Perpetual Chess Linkfest #48, August 18, 2023
Something for everyone
Hi everyone! It has been an eventful couple of weeks in the chess world. The FIDE World Cup has been extremely entertaining and looks to be headed for a dramatic conclusion. On a more serious note, the chess #metoo movement is gaining steam with new allegations and repercussions emerging with increasing frequency. We also have plenty of chess writing to share focused on improvement, book reviews, chess history, and tournament reports.
By the way, the release date to my book (November 1) is getting closer. That can only mean one thing- I will bugging you about it with increasing frequency! This newsletter is free, and I have no current plans to change that, so pre-ordering my book is a good way to support the cause. Plus, I think you’ll enjoy the stories and compiled advice in the book. Perpetual Chess Improvement will also be available in audiobook (Its 80% prose, 20% chess), Kindle, and on the New in Chess Reader app so you can hold your fire if you would prefer a different format. OK, that’s enough shameless self-promotion for now, on to the links…
Chess Improvement
Dr. Nick on his plans to bust through a slump. “Everything needs to have a purpose or a synergy. I recognize I’m not professional at chess but I do want to see progress.I’ve learned in my life that the two things we control are how we spend our time and where we put our attention.” (Chess in Small Doses)
Some of the things GM Simen Agdestein (9-time Norwegian Champion and Magnus Carlsen’s Childhood Coach) said in our recent interview really stuck with me, so I decided to write about it. (My Chess.com Blog)
Martin Justesen on How to Become Good at Annotating Your Chess Games (Say Chess Blog)
IM Jakob Pfreundt is back to Pursuing 2500 FIDE and is Playing a Busy Schedule of European Open Tournaments. “I noticed that I still need to improve on my opening as I spent too much time preparing before the games. I've mentioned this before, but the ideal scenario would be to have the lines ready and mostly memorized so that before during the tournament the only thing left to do is to choose the opening and briefly brush up on the lines.” (LiChess Blog)
SimonM did some interesting analysis of how different opening moves perform at different levels for amateurs (SimonM’s Newsletter)
Congrats to FM Nate Solon on Publishing his First Chessable Course “In opening preparation there is usually a tension between playing good moves and surprising your opponent. You want to play good moves, but naturally, your opponent will try to be most prepared for those moves, so to surprise them you often have to play something a little dodgy.” (Zwischenzug Blog)
Top Chess News
IM Saravanan with a Great Breakdown of an Extremely Entertaining Tiebreak Day in the FIDE World Cup (Chess.com News)
GM Hans Niemann won the Uralsk Open, beating GM Sethuraman in the Last Round (Shahid Ahmed for Chessbase India)
Chess and Sexual Harassment/Assault
British WIM Sabrina Chevannes has been discussing some of the assaults and harassment she endured in her time as a competitive chess player. (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)
LiChess published an article announcing that it is severing ties with US Chess and the St. Louis Chess Club, and reported on some disturbing allegations against GM Timur Garyev within the article. (LiChess Blog)
Chess.com Joined LiChess in Severing Ties with The St. Louis Chess Club (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com News)
Book Reviews
Nick Visel recommends GM Michael Stean’s classic, Simple Chess. “Simple Chess is a genuine classic, and I can hardly recommend a book more than I’m going to recommend this one.” (Nick Plays Chess)
IM Junta Ikeda Reviews Study Chess with Matthew Sadler (Infinite Chess)
R.I.P.
GM Alexander Matanovic, an accomplished GM and co-founder of the classic Informant series has passed away. (Peter Doggers for Chess.com)
Chess History
‘Simagin Fan’ on San Remo 1930- One of Alekhine’s Most Dominant Tournaments “Much nonsense has been written about Alekhine 'drinking away his title' with relation to the 1935 match…However, it is clear, if you study his games, that Alekhine was definitely at his very best during the (pre 1935) period of his marriage to Nadezhda, and fell away after it ended.” (Chess.com Blog)
Douglas Griffin on the legendary endgame composer and Armenian champion, Genrikh Kasparyan “The life of Kasparian, like that of everyone in the country, was turned upside down by the events that began to unfold on 22nd June 1941.” (Douglas Griffin’s Blog)
Misc.
FM Mike Klein on the shared life philosophies of GM Ding Liren and Ted Lasso (Chess Life Online)
IM Junta Ikeda on Why he Writes About Chess “When I was younger, how I’d perform at chess tournaments meant the world to me. Although I’m still working on my chess and striving to improve, I have other things that also mean a lot to me now, including writing.” (Infinite Chess)
Interesting Dortmund Open Tournament Trip Report from Grad Student and New Chess Enthusiast, Elise Bickford. “Tatev and Fabiano sat facing the window and were distracted by a man on the upper floor of the building across the street who was cleaning his house in his underwear.” (Chess Life Online)
Thanks again for the shoutout, Ben!!