Best of US Chess: Top 5 Articles
In Best of US Chess (formerly Best of Chess Life Online), we countdown the top ten uschess.org articles of 2015.
Here are the top 5!
1st Place: Shankland on His Rise from GM to Top Hundred:
Sam Shankland at the St. Louis Chess Club
"Sam really digs deep in this piece and holds absolutely nothing back. He combines his most memorable victories with his most painful slips in recent years to produce one of the most instructive articles on chess I’ve ever read. It’s rare to see such specificity and self-criticism from a Top 100 player like Sam, who offers immensely honest insight and sets a high example for ambitious players everywhere." -Kostya Kavutskiy
2nd Place: How Blitz Helps Me Heal: Chess and Parkinson's
3rd Place: 10 Lessons Learned from the 2015 Sinquefield Cup
Mayor Francis Slay, Sinq Cup Champ Levon Aronian, Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield, Photo Cathy Rogers
"We all watched the 2015 Sinquefield Cup, it was a brilliant tournament, but no good sports event is complete without an equally good “highlight reel”. Rogers provides that and much more, with some ‘behind-the-scenes’ stories and angles that the casual observer may not have noticed." -Kostya Kavutskiy
4th Place: Four Medals in Greece: "This is real chess"
Winston Ni at the 2015 World Youth Championships
"There’s a great flow to this article-–I like Alejandro’s pace and his profile of each player is descriptive and gripping. I’ve never been to a World Youth tournament, but it sounds exhausting! (In a good, life-changing experience kind of way)." -Kostya Kavutskiy
5th Place: No Offense, but GMs Aren't Good at Bughouse
"The title drew me in immediately. After reading the article and realizing it was a quote from a child chess player, I found the article that much more meaningful. I love how Krush eloquently articulates the child and parent’s perspective of a Nationals tournament scene instead of focusing only on the results of the games. She is able to convey the passion that kids have for the chess environment and the camaraderie experienced among the players. She also communicates how bughouse allows for kids to blow off steam after a grueling tournament." –Jennifer Vallens
Additionally, read about our panel of esteemed judges: Best of US Chess 2015: Meet the Judges
