American Chess Magazine is "the chess magazine that the chess world needs and deserves!". The winner of six awards and five honorable mentions by the Chess Journalists of America in 2018, this large, beautifully produced magazine not only brings a slew of articles on events with deeply commented games, but includes columns by such legendary players as Seirawan, So, Shahade, Benjamin, Sokolov and many more! If you're interested in American Chess, look no further than American Chess Magazine. Published 4 times per year.
American Chess Magazine Issue 07 contains:
• Sam Shankland talks to ACM: “MAYBE I’M BEING ASSISTED BY FISCHER’S GHOST!”
Josip Asik
• SAM SHANKLAND ANNOTATES HIS GAMES FROM US CHAMPIONSHIP
GM Sam Shankland
• READERS’ VOICES
• Play it Smart: TO SEAL THE TITLE, GO FOR THE EXCHANGE CARO-KANN!
GM Robert Hungaski
• DON’T MESS AROUND!
GM Zviad Izoria
--------------------------------------------------------------
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO “THE BIG 3”?
• Fabiano Caruana: PLAY THE BOARD, NOT THE OPPONENT!
GM John Burke
• Wesley So: NO THRILLS NO SPILLS FOR SO-SO-SOLID WESLEY!
GM Michael Rohde
• Hikaru Nakamura: SLOW START, MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
GM John Fedorowicz
--------------------------------------------------------------
• 15-year-old girl displays sensational maturity in her first US Championship: A STAR IS BORN
WIM Annie Wang
--------------------------------------------------------------
• 2018 Final Four of College Chess
A GRANDE FINALE!
Chris Wainscott
WEBSTER UNIVERSITY NO LONGER US COLLEGIATE TEAM CHAMPIONS!
GM Priyadharshan Kannappan
--------------------------------------------------------------
• Grenke Chess Classic: BLACK IS STILL OK!
GM Mackenzie Molner
• Chess Improvement with Susan Polgar: WARM-UP: CARLSEN-CARUANA
GM Susan Polgar
• Chucky’s Squares: THE CHIVALROUS KNIGHT
GM Vassily Ivanchuk
• The Berlin Candidates
BEYOND THE BERLIN WALL
CARUANA − A DESERVED WINNER
THE ONE AND ONLY PRIZE THE PLAYERS WANTED
GM Jacob Aagaard
• THE THREE PILLARS OF ENDGAME TECHNIQUE
GM Alex Fishbein
• GEORGE N. CHENEY: AN AMERICAN CHESS STORY
John S. Hilbert
• FRESH LEAVES FROM THE BOOKSHELF
FM Carsten Hansen
• WHEN GOOGLE PLAYS THE FRENCH
Jon Edwards
• MUSINGS OF AN AMERICAN GRANDMASTER
GM Joel Benjamin
• UNKNOWNS AND UNDERDOGS
IM Danny Rensch
• CHESS PARENT’S SURVIVAL GUIDE
Ryan Velez
• WHO IS INTO ROLEX?
Oyvind Von Doren Asbjornsen
• The beauty of chess composition: INSPIRED BY MILAN VUKCEVICH
IM Piotr Murdzia
• IGOR’S CHESS DOUBLES
IM Igor Khmelnitsky
• TOURNAMENT REVIEW
• WHERE GRANDMASTERS ADVISE YOUNG PLAYERS
GM Alisa Maric
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
American Chess Magazine No.7 boasts a cover portrait of Sam Shankland and rightly so because in a short period of time he has won the US Championship in St.Louis, the Capablanca Memorial in Cuba and the All-American Continental Championship in Montevideo.
In fact the 2018 US Championship is one of the main features of this issue, together with the Berlin Candidates that has propelled Fabiano Caruana into the role of world title challenger.
In an interview with ACM Sam Shankland reflects on his success in St.Louis, which was the biggest success of his career so far and achieved against the strongest possible American opposition. In addition Sam contributes exclusive annotations to two of his games from the event.
Another kind of success story in the US Championship was that of Zviad Izoria who has now gained a reputation as a giant-killer after surprising wins against Caruana and Nakamura, for which he provides his personal commentary.
In fact we wanted to find out what really happened to the ‘Big 3’ so we asked our regular columnists to investigate. Young GM John Burke was critical of Caruana’s lack of objectivity in certain games, John Fedorowicz was unimpressed by Nakamura’s tournament strategy, while Michael Rohde noticed that Wesley So’s play had lost its spark. These three articles effectively represent a complete retrospective on America’s three highest rated players in St.Louis.
Nazi Paikidze deservedly gained her second US title win in the Women’s Championship, but the sensation of the event was 15-year old runner-up Annie Wang. Already in the previous issue of American Chess Magazine we had provided a biographical sketch on the hitherto little known Californian girl and this has turned out to be a prediction of her subsequent success. Annie annotates two of her games from the Championship and also reveals her inner thoughts after losing commanding lead following defeats at the end of the tournament and in the final play off. Nevertheless a star is born and we will surely be hearing a lot more about her in the future.
Our undercover reporter at the Berlin Candidates was none other than GM Jacob Aagaard, top class chess trainer and highly acclaimed author of numerous instructional books. There are four (!) separate articles in this section, the first being about the organization of the event and the individual players. You will not find this narrative in any other chess publication because these are intensely personal and harshly objective views by one of the most unfettered and free-spirited chess journalists around today. The second and third articles contain deeply annotated games by Caruana, as he was the deserved winner, but also other gems because all the candidates are worthy of applause for their fighting spirit. The fourth article is Aagard’s regular ‘All-round Training’, which has been incorporated into the Berlin report as every one of his instructive examples comes from the Candidates tournament.
With 156 pages we have found space for other columns as well! Openings – GM Robert Hungaski presents a new feature ‘Play It Smart’, about the Exchange Caro Kann, with the main game being Sam Shankland ‘s win against Awonder Liang which finally decided the US Championship. Endgames – Alex Fishbein explains Three Pillars of Pawn Endgame Technique with a variety of examples from both past and present. Vassily Ivanchuk is back with his regular column. This time he endeavors to assume the persona of a ‘Chivalrous Knight’ but in the end just can’t resist producng an elegant and decisive finish against a Chinese female grandmaster! Meanwhile Mackenzie Molnar showcases a number of games from the Grenke Chess Classic, again won by Caruana, with his choice featuring wins by Black only.
Another new column on ‘Chess Improvement’ comes from a former World Women’s Champion and one of the most famous names in the chess world today. GM Susan Polgar takes a look at the latest Caruana-Carlsen encounter from Stavanger – effectively a warm-up for their upcoming World Championship match.
We wanted to add a bit of fun to the magazine so did some research on chess players who wear luxury watches! So, who is into Rolex? You might be surprised by our findings, as chess players too can be both fashion and status conscious!
After a long pause, we have the return of our chess problem column by IM Piotr Murdzia, who this time draws inspiration from the late Milan Vukcevich, a former US Olympiad team member as well a highly imaginative chess problem composer.
John Hilbert rediscovers the virtually forgotten George N. Cheney – an aspiring player and rival of the legendary Paul Morphy – who lost his life at far too young an age during the American Civil War. As Hilbert says: “Had he lived, American chess might well have had decades of another spectacular player and composer to enrich its history.”
There are further regular columns from Jon Edwards on Chess Tech – with hot news about the fearless and revolutionary engine, Google’s Alpha Zero, IM Danny Rensch with fresh ideas abut Online Chess, Carsten Hansen with perceptive reviews of ten new book and DVD titles, and Joel Benjamin’s ever fresh observations about current chess in America.
IM Igor Khmelnicky challenges readers with a new set of his popular ‘Doubles’ puzzles. Chris Wainscott covers the Final Four Collegiate Championship – a grand finale where Webster, reigning champions for the past five years, had to yield its title to newcomers from Texas. GM Priyadharshan Kannappan annotates some of the most interesting games from this event, held at the prestigious Marshall Chess Club in New York City.
No doubt we have forgotten to mention some other items but why not discover these yourselves by reading the very best chess magazine money can buy!