Perpetual Chess Linkfest #98, October 4, 2024

Dirty Flags

Chess Improvement

FM Andy Lee on his misadventures and lessons learned from practicing a tricky rook ending against Stockfish (Lit & Chess)

Ivan of 64 Squares shares a trip report from playing a tournament in La Plagne, in this picturesque villa in France. Read about the chess and the tournament here.

Chess News

IM Kostya Kavutskiy went to the Olympiad and reflects on his trip. Highlights include- Why the US team is unpopular, How the Bermuda party surprised him, and the inevitability of internal team drama on nearly every Olympiad team. (Kostya goes for GM)

Photo of GM Judit Polgar at the Olympiad by up-and-coming chess photographer, IM Kostya Kavutskiy

The Global Chess League is resuming, this time in London, with Magnus in action (Peter Doggers for Chess.com)

GM Yagiz Erdogmus just became the youngest person ever to cross 2600. (Tarjei Svensen for Chess.com)

They are playing without increment in the Global Chess League, which gave Firouzja an opportunity to “dirty flag” Magnus Carlsen, meaning run him out of time in a cold-hearted manner. (via Chess24’s X)

Melvyn Teoh of The Straits Time writes a candid feature on GM Ding Liren. Its hard not to root for the guy. Ding told Melvyn: “It doesn’t seem like I’ve been playing the way I used to…and their assessment is correct and I don’t know if I will ever reach that level again.” (The Straits Times)

The most plugged-in 95 year old on earth, Leonard Barden is back at it, sharing rumors I had not heard. “Firouzja, the Iran-born Frenchman missed the Olympiad, prompting rumours of a fallout with his national federation and a possible future transfer to the US, where the millionaire Rex Sinquefield has created what is effectively a world chess capital in his home city.” (The Guardian)

Mark Crowther of the indispensable The Week in Chess just celebrated the 30th anniversary of his site. Peter Doggers checks in on his spirits, and the financial health of this labor-of-love (Chess.com News)

Books

Martin Justesen is out with a new one, Blindfold Chess Problem: 1160 Mate-in-2 Puzzles. These are always good training material for those who want to work on their blindfold skills. (Say Chess Blog)

My book, Perpetual Chess Improvement, has been out almost a year now, and it means a lot to me that people are still enjoying it. Ben Graff just wrote a thoughtful review for the ECF, and I recently got to discuss it with GM Daniel King on his Powerplay Chess YouTube Channel. For those who have been asking, unfortunately, I still don’t know when the (already recorded) audiobook version will be released. 😡 (ECF Blog)

R.I.P.

I was a fan of GM Zenon Franco’s writing, and I am saddened to see that he passed away at 68. “IM David Martinez notes that he had "a great sense of humor and an extraordinary love of chess." (Colin McGourty for Chess.com)

Have a good weekend everyone, catch you all next week! -Ben