Chess
ChessThe Underdog's Pawn: 5.e5 in the Italian Game and the Story of an Unopened Folder2026-10-02I found South Asia's first grandmaster in a folder no one had opened in years...
ChessSamarkand R7: Four Boards in the Headline, an Advertisement on the Page2026-09-24Round seven, women's section, Samarkand. China and Kazakhstan drew 2–2, and t...
ChessWhen White Avoids 2.c4: Will IM Lilov's Six-Video Antidote Really Work?2026-09-24After tagging 640 games, I understood that the biggest battles don't happen o...
ChessSasikiran Wins Bavarian Championship on Tiebreaks as FRITZ 20 Sparks a New Debate in Chess Training2026-11-09A chess tournament does not always require a player to score more points than...
ChessSix Weeks of Silence: Chess Video Course Hype and the Data Gap in the Ledger2026-11-08I start with a critical warning: the video course described here is titled 'T...
Sasikiran Wins Bavarian Championship on Tiebreaks as FRITZ 20 Sparks a New Debate in Chess TrainingA chess tournament does not always require a player to score more points than...
Six Weeks of Silence: Chess Video Course Hype and the Data Gap in the LedgerI start with a critical warning: the video course described here is titled 'T...
No Chess Story Established: Analysis Finds an Extraction FailureThe most important finding in the supplied chess analysis concerns no move,...
Saint Louis in the Headline, Six Videos Inside: A Gap in the Chess Instruction MarketI read the page three times. Each time I finished it, I could not find one...
ChessBase #225: The Real Ledger of the Training Market Inside 27 Miniatures and 10 Opening ArticlesThere is not a single move in the September announcement. No rating, no...
One 2715 Among 108 Teams: Paper Favourites and Board-Level Gaps at the European Club CupOne cell on the Budva team sheet catches the eye — 2715. The four cells besid...
Twenty-Seven Miniatures, Ten Opening Articles, Zero Moves: The Question ChessBase #225 Never AnswersA chess publisher's promotional page for its newest issue stacks up the numbe...
The Headline Says US Championships, the Page Sells a Course: So, Liang, Paragua, Yip and Black's Plans Against 1.d4The headline throws four names at the reader — Wesley So, Liang, Mark Paragua...
3.Bc4, Seriously? An Eleven-Year-Old's Scorecard in Samarkand3.Bc4, Seriously? An Eleven-Year-Old's Scorecard in Samarkand Walk into the...
Silent Board, Loud Ledger: The Three Calculations You Must Balance Before Calling Chess 'Unwatchable'The Batumi notebook still sits in the right corner of my desk. September 2026...
The Underdog's Pawn: 5.e5 in the Italian Game and the Story of an Unopened FolderI found South Asia's first grandmaster in a folder no one had opened in years...
ChessMoms of the Nineties and 9...a5: How One DVD's Promotional Title Wiped Out the Real Question in the King's Indian DefenseOn my Mumbai desk sits a DVD I have not opened. The title is the problem:...
Lilov's Six Videos, Turlov's Quote, and the Chess Education Market: A Data AuditA promotional page. Six videos. One quote. When I opened the page, the first...
The Clock Behind the Silver: India's Pipeline, Board Order and an Unpaid Ledger at the Samarkand Olympiad1. The Clock, the Chair, and Board Four From the Samarkand hall, all I got in...
Samarkand R7 and Fritz 20: An Eleven-Point Ledger, Three Tournament Facts and Eight AdvertisementsAt 11:07 p.m., with a laptop open in a Mumbai flat, the headline stopped me:...
Samarkand R7: Four Boards in the Headline, an Advertisement on the PageRound seven, women's section, Samarkand. China and Kazakhstan drew 2–2, and t...
Samarkand R7: A One-Match-Point Lead, Zero Boards, and the Ledger of an AdvertisementLast week a headline crossed my feed. Samarkand, Round 7, women's section....
9...a5 and a DVD's Two Headlines: How a Bayonet Attack 'Antidote' Expires on ArrivalBetween two rounds in a league hall, with twenty minutes to spare, a...
Samarkand Round 7: A Headline With No Name In It, and a Match Point Buried Under Fritz 20The result from Samarkand arrived on my laptop like a screenshot: two country...
A Samarkand Headline, a Bayonet DVD — One Blank Page in Chess's LedgerIt was quarter to three in the morning in Saint Petersburg. The first thing t...
Six Videos, Seven Openings, One Plan Each: Black's Ledger After 1.d4The first thing a reader sees on the promotional page is not a move. It is...
Beaten by Poland Again: The Missing Ledger Behind India Women's 'Achilles Heel'The headline reached my screen at 2:40 a.m. Dublin time. Rain outside, silenc...
Inside a Fischer-Donaldson Title, a Scotch Opening Relic: The Mismatch and Theory Decay of a Chess Video ListingI was looking at a listing that said 'John Donaldson: New insights into Bobby...
Seven Openings, Six Videos, One Plan: The Real Cost of Black's 1.d4 Sideline TrapReading the promotional page, I counted twice: seven openings, six videos, on...
Pragg Beats Giri, Gukesh Wins Again — Reading the Ledger Inside India's 5/5Round 5, board one. Anish Giri offered a draw. The position was level, Black...
Six Weeks of Silence: Chess Video Course Hype and the Data Gap in the LedgerI start with a critical warning: the video course described here is titled 'T...
No Chess Story Established: Analysis Finds an Extraction FailureThe most important finding in the supplied chess analysis concerns no move,...
Saint Louis in the Headline, Six Videos Inside: A Gap in the Chess Instruction MarketI read the page three times. Each time I finished it, I could not find one...
ChessBase #225: The Real Ledger of the Training Market Inside 27 Miniatures and 10 Opening ArticlesThere is not a single move in the September announcement. No rating, no...
One 2715 Among 108 Teams: Paper Favourites and Board-Level Gaps at the European Club CupOne cell on the Budva team sheet catches the eye — 2715. The four cells besid...
Twenty-Seven Miniatures, Ten Opening Articles, Zero Moves: The Question ChessBase #225 Never AnswersA chess publisher's promotional page for its newest issue stacks up the numbe...
The Headline Says US Championships, the Page Sells a Course: So, Liang, Paragua, Yip and Black's Plans Against 1.d4The headline throws four names at the reader — Wesley So, Liang, Mark Paragua...
3.Bc4, Seriously? An Eleven-Year-Old's Scorecard in Samarkand3.Bc4, Seriously? An Eleven-Year-Old's Scorecard in Samarkand Walk into the...
Silent Board, Loud Ledger: The Three Calculations You Must Balance Before Calling Chess 'Unwatchable'The Batumi notebook still sits in the right corner of my desk. September 2026...
The Underdog's Pawn: 5.e5 in the Italian Game and the Story of an Unopened FolderI found South Asia's first grandmaster in a folder no one had opened in years...
ChessMoms of the Nineties and 9...a5: How One DVD's Promotional Title Wiped Out the Real Question in the King's Indian DefenseOn my Mumbai desk sits a DVD I have not opened. The title is the problem:...
Lilov's Six Videos, Turlov's Quote, and the Chess Education Market: A Data AuditA promotional page. Six videos. One quote. When I opened the page, the first...
The Clock Behind the Silver: India's Pipeline, Board Order and an Unpaid Ledger at the Samarkand Olympiad1. The Clock, the Chair, and Board Four From the Samarkand hall, all I got in...
Samarkand R7 and Fritz 20: An Eleven-Point Ledger, Three Tournament Facts and Eight AdvertisementsAt 11:07 p.m., with a laptop open in a Mumbai flat, the headline stopped me:...
Samarkand R7: Four Boards in the Headline, an Advertisement on the PageRound seven, women's section, Samarkand. China and Kazakhstan drew 2–2, and t...
Samarkand R7: A One-Match-Point Lead, Zero Boards, and the Ledger of an AdvertisementLast week a headline crossed my feed. Samarkand, Round 7, women's section....
9...a5 and a DVD's Two Headlines: How a Bayonet Attack 'Antidote' Expires on ArrivalBetween two rounds in a league hall, with twenty minutes to spare, a...
Samarkand Round 7: A Headline With No Name In It, and a Match Point Buried Under Fritz 20The result from Samarkand arrived on my laptop like a screenshot: two country...
A Samarkand Headline, a Bayonet DVD — One Blank Page in Chess's LedgerIt was quarter to three in the morning in Saint Petersburg. The first thing t...
Six Videos, Seven Openings, One Plan Each: Black's Ledger After 1.d4The first thing a reader sees on the promotional page is not a move. It is...
Beaten by Poland Again: The Missing Ledger Behind India Women's 'Achilles Heel'The headline reached my screen at 2:40 a.m. Dublin time. Rain outside, silenc...
Inside a Fischer-Donaldson Title, a Scotch Opening Relic: The Mismatch and Theory Decay of a Chess Video ListingI was looking at a listing that said 'John Donaldson: New insights into Bobby...
Seven Openings, Six Videos, One Plan: The Real Cost of Black's 1.d4 Sideline TrapReading the promotional page, I counted twice: seven openings, six videos, on...
Pragg Beats Giri, Gukesh Wins Again — Reading the Ledger Inside India's 5/5Round 5, board one. Anish Giri offered a draw. The position was level, Black...