Weblog Rss https://www.newinchess.com/blog/rss/feed NIC Podcast #95: GM Peter Heine Nielsen https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-95-peter-heine-nielsen https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-95-peter-heine-nielsen Today’s episode of the New In Chess podcast reaches you once again from Oslo, where the 14th edition of Norway Chess ended in a stunning victory for Indian grandmaster Praggnanandhaa.
‘Pragg’ sensationally won his last four games and on the final day he leapfrogged Wesley So to pip the American at the post.
In the Norway Chess Women’s tournament, first place had already been secured in the penultimate round by the new star of women’s chess, Bibisara Assaubayeva from Kazakhstan.  

This year Norway Chess moved from Stavanger, its home for thirteen years, to the Norwegian capital Oslo. There, in the heart of the city, the spectacular Deichman library was the venue. 
In this second episode from Oslo, my guest is an old friend of the podcast, international grandmaster and five-time Danish champion Peter Heine Nielsen. Of course, these days we know Peter best as the trainer of the world’s number one player, Magnus Carlsen.
As I interview Peter, he looks back on a wonderfully successful Norway Chess that for two weeks got enormous international exposure and created tremendous interest in Oslo. The entire tournament was once again broadcast live on Norwegian television and also had two separate live broadcasts from the venue by Norway Chess and Chess.com. 

Of course, a good part of the conversation focuses on Magnus Carlsen, who lost an unusual number of games – he had to resign both his games against Pragg after compelling fights -and only finished in fourth place, having one of the worst results in his career.
We also talk about the special format of Norway Chess, the unforgiving time control, and try to come up with an explanation for Magnus’s poor performance.
And, not unimportant, we talk about golf, a passion of both Magnus and Peter. During the tournament they played a lot of golf to clear their minds amid the tension of the chess.

Peter loves to talk and philosophize about chess and you will not get bored listening to his lively stories and insights.
And let’s not forget a special landmark that we are approaching. On July 1, Magnus will have been the uninterrupted world number one for fifteen years. He once expressed his wish to rule for 25 years.
That’s another thing I asked Peter about. Don’t miss it!

0:00 – Intro

2:10 – How did Peter experience the tournament in Oslo?

10:05 – The unique format and time control of Norway Chess

15:20 – Pragg’s performance

20:42 – AD BREAK

21:22 – Pragg beating Magnus twice

26:20 – Magnus’s Armageddon games

27:58 – Wesley So’s performance

29:40 – Firouzja’s injury

35:18 – Magnus’s win against Gukesh in the last round

37:01 – What is Peter’s explanation for Magnus’s disappointing performance?

47:29 – Golf 

55:56 – AD BREAK

56:28 – The Total Chess World Championship Tour

1:01:12 – Will Magnus continue playing classical chess?

1:04:25 – How long will Magnus stay world #1 for?

1:09:35 – Outro 

]]> Sun, 07 Jun 2026 02:00:00 +0000 Digital archive NIC Magazines and Yearbooks https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/access-to-the-digital-archive-of-new-in-chess-magazine-and-yearbooks https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/access-to-the-digital-archive-of-new-in-chess-magazine-and-yearbooks All magazines from 2009 to 2025, and Yearbooks 118 to 142 were available on the New In Chess Magazine app and the New In Chess Yearbook app. As we are moving to a new platform, all this content has been moved as well.

The older apps will be decommissioned in July 2026, and you can only access your purchased items on two new sites, as explained below.

Magazines
All new magazines will be published on Forward Chess. All previously published issues will be available on https://newinchess.nl/magazinedigital/index.html.

Yearbooks
No new yearbooks will be published. All digital Yearbooks will be available on https://www.newinchess.nl/yearbookdigital/index.html.

For both sites, you need to have a Forward Chess account to log in. This account should have the same email as you are using with New In Chess. This way, we can make sure you have access to the right content.
If you do not have an account, you can create one here: https://forwardchess.com/register.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 02:00:00 +0000 NIC Podcast #94: GM Simen Agdestein https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-94-gm-simen-agdestein https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-94-gm-simen-agdestein Today’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast reaches you from Oslo, where the 14th edition of Norway Chess started earlier this week and is in full swing now. Yesterday, while walking around at the venue, the spectacular Deichman library in the heart of the city, I ran into Simen Agdestein, Norway’s strongest grandmaster before Magnus Carlsen and Magnus’s first trainer.
Simen is famous for his remarkable double career. He was not only the country's best chess player for many years, he was also a gifted footballer who played on the national team of Norway on eight occasions.

Simen first appeared on the New In Chess podcast almost exactly two years ago, when we talked about the book that Atle Grønn had written about his remarkable double career, Games and Goals.
When we met yesterday, Simen invited me to visit his school, the NTG, the Norwegian College of Elite Sports, where he has been teaching exceptional sports talents from 1998. Over the years the school has produced twelve grandmasters and of course the most famous and influential pupil was Magnus Carlsen, whose impact on Norwegian chess cannot be overstated.

Of course, I happily accepted Simen’s invitation and suggested that we combine the visit with a talk about Norway Chess, Simen’s school and chess in Norway in general.
And chess and football, as of late these two have been more connected it seems than ever. Many famous footballers claim that there passion for chess helps them on the pitch, and Norway’s biggest star, Erling Haaland, is one of the main investors in Norway Chess’s new venture, Total Chess, a new cycle of tournaments that will start with a pilot edition coming November and then see a first Total Chess World Championship consisting of four tournaments worldwide next year.

So that’s what we talked about and I am sure you will enjoy the conversation, as Simen is a natural story teller, who always speaks his mind. About chess and about football. And much more. Don’t miss it. 

0:00 – Intro

2:33 – How the growth of chess in Norway has affected Simen

4:10 – Discovering Magnus Carlsen

9:33 – Why do strong players prefer not to play important matches in their own country?

13:40 – Simen’s school

24:34 – AD BREAK

25:33 – This year’s edition of Norway Chess

31:03 – Magnus’s performance

35:20 – Time controls at the tournament

40:20 – Erling Haaland

47:23 – AD BREAK

47:56 – Simen’s personal ambitions at the moment

52:57 – Who’s going to win Norway Chess?

56:28 – Outro

 

 

 

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 02:00:00 +0000 NIC Podcast #93: GM Erwin l'Ami https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-93-gm-erwin-lami https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-93-gm-erwin-lami Today’s guest is an old friend of the New In Chess Podcast, Dutch grandmaster Erwin l’Ami. Erwin was Dutch Champion in 2022, and among his other notable results are his victories in the 2015 Reykjavik Open and in the Rabat Blitz that same year, where he was even too quick for specialists like Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexey Shirov.
While Erwin continues to love playing competitive chess in tournaments and club leagues, he has expanded his chess activities in various chess directions over the past years. He’s been working as a trainer for stars such as Veselin Topalov and Anish Giri, and he’s been producing training courses and writing books.

It’s in his capacity as a writer that I have invited Erwin this time, as together with Dutch GM Paul van der Sterren, he has just authored a new book on Max Euwe, who sensationally robbed Alexander Alekhine of his world title back in 1935. The title of the book is Max Euwe World Champion!, with an exclam, and it looks in detail at the brief reign of Euwe, who lost the chess crown again to the same Alekhine in 1937.

The book is a heartfelt reappraisal of Euwe, who has often been described as a lesser champion. A champion who won the title by some sort of luck. In their fine book, the authors demonstrate convincingly that in spite of such reservations, Euwe truly was the best chess player in the world, or among the very best, in those years.
I talk to Erwin about his special interest in Max Euwe, how the book came about, and the remarkable qualities of the fifth World Champion; about the sensation he caused when, as the  underdog, he defeated the great Alexander Alekhine in 1935; about his achievements in his years as champion, and why he lost the title again in 1937.

In the second half of the podcast, we talk about Max Euwe’s celebrated successor in the Netherlands, Jan Timman, who died three months ago, on February 18.
Erwin first met Timman when he attended training sessions for talented juniors, next they met over the board, and then, for the past twenty years, he regularly visited the erstwhile ‘Best of the West’ at his home to talk chess and look at his brilliant studies.  
Euwe, Timman and l’Ami, you’ll love this episode. Don’t miss it.

0:00 – Intro

2:35 – Has Erwin’s appreciation of Max Euwe as a player changed throughout the years?

9:21 – Why is Euwe so underappreciated by chess history?

15:45 – How strong was Euwe actually?

19:55 – The Lasker feud

23:05 – Euwe’s “modern” emphasis on opening preparation and physical preparation

27:06 – AD BREAK

28:05 – The historic 1936 Nottingham tournament

32:33 – Euwe as FIDE president

34:49 – While doing his analyses for this book, did Erwin discover any new things about Euwe?

42:50 – Euwe’s loss in the Alekhine rematch

49:21 – Dirk Jan tells his own personal Euwe story

50:32 – AD BREAK

51:08 – Erwin’s friendship with Jan Timman

56:30 – Jan Timman’s incredible memory

1:00:08 – Timman’s incredible career

1:06:42 – Timman’s final months

1:11:23 – Outro

 

]]> Sat, 16 May 2026 02:00:00 +0000 NIC Podcast #92: IM John Donaldson https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-92-im-john-donaldson https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-92-im-john-donaldson In today’s episode of the New In Chess podcast, I talk to International Master and prolific chess author John Donaldson. The first time John appeared on the podcast, I had invited him as the captain of the American team on the eve of the 2024 Budapest Olympiad. John has been the captain of the American team for many years and Budapest was his 15th Olympiad, a truly impressive number!

This time I have invited John to talk about his latest book on what may safely be called his hero, Bobby Fischer. John has written a lot about Fischer and in 2022 he published his magnum opus Bobby Fischer and His World, a thick book of 644 pages bringing together an enormous amount of material about the 11th World Champion.

Now he has  published a new book that is similar in appearance to Bobby Fischer and His World, and is called Inside the Mind of Bobby Fischer. In a voluminous book of 400 pages, John revisits everything he could find that Fischer has written as a chess analyst. Which means that he not only presents annotated games from Fischer’s very first book, Bobby Fischer’s Games of Chess, but also all the columns he wrote for Boys’ Life, a magazine for the boy scouts of American, and his columns in Chess Life. And there is much more that anyone interested in Fischer would like to see or revisit.

As I interviewed John about the book, various other subjects were touched on, such as the enormous chess library of grandmaster Lothar Schmid, who was the arbiter at the 1972 Match of the Century between Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer. And the sale, at Sotheby’s of the finest items from his collection, including two scoresheets from the match that sold for an incredible 160,000 euros! And there are more stories you don’t want to miss.
So, if you are looking for a sneak peek or a few teasers of John Donaldson’s fascinating new book, then this podcast is a good place to start!

0:00 – Intro

2:20 – What inspired John to write a new Fischer book?

14:26 – Fischer’s incredible dedication and discipline as a teenager

18:02 – Fischer’s mother Regina

26:25 – Fischer’s lost games

40:50 – AD BREAK

41:23 – The value of Fischer memorabilia

1:01:03 – AD BREAK

1:02:05 – How did John go about analysing Bobby’s old annotations?

1:08:10 - Dimitrije Bjelica

1:11:05 – Is John contemplating a next book about Fischer?

1:17:38 – Outro

]]> Fri, 01 May 2026 02:00:00 +0000 NIC Podcast #91: GM Anish Giri https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-91-gm-anish-giri https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/nic-podcast-91-gm-anish-giri Today’s podcast once again reaches you from Paphos, in Cyprus, where at the luxurious Cap Saint Georges hotel the Candidates tournament has come to an end after two weeks of excitement and captivating chess.

My guest is Anish Giri, one of the main protagonists in this gruelling battle to determine the challenger of World Champion Gukesh later this year. Anish was one of the pretournament favourites and one of the absolute stars of the 2026 Candidates, but in the end he, too, had to bow to the exceptional performance of the winner, twenty-year-old Javokhir Sindarov from Uzbekistan.

Anish finished in second place, one and a half points behind Sindarov’s phenomenal 10 out of 14, but one full point ahead of third place Fabiano Caruana, another clear pretournament favourite.
Of course, finishing second in such an elite field is a marvellous result – and it comes with a consolation prize of 130,000 euros - but it’s also the cruellest of results in a cutthroat competition where only first place really counts.

I talk with Anish about his mixed feelings and look back on the Candidates tournament from his perspective. And, of course, we talk about the definite breakthrough of Javokhir Sindarov, Fabiano Caruana’s failed attempt to qualify for another world championship match and more.
Such as the man behind Sindarov’s incredible success, new coaching star Roman Vidonyak, and Anish’s own new project, Chessmonitor.com!
Enjoy this episode, you don’t want to miss it!

0:00 – Intro

1:32 – Does Anish have mixed feelings at the end of this tournament?

5:35 – Not beating Wei Yi in the twelfth round

8:40 – Is Anish “not dangerous enough”?

14:35 – Fabiano Caruana’s performance

20:11 – AD BREAK

20:44 – The switch from increment to non-increment play

29:18 – Javokhir Sindarov

33:27 – Erdogmus

37:00 – The hidden coach: Roman Vidonyak

39:25 – Anish’s theory about Javokhir’s rise

45:33 – Modern chess training and coaching

58:30 – AD BREAK

59:50 – Untold: Chess Mates

1:02:20 – Anish’s venture with ChessMonitor

1:08:08 – Outro

 

]]> Fri, 17 Apr 2026 02:00:00 +0000 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