The fifteen-minute solution

I'm not terribly interested in a quarrel between New in Chess and ChessBase, but the idea of a fifteen-minute broadcast delay to make cheating more difficult is interesting.

This doesn't just affect grandmasters.  I'm half a class below master level, and I've had four of my games broadcast live on Monroi in the past three months.  On balance, I'm against the delay: the overwhelming majority of players wouldn't dream of cheating.

Betsy Dynako's photos featured in New in Chess 2011.1

Loek van Wely (photo Betsy Dynako)

Certainly I would have beaten GM Van Wely's lovely friend WIM Sonia Zepeda in last year's Chicago Open, had the troublemaking Betsy Dynako not urged me immediately prior to the beginning of the game to pay less attention to the board and more to the objectification of my opponent.  

Dynako: "She's very pretty."

blogger: "I only look at the women that I'm not playing."

Ms. Zepeda found a couple nice shots to turn a probable loss into a smooth win.

If you can afford the steep price, the trial subscription ($48 for five issues of New in Chess) is a very good deal!

A simple little ending

White to play

Zhu Chen-Zhao Xue, Ulanbaatar 2010

There are only four pieces on the board, but the "simple" position is still complicated enough for former Women's World Champion Zhu Chen to make a fatal blunder.  Notes based on Dejan Bojkov's comments in New in Chess 2010.7. 

How many of us would have made the same blunder as Zhu Chen?

Last-minute chess present

Free plug: I can't think of a nicer gift than New in Chess magazine.  If you follow the link, you can buy a one-year subscription (8 issues) for only $59.  (List price, which I just paid for my renewal, is $96.)  Offer is good only for folks who haven't subscribed in the past 18 months.

interview with Vugar Gashimov

...in New in Chess 2009.8 (sorry, no online link is available to the interview).  His story is really remarkable: despite having had brain surgery three times, this 23-year-old is ranked number seven in the world on the January 2010 FIDE list.

New in Chess Magazine

A subscription to New in Chess is frightfully expensive, and worth every penny.  I just received this issue last night (the cover story is Magnus Carlsen's victory at China's Pearl Spring supertournament; Carlsen and his trainer Kasparov are interviewed). 

The previous issue had a great interview with U.S. champion Hikaru Nakamura.