6/1/2020 – Oscar Panno was born on March 17, 1935, in Buenos Aires, and was one of the greatest chess players from Argentina. He won the World Junior Championship in 1953 and went on to play the 1956 Candidates Tournament. He came third at the 1955 Interzonal in Gothenburg, ahead of strong players such as Efim Geller, Tigran Petrosian or Boris Spassky. In this extensive, unpublished interview from 2005, the Grandmaster tells his story and touches on universal themes related to chess, such as its educational value in society. | Pictured: Panno at the 1956 Candidates in Amsterdam | Photo: Joop van Bilsen / Anefo

5/21/2020 – The biggest two problems that every beginner faces in a game of chess are - starting out right and not blundering pieces! Openings and Tactics are truly the two most essential cornerstones of becoming better at chess. And there is no one better than WGM Qiyu Zhou to be your trainer! Qiyu is not just a WGM and a former World Under-14 champion, she is also doing her double major in Economics and Statistics, with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Toronto. Zhou is an intelligent and charming presenter and if you are a beginner then these two DVDs are just what you need to improve at chess!

5/12/2020 – "What Rod Laver is to tennis, what Jack Nicklaus is to golf, that's what Bobby Fischer is to chess" are Mike Wallace's first words in the April 9th, 1972 edition of "60 Minutes", the highly influential CBS-TV news magazine. Three months prior to his "Match of the Century" against Boris Spassky, Fischer looks as confident as can be, not fearing to call himself the best chess player in the world. A look back at a revealing profile of the infamous American genius.

4/28/2020 – Being the second of Anish Giri, Grandmaster Erwin l'Ami was kind enough to talk about the Candidates Tournament 2020 and how they experienced the whole situation from beginning to end in Yekaterinburg. In spite of wearing a mask in the air plane, to visiting the doctor twice a day, l'Ami and Giri were focusing on the tournament - they did not give in to the fear about the pandemic. | Photos: Alina l'Ami

4/18/2020 – Mexican writer Juan José Arreola was a master of brief subgenres, such as the short story, the epigram, and the sketch. He was also a huge chess fan. In this interview by JAVIER VARGAS PEREIRA from 1997, Arreola, with his usual wittiness, talks about why he devoted so much time to the game, explaining that "poetry and chess are impossible for man, they are beyond his reach". | Photo: El Universal México

4/11/2020 – Charlie Storey decided he would give up trying to be a professional player in order to become a professional chess coach. His approach served him well, as he has collected many success stories during his 25 years as a trainer. In this interview, the FIDE Master from Morpeth, Northumberland shares his views on coaching, the benefits kids get from learning chess and, of course, the Sniper.

4/7/2020 – The first official World Chess Champion William Steinitz (1836 - 1900) is regarded as a pioneer of modern chess strategy. His theories pushed back the gambit style that had prevailed until then and led to a much more cautious approach. How did Steinitz get his insights and what principles did he teach? Read an imagined interview with the legendary chess thinker, drawn from his own writings.

4/4/2020 – Statistics play a major role in any sport. More so in chess, where FIDE ratings have their weight in gold. FIDE does publish its rating list every month, but in between those 30 days a lot of action happens when some of the top tournaments are taking place. Where do we keep a track of all the live rating changes of top players? That's where the website 2700chess.com comes into the picture. It is the best resource to stay abreast of all the rating fluctuations of players above the rating of 2700. Who founded this website? What was the intention behind it? And how does he manage to keep it so well updated? Here's the interview with the founder of 2700chess.com — IM Artiom Tsepotan. | Photo: Artiom pictured with his wife Julia

3/30/2020 – French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who jointly leads the now suspended 2020 Candidates is back in Paris. After an eventful fortnight, that included a surprise call to the event, the consequent last-minute scramble for a visa, an impressive performance at the tournament and returning home after passing through an empty airport. In an exclusive interview with Dhananjay Khadilkar, MVL, as he is popularly known, speaks about his surreal experience. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/FIDE

3/29/2020 – IM Dorsa Derakhshani is a third year undergraduate at Saint Louis University on a chess scholarship. Being in St. Louis she's a 'regular' at the Saint Louis Chess Club, and has recorded several lectures for their extensive YouTube channel. Continuing from part 1, after arriving in the USA, Derakhshani has been finding her footing academically, and continuing to feed her chess passion, as she looks forward for building a future in the States.

3/24/2020 – IM Dagne Ciuksyte has represented Lithuania and England in Chess Olympiads. Her peak FIDE rating was 2450. Now she coaches chess, in the shadow of COVID-19. Inspired by a ChessBase article, she is adding “chess writing” to her career. WIM ALEXEY ROOT interviews Dagne Ciuksyte.

3/8/2020 – Dorsa Derakhshani is an Iranian International Master who immigrated to the United States in 2017. She is a third-year student at Saint Louis University on a full chess scholarship, and plans to go to medical school. On this International Women's Day, the story of a young woman who made international headlines for her brave stance in favour of women's rights and personal freedom.

2/8/2020 – Lauren Goodkind took some special education classes in high school and has had a speech impediment since she was two years old. Now, at age 36, her US Chess rating is 1878. Her twin sister Barbara's rating is 1818, putting both in the top 8% of all US Chess-rated players. As WIM ALEXEY ROOT reports, Lauren is also an author; her third book, Queen for a Day: The Girl’s Guide to Chess Mastery, was just published. | Pictured: Judit Polgar and Goodkind in London, December 2019

1/18/2020 – Chilean singer Juga die Prima has enriched the music world with chess motifs and the chess world with her music. On the occasion of their visit to the Munich Chess Foundation, there was an opportunity for an interview. Franziska Kurz spoke to the musician. | Photos: Munich Chess Academy

12/24/2019 – Mihail Marin is considered as one of the best opening theoreticians and chess authors. Two years ago he married the painter and chess player Maria Yugina. Conrad Schormann had a chat with the couple that travels around the world, following their passions, painting and playing chess.

11/30/2019 – He started as the seventh seed, but finished as the winner with a rating performance of 2752, gaining 23 Elo points and scoring 9.0/11 to become the World Junior Champion 2019. His name is Evgeny Shtembuliak. Originally from Ukraine, the youngster now lives in the United States and is studying on a full scholarship at the Texas Tech University. His feel for positional chess is outstanding and at the age of 20, he is already rated 2600. Being the World Junior Champion, we are sure to see him in action in many important events in the coming months. IM SAGAR SHAH got in touch with Evgeny after his World Juniors victory in Delhi for an interview. In this article you get to know everything you wanted to about this genial champion.

11/28/2019 – Vladimir Akopian had almost all the ingredients to become one of the best players in the world. He was fearless, he had phenomenal talent, he understood the game excellently. But he lacked one ingredient: the will to work hard. And that's what stopped him at the final hurdle. This is the story of the life of one of the finest grandmasters in the world. Welcome to Part 2 of the interview with Vladimir Akopian. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

11/21/2019 – Success is quite relative. For many chess players winning the Olympiad three times, World Teams once, becoming the national champion twice and reaching the finals of the FIDE World Cup would surely represent a successful chess career. Yet, in the case of Vladimir Akopian this was not enough. This is because Akopian was considered by many to be one of the greatest talents that the chess world had ever seen. Why didn't this GM from Armenia fulfill his promise? Why didn't he become the absolute best in the world. What is his life story? IM Sagar Shah sat down for a candid chat with the Armenian grandmaster.

10/5/2019 – The Chess Classic tournaments in Frankfurt and Mainz are legendary. Organiser and driving force behind these tournaments was Hans-Walter Schmitt (pictured in 2004 with supermodel Carmen Kass), a tireless chess promoter. But after 25 years of organising chess events he now invites to a last spectacular event: a double simul with Vishy Anand and Vincent Keymer who both play on 40 boards. | Photos: Hartmut Metz

10/2/2019 – Humpy Koneru is an inspiration to the entire chess community. She was off the chess grid for two years, taking care of her new born daughter Ahana. In this cut throat chess world filled with computer innovations and novelties a break of a few days is enough to make you feel outdated. How did Humpy, who made a comeback after such a long hiatus, manage to not just start playing good chess, but win one of the strongest tournaments in the world - the Skolkovo Women's Grand Prix. How did she manage to improve her game so that she could rise to world no. 3 rankings behind just Hou Yifan and World Champion Ju Wenjun? | Photo: David Llada / FIDE

9/9/2019 – GM Romain Edouard, Editor-in-Chief of Thinkers Publishing, recently came out with a book of his own, a memoir on his years working as a second for Veselin Topalov, years in which the Bulgarian former FIDE World Champion was at the peak of his powers. He shares some perspective in this brief interview. | Photo: Vladimír Jagr

8/23/2019 – A photo of a chess player using a mobile phone in a toilet during a tournament game made international headlines for the sport and rekindled fears of cheating in chess. Igors Rausis, the grandmaster caught in the act, says that it was his chance to quit the world of chess in one move. ANDRIS TIHOMIROVS spoke to the accused. | Photos: Playerbase

8/20/2019 – Some people keep a Komodo dragon in their yard, and some keep it in their living room, safely inside their computer! In this interview with Grandmaster Larry Kaufman, one of the creators of Komodo, the World Chess Software Champion, we gain new insight into the latest release of the popular chess program. Komodo has gained strength both in the standard version, but particularly in the Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS), making the engine a valuable research tool for correspondence games, and openings.

8/10/2019 – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave staged an impressive turnaround by first reaching the final of the Grand Prix in Riga and then followed it up by winning the Paris leg of the Grand Chess Tour. This, after encountering setbacks in Norway Chess and the Zagreb leg of the Grand Chess Tour. In an exclusive interview with DHANANJAY KHADILKAR, the French Grandmaster and World No. 5 talks about the factors contributing to this turnaround and why he will continue to play the Gruenfeld defense. | Photo: Justin Kellar / Grand Chess Tour