Hi there! Chess is a game that is rivaled in popularity only by something called Attack Hole, and I've got some posts to share about how you might get better at it (chess, not Attack Hole). We've also got our usual assortment of chess news posts, interviews, etc. Without further ado, here are this week’s links…
Improve your Chess
Excellent, wide-ranging interview with legendary trainer and player, GM Arthur Yusopov “For us coaches, (attending tournaments) is an opportunity to observe: How does my student behave during the game? These things are important, you can't tell in training. When I see the game, I might notice things that I didn't notice before in training. That is really an important experience.” (Martin Hahn for Chessbase News)
Noel Studer on whether you should train against computers “The main issue with playing against a chess computer is that you don’t train against a human. What is totally obvious has one serious flaw: you most likely want to improve your game against humans. The best way to do so is also to train against humans!” (Next Level Chess Blog)
FM Nate Solon weigh the merits of the Woodpecker Method (repeating tactics) as opposed to focusing on learning tactical patterns. This is one of the many topics I also delve into in my forthcoming book (!) (Zwischenzug Blog)
IM Jakob Pfreundt is still grinding toward 2500, and perhaps more impressively, is still blogging about it ! (LiChess Blog)
Chess- the New Hotness
FM Dennis Monokroussos on this fun new game you should try, chess! (The Chess Mind Blog)
OTOH, amidst the growth, Martin Justesen mourns the potential phasing out of Classical Chess (Can’t say I agree with this post completely, but Martin brings some interesting data) (The Say Chess Blog)
Tournament News
Anish won Tata Steel in dramatic fashion, you probably heard by now! (Colin McGourty for Chess24)
The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix is underway with some wild games such as the one below… (Vanessa West for Chess.com)
Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam of New in Chess Magazine reflects on Tata Steel Chess a bit and shares some old, but of course, still instructive, endgame analysis from Magnus (New in Chess Blog)
Misc.
John Hartmann of US Chess looks back on the Carlsen-Niemann scandal (CLO Blog)
Corey Shaya interviews Russell Makofsky on his groundbreaking chess non-profit, The Gift of Chess “Tyrone and I went into prison cells on Rikers Island and stood shoulder to shoulder with guys serving hard time to distribute chess sets.” (Corey Shaya’s Blog)
Dr. Benjamin Portheault joins the Chess Substack movement and breaks down some analytics involving team chess. “Almost nothing exists in terms of analytics for team chess: can we do anything? Can maths and numerical ‘monte-carlo’ simulation give some insight into ways to set up teams to maximise results? “ (Benjamin Portheault’s Blog)
That concludes this week’s linkfest, take care everyone, catch you all next week- Ben