Continuing the theme of engines, they seem to have become capable of finding harmony in unexpected places. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/engines-se...

Using engines you prepare on 3800-rated level, but when preparation ends and you start to play yourself you are experiencing a crash landing. I talk about this problem and what to do about it in my latest Substack: gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/smooth-tra...

You play against an IQP. What do you do? gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/exchanging...

Why did Kasparov commit suicide in the last game of his match against Deep Blue? It just made no sense. I explain why. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/kasparovs-...

The Lion and the Pirate. Who won and why? gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/the-lion-a...

How much are you willing to suffer for an "easy" draw? gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/easy-draw

How do you measure talent? gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/measure-of...

In rook endgames, the only thing that is guaranteed are mistakes. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/rook-endga...

If a child (or his/her parents) wants to become an elite player, this is what (s)he should do: gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/the-secret...

Chess develops logical thinking, but it also develops something that I call parallel thinking. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/parallel-t...

The Najdorf and the move g4 for White are closely linked. So when you see that a move like g4 is atypical in the Najdorf, you pay attention. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/an-atypica...

Positions that were considered lost in the past are nowadays considered draws. Chess understanding evolves constantly, but I have no idea whether future computers will change our understanding dramatically. It's has gone pretty deep already. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/maroczy-st...

Some openings are just unlucky. Like the Nimzo-Indian for Kasparov. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/kasparov-a...

"... if Black doesn't want to have to defend carefully during the first part of the game, he must give White something: more space, healthier pawn structure, the bishop pair - or simply a pawn!" - Larsen How to approach openings with the Black pieces - gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/how-to-app...

Just when you thought the beginning of the chess game has been thoroughly examined and nothing new can be invented, you get something like this: gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/two-shocki...

Grandmasters should understand chess, right? Like, how certain positions are played, which pieces should be exchanged, which should be left on the board etc. Well... gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/grandmaste...

Nobody really understands rook endgames. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/an-instruc...

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought her back. The above was certainly true for Korchnoi. I tried to emulate his curiosity when it comes to openings. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/curiosity

Botvinnik and AlphaZero, do they have anything in common? More than you'd have imagined. Check out my latest Substack to see what I mean: gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/botvinnik-...

How do you evaluate a position when you have no clue what is going on? There is just one thing to do in such situations. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/how-do-you...

In my latest post I write about how I learned and still learn from live commentary by the best players. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/learning-f...

Everybody's got confused when analysing with engines. Here's one example from my practice (and coming from such a calm opening like the Queen's Gambit Declined): gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/complete-a...

My latest Substack is called How Hard Is This. I describe a thought process of a student solving a study and then providing input of my own. I hope you find this interesting. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/how-hard-i...

A fascinating example of how deep the engines delve into a position. This one is from the Catalan. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/how-to-rec...

What is real chess for you nowadays? Is it Fischer Random, is it bullet, is it classical, is it blitz? In my latest post I take a look at one of the extremes of bullet and I wonder how many people see this as "real" chess. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/real-chess

The latest post,with wisdom from Paul Graham. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/how-to-thi...

My small tribute to Spassky. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/spassky-an...

Ever lost a "completely winning game?" The reason is that likely you lost control at some point. In my latest substack I discuss this problem. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/losing-con...

Can the world's best Najdorf player misevaluate a typical Najdorf position? You bet. In my latest newsletter I show who did it and how he did it. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/understand...

Today is Fischer's birthday. In the latest newsletter, I analyse his treatment of the King's Indian. I was surprised to learn how positional and prophylactically-minded he was even in such a sharp opening. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/fischers-t...

In today's newsletter I talk about a rather typical Sicilian position where the engine found a very atypical way to continue. It is conveniently called "Learning from Engines". You can read it here - gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/learning-f... And if you like it, consider subscribing!

A lot of people remember Fischer's 22.Nxd7 in game 7 from his Candidates final with Petrosian in 1971, but not that many will remember 28...Nxb2 from game 6. Both moves are the same type of decision, exchanging a dominant knight for a passive bishop. 👇

Something I noticed when analysing Capablanca's games. I call it "the holding moment." gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/the-holdin...

I was never too keen to play the Alapin with White, but I got interested when I started exploring the options to get positions without an IQP. I explore these in my latest video: youtu.be/O6K0YFRN20U

My latest Substack - Capacity for Calculation. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/capacity-f...

With the king next to the De Moriaan playing hall in Wijk aan Zee.

A reminder that this upcoming Saturday I will be in Wijk aan Zee, at the unmissable Tata Steel tournament, to visit and to sign a few copies of my latest book! Courtesy of @chessable.bsky.social and New in Chess! youtube.com/shorts/O1r6I...

Thank you!

The @chessable.com awards are upon us! I've been nominated in 3 categories: Best Author Support, Best Opening Course for White (1.c4 Simplified) and Best Beginner Course (My First Opening Repertoire 1.d4). In Spanish @chessable.bsky.social my La Najdorf Simplificada is also in the running.

After only 4 months from its publication, New in Chess is already reprinting my book Capablanca's Endgame Technique, based on my @chessable.com course of the same name. I could never imagine the book would be that popular!

The sun, just before hiding behind the clouds again.

The origins of FischerRandom and how it all comes full circle with Carlsen's scandals at the World Rapid and Blitz Championship. gmalexcolovic.substack.com/p/fischers-e...

Carlsen was wrong, but they didn't realise it and failed for his bluff. "We can just make quick draws until they accept" should have been allowed, letting the players ridicule themselves with the short draw after short draw, the whole world watching.

Working during a festive season should be illegal. But at least I finished my (extremely) long article on the WCh match for British Chess Magazine. Expect detailed analysis of all 14 games in the January issue.

Newspaper chess column where the 93-year-old writer recalls a move he played in a game in 1948. The legend Leonard Barden. www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/d...

My interview for The Times in India about the World Championship match #DingGukesh

Nobody sees this, the battlefield when it is all over. #DingGukesh

Gukesh's scoresheet of the last game. #DingGukesh

After the last battle. #DingGukesh

The moral of the last two games is "in WCh matches, don't play ...d4 in the Reti unless you're Magnus Carlsen." #dinggukesh