Chess Life Preview - January 2016
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COVER STORY
Millionaire Chess 2: High Stakes
by FM Alisa Melekhina
by FM Alisa Melekhina
"The U.S. number-1 overcame controversy and brutal competition to win the second edition of Millionaire Chess."
COLUMNS
CHESS TO ENJOY
"The Secret Handshake"
by GM Andy Soltis
Playing strength matters more than titles--or does it?
"There are certain things that each international grandmaster learns when he or she is awarded the grandmaster title.They are let in on the secret grandmaster handshake. The lyrics of the grandmaster theme song are revealed. And, if they haven't heard it before, they are told the Gufeld story..." (Read the full article at the Digital Edition of Chess Life)
Solve a tactic from the tournament where Kasparov became the first to gain the title of World Rapid Champion:
MY BEST MOVE
GM Varuzhan Akobian
"For My Best Move, I've selected a move from a ferociously tactical game in round seven of Millionaire Chess 2. I had lost my first game in this tournament, a disappointing start, and was battling uphill, determined to make a strong finish."
What was Grandmaster Akobian's best move?
THE PRACTICAL ENDGAME
"Keeping a Clear Head"
by GM Daniel Naroditsky
How to use common sense, intuition, and calculation when you don't know the theory.
"A simple Chess Base search reveals an intriguing statistic: before 1850, only 15 recorded games reached an opposite-colored bishop endgame... It is particularly fascinating, then, to observe how early maestros approached the final stage of the game..."
SOLITAIRE CHESS
"Sac, Sac, and Sac"
by Bruce Pandolfini
"If anyone's name in chess is synonymous with sacrifice it's Rudolf Spielmann..."
White to move and checkmate in four moves.
LOOKS AT BOOKS
"Staying Relevant: Informant #125"
by John Hartmann
Is the Informant still useful in this day and Internet age?
"[Tigran Petrosian] believed that the explosive popularity of the Chess Informant series of books, which featured theoretically important games analyzed by top players, was stripping his beloved game of creativity..."
BACK TO BASICS
"Off-Book"
by GM Lev Alburt
"Sergio Madrigal found himself "off-book" on the second move and lost the opening battle. Later, he shone..."
