Perpetual Chess Linkfest #47- August 4, 2023

FIDE World Cup, Ratings, Endgames & more

Unlike some of the other of top players Magnus has not struggled so far at the World Cup. Photo by Stev Bonhage via FIDE

Hello fellow chess fans! The FIDE World Cup has been fascinating as ever, as top seeds like Shakhriyah Mamedyarov and Katerina Lagno have been ousted, while Hikaru barely survived today against upstart GM Karthik Venkataraman. Elsewhere in the chess world, we have a wide range of chess posts for you to check out, whether you are interested in improving your own game, or just want to appreciate the genius of Rudolf Spielman or Alexander Alekhine.

Summer has flown by, but I am off to the beach for one remaining week of summer vacation. I’ve got a big pile of books that my kids are unlikely to let me read much, but it should be fun. The Linkfest will return on August 18. Take care- Ben

Chess Improvement

Very instructive post from GM Serper on how great players convert a superior pawn structure (Chess.com)

Two dedicated Nick’s annotate their games on their blogs (Nick Plays Chess) (Chess in Small Doses)

Black to move and Force Mate, answer within Tarjei Svensen’s writeup of Sarayu Velpula’s Amazing Result

GM Alex Colovic on how dynamic play was underestimated in the pre-engine age (GM Alex Colovic’s Blog)

Dr. Benjamin Portheault on why you should strive to avoid the “when I finally” mindset “Sign up for that tournament and play. No such thing as 'I'll be ready later'. Spoiler: you will never be fully ready. Don't wait for retirement or to finish that course.” (LiChess Blog)

IM Junta Ikeda wonders… Should amateurs practice endings more? Interesting game analysis in this post (Infinite Chess Blog)

Sam Asaka shares good advice for winning a won game “When you have a winning position — focus even harder than you normally would.” (The Road to Infinity)

Ratings

FIDE has proposed some changes to its rating system to combat deflation. NM Vanessa West shares the details (Chess.com News)

FM Nate Solon also wrote an Insightful post about recent issues with the rating system (Zwischenzug Blog)

Chess News

Colin McGourty’s articles covering the FIDE World Cup have been Excellent (as has GM Rafael Leitao’s game analysis). Here was today’s roundup covering yesterday’s action (Chess.com News)

Congrats to the Amazing GM Gukesh, via Chessbase India’s Twitter

GM Hikaru Nakamura will play in the German Bundesliga! This likely cost a pretty penny! “In the battle for the best brains in the consulting industry, (Bundesliga sponsor) d-fine is hoping that its commitment to chess will enable it to recruit highly qualified top talent, particularly mathematicians and physicists.” (Chessbase News)

Over 50 female chessplayers signed an open letter condemning sexism in chess (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)

Chess History

Sam Kahn on the legendary attacker Rudolf Spielman “He liked his beer, he liked his fatty foods. It was as if some beerhall patzer staggered to the board and just so happened to be a chess genius. ."  (Chess.com Blog)

‘Simaginfan’ looks at 1930, when Alekhine had one of the most dominant years in chess history “For all his faults Alekhine was simply the most magnificent player, and at San Remo he reached heights which have been matched by very few, and very rarely. “ (Chess.com Blog)

Misc.

British PM Rishi Sunak pledges government support for chess in England! (Leonard Barden for The Guardian)

A new White Paper has been released Analyzing the Value of Different Chess Squares (!). Thankfully, FM Dennis Monokroussos provides an Explainer (The Chess Mind Blog)