Chess
ChessAqil Perfect Through Six Rounds as Tulegenov Holds Half-Point Lead at World Amateur Chess Championships2026-11-11After six rounds of the 2026 FIDE World Amateur Chess Championships, Aqil has...
ChessSixty Minutes for a Defence, Seventeen Years for a Grandmaster2026-10-20The newsletter opened on a wrong-link feeling. The headline read “From quitti...
ChessLiang–Niemann: One Result, One Advertisement, and the Cell That Stayed Empty2026-10-11That October morning, one cell in my ledger sat empty. Round 1 of the US...
ChessThe Headline Says Germany, the Body Sells a Knight: Samarkand Round 8 and a Story Stitched to the Wrong Page2026-09-26It was 1:45 in the morning in Penang. A laptop by the window, a cup of tea...
Aqil Perfect Through Six Rounds as Tulegenov Holds Half-Point Lead at World Amateur Chess ChampionshipsAfter six rounds of the 2026 FIDE World Amateur Chess Championships, Aqil has...
Hussain Besou Leads in Bavaria, but the Prodigy Label Needs EvidenceHussain Besou is 15 years old and has joined the leading group at the Bavaria...
Reading the Empty List: Why Bangladesh Chess Still Has a Vacant Square for a Sixth GrandmasterThe screen held one line that day: classification — chess. Information points...
An Empty Field Is Not a Clean ReportThe document that came back from the federation office in Purana Paltan last...
Dortmund on the Label, Scandinavian in the Body: The 60-Minute Promise and Chess's Invisible LoadThe first thing I noticed was the label. The file said Dortmund Sparkassen...
Sixty Minutes for a Defence, Seventeen Years for a GrandmasterThe newsletter opened on a wrong-link feeling. The headline read “From quitti...
A Bundesliga Dispute, or an Elephant Gambit Advertisement? A Metadata InvestigationI always look at the position first and the headline later. A piece landed on...
Liang–Niemann: One Result, One Advertisement, and the Cell That Stayed EmptyThat October morning, one cell in my ledger sat empty. Round 1 of the US...
A $400,000 Board and an Empty Room: Saint Louis's Ledger Against Purana Paltan's DustIn October 2026, twelve chairs will be set out in a hall in Saint Louis. Twel...
5.e5!: The Underdog's Move, or an Unproven Promise?I opened the file looking for Olympiad underdogs. The headline said “Greatest...
An Old Scotch-Selling Trick Disguised as FIDE RatingsAn October 2026 FIDE Ratings headline promised a rating table; inside the tex...
A Keymer Headline, a Mikhalchishin Lesson: The Anti-Scotch Market and the Cost of Undated TheoryOn the verandah of the federation hall at Purana Paltan, a club player hands ...
5.e5!: The Club Player's Sharp Italian — and the Evidence Gap Behind ItAt my desk in Mymensingh last year I began replaying an old line. 1.e4 e5 2.N...
The Headline Says Germany, the Body Sells a Knight: Samarkand Round 8 and a Story Stitched to the Wrong PageIt was 1:45 in the morning in Penang. A laptop by the window, a cup of tea...
The Stain on the Label: A Folder Named Samarkand, A Pamphlet InsideThe steel cupboard at Purana Paltan still stands somewhere in my imagination....
ChessBase Magazine #225: The Curriculum of Annotation, and the Gap Between a Headline and Its ContentIt is half past three in the morning. In a bedroom in Mymensingh, a cloud fee...
From Reserve Board to 7/7: Savitha Shri, a Father's Savings, and the Real Cost of Chess DevelopmentThe clock in Samarkand reads half past nine in the evening, and the game has...
A Samarkand Headline, a Scandinavian Body: A Source-Integrity AuditLast week at half past three in the morning I was scrolling a feed, logging t...
A Samarkand Headline with a Scandinavian Body: The Broken Mirror of Chess NewsLate last night I opened a file labelled Samarkand, Round Eight. The first li...
7/7 Is a Receipt, Not a Prophecy: Savitha Shri in Samarkand and the Ledger of a Chess PipelineSeven games. Seven wins. Zero draws. The scoreline Savitha Shri has left on t...
Three Queen Moves, Sixty Minutes: Who Stands Under the Scandinavian’s Sword of DamoclesHook An opening’s price never sits in its name; it sits in the move count. In...
The Headline Said Samarkand, the Page Said Prague: ChessBase Magazine #225 and the Lesson of a Wrong BoardIn the winter of 2026, in the Bangladesh Chess Federation hall at Purana...
A Samarkand Headline, a 60-Minute Course: The Wrong Box in the Chess News FeedHalf past two in the morning. On the screen of a second-hand laptop in a...
Seven Openings, Six Videos: The Ratio Nobody Counts in the Black-Repertoire MarketSeven openings, six videos. The ratio is 1.17. When I opened the promotional...
Six Videos, Seven Openings, Zero Sources: The Balance Sheet of a Black Repertoire CourseI opened the page. The headline read: "Chess is something magic": An intervie...
Hussain Besou Leads in Bavaria, but the Prodigy Label Needs EvidenceHussain Besou is 15 years old and has joined the leading group at the Bavaria...
Reading the Empty List: Why Bangladesh Chess Still Has a Vacant Square for a Sixth GrandmasterThe screen held one line that day: classification — chess. Information points...
An Empty Field Is Not a Clean ReportThe document that came back from the federation office in Purana Paltan last...
Dortmund on the Label, Scandinavian in the Body: The 60-Minute Promise and Chess's Invisible LoadThe first thing I noticed was the label. The file said Dortmund Sparkassen...
Sixty Minutes for a Defence, Seventeen Years for a GrandmasterThe newsletter opened on a wrong-link feeling. The headline read “From quitti...
A Bundesliga Dispute, or an Elephant Gambit Advertisement? A Metadata InvestigationI always look at the position first and the headline later. A piece landed on...
Liang–Niemann: One Result, One Advertisement, and the Cell That Stayed EmptyThat October morning, one cell in my ledger sat empty. Round 1 of the US...
A $400,000 Board and an Empty Room: Saint Louis's Ledger Against Purana Paltan's DustIn October 2026, twelve chairs will be set out in a hall in Saint Louis. Twel...
5.e5!: The Underdog's Move, or an Unproven Promise?I opened the file looking for Olympiad underdogs. The headline said “Greatest...
An Old Scotch-Selling Trick Disguised as FIDE RatingsAn October 2026 FIDE Ratings headline promised a rating table; inside the tex...
A Keymer Headline, a Mikhalchishin Lesson: The Anti-Scotch Market and the Cost of Undated TheoryOn the verandah of the federation hall at Purana Paltan, a club player hands ...
5.e5!: The Club Player's Sharp Italian — and the Evidence Gap Behind ItAt my desk in Mymensingh last year I began replaying an old line. 1.e4 e5 2.N...
The Headline Says Germany, the Body Sells a Knight: Samarkand Round 8 and a Story Stitched to the Wrong PageIt was 1:45 in the morning in Penang. A laptop by the window, a cup of tea...
The Stain on the Label: A Folder Named Samarkand, A Pamphlet InsideThe steel cupboard at Purana Paltan still stands somewhere in my imagination....
ChessBase Magazine #225: The Curriculum of Annotation, and the Gap Between a Headline and Its ContentIt is half past three in the morning. In a bedroom in Mymensingh, a cloud fee...
From Reserve Board to 7/7: Savitha Shri, a Father's Savings, and the Real Cost of Chess DevelopmentThe clock in Samarkand reads half past nine in the evening, and the game has...
A Samarkand Headline, a Scandinavian Body: A Source-Integrity AuditLast week at half past three in the morning I was scrolling a feed, logging t...
A Samarkand Headline with a Scandinavian Body: The Broken Mirror of Chess NewsLate last night I opened a file labelled Samarkand, Round Eight. The first li...
7/7 Is a Receipt, Not a Prophecy: Savitha Shri in Samarkand and the Ledger of a Chess PipelineSeven games. Seven wins. Zero draws. The scoreline Savitha Shri has left on t...
Three Queen Moves, Sixty Minutes: Who Stands Under the Scandinavian’s Sword of DamoclesHook An opening’s price never sits in its name; it sits in the move count. In...
The Headline Said Samarkand, the Page Said Prague: ChessBase Magazine #225 and the Lesson of a Wrong BoardIn the winter of 2026, in the Bangladesh Chess Federation hall at Purana...
A Samarkand Headline, a 60-Minute Course: The Wrong Box in the Chess News FeedHalf past two in the morning. On the screen of a second-hand laptop in a...
Seven Openings, Six Videos: The Ratio Nobody Counts in the Black-Repertoire MarketSeven openings, six videos. The ratio is 1.17. When I opened the promotional...
Six Videos, Seven Openings, Zero Sources: The Balance Sheet of a Black Repertoire CourseI opened the page. The headline read: "Chess is something magic": An intervie...