 28th Abu Dhabi Masters 2022, now World no. 24 by Shahid Ahmed (Chessbase India Article)
Super GM Paco Vallejo is impressed with Erigaisi…
European Women’s Chess Championship: GM Monika Socko leads Midway Through by Carlos Alberto Colodro (Chessbase News Article)
Meanwhile, the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz is set to kick off today (Chess24 Article)
IM’s Chasing the GM Title
IM Kassa Korley is seeking his 3rd GM Norm by Daaim Shabazz (The Chess Drum Article)
IM Kostya Kavutskiy is also training for the GM title. “Asking me if I want to be GM is like asking me I want to win all my games” Yes, but it’s not easy! (ChessDojo YouTube video)
Chess Improvement Blogs
Getting Better at Chess by Solving the Rubik’s Cube (Dr. Patzer’s Blog)
FM Niranjan Navalgund interviews GM Gukesh’s Coach, GM Vishnu Prasanna on How Gukesh has ascended so rapidly “When the interest is there, you don't have to really worry about such things. I think most of the (Gukesh’s) day is spent on chess. It is not just the physical hours he is sitting on the board. He is always thinking about how he can improve, and that's very powerful.” (Chess.com Blog)
Miscellaneous- A Book Review, Best Chess Interviews, Spassky annotations, etc.
Richard James reviews the book Blind Faith by Chris Ross about how Chris has approached chess improvement as a strong visually impaired chess player. (British Chess News Review)
Abhinav Suresh gives a chess fan’s perspective on attending the 2022 Candidates in Madrid (Chess Life Online Article)
Mr. Dodgy on the 5 Greatest Chess Interview Videos Ever. He has the correct #1 Choice! (Mr. Dodgy Blog)
Douglas Griffin shares original translations of some of Boris Spassky’s annotations of his games (Douglas Griffin blog)
How Levy Rozman made a difference (by giving away $100K!) by Ranae Bartlett (Chesskid Blog)
That’s it for this week, have a good weekend everyone! - Ben
"You're not going to post this on Youtube, are you Kostya?" Thanks for putting this all together.