Perpetual Chess Linkfest #105, December 13, 2024
Inside the Glass Box
Howdy chess fans, GM Gukesh D is the World Champion. GM Ding Liren is a class act. Here are this week’s chess links…
World Championship
FM Dennis Monokroussos provides his take on a historic Game 14. “It is worth watching the end of the game - Gukesh’s reactions were delightfully human - and the press conference was special as well. The dominant motif was gratitude with Gukesh showing tremendous grace towards the defeated champion and endless appreciation towards his parents and his team. It was beautiful to see, and I hope he becomes a model for other young players coming up in the world.” (The Chess Mind)
What is it like to cover the World Championship on location? CM Junior Tay recounts his experience (Chess.com Blog)
FM Andy Lee wrote about how narratives of a game can differ based on whether you watch a game with or without engines. “The consensus of the flash analysis, more machine than man, suggested that Ding had missed chances to play for a win (in Game 14) and later blundered under pressure. That’s objectively true in a sense, but it has little to do with the experience of analyzing the game in real time without a computer.” (Lit & Chess)
The New York Times is among the many mainstream publications covering today’s news. “Gukesh recalled on Thursday at the news conference that when he watched the 2013 match (as a 7-year-old boy), which was played inside a soundproof booth, “I thought that it would be really cool to be inside the glass box.” (FM Dylan Loeb McClain for the NYTimes)
Podcasts/Videos
Its been a busy week at Perpetual Chess. I spent the day recording, and then editing an insightful World Championship Wrapup with GM Daniel Naroditsky. Earlier in the week, I released a podcast with GM Jon Ludwig Hammer, where he went into the origins of Magnus’ new company, chess improvement, and the state of chess broadcasting in Norway.
One of the things that Danya and I talked about was our feeling that an unusual amount of emotions were stirred in this particular World Championship match. I think it has to do with a) the closeness of the match and Game 14’s unexpected climax b) the earnestness and humility that are the hallmarks of Ding’s personality c) the notorious stoicism of young Gukesh, which suddenly gave way to a flood of emotions as he realized a lifelong dream. If you have not already, I recommend watching a handful of Chessbase India’s YouTube shorts, which capture many of the emotional highlights. (Chessbase India)
Books
Nick Visel Reviews The Real Paul Morphy by FM Charles Hertain (Nick Plays Chess)
Tournament Reports
IM Kostya Kavutskiy overcame a slow start in the ultra-strong St. Louis Masters (Kostya Goes for GM)
Meanwhile, across the pond, Popular Twitch Streamer Lula Roberts had a good time and a good result at the star-studded London Chess Classic. “The main difference as a chess player who streams her tournaments is that no matter what happens on the board, you still need to film a recap after the game and bare your soul and your horrible chess decisions to the world. There's no throwing away the scoresheet and pretending it never happened.” (Chess.com Blog)
Chess Improvement
NM Matt Gross on the importance of playing as a learning tool, as well as tips for how to review your games. “(Developing this skill) will make or break your training.” (MoveLibrary)
Misc.
That’s all for this week, have a good weekend everyone!- Ben