Perpetual Chess Linkfest #6, September 23, 2022
Magnus Resigns Quickly, Speaks Reluctantly, and Wins Frequently in the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour
Happy Friday everyone! For the third week in a row the chess headlines have been dominated by the controversy associated with Magnus Carlsen’s unusual actions in recent tournaments. The dominant interpretation for what are normally considered to be unsportsmanlike actions by the World Champion, is that Magnus is strongly opposed to GM Hans Niemann’s presence in the tournaments due to Hans’ (now) admitted history of online cheating. As of this writing there is no proof that Hans has cheated in OTB tournaments, but Magnus may suspect Hans of doing so, and Hans’ prior actions undermine his credibility. Obviously, as news continues to trickle out, it will be covered in future link fests.
Aside from this oxygen-sucking story, there is plenty of other top level chess going on, and we have some great chess improvement posts and essays to share as well. Here are the links:
Carlsen/Niemann Controversy
“Monday’s bizarre occurrence (of Magnus resigning on move 2) is almost without precedent in international chess”.. (Leonard Barden for the Guardian) (also Jason Koebler for Vice)
On Wednesday, Carlsen finally spoke, measuredly. (Colin McGourty for Chess24)
“When asked by Motherboard why Dlugy was removed from two Titled Tuesday matches and why Niemann was banned, Erik Allebest, the CEO of Chess.com, said “Those are very good questions! Unfortunately we cannot comment on this situation at this time. We hope to be able to in the near future!”” (Jason Koebler for Vice)
On the C-Squared Podcast, GM Fabiano Caruana provided a ton of behind the scenes insights related to what happened in St. Louis. “We know that Magnus already had a problem as soon as he heard that Hans was invited to the Sinquefield Cup. People think that this was because he lost a game to Hans. But it predates that by a few days. He was already upset about Hans’s inclusion in the Sinquefield Cup. (…) What happened in those few days (between the Miami and Sinquefield Cup tournaments)? This is what I don’t know.”.- GM Fabiano Caruana ( C Squared YouTube Video) (Chessdom Summary of Fabiano’s key Quotes)
On Friday, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich issued a statement…
An Open Letter to Dr. Kenneth Regan (with a Response in comments from Dr. Regan!) (The Chess Mind Blog)
Actual Chess
Generation Cup: Carlsen, Keymer, Arjun and Le in Semis (Carlos Alberto Colodro for Chessbase News)
NM Vanessa West with the Latest on Chess.com’s Global Chess Championship (Chess.com Article)
Astana GP: Goryachkina and Zhu share the Lead (Chessbase News)
Coverage has been understandably light given the geopolitical backdrop, but GM Danil Dubov has won the Russian Super Championship (Chess24)
Chess Improvement
“Just how does a strong player go about defeating lesser-rated opponents? And what can we chess mortals do to maximize our chances against titled players?” (John Hartmann for US Chess Online)
“People want to maximize their rating gain per hour of study. I think they get too focused on that and miss out on the pure joy of learning.” (Matthew K Canada Lichess Blog)
IM Andras Toth sounds the death knell for The Stafford Gambit (LiChess Blog)
“It’s not always the rating distance between you and the coach that's the defining factor, but there has to be some kind of part in you that believes this person either has some kind of experience or some kind of insight that you admire.” (The Ono Zone interview with GM Jesse Kraai, Lichess Blog)
Reviewing Matthew Sadler
“So if you have ever wanted to find out more about the fascinating world of computer chess and how to use the engines to improve your own game then this is a good place to start.” (Tony Williams for British Chess News, on Matthew Sadler’s The Siicon Road to Chess Improvement)
IM John Watson also reviews The Silicon Road to Chess Improvement, along with The AI Revolution in Chess (US Chess Online)
Chessays
“What we did that really is different than any others do – and it’s because we were a private company that was making money and were able to invest – is we went out and built what I would call DNA crime scene analysis for every chess player in the world,” IM Danny Rensch said” (The People Who Police Chess Cheats by Wilfred Chan for The Guardian)
“We have witnessed a tremendous explosion of chess podcasts in the last year or two. A number of club players, chess personalities, chess enthusiasts, adult improvers and even top players have launched their own chess podcast – and there seems to be no sign of stopping” (Vjekoslav Nemec on his Favorite Chess Podcasts- Chessentials Blog)
“First and foremost, the Van Foreests have passed the chess baton down through a remarkable six generations of family members. But the Van Foreests haven't just produced average players — they've produced champions.” (Leon Watson for Chess24)
It is very plausible to “to drop a successful (chess) training programme with no basis because of bad variance.” ( High Performance Environments in Chess by Benjamin Portheault on the LiChess Blog)
Fischer’s Opening Strategy in Reykjavik (GM Alex Colovic’s Blog)
The 5 Most Popular Chessable Courses of all Time. I guess alot of people know the same 100 Endgames! - (Andrew Kauffman for the Chessable Blog)
That’s all for this week, have a good weekend everyone!-
Ben
This is a very useful and interesting newsletter ... thank you!