4/17/2019 – In the beginning of March 2019, FIDE Vice-President GM Nigel Short, came to Atlanta for a brief visit to his daughter. Unfortunately his daughter had a big movie project in Greece, so he found himself stranded in Atlanta! But there was a happy ending: thanks to the Atlanta Chess community, he had a warm welcome in the Peach state. Kudos to the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta (from now on abbreviated as CCSCATL) it was possible to organize a lecture, and a simul in record time! DAVIDE NASTASIO was there.

10/25/2018 – Weekends are quite busy for chess players, with tournaments of all kinds being organized. DAVIDE NASTASIO was lucky to witness the Georgia State Women's Championship held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta, and interview the winner, Alisa Scherbakova, who shares her insights along with games from the tournament. | Photo: Davide Nastasio

10/8/2018 – Blitz is often bad-mouthed and thought as damaging a player's development. The historical evidence shows the contrary. Most legendary names like Fischer, Bronstein, Tal, were all avid blitz players. The benefit of blitz is easy to understand: within the short span of time of a blitz game, one can see the defects in thought-process, opening repertoire and of course, missing endgame knowledge. Especially at the amateur level, blitz can be a fundamental tool to improve one's own chess. A blitz tournament at the chess club is also a chance for that human interaction, which unfortunately was taken away being modern chess played mainly online. Chess is definitely more pleasant, and exciting when played face to face over the board, and of course more painful!

9/1/2018 – Master level games are not engine like, they are human, with their mistakes, slightly imperfect moves, and mind battles. The game we see on the board, tell us only part of the story. NM Shanmukha Meruga shows us five of his tournament games, with the drama, ideas, and errors typical of human play.

8/6/2018 – Thanks to the new chess club in Atlanta there are always lot of tournaments and activities in the city and on July 28th and 29th there was a five-round Open tournament won by U.S. National Master Shanmukha Meruga. DAVIDE NASTASIO took the opportunity to arrange an interview and annotate the winner's games for this tournament, providing a snapshot of the USA Open tournament circuit.

5/7/2018 – Open weekend tournaments in the United States are proof of chess as a very competitive high stakes sport. Local tournaments often celebrate the changing of seasons, recurring events, or, as in this case, memorialise a master player who dearly loved chess, and gifted such passion to his children. GM Elshan Moradiabadi took top honours in the inaugural Ron Finegold Memorial, held at the new Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta, which was founded by his son, Ben. Report and photos by DAVIDE NASTASIO