Chess News And Views

Winning the World Open…a Review!

Jan 29, 2022Davide NastasioBook Review, Chess History, Games Collectionchess, chess history, game collection, Joel Benjamin, New in Chess, World Open

In 1973 legendary organizer Bill Goichberg created the model for what would become an iconic American chess tournament. The deal at the World Open was plain and simple: high entry fees, big prizes, and no frills.

From that moment onwards grandmasters and amateurs have been flocking to the World Open in an annual pilgrimage. Every year around the 4th of July, Philadelphia – the home of the World Open barring a few excursions to other cities – has been the scene of countless epic battles on the chess board.

The 4 players type standard model… a review!

Jan 23, 2022Davide NastasioChessbase DVDBotvinnik, chess, chess improvement, Chessbase, Fischer, Kasparov, Lasker, Nimzowitsch, Tal

Playing styles in chess are an important topic. GM Mueller and Engel show us a model based on 4 type of players, which we can eventually begin to use to prepare for our tournament opponents.

World Chess Championship 2021 – JBV Chess Books

Jan 19, 2022Davide Nastasio2 CommentsBook ReviewIan Nepomniachtchi, JBV Chess Books, Jerzy Konikowski, Karsten Mueller, Magnus Carlsen, Uwe Bekemann, World Chess Championship 2021

A book about a world championship which has made clear the extreme domination level of the actual World Champion: Magnus Carlsen.

Moro chess sets from the Philippines

Jan 12, 2022Holger LangerChess History, Chess Sets, Uncategorizedantique chess sets, chess collecting, chess sets, collecting, Moro, Philippines

People who know me know also that I have a soft spot for chess sets from the Philippines. I have commented on Staunton chess sets from the Philippines before. Today, I will show you something more exotic, the so called Moro chessmen. To start with an example, here is a specimen from my collection. The

Avant-Garde Strategy in Chess!

Dec 10, 2021Davide NastasioChess Interview, OpeningsAvant-Garde Strategy in chess, Basmania, Gerard Welling, Michael Basman, Thinkers Publishing

Gerard Welling reached the IM title in 1992, he has won few international Open tournaments, and recently authored a book based on the creative genius of IM Michael Basman who has authored many books on creative openings, risky openings… openings which clearly bring the opponents out of their comfort zone (Nepo should have bought the

Sergio the modern Philidor!

Nov 10, 2021Davide NastasioChess Interviewchess, chess improvement, Kasparov, Kortchnoi, Kotov, Philidor Defense, Sergio Trigo, Sergio Trigo Urquijo, Thinkers Publishing

DN: Spider Man was bitten by a radioactive spider, Captain America was a secret army experiment in creating a super soldier, what is your super hero story which brought you to the chess world? ST: A really interesting question! My story is a bit particular. When I was very young I suffered an infection that

Christian the “Nimzo-Scandi Warrior”

Oct 21, 2021Davide NastasioChess InterviewAlekhine Defense, chess improvement, Chess Interview, chess openings, Christian Bauer, Nimzovich Defense, Thinkers Publishing

While living the American Dream, and making the IRS rich, my soul wanders to my true love: Chess. Luckily today, thanks to different social platforms one can read news, breath, and consume chess content 24/7. Chess has a plethora of characters, top GMs, endless titled players and other chess aficionados who are always ready to

Alexander “The Great” Colovic

Oct 18, 2021Davide NastasioChess InterviewAlex Colovic, Bronstein, capablanca, chess tactics, Lasker, Sinquefield generation, Thinkers Publishing

Thanks to Daniel Vanheirzeele I had the chance to interview some of Thinkers Publishing top authors. Their kindness, professionalism, and sincerity in answering some simple questions gave as result a kaleidoscope of answers which puzzled me. They are all titled players, playing and being in the chess world for over 20 years, and yet they

2021 Women and Girls Southeastern Championship.

Oct 17, 2021Davide Nastasio1 CommentChess Interview, Chess tournaments, Georgia ChessAlisa Scherbakova, CCSCATL, chess tournament, Georgia Chess, Girls chess, Karen Boyd, US Women Chess, Women Chess

October 2nd and 3rd were the dates for this great tournament which gathered a record number of players: 17! The winner was the strong Alisa Scherbakova who dominated the event with a great performance: 4.5 out of 5 points! These are the games she played: Scherbakova in 2018 won the Georgia Women’s Chess Champion title,

Chessbase Magazine 203 a review…

Oct 3, 2021Davide NastasioChessbase DVD, Chessbase Magazinechess, Chessbase, Chessbase Magazine, Nepo, Nepomniatchtchi Ian

Listening FM Giannatos saying it’s important to read books with game collections, it made me think that today, thanks to technology, the chess improvement of an average player like me changed a lot. We can have a game collection with many annotated games every 2 months! How? Just getting the latest issue of Chessbase Magazine. A wealth of games coming from different tournaments, with different time controls, teaching us the latest ideas in terms of opening theory, as well as strategic maneuvers, or very important endgames one should know in order to convert a material advantage into a win.