Perpetual Chess Linkfest #95, September 13, 2024
Overwhelming Olympiad
Greetings chess enthusiasts, I’ve gathered a ton of interesting links for you this week, so have at it and have a good weekend! -
Ben
New Bloggers
GM Dmitry Svetushkin has joined the expanding ranks of chess substackers! His first post shares some advice for chess improvement. (Grandmaster Svetushkin)
And ChessDojo sensei IM Kostya Kavutskiy is now writing about his pursuit of the GM title! Kostya is currently sharing round-by-round recaps from a tournament in Italy, and is off to a good start. (Kostya Goes for GM)
OK, this one isn’t a newly launched blog, but Sam Kahn writes a popular chess history series on Chess.com, which has recently been turned into a book. He wrote about his chess background on his excellent general interest/politics/fiction blog in a post called My Insane, Degenerate, Overpowering Chess Obsession. “What chess seems to be fundamentally about, I think, is finding the limit between the finite and the infinite.” I am interviewing Sam for the Perpetual Chess Podcast next week. (Castalia)
Chess and Television
Tarjei Svensen reveals a few more details about a much-anticipated Magnus-Hans Netflix documentary that is due in 2025. (Chess.com News)
Chess Improvement
NM Matt Gross continues to share his analysis as he shores up his chess repertoire. This post is focused on the French Winawer. (MoveLibrary)
Dr. Nick Vasquez extracts a few lessons from his recent competitive games “I have started to analyze my games looking mistakes and then categorize them. No surprise, it’s still “Calculation” and “Moving Too Fast for the position”. However, “Passive Move” was a surprise revelation.” (Chess in Small Doses)
FM Nate Solon shares some thoughts on the differences between pattern recognition and calculation (Zwischenzug)
Nicholas Sloan on how a renewed fitness regimen is helping his chess (Highground Chess)
Chess News
The Olympiad always presents an absolute firehose of chess activity, but the Chess.com daily reports are always a good place to start. Here is Colin McGourty’s round 2 report. (Chess.com News)
Martin Justesen shares his thoughts on the Hans-Magnus showdown, and the overall direction of chess fandom. “Going back to what happened on the chessboard in the SCC Semifinal. While watching the games progress, I found myself caught in a paradox: the high production value and surrounding narratives did draw me in. Yet, I had a feeling that the actual games and results had become secondary to the off-board spectacle.” (Say Chess)
FM Andy Lee also watched the big match and analyzes some of the chess from it. (Lit & Chess)
GM Alex Colovic writes about the experience of visiting a “chess bubble” like the European Club Cup “Isolated from the external world with accomodation and food taken care of, I can dedicate my whole energy to the thing I love - playing chess. The hotel, the playing venue, the local bars and the people at the event form the bubble where there is special inner dynamics and atmosphere.” (GM Alex Colovic’s Blog)
Google is the title sponsor of this year’s World Championship match! (Chessbase India)
Reviews
Forward Chess reviews NM Dan Heisman’s evergreen book, A Guide to Chess Improvement: The Best of Novice Nook. “In conclusion, this is an excellent teaching text for a wide range of players. Heisman’s many years as a chess instructor shows, and he has made the material accessible to chess students. The book provides many hours of chess instruction and is a very good guide to chess improvement.” (Forward Chess)
Nick Visel is back with a review of Alekhine’s Complete Games Collection: Volume 2. According to Nick, it is the rare sequel that does not disappoint. (Nick Plays Chess)
Richard James reviews The Practical Endgame Bible. “I really enjoyed this book and think that, if you’re an above average club standard player, it will add an extra dimension to your play.” (British Chess News)
Thanks for the shout-out!!