The Chess Mind

(A version of this post was originally published here.)

More details here. As the Meltwater tour has been around for a while now, many of you know the basic format: it’s a two-stage, 16 player, rapid event. A round robin cuts the field to eight players, who then engage in a series of knockout matches until there’s a winner; one-day matches for the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, and a two-day match for the finals.

As always with the Meltwater tour, the field includes many of the world’s absolute elite. Читать дальше...

(Originally published here. Please subscribe to my Substack blog - thanks!)

(Originally published here, several days ago. Please subscribe to the Substack blog - thanks!)

(Originally published here several days ago. Please subscribe the Substack blog!)

(Originally published here several days ago. If any of you haven't yet subscribed to the Substack blog, please do so!)

His commentary during round 12 on Nepomniachtchi, Firouzja, Caruana and more. Come for the chess, stay for the travel suggestions.

(Originally posted here; please subscribe to my Substack blog - thanks!)

(Originally posted on my Substack blog; please subscribe there.)

Nothing too spicy, but it’s worth a minute of your time.

(Originally posted on my Substack blog; please subscribe there.)

“It’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” - Anonymous

We commentators are remarkably insightful when it comes to explaining what has just happened, though this awesome gift of hindsight rarely translates into successful predictions the next time around. It turns out that commentators should not only avoid predictions before an event; they should also be careful about offering their explanations during an event. Читать дальше...

(Originally posted on my Substack blog; please subscribe there.)

I remember reading Vik Vasiliev’s biography of Tigran Petrosian when I was a kid, and his account of the 1962 Candidates came to mind. With five rounds to go, he was tied with Paul Keres for first and was, I think, a point ahead of Efim Geller. In the remaining five rounds, he made five draws - the prearranged draws with Keres and Geller, then with Pal Benko and Bobby Fischer, and finally in the last round a 14-move... Читать дальше...