Perpetual Chess Linkfest #110, January 24, 2025
Anti-Social
Hi! Here are this week’s chess links, have a good weekend and stay warm! - Ben
Chess Improvement
Kevin Lincoln on what he does to make sure he actually learns from his mistakes (Good Moves)
NM Bryan Tillis shares his best chess improvement advice. “My advice for ambitious chess players is to not get too caught up in ratings.” (Chessable Blog)
Martin Justesen is back with an injured foot and another weekly calculation worksheet (Say Chess)
David Hamm reflects on his most recent week of reading and chess training. (LiChess Blog)
Misc.
Dawn Lawson shares her experience attending the World Rapid & Blitz in NYC. “GM Ashley did most of the commentating, and although I had already become a great admirer of his when I saw how he handled the task of emceeing the World Chess Championship, I have even more respect and appreciation for his work after my afternoon of intense exposure to it” (An Older Woman’s Chess Journey)
GM Felix Blohberger made a heartfelt YouTube video a few weeks ago about the many challenges of pursuing chess professionally in Europe. The video drew a lot of attention, and had pros like GM Sam Shankland weighing in in the YouTube comments. NM Anthony Levin summarized it for Chess.com (Chess.com News)
Books
GM Jacob Aagaard writes a bit about the Quality Chess/New In Chess/Everyman Chess (now called Popular Chess) merger (New in Chess Blog)
Podcasts/Videos
This week’s Perpetual Chess was with Michael Franco about his continued slow and steady climb up the rating ladder. Michael is in his 11th year of serious chess, and in recent years has progressed from the 1700s to the 1900s USCF, while getting used to OTB Chess. Michael had solid recommendations and advice for fellow amateurs. (Perpetual Chess YouTube)
IM Levy Rozman had a rough tournament in NYC and talked about where he will go from here. A few days before that, GM Hans Niemann made a video offering him some #unsolicitedadvice that I actually found to be instructive and genuine. (Gotham Chess YouTube) (Hans Niemann YouTube)
Non-Chess Department- Derek Thompson, one of my favorite writers/podcasters recently wrote a long piece for the Atlantic, called “The Anti-Social Century” about how people are spending more time by themselves then ever. As someone who works from home, it resonated. He also covered the topic on his podcast, with an inspiring interview with Dr. Nick Epley. Well worth a listen. The chess takeaway, for me, was to seek more opportunity to play and discuss chess IRL. (Plain English Podcast)
