Weblog Rss https://www.newinchess.com/blog/rss/feed NIC Podcast #90: GM Boris Gelfand https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-90-gm-boris-gelfand https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-90-gm-boris-gelfand Today’s podcast reaches you from Paphos, in Cyprus, on a rest day of the Candidates tournament, after ten of the fourteen rounds have been played. My guest is Boris Gelfand. 

For many years, Boris was one of the best players in the world and even if he plays less today, he remains a formidable opponent. Boris is here in Cyprus as an honorary guest and I am glad that he accepted my invitation to talk not only about this Candidates tournament, but also about his own rich experience in the world championship cycle. 
Boris has successfully played in the Candidates, won Interzonals and a World Cup and was the Challenger of Vishy Anand in the World Championship match in Moscow in 2012.

We sat down for our talk at the venue of the Candidates, the luxurious five-star Cap St. Georges Hotel in Paphos on the west coast of Cyprus. The big question here is whether the tournament is still exciting or whether we already know the winner. With four rounds to go it looks like Uzbek star Javokhir Sindarov is heading for first place and a World Championship match against World Champion Gukesh from India at the end of this year. 

Twenty-year-old Sindarov has had a phenomenal tournament so far. He’s not lost a single game and scored an amazing six victories already. The only player who is theoretically still within striking distance is Anish Giri, but the Dutchman is a full two full points behind and needs a small miracle to turn the tables.
We talked about this and other matters and I hope and trust that you will enjoy this conversation with Boris Gelfand that I had with him on the balcony of his hotel room. 

0:00 – Boris reflects on his own participation in past Candidates tournaments. 

5:45 – The role of opening preparation and how it differs from Boris’s day

14:48 – AD BREAK

15:19 – Qualifying for the World Championship in 2012

23:50 – The difficulty of dedicating one’s self completely to one chess tournament

27:51 – Jakovhir Sindarov’s performance

34:56 – How did Boris psychologically deal with losing his lead over Anand in 2012?

35:43 – AD BREAK

36:42 – Boris thinks Fabiano has taken too many risks in this tournament

38:34 – Boris’s current chess life

40:38 – Outro 

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2026 02:00:00 +0000 Under The Surface: Second Edition On PowerPlayChess! https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/under-the-surface-second-edition-on-powerplaychess https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/under-the-surface-second-edition-on-powerplaychess GM Daniel King publishes a variety of interesting chess materials on his YouTube channel PowerPlayChess, ranging from puzzles to book reviews.

A few months ago, he interviewed our author, Slovakian grandmaster Jan Markos, about the sequel to his first book, Under The Surface. Like its predecessor, the Second Edition seeks to lay a finger on what differentiates chess professionals from club players. Jan's conclusion is that it does not just come down to faster and more accurate calculation. Grandmaster can see deeper. In his words: they can see a deep sea full of colourful fish and coral, where we can only see the glistening surface. 

The second edition of the book explores a few topics that weren't covered in the first installment. Everyone knows that the bishop pair is "good", but how does one utilise them effectively? When are piece trades favourable and when are they to be avoided? How does one deal with pawn avalanches? Together with Daniel, Jan discusses these topics and elucidates them with some instructive examples from high-level games. 

Watch the interview below, or click here to watch it on YouTube! 

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 02:00:00 +0000 Converting An Extra Pawn In Chess On PowerPlayChess! https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/how-to-convert-an-extra-pawn-in-chess-on-powerplaychess https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/how-to-convert-an-extra-pawn-in-chess-on-powerplaychess GM Daniel King publishes a variety of interesting chess materials on his YouTube channel PowerPlayChess, ranging from puzzles to book reviews.

On February 10th, he interviewed American grandmaster Sam Shankland about his work "Converting An Extra Pawn In Chess". According to Shankland himself, 80% of the writing process consisted of self-study, and this shines through. He gives a number of highly instructive examples, including about piece exchanges, creating weaknesses, and the position of the king in the endgame. 

Watch the interview below, or click here to watch it on YouTube! 

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 01:00:00 +0000 NIC Podcast #89: GM Jacob Aagaard https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-89-gm-jacob-aagaard https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-89-gm-jacob-aagaard My guest in this week’s episode is an old friend of the New In Chess Podcast, Jacob Aagaard. Jacob is a man of many trades and it’s not easy to fully describe all his activities in the chess world without running the risk that you’re forgetting something.
So, let’s try. Jacob is a grandmaster who occasionally still feels the lure of competitive chess, and he is a prolific and successful writer, who has authored more than twenty books.
Besides a writer, Jacob is also a publisher of chess books, and a top coach who has worked with big names such as Boris Gelfand, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Sam Shankland and many other prominent names that we know or names that are supposed to remain a secret.
You may also know Jacob from the online Killer Chess Training courses and the Killer Chess Training camps he organizes in Spain.
And as if this is not enough - and as this is the New In Chess Podcast - we should not forget to mention that Jacob is the owner and head of the New In Chess publishing group. A group that consists of Quality Chess, New In Chess, Everyman Chess, Popular Chess and Elevation Chess. In other words, full disclosure, Jacob is my boss.

As Jacob was visiting The Hague, we agreed to sit down and record a podcast. We talked about his ambitions and plans for the near future, and anything else that popped up. Such as his predictions about the upcoming Candidates Tournament in Cyprus, and his thoughts about the new Netflix documentary Untold: Chess Mates, about the controversy between Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann that made headlines all over the world. Will Carlsen and Niemann finally speak freely and clarify what really happened?
That’s a lot to hope for, but we do hope that you will enjoy this new episode of the New In Chess Podcast!

0:00 – Intro

2:11 – How does Jacob coordinate his many top-level roles in the chess world?

14:42 – Jacob compares the different publishers under his umbrella

24:22 – Daniel Naroditsky’s brilliance as a chess author and educator

29:36 – AD BREAK

30:09 – Jacob previews some other chess books in the pipeline

31:19 – How chess literature has developed throughout the computer age

36:53 – The genius of Mikhail Tal

38:26 – Jacob’s Killer Chess Training platform

48:48 – AD BREAK

49:47 – The Carlsen – Niemann saga

1:00:17 – The upcoming Candidates Tournament

1:10:02 – Some football talk

1:12:35 – Pragg 

]]> Fri, 20 Mar 2026 01:00:00 +0000 Learn From The Legends 2 on PowerPlayChess! https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/learn-from-the-legends-2-on-powerplaychess https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/learn-from-the-legends-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 Mihail Marin about a sequel to a successful first installment, Learn From The Legends 2! Watch the interview below, or click here to watch it on YouTube! 

]]> Fri, 20 Mar 2026 01:00:00 +0000 NIC Podcast #88: GM Judit Polgár https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-88-gm-judit-polgar https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-88-gm-judit-polgar In this week’s episode of the New In Chess podcast, I talk to none other than Judit Polgar.  Of course, the 'Queen of Chess’ needs no introduction, but then that’s something I have said about many guests - before proceeding to introduce them anyway. 
Let’s stick to that routine, even if there is every reason to say that this guest really does not need an introduction.
Judit Polgar is rightly seen as the greatest female chess player of all time. She not only topped the women’s world rankings for a quarter of a century – I repeat, a quarter of a century, that is 25 years - but she also is the only woman ever to make it to the overall world top 10.
Think about it: over the course of her career, Judit defeated no fewer than 11 current or former World Champions in rapid or classical chess.

Judit became a grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, breaking Bobby Fischer’s old record and becoming the youngest grandmaster in the world at the time. Her life has been filled with records, firsts and extraordinary achievements, and so it doesn’t come as a total surprise that now there is a Netflix documentary about her unique career.
The film is called ‘Queen of Chess’ and was directed by Rory Kennedy, the director of acclaimed films such as ‘Ghosts of Abu Ghraib’ and ‘Ethel’. The latter was a moving portrait of her mother,  the widow of her father Bobby Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968.

I invited Judit to talk about ‘Queen of Chess’, but also about a dear friend of both of us, Jan Timman, who died on February 18. Jan and Judit not only met over the chess board, they also had training sessions together and shared a love for endgame studies.
Judit joined me from Budapest, where she was in the middle of a press day for the Netflix documentary that has attracted worldwide attention since it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

Judit Polgar talks about ‘Queen of Chess’ and her friend Jan Timman. You don’t want to miss it.

0:00 – Intro

2:26 – How did “The Queen of Chess” come about?

11:48 – Did Judit have any doubts about Kasparov’s participation in the film?

20:11 – How does Judit look back on being the “guinea pig” of her father’s experiment?

24:40 – AD BREAK

25:12 – Mr. Polgar has no regrets!

27:02 – The influence of Judit’s husband Gustav

30:40 – How does Judit remember the late and great Jan Timman?

37:53 – Judit’s words of encouragement for talented young women

41:02 – AD BREAK

42:00 – Was Judit intimidated by Kasparov?

46:17 – Judit and Timman’s shared passion for the artistry of chess

53:43 – Outro

 

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 01:00:00 +0000 In memoriam Jan Timman (14 December 1951 – 18 February 2026) https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/in-memoriam-jan-timman-14-december-1951-–-18-february-2026 https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/in-memoriam-jan-timman-14-december-1951-–-18-february-2026 It’s with great sadness that all of us at New In Chess are trying to cope with the passing away of Jan Timman, a wonderful colleague and dear friend.
Jan’s importance to New In Chess cannot be overstated. He was the magazine’s first editor in chief and always kept playing a pivotal role, contributing articles and annotated games, and giving advice on editorial matters till the very end.

Besides his work for the magazine, Jan was one of our most beloved book authors. He wrote countless classics in an endless outpour of creativity. His most recent titles include his best games collection Timman’s Triumphs (2020), The Unstoppable American (2021), Max Euwe’s Best Games (2023), 100 Endgame Studies You Must Know (2024) and Timman’s Studies (2025).
The latter titles focus on one of his great passions in his later years, the beauty of the endgame study.
New In Chess has been blessed that the magazine started out when Jan was one of the best and most successful players in the world and that his love for writing never waned.

In the next issue of New In Chess, we will pay tribute to Jan Timman and review his magnificent career as a world-class player, his legacy as a writer, and the fond memories he leaves behind as a friend.

For those who want to feel his love for chess in its many facets, there are his books and his contributions to the Magazine. If you’d like to hear his enthusiasm about chess studies and his wide and infectious knowledge of the world of studies, you can listen to the New In Chess Podcast that we recorded last December, Jan’s last official interview.

]]> Thu, 19 Feb 2026 01:00:00 +0000 Combinations with Boris Gelfand https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/combinations-with-boris-gelfand https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/combinations-with-boris-gelfand Starting with issue 2025#8, Boris Gelfand, the 2012 World Champion finalist, will keep track of what’s happening on the chessboard. He will highlight the most interesting games and endgames that are not featured in our tournament reports.

As we have limited space in our magazine, there was some very interesting and entertaining material left that we would love to share with you. Below are some nice combinations selected by and commented on by Boris.

Sasa Martinovic – Mads Andersen
25th European Teams, Batumi GEO 2025
White missed a nice combination.
19. Bh7+ Kf8 20. Nxf7 Kxf7 21. Qh5+
Basically winning.
21…g6 (21... Kf8 22. Re3) 22. Bxg6+ Qxg6 23. Re7+ wins the queen.

Eytan Rozen – Volkan Sevgi
40th ECC Open, Rhodes GRE 2025
Another nice combination. OK, he did not find it in the game.
32. Nh4!
In the game, he took 32.Qxf5 and if Bxf6, it is already unclear. The engine says something like plus one, but you still have to win.
32... Ne7
32... Bxg4 33.Ng6#
33. Nxf5 Bxf6 34. Nh6 Rg7 35. Qf4 and White wins.

Jarkko Penttinen – Daniil Yuffa
40th ECC Open, Rhodes GRE 2025
Yuffa just played 22…Ne3?, but after 23.Nf6+, he can immediately resign.
23.fxe3 Ne2+ 24. Kh1 Rxf1# must have been Black’s idea.
In the game, White played 23.Nf3? and lost in 37 moves.
23... Bxf6
23... Rxf6 and now 24. d7 wins.
24. fxe3 and White wins as there is no Ne2+ trick.

Read Samadov – Spartak Grigorian
40th ECC Open, Rhodes GRE 2025
Black is playing for stalemate tricks. How can White win?
46. Rxd2!
He had to take, and now the king goes in a very funny way.
In the game, White played 46. Ra4? Rb4, and it already is a draw. 47. Ra5 Rb5 48. Ra1 Rb1 49. Ne4 Rxf2+ 50. Kxf2 Rxa1 51. Nc5 Ra5 52. d4 Kg8 53. Ke3 f6 54. exf6 Kf7 55. Kd3 e5 56. Ke4 exd4 57. Kxd4 Kxf6 58. Kc4 Kg6 59. Kb4 Rxa6 60. Nxa6 Kxh6 61. Nc5 Kg6 62. Ne4 h5 63. gxh5+ Kxh5 64. Nxg5 ½-½
46... Rg1+ 47. Kf3 Rg3+ 48. Ke4 Re3+ 49. Kd4 Rxd3+ 50. Kc5 Rc3+ 51. Kd6 Rd3+ 52. Kc7 Rc3+
And now hide on d8.
53. Kd8 Rd3+ 54. Nd7
A key move!
54…Rxd2 55. Kc7
There’s no stalemate, and the a-pawn decides.

]]> Mon, 16 Feb 2026 01:00:00 +0000 Endgames with Boris Gelfand https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/endgames-with-boris-gelfand https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/endgames-with-boris-gelfand Starting with issue 2025#8, Boris Gelfand, the 2012 World Champion finalist, will keep track of what’s happening on the chessboard. He will highlight the most interesting games and endgames that are not featured in our tournament reports.

As we have limited space in our magazine, there was some very interesting and entertaining material left that we would love to share with you. Below are some instructive endgames with Boris Gelfand’s comments.

Ukraine won the 2025 European Team Chess Championship in Batumi, which was somewhat of a surprise, as they were the 9th seed in the starting lineup. In the match England - Turkey, the young English prodigy Shreyas Royal had to defend a tricky rook ending against Vahap Sanal. In the end, he managed to secure the draw, but not without mistakes from both sides. Watch and learn!

Shreyas Royal – Vahap Sanal
25th European Teams, Batumi 2025
White gave a check, which seems to be a mistake.
64. Rf8+?
Here, White had to include 64. g4! f4 and then check. 65. Rf8+ Ke5 66. Rf5+ Kd4 67. Rxf4
Still, it is not obvious, but White now has counterplay as the g-pawn will run.
64... Ke5 65. Re8+ Kd4 66. Rd8+ Ke3
Here, White tried the single rook endgame.
67. Rxd2 Kxd2 68. Kg2
This is a very important moment.
68…Re7!!
A very clever move. He wants to push the pawn.
If 68... e3 69. Kf3, and there is nothing for Black, so first he played Re7.
69. Rb2+ Kd3 70. b4 e3 71. Kf1 Rc7 72. Rb1
72…Ke4??
Here, Black missed a really instructive win.
72...f4! 73. gxf4 Ke4
Now the king has a shelter.
74. f5 (74. b5 Kf3 75. b6 Rh7 76. Kg1 Rg7+ 77. Kh2 e2 also wins)
And now 74... Rh7! on top to win a tempo.
If you start with 74... Kf3? then 75. f6 and White gets rid of the pawn. Rf7 (75... Rh7 76. Kg1= Now Black does not have Rg7+ anymore.) 76. Rc1 Rxf6 77. Rc8= When the f6-rook moves, the white rook can start giving check.
75. Kg2 Rg7+ Also an important point of 72...f4! as the g-file is now opened to give this crucial check. 76. Kf1 Kf3 77. Rb3 Ra7 78. Rb1, and now Rh7, of course.
73. b5 Kf3 74. b6 Rh7 75. Kg1 Rg7
Because of the pawn on g3, there is no check, and White has just enough counterplay.
76.b7 Rxg3+ 77. Kh2 Rg8 78. b8=Q Rxb8 79. Rxb8 e2 80. Re8 Kf2 81. Rf8 e1=Q 82. Rxf5+ Ke2 83. Re5+ Kd2 84. Rxe1 Kxe1
½-½

In Saint Louis, Fabiano Caruana won his fourth US Championship in a row, finishing half a point ahead of Wesley So. In his round 2 game, Caruana narrowly escaped against one of the rising American stars, Andy Woodward. Andy had a solid performance with 5½/11, but he could definitely have scored more points. After his missed opportunity against Caruana, he made an unfortunate mistake in a rook ending against Sam Shankland.

Andy Woodward – Sam Shankland
ch-USA, Saint Louis 2025
Woodward played 38. g4??
But he had to do it with the rook somewhere. He had to make a move, basically.
38. Rc5 Ra1 39. g4 wins easily.
38... a4 39. Rxf5
39. bxa4 allows b3 40. cxb3 The big difference is that here there is Rd2+
39... axb3 40. cxb3 Rd2+ 41. Ke4 Re2+ 42. Kd3 Rd2+ 43. Ke3 Rb2
Black's pawns are more advance and so he will never lose.
44. h4 Rxb3 45. h5+ Kg7 46. Rc5 c2+ 47. Kd2 Rf3 48. Rc7+ Kh6 49. Rc6+ Kh7 50. Kxc2 Rxf4 51. g5 Rh4 52. Rc7+ Kh8 53. Rc8+ Kh7 54. Rc7+ Kh8 55. h6 Rg4 56. Rc5 Rg3 57. Rb5 b3+ 58. Rxb3 Rxg5 59. Rb2 Rg2+ 60. Kb1 Rxb2+
½-½

Shortly after the ECC, Gukesh had to travel to Saint Louis for the Clutch Chess Champions Showdown. Magnus Carlsen was victorious, finishing ahead of Caruana and Nakamura with quite a considerable margin. In the ending that occurred in Gukesh - Carlsen, it was clear that with these faster time controls, even the best players in the world can make some big mistakes in what appears to be a simple position.

Gukesh D – Magnus Carlsen
Clutch Chess The Champions 2025

25. c4??
OK, now 25. Rxe4 Rd1+ 26. Kf2 Rd2+ 27. Kf3 Rxb2 28. Rxe6 is a draw, but they went into a pawn endgame.
25... Rxd4 26. exd4 Kf7 27. Kf2 Kf6 28. Ke3 Kf5 29. b4
In the game, Black played 29…a6?
Instead, 29... c6 was winning, actually, for some strange reason. 30. a4 g5 31. b5 e5! 32. d5 cxd5 33. cxd5 b6 with a mutual zugzwang. Black wins.
30. h4??
Now White should have played 30. a4! g5 (30... c6 31. g3 b5 32. cxb5 cxb5 33. a5 is a draw) 31. b5 axb5 32. axb5 b6 (Now after 32... e5?? Black even loses. 33. d5 b6 34. c5 White has a breakthrough.) 33. c5 h4, and again, the game should end in a draw.
30... b5 31. c5 c6 32. g3 e5
0-1

]]> Fri, 13 Feb 2026 01:00:00 +0000 NIC Podcast #87: GM Jonathan Tisdall https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-87-gm-jonathan-tisdall https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-87-gm-jonathan-tisdall In this episode of the New In Chess podcast, I talk to Norwegian grandmaster Jonathan Tisdall. We look back on the Tata Steel Chess Tournament that ended last Sunday after more than two weeks of captivating chess.

Both Jonathan and I were in Wijk aan Zee for the final rounds and witnessed how the Tata Steel Masters ended in a great victory for Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Finally, after several failed attempts, the 21-year-old star from Uzbekistan ended the ‘Wijk aan Zee’ curse that had plagued him in the past years. On more than one occasion, he had seen victory elude him on the final days. This time he remained in control till the very end and at long last won the tournament that he had dreamed of from when he was a kid. Finally, his photo will be included in the winners’ gallery of ‘the Wimbledon of Chess’. 

Jonathan Tisdall was born in the US from a Japanese mother and Irish father, and then - long story short - he emigrated to London and next to Norway, where he has been living for many years.

Jon is a grandmaster and a prolific journalist, who has worked for Reuters as a chess correspondent, and has written many stories for New In Chess. He has also been the captain of the Norwegian team, with Magnus Carlsen as his top player. Jonathan has been active in the chess world for decades, wearing a multitude of hats. In fact, if you want to know who is who in a chess press room, then the gentleman with the hat is usually Jon Tisdall!
Jon is also the author of the widely acclaimed book Improve Your Chess Now, and he is working on a new book in collaboration with standup comedian (and chess fanatic) Nick Doody.

In our talk we look back on the achievements and under-achievements of the main actors in Wijk aan Zee, but we also return to the days when Jon was reporting on the legendary Karpov-Kasparov matches, and we touch on his books and their original ideas.

I hope, and trust, that you will enjoy this new episode of the New In Chess podcast!

0:00 – Intro

3:02 – Nodirbek and Sindarov

6:15 – Jonathan reviews some strange moves and decisions from Wijk aan Zee

9:35 – Hans’s mentality

11:15 – Abdusattorov’s strong performance

12:40 – Jonathan’s personal relationship with Arjun Erigaisi

16:25 – Why does Erigaisi perform so poorly in Wijk aan Zee?

19:56 – Jorden van Foreest’s performance

23:45 – Controversy around the time control in Wijk aan Zee

27:42 – Matthias Bluebaum’s strong development

29:20 – AD BREAK

29:52 – How strong is Gukesh right now?

35:28 – The role of psychology in chess

40:10 – Dirk Jan tells a story about the Spassky-Korchnoi match

44:51 – AD BREAK

45:43 – The Uzbeki revolution: why hasn’t Norway followed suit?

58:00 – Jon’s previous and upcoming books

1:07:41 - Outro 

 

]]> Thu, 05 Feb 2026 01:00:00 +0000