Perpetual Chess Linkfest #109, January 17, 2025

Chess to the Masses

Chess Improvement

Putting her chess parenting hat on, Jen Shahade wrote about how she is suggesting that her son approach puzzle-solving. “I encourage Fabian to use books as often as possible, in part because there’s a large gulf between the level of puzzles he solves successfully and quickly online, and the level he solves on paper.” (Jennifer’s Substack)

Do you really need to know how to checkmate with a bishop and knight vs. king? James Stripes explores this question and practices against the engine a bit. Personally, I am on team “no”.

David Hamm reflected on a challenging week of chess study. “There are good weeks and challenging weeks in chess training. Last week was a good week, this week was a challenging week.” (LiChess Blog)

GM Noel Studer provides a helpful, basic overview of how to learn a new opening. (Next Level Chess)

Learn from the Legends is a classic, and the much-anticipated sequel is imminent. IM Andrew Greet wrote a bit about it for Quality Chess. If its like the original, its a great book but best recommended for 1800+ or so.

Chess News

Great piece from FM Andy Less contextualizing the recent Magnus-FIDE squabbles and the potential rise of Chess960. (Chess & Lit)

Tata Steel is almost upon us (starting January 18), and Colin McGourty highlights 7 story lines to track. (Chess.com News)

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is back with a candid blog post in which he discusses his recent disappointing performances, and his thoughts on “jeans-gate” and “Call it a draw and peace-out in the middle of the tiebreak-gate” plus whats next for him. (MVL Blog)

There was a lot of action in the chess Bundesliga last weekend, as Magnus won a nice game with Black against GM Max Warmerdam. (Colin McGourty for Chess.com)

Chessable is now taking applications for its chess-research research awards. (Chessable Blog)

Misc.

Daaim Shabazz writes a nice tribute to the recently deceased Ernest Levert, an Ohio-based chess educator whose health suddenly collapsed at the age of 35. “Most of the chess world is shaped not by professional players or celebrities but by community volunteers who bring chess to the masses. Ernest, or “Ern,” was one of those whom you may not have known about, but he certainly held up the light and reflected the brilliance of chess to his community.” (The Chess Drum)

Kevin Lincoln on how the California wild fires have impacted his chess club, himself and the Southern California chess community. (Good Moves)

Podcasts/Videos

In this week’s Perpetual Chess, GM Alex Lenderman gave a round-by-round perspective on his FIDE World Rapid & Blitz tournament. Alex managed to put up some great results despite a lot of self-doubt going in. He also answered questions such as “What’s it like in the players lounge?” “Was he aware of the dress code drama as it unfolded? “ (Perpetual Chess YouTube)

IM Levy Rozman’s GM Pursuit is resumed! He recaps Round 1 of an ongoing tournament in NYC (Gotham Chess)

That concludes this week’s link-fest, have a good weekend everyone! - Ben