Blog

NIC Podcast #81: GM Loek van Wely

NIC Podcast #81: GM Loek van Wely

In this week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast, my guest is Dutch grandmaster Loek van Wely. Loek is a good friend of the NIC podcast and he returns to talk about the chess event that is keeping us glued to our screens these days, the World Cup in Goa, India.  An 8-time Dutch champion, Loek can look back on a rich international career. He’s won tournaments all around the world and reached as high as 10th place in the world rankings. While Loek is still active as a player, his activities are more and more shifting to coaching and training. For instance, at last year’s Olympiad in Budapest, he was the coach of the Italian team.The World Cup started almost two weeks ago and will continue for close to two more weeks. There’s a lot at stake in Goa, as the top three finishers will qualify for the Candidates tournament in Cyprus next year (28 March-15 April). There’s also an attractive prize-fund. The winner takes home $120,000 and the numbers two and three, $85,000 and $60,000, respectively175

New In Chess magazine

Six issues in 2026

It is no secret that, in recent years, magazines worldwide have been facing logistical and financial challenges. Publishers that fail to address these issues will struggle to control costs and produce high-quality content. At New in Chess, we are committed to balancing all concerns and have found a compromise that works for everyone. Our traditional publishing structure comprised eight 100-page issues. From 2026 onwards, we will publish six issues, totaling 800 pages across them. This will reduce some obvious and some less obvious expenses. The most significant savings will be in shipping costs, which is especially important for an international magazine such as New in Chess, with subscribers in the United States, South Africa, Chile, Australia, Japan, and dozens of other countries. These savings will enable us to invest in valuable new content. We will introduce a few new columns, most notably an expanded Tournament Roundup featuring analysis by a world-class player. This extended Roundup175

The Woodpecker 2 on PowerPlayChess!

The Woodpecker 2 on PowerPlayChess!

GM Daniel King publishes a variety of interesting chess materials on his YouTube channel PowerPlayChess, ranging from puzzles to book reviews. Recently, he interviewed our author Axel Smith about the second volume of his highly succesful book series, The Woodpecker Method 2! A shortened clip of the conversation can be viewed below, click here to watch the entire hour-long interview on YouTube!

Daniel's books

Daniel's books

Dear chess friends, We have received many requests to reprint the books written by the late Daniel Naroditsky for New In Chess. We would love to do that, and we are talking to people close to Daniel to see how we can publish updated editions as soon as possible. Daniel wrote Mastering Positional Chess when he was just fourteen, and its sequel, Mastering Complex Endgames, only two years later. New In Chess was very proud to publish these two wonderful, highly readable chess improvement manuals. As Daniel wrote in his foreword, 'The purpose of reading a chess book is not only to learn from it, but to enjoy it as well!' However, Daniel himself preferred to write a new book and wanted to postpone reprinting the books from his youth until he had finished his new project, which unfortunately never materialised. Please be patient with us. If we can reprint the books, we would like to do so with a beautiful new design and after checking the chess moves with a modern engine. We might want to include175

NIC Podcast #80: IM Alvis Vitolins (2/2)

NIC Podcast #80: IM Alvis Vitolins (2/2)

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features the second part of a narration from The Essential Sosonko, a collection of chess portraits and personal stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. The subject of this week's story is Latvian international master Alvis Vitolins (1946-1977).   The second part of Vitolins' story goes deeply into his friendship with Karen Grigorian, who, like his brother Levon, was a strong chess master with several tournament wins in Armenia and Uzbekistan. Aside from this, Vitolins had few friends, especially outside of the chess world. It goes without saying that playing blitz with Karen was his favourite pastime. This is where the story also takes a darker turn. Like Vitolins, Karen also struggled with his mental health in a time and place where such struggles were barely indulged, let alone understood. The tragic way both men met their end makes Genna's story about Vitolins a sad one, albeit one no less worth telling. Enjoy this175

Forwardchess

Update on the process of closing down the NIC Apps

The New in Chess Group and Forward Chess have made an agreement, where we have taken a minority stake in Forward Chess, and will be closing down the New in Chess Apps. It is a process that will take a long time to manage technically. This is what you should know. The NIC Apps will be functional until the transfer is complete DON’T WORRY IF NOT ALL YOUR BOOKS ARE TRANSFERRED YET! There are 50 books that people have entitlement to on the NIC Apps, as well as past magazines, which are not yet on Forward Chess. You will be able to access them on the NIC App until all have been transferred to Forward Chess. We will give a list of these titles below, when people are back from holiday early November. We will announce the closing of the NIC Apps in good time and only when we feel in full control of the transfer of entitlements. We will also announce when all books that were on the NIC App are available on the Forward Chess App, so you can ensure that all your entitlements are fulfilled.   We175

NIC Podcast #79: GM Ruslan Ponomariov

NIC Podcast #79: GM Ruslan Ponomariov

In this week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast, my guest is Ukrainian grandmaster Ruslan Ponomariov. Born in 1983, Ruslan embarked on his career as one of the most astonishing prodigies in chess history. When he was 12, he won the U18 European Championship, when he was 14, he was the youngest grandmaster in the world, the youngest ever at that time. When he was 18, Ruslan won the FIDE World Championship by defeating his countryman Vasyl Ivanchuk in the final of the 2002 knock-out World Championship.There are many excellent reasons to have Ruslan Ponomariov on the New In Chess podcast, but the main reason this time is the victory earlier this week of the Ukrainian national team, led by Ruslan, at the European Team Championships in Batumi. A victory that made his country proud in incredibly difficult times, as Ukraine continues to suffer day in day out after Russia’s brutal invasion three years ago.It's also a highly emotional moment that offers a brief moment of reprieve for the chess175

The Real Paul Morphy - ECF Book of the Year 2025

The Real Paul Morphy is ECF Book of the Year 2025

We are proud of all of our books, but the ones that win an award are always special! It is with great pleasure we can say that The Real Paul Morphy by Charles Hertan has been selected as Book of the Year 2025 by the English Chess Federation. There were four books on the 2025 shortlist, three of which are from the New In Chess group. The jury, consisting of Ray Edwards, Jovanka Houska, and Sean Marsh, described the book as 'A worthy tribute to a player often described as ‘The pride and sorrow of chess.' and mentioned, 'The book is beautifully produced, with many excellent photographs.' The jury report starts with: 'In today’s hectic chess world, it is easy to forget that the game we play now is built on foundations established many years ago. A biography of a player — perhaps the most talented who ever lived — who influenced chess enormously is this year’s Book of the Year.' 'Charles Hertan writes well and clearly. As a professional psychotherapist, he is well qualified to consider the175

NIC Podcast #78: IM Alvis Vitolins

NIC Podcast #78: IM Alvis Vitolins

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from the Essential Sosonko, a collection of chess portraits and personal stories authored by chess grandmaster Ghenna Sosonko. The subject of this week's story is Latvian international master Alvis Vitolins.   Alvis was born in Riga, like his compatriot Misha Tal. And this was not all they shared in common. Like Tal, Vitolins was known for his brilliant sacrificial play. Before executing a speculative sacrifice, Tal would even say: "Let's play like Vitolins!". However, due to some personal hardships, he never reached the title of grandmaster. He also did not play many international tournaments; however, in Latvia, he shone, winning several championships. He was also known for his contributions to the poisoned pawn variation of the Sicilian, which was extremely popular during that time.  Enjoy this week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast!

NIC Podcast #77 - GM Erwin l'Ami

NIC Podcast #77 - GM Erwin l'Ami

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch grandmaster Erwin l’Ami. Erwin has been a chess professional for some twenty years now. Among his most notable successes are victories in the Reykjavik Open in 2015 and in the Dutch Championship in 2022. And let me not forget to mention his win in the Rabat Blitz in 2015, ahead of speedsters like Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexei Shirov, if only for the fact that I had the privilege of watching this victory from a front row seat in the Moroccan capital. Erwin loves to play in tournaments – that remains his biggest passion - but his chess activities expand into other areas as well. He’s a prolific writer, has made popular courses for Chessable, and is a highly respected trainer. In that role, he has been on Veselin Topalov’s world championship team and has worked with Anish Giri for many years.I invited Erwin to the podcast to talk about his life in chess and to see where our conversation would lead us. Right175

Sadler on Books

The Russian Sphinx

Three new titles show that the chess opening book is still relevant. However, the five-star reviews are for new volumes about chess greats Alekhine and Korchnoi. These book reviews by Matthew Sadler were published in New In Chess magazine 2025#5 After diving into 4000 pages of Paul Keres last month, 300-page opening books now feel like an absolute breeze! This month, I reviewed a record number of titles.We start with Richard Palliser’s The Tricky Tromp from the rebranded Popular Chess label (formerly Everyman). One thing to note right away is that this book only covers the Trompowsky after 1.d4 ♘f6 2.♗g5, so it’s not a complete opening repertoire for White. But it will help you sidestep those pesky Nimzo-Indians and Grünfelds! In fact, Palliser pulls off a double sidestep by focusing on less popular Trompowsky lines. For example, after the main line 1.d4 ♘f6 2.♗g5 ♘e4rather than focus on the current main line 3.♗f4, Palliser picks up Julian Hodgson’s old favourite 3.h4 as well as re-examining175

GM Viktor Moskalenko

Viktor, Viktor and… Viktor!

One of our favourite authors, Viktor Moskalenko, was awarded a prestigious prize on 6 September this year… the Viktor prize! This prize, offered by the Emanuel Lasker Gesellschaft e.V., was not named after ‘Moska’ himself, but after his legendary namesake Viktor Korchnoi. It is presented to people who have made a special contribution to the promotion of chess as a sport. There is also a ‘female’ version of this prize, called Vera (after Vera Menchik). Last year, the ‘Viktor’ had gone to the long-standing editor of the German magazine Schach, Raj Tischbierek, while the ‘Vera’ had gone to Judit Polgar. Another prize, the ‘Lasker’, went to Magnus Carlsen in 2024. The prize ceremony was held during the General Assembly of the Chess History & Literature Society, which took place in Valencia on September 5 and 6. Lasker Association board member Rebekka Schuster, who called herself one of Moskalenko’s biggest fans, gave him the prize. In her speech, she said: ‘I have played chess on a moderate175

NIC Podcast #76 - GM Jon Speelman

NIC Podcast #76 - GM Jon Speelman

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with British grandmaster Jonathan Speelman. Jon, as he's commonly referred to, is a three-time British Champion and a two-time Candidate for the World Championship. In the Candidates, he won matches against Nigel Short and Yasser Seirawan. He has also been successful with the English national team, as they twice finished second in the Olympiad, in Dubai in 1986 and in Thessaloniki in 1988, while finishing third in Novi Sad in 1990. At the peak of his career, Jon was a world top 10 player, his highest spot being number 5 in 1988. In 1987, he beat Garry Kasparov in a televised rapid game and then went on to win the event. Jon has also authored several acclaimed books, and over the years has written literally hundreds and hundreds of chess columns. He was the chess columnist for The Independent and still is the chess columnist for the Observer. He also has a regular column on ChessBase. Besides writing about chess175

Ulf - the attacker! on Power Play Chess

Ulf - the Attacker! on PowerPlayChess

On his YouTube channel PowerPlayChess, Grandmaster Daniel King shares his expertise and passion for chess. He recently interviewed one of our authors - IM Thomas Engqvist from Sweden - and looked at a few games from his latest book, Ulf - the attacker! The complete interview, which is over an hour long, can be watched on Power Play Chess. In the shorter clip, Daniel and Thomas examine a specific game, which demonstrates that Ulf Andersson was more than a positional genius, possessing a crystal-clear style.

NIC Podcast #75 - Alexander Koblenz (2/2)

NIC Podcast #75 - Alexander Koblenz (2/2)

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features the second part of a narration from "The Essential Sosonko", a collection of chess portraits based on personal stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. The subject of this week's episode is Latvian chess master and trainer Alexander Koblenz.  Picking up where last episode left off, the second half of the story focuses on Koblenz's contributions to chess beyond his mentorship of Mikhail Tal. He co-founded a chess magazine in Latvia, directed the chess club of Riga, and authored several books. What drove his passion for chess is what he himself described as creativity. It was this creativity that sustained his passion for chess well into his seventies, radiating a "joie de vivre" that his friends described as contagious.  The story also goes deeper into Koblenz's national and ethnic identity. Born to a Jewish family in Latvia (later part of the Soviet Union) and fluent in German as well as Russian and Yiddish, Koblenz175