11/9/2018 – Do parents name their babies after chess champions? Do you need 10,000 hours of practice to be a chess master? Does chess helps prevent Alzheimer’s? ALEXEY ROOT explores these and other questions. Republished with kind permission of The Conversation. | Pictured: Reigning Chess World Champion Magnus Carlsen, left, from Norway, and American challenger Fabiano Caruana face off in the World Chess Championship, which begins November 9th, 2018, in London. | Photo: Matt Dunham/AP

8/8/2018 – When it comes to unusual venues for chess tournaments, Cabela's in Fort Worth, Texas, might be among the top contenders. A top retail destination for hunters, Cabela’s includes a gun library and extensive taxidermy displays. But among the guns and stuffed wild animals on July 28th were 29 chess players. Perhaps surprisingly, gun enthusiasts and chess players overlapped. ALEXEY ROOT shares her thoughts on chess, education, hunting, and why one might participate in these varied activities. | Pictured: May (as Black) versus Devagharan | Photo: A. Root

12/31/2017 – The Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championships (Pan-Am) concluded Saturday, December 30th, 2017, with Webster University becoming Pan-Am champions. Qualifying for the President’s Cup (the “Final Four of College Chess”) are the following schools: Webster University, Saint Louis University (2nd place), Texas Tech University (3rd place), and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (4th place). | Pictured: Webster’s “A” team with Coaches FM Truong and GM Polgar and the organizer of the Pan-Am Kelly Bloomfield. | Photo: A. Root

12/30/2017 – The Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championships (Pan-Am) had one dispute and several close matches in rounds 4 and 5. Despite announcements before each round to leave cell phones back in hotel rooms, in round 4 the Michigan “B” team forfeited a game because of a cell phone. Also in round 4, Webster’s “A” team and SLU’s “A” team notched 2½ : 1½ victories over their opponents. Thus, by Friday afternoon, both Webster “A” and SLU had won four out of four matches. In round 5, Webster “A” defeated SLU 2.5-1.5. The only other team entering round 5 with four match wins, the UTRGV “A” team, lost. Therefore Webster “A” is the only team with 5 out of 5 match wins going into the sixth and final round on Saturday morning. Pictured: Shimanov and Kovalyov | Photo: A. Root

12/29/2017 – Round three of the Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championships (Pan-Am) in Columbus, Ohio, ended on Thursday night, December 28th. As expected, the seven highest-rated teams have won every match thus far. There have been surprises, such as Webster University changing its “A” team lineup. However, the Pan-Am is not all about the top-rated teams. There are players and teams playing in their first Pan-Am who will grab your attention, such as Northwest University (pictured) Walter Borbridge (Board 3), Elliott Neff (Coach), Benjamin Mukumbya (Board 1), Phiona Mutesi (Board 2), Andrew Uptain (Board 4), Joseph Castleberry (Northwest University President) | Photo: A. Root

12/27/2017 – The Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championships (Pan-Am) is December 27-30. Since there are 64 squares on the chess board and this tournament is being held for the 64th time, the players and the organiser anticipate a memorable event. In this first of four reports, WIM Alexey Root interviews Grandmaster Razvan Preotu of The University of Texas at Dallas and the organiser of the 2017 Pan-Am, Mr. Kelly M. Bloomfield. Games will be available at the organiser’s web site, and at Live.ChessBase.com

4/12/2017 – The television show 60 Minutes featured the chess program in Franklin County, Mississippi (MS). Over 15 million viewers watched that episode (original air date March 26, 2017), which featured Dr. Jeff Bulington along with his chess-playing students and their proud parents. Bulington’s chess program began in August of 2015 and is sponsored for ten years by an anonymous wealthy benefactor. Here is the report and commentary by Alexey Root.

3/18/2017 – Though a grandmaster of chess, Sam Shankland is a novice at surviving in the jungle. As such, he was one of ten novice contestants paired with survival experts. Shankland’s team was the third team eliminated. Although out of contention for the $500,000 prize for the winning team, Shankland says the experience was valuable and that he gained lifelong friends. Enjoy this report with comments and impressions by Sam Shankland.

3/10/2017 – Dr. Chandramallika Basak is one of the leading researchers in the area of working memory and cognitive control, training strategies, cognitive and brain plasticity, aging, and biomarkers of complex skill learning (e.g., video games). She has now begun research on children and chess. Alexey Root attended Dr. Basak’s lecture “Cognitive Benefits of Learning to Play Chess and Other Strategy Games” and reports here.

2/7/2017 – On January 30, 2017, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued to block key portions of President Trump’s executive order on travel. Trump’s executive order had barred entry to the United States by refugees and VISA holders from seven predominantly Muslim countries. On February 3, a judge granted Ferguson’s request for a temporary restraining order, meaning that federal employees cannot enforce Trump’s executive order. Result: Ferguson-Trump 1-0. Report by Alexey Root, who knew Ferguson as a chess opponent.

10/14/2016 – In the chess world, Dr. Kenneth A. “Ken” Kiewra was initially known as the father of IM Keaton Kiewra. He raised Keaton in Lincoln, Nebraska, where Keaton dominated chess, winning the Nebraska State Championship nine times in a row. As Keaton’s rating soared, Ken became interested in whether his parenting experience with Keaton was unique. His research into chess prodigies and their parents led to chapters in two books and an article in a peer-reviewed journal. Alexey Root asks Ken about his experience nurturing chess talent.

9/27/2016 – As reported by Mihai Marin in 2015, the Global Chess Festival is a must-see event. This year it will be held on Saturday, October 8, and be even bigger, according to one of its organizers, Eszter Szokolay. Eszter was interviewed via email by Alexey Root of the US. The US National Chess Day is celebrated on the second Saturday of October. The conjunction of the US National Chess Day and the Global Chess Festival merits a big ChessBase News preview.

9/24/2016 – Fide Master James (Jim) Eade has been a chess player, chess organizer, chess politician, and chess publisher. In 2016 he was honored by The University of Texas at Dallas as “Chess Educator of the Year.” Still, while certainly laudable, he is perhaps best known as an author, particularly for his best-selling Chess for Dummies, now in its fourth edition. His book has sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide, and has been translated even into Russian. Alexey Root interviewed the best-selling author.

8/3/2016 – In this part two of this article – part one had grandmasters tell us what they fear most during simuls – two FIDE masters recall their most memorable games from playing in simuls. Normally, FMs give simuls rather than play in simuls. Long before he became an FM, Keith Hayward played in grandmaster Lubomir Kavalek’s simul. The second FM, William Schill, couldn’t pass up the chance to play the current World Champion. They describe the experience.

7/31/2016 – Your best chance to draw or win against a grandmaster is to play one in a simultaneous exhibition. In part one of this article by WIM Dr Alexey Root, grandmasters tell us what they fear most during simuls – and why, despite those challenges, they enjoy giving them. In part two, two amateur players reveal how they scored in simuls against the world’s best and created memories that last a lifetime.

7/26/2016 – Currently, Grandmaster Nigel Davies, author of 40 DVDs and 17 books, does not play in tournaments. But he attends them, as parental support for his 14-year-old son Sam. In this interview, Nigel discusses chess improvement, the concept of being fully engaged, martial arts and fighting, chess parenting, and why he and Sam are in different chess federations.

6/30/2016 – Over a 10-week period, English Grandmaster Keith Arkell played in and won seven weekend tournaments. The seven first-place-finishes in a row is a personal best for Arkell. In this interview, he tells how he prepares for his games, how his approach to chess changed over the years, why he works harder at the board and reveals why he thinks chess and life are fabulous at age 55.

4/12/2016 – In part two of his interview with WIM Alexey Root, English Grandmaster Daniel Gormally talks again about his recently published book Insanity, passion and addiction: A year inside the chess world, speaks about the magic of chess, alcohol and chess, work ethics, why he wants to leave the past behind, and remembers the worst and the best moments of his chess career.