Perpetual Chess Linkfest #25, February 17, 2023
Hi everyone! We try to keep things light here on the Linkfest, but the chess world was weighed down with some very disturbing news this week, GM Alejandro Ramirez is accused of sexual misconduct. Peter Doggers of Chess.com has all the details. I don’t have much to add to this sad story other than that, as some of you know, I am longtime friends with Jennifer Shahade, and she is as trustworthy as they come (in addition to being a rock star chess ambassador!) My heart goes out to all who have been affected by this story.
On other topics, I have gathered a fun assembly of blog posts and puzzles to help your chess game, as well as a few chess interviews and chess news stories. You can check them out below. Enjoy the articles and have a good weekend everyone! - Ben
Chess Improvement
IM Junta Ikeda with some great advice on do’s and don’t of using Chessable “Spending all of your time on Chessable? It’s good to test how well you know your lines by creating a file from scratch, inputting everything you know.” (Infinite Chess Blog)
WGM Tatev Abrahamyan on how to Study Tactics “I think it is very important to be disciplined about your study time. Take care to avoid interruptions and — this is key —" do not move the pieces while solving.” (Chess Life Online)
FM Nate Solon with some useful advice on Designing Your Repertoire (Zwischenzug Blog)
Pro Chess
The WR Masters (featuring So, Giri, Nepo and others) got off to an exciting start (Colin McGourty for Chess24.com)
Misc.
IM Greg Shahade’s favorite Player is IM Lawrence Trent! (20 Questions with Greg Shahade, by Corey Shaya)
Olya Kaye on what it was like to attend a chess pub night with Magnus Carlsen in Toronto (Chess.com Blog)
Fun interview of GM Maurice Ashley by IM Kassa Korley “And it became clear very quickly that the stuff that I was reading, that I thought I knew something, was not enough. My foundation was just not solid enough. And you know, he's like, what they say, "every Russian schoolboy knows." Well, every brother in Brooklyn did not know that stuff. “ (Celebrating Black Excellence with GM Maurice Ashley)
I thought we were doing a Zoom interview, but apparently I went to Ono’s Bday Party :) (“The Ono Zone” LiChess Blog)