Reviewing chess books online for free is a thankless and time consuming endeavor and I am always glad when someone does it. This week we have two book reviews for you! In other news, there were tons of top chess events with Magnus, Erigaisi and Abdusattorov winning tournaments, Norway Chess on deck, and an exciting finish pending in the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix. Read all about it via the links below!
Book Reviews
Dr. Patzer reviews an older book by GM Larry Evans, The 10 Most Common Chess Mistakes Its not his favorite. (Dr. Patzer’s Review)
And if you are into chess history, SimaginFan gives a preview of Elk and Ruby’s new Winawer biography, The Wizard of Warsaw. (Chess.com Blog)
Chess Improvement
JJ Lang shows some instructive positions from the various U.S. Scholastic National Championships (Chess Life Online)
Should those rated U2000 use engines? Dan Bock says yes. (The Chess Improvement Lab)
FM Nate Solon also weighed in on engine use for amateurs. “Sometimes beginning to intermediate players are told to analyze without the engine, as though how to do this is self-evident. In fact, analysis is a difficult skill to master, in some ways more difficult than playing.” (Zwischenzug Blog)
IM Junta Ikeda on The Inevitability of His Switching to the Najdorf “I wanted more scope for unforeseen kinds of tension and uncertainty. I realised I had to explore the Najdorf again.” (Infinite Chess Blog)
Chess News
Erigaisi finished strong to win Sharjah Masters. FM Jack Rodgers breaks it down (Chess.com News)
Magnus Carlsen is still good at chess! (Colin McGourty for Chess24)
Uzbek phenom GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Caruana to win the Chesskid Cup (NM Anthony Levin for Chess.com)
Lagno leads in the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix, and “A year's worth of competition will culminate in the next and final round.” (NM Vanessa West for Chess.com News)