WIM Alexey Root, PhD

Alexey Root is a Woman International Master and the 1989 U.S. Women's chess champion. Her peak US Chess rating was 2260. She has a PhD in education from UCLA. You can find her books on chess on Amazon.com.

AlphaBetChess: Books for Chess Parents

Chess books make great holiday gifts. Vishnu Warrier’s AlphaBetChess series uses the letters A through Z to organize chess terms. For parents who want to share their love of chess with their children, the AlphaBetChess books are wonderful choices. More 🡢

Aleksandar Indjic wins 2024 European Individual Chess Championship

The 2024 European Individual Chess Championship was won by GM Aleksandar Indjic of Serbia. Indjic began the tournament ranked 33rd. En route to the title, he defeated the tournament’s top-ranked player, GM Vladimir Fedoseev, who plays for Slovenia. More 🡢

Chess Books and Autographs

The Chess Book Collectors site on Facebook has 48,300 members. McFarland, a leading independent publisher of academic and general-interest nonfiction books, has 95 books on chess in print. With McFarland books at 35% off from November 15 to December 2, now is the perfect time to combine collecting chess books and chess autographs. More 🡢

Documenting Hopes, Dreams, and Chess

Katie Dellamaggiore made her feature film directorial debut with Brooklyn Castle, an award-winning documentary about inner-city junior high school students achieving chess success despite financial obstacles. Now Dellamaggiore is working on a new film called Queen’s Castle, profiling young women worldwide who are achieving chess success. One of those young women is Palestine’s top female player, 17-year-old Woman FIDE Master Eman Sawan. More 🡢

Recent Examples of Plagiarism in Chess Writing

The 2023 book Kings, Queens & Rookies:The Tata Steel Chess Tournament – A Celebration of 85 Years includes, without citing its source, a game annotated by Magnus Carlsen that appeared almost 20 years earlier in New in Chess magazine. Chess historian Edward Winter may want to add this example to his article on copying. More 🡢

Deadly Chess Puzzles: One from the 2024 Olympiad, 1001 from Rizzitano

The 2024 Olympiad included many chess games that might be turned into chess puzzles. Grandmaster Vasyl Ivanchuk’s win over Grandmaster Wesley So, which contributed to team Ukraine defeating team United States, is one example. More 🡢

Different Awards for the Same Chess Results

In some situations, scoring the same number of points results in more awards for one player than for another. In 2024, a middle grade novel and a Texas Chess Association initiative enable such situations by giving awards limited to girls. Will awards just for boys follow, as they did in 1970s Nebraska? More 🡢

Sex, Murder, and Chess: Fiction Predicts Truth?

According to news stories in the mainstream media, including NBC, ABC, Newsweek, and USA Today, Amina Abakarova allegedly smeared poison on chessmen that would be touched by her rival, Umayganat Osmanova. Security cameras captured the August 2 incident, which occurred about 20 minutes before a round of the Russian Republic of Dagestan Chess Championship. That same month, New in Chess published The Sponsor: Murder at the North Sea Chess Tournament. More 🡢