Chess
2026 U.S. Chess Championship: A 12-Player Field and a Crack in the ReportThere is a moment in documentary writing that I learned in my early years...
ChessBase Magazine No. 225: When the Name Bent Larsen Sells More Than the Actual ContentOn the cover is Bent Larsen. Turn the page, and I count 27 short games, 10...
The Najdorf Never Sleeps: A 60-Minute Update and Chess's Memory RaceA download at eleven at night Eleven at night in a small chess club on the...
Daniel King's Najdorf: 60 Minutes, Five Line-Complexes, and the Transfer Window of Opening TheoryThree in the morning in Bangalore, the ceiling fan turning like an old ship...
The 9...a5 Move in the King's Indian Defense: A Strategic Escape in the Engine EraIn the playing hall of the Saint Petersburg Chess Club, on a December...
Modern Italian 5.e5 Gambit: When Club Players Bet on Space, Traps, and Silent PreparationIn three recent amateur games in Binh Duong, I kept seeing the same move: 1.e...
Sarana's 5.e5 at the Olympiad: The Modern Italian Game and the Data Gap Behind ItOn the fifth move, White's pawn steps from e4 to e5 and is awarded an...
The King Walks Out of the Back Rank: Sarana and the 5.e5 Lesson from the OlympiadThe white king left the back rank on move eighteen. No checkmate, no queen...
Egon Mattaaq and the Scotch Opening: When the Headline and the Board Tell Two Different StoriesTwo in the morning, Hanoi is as quiet as a stadium with no spectators. I type...
2026 Chess Olympiad: Israel absent in round six over Yom Kippur, Netherlands and Bulgaria win by forfeitThe 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, has been dominated by a sto...
Yom Kippur in Samarkand: Two Empty Boards, Eight Games Without a Move, and a Tournament Questioning Its Own RulesTwo Empty Chairs in Samarkand On the morning of 21 September, the Netherlands...
The Empty Board: Data Discipline in the Craft of Chess WritingOctober night in Saint Petersburg. The newsroom is so empty that the keystrok...

