American Chess Magazine #33 - Ding The King

100 pages, June 2023.

Contents:

West Palm Beach, FL houses a one-of-a-kind outdoor chess community that unifies folks across all ages, genders, ethnic backgrounds, and cultures. Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren is the newly minted World Chess Champion.

Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi showcased a thrilling World Championship match featuring six decisive classical games - a memorable celebration of the ascension of a new king in the world of chess! GM John Burke leaves no stone unturned in highlighting each decisive game from this enthralling match, presenting his unique perspective on the numerous happenings and what-could-have-beens that escalated the palpable tension throughout. John's thorough coverage is a must-read for any chess aficionado wanting to relive this high-octane contest.

Also, esteemed coach GM Vladimir Georgiev shares his thoughts on the crucial turning points that shaped the match, emphasizing the significance of the players’ supporting teams and assistants.

The relinquishing of Magnus Carlsen's reign has stirred considerable debate given his ten-year domination of elite chess. We thus reached out to Dr. J. Corey Butler, a psychology professor, to shed light on potential reasons for the former World Champion's decision.

Unsung heroes like Joshua Koehler and Franklin Rivers could become the new faces of our community. These gentlemen symbolize the epitome of collaborative effort and unity. Fuelled by a vision, ambition, and passion, Josh and Franklin have already successfully expressed their love for chess to local authorities and fellow enthusiasts, fostering a unique outdoor chess community in West Palm Beach, Florida that brings together individuals of varying ages, genders, ethnic backgrounds, and cultures.

At American Chess Magazine, we see it as our duty to acknowledge and support such societal contributions by spotlighting them in our publication. Consequently, our Features Editor, FM Alec Getz, introduces readers to West Palm Street Chess, accompanied by splendid photos that demonstrate the dedication, hard work, and accomplishments of Josh's team and local chess lovers. Such a model of an outdoor chess community could potentially be replicated across the U.S.!

Regarding instructional chess content, we introduce two engaging articles on openings. GM Emilio Cordova unpacks opening trends from the 2023 American Cup, highlighting the valuable contributions of the country's top players to contemporary opening theory. From a contrasting viewpoint, Patrick McCartney wraps up his exploration of the Carlsbad pawn structure, commenced in issue #30, shedding light on the tactics adopted by the iconic former World Champion, Mikhail Botvinnik.

In the context of middlegames, seasoned GM Eduardas Rozentalis illustrates how a fashionable opening can transition into middlegame play with a threatening open h-file. Conversely, GM Illia Nyzhnyk carries on with his exploration of chess position evaluations, this time concentrating on piece activity and dynamic potential.

Furthermore, in their regular columns, GM Jacob Aagaard initially presents a series of new test positions for readers to train alongside his top student and one of America's leading grandmasters, Sam Shankland. Likewise, through carefully chosen examples, GM Nikola Nestorovic explains how to handle threats in chess, subsequently challenging the reader with six problems on the same theme.

Then, ACM's endgame guru, GM Alex Fishbein, pays homage to the endgame strategies of the late Hungarian GM Andras Adorjan, while GM Sarunas Sulskis once more analyzes three stunning games that have captured his interest – two of them being exceptional works by talented U.S. juniors, highlighted by an unforgiving king hunt crowned with two “quiet” moves!

Once again, Andy Ansel delves into his chess trove, this time featuring Oklahoma's inaugural rated master – D Ballard, who managed to defeat the legendary Bobby Fischer using an opening strategy from a Russian chess publication! Following this, financial consultant and chess enthusiast, Luca Barillaro, juxtaposes examples of risk management in finance and chess.

American Chess Magazine Issue #33 debuts a fresh column on collecting chess sets. Chess collector enthusiast, Chuck Grau, recollects the exhilaration of touching history through his collection. Then, switching gears, fans of chess fiction can enjoy another captivating tale of chess and romance penned by Alexis Levitin.

As customary, our Features Editor, FM Grayson Rorrer, covers notable tournaments held both within the U.S. and overseas, while FM Carsten Hansen assesses ten newly released books, and GM Karsten Mueller, one of the global leaders in endgame expertise, graces our 5x5 Q&A as our guest speaker.