Perpetual Chess Linkfest #128, June 27, 2025

Terror of Tournaments

Hi there chess enthusiast or non-chess enthusiast who accidentally subscribed to a chess newsletter. Next Friday is a holiday, so the next linkfest will be on Friday, July 11. Catch you then!

Chess Improvement

FM Andy Lee proposes a helpful framework for how to think about endgames: “containment and counterplay”. (Lit & Chess)

Just because chess is a game of skill does not mean that it is devoid of luck. FM Nate Solon explains why. “What I’ve noticed…is it is very easy for your rating to deviate up to 100 points in either direction from your true level, but it usually rebounds pretty quickly.” (Zwischenzug)

Kevin Lincoln wrote about the importance of getting the occasional confidence-boosting win. Can you find White’s best continuation here? Answer in the comments to Kevin’s post.

Some tactical struggles prompted NM Han Schut to look at the correlation between LiChess Puzzle Storm/Puzzle Streak scores and LiChess Blitz Ratings. (LiChess Blog)

White to Move and Win in Style. GM Gregory Serper looks at some variants of the famed Windmill pattern in his latest Chess.com column.

In case you have been having trouble keeping up with all of GM Hans Niemann’s blitz matches, FM Dennis Monokroussos runs down the recent and upcoming clashes with GMs Giri, Aronian, and Gujirathi (The Chess Mind)

News

GM Maxime Vachier Lagrave has been busy, and in good form lately. (MVL’s Blog)

It is often posited that Magnus Carlsen plays better after a loss. Julian from the Chess Engine Lab looked at the data

Reviews

Ben Graff provides a thoughtful review of GM Susan Polgar’s Rebel Queen. Having read the book, I share his fondness for it. “I was left with the feeling that in some ways the chess itself was easier than the battles with the Hungarian state and the pervading culture of sexism and misogyny she encountered and overcame, which is why this book is such an inspirational read.” (Chessmoves)

Podcasts/Videos

On this week’s podcast I interviewed one of the most active GMs in the world- GM Alexander “No Fear” Fier. The Brazilian champion has been to 55 countries and played 199 rated games last year alone! But Alexander shows no signs of slowing down and still has boundless enthusiasm for the game. “My goal is not the prize, it's the tournament itself.” (Perpetual Chess YouTube)

Misc.

Sam Kahn writes about the early 20th century legend Efim Boguljubow. “My personal theory is that David Janowski, Efim Bogoljubow, Efim Geller, and Veselin Topolov are all the same player — living entirely for the attack and never retreating or resorting to positional play unless they absolutely can't help it. This constant aggression made Bogoljubow the terror of mixed-level tournaments, but there was no one in the world whom Bogoljubow wasn't capable of catching on the back foot.” (Chess.com Blog)

Zohran Momdani made a lot of headlines this week by unexpectedly winning the New York City Democratic Primary- did you know that he briefly played tournament chess as a kid? Here is his USCF rating page.

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