WIM Alexey Root, PhD

Alexey Root is a Woman International Master and the 1989 U.S. Women's chess champion. Her peak US Chess rating was 2260. She has a PhD in education from UCLA. You can find her books on chess on Amazon.com.

Dark Squares: How Chess Saved My Life (book review)

IM Danny Rensch’s memoir Dark Squares: How Chess Saved My Life is, as suggested by its title, dark. He suffered from hunger, parental abandonment, and lack of health care, with the last almost costing him his hearing. Playing chess as one of the top young masters in the United States gave him opportunities to travel and to see families living normal lives. More 🡢

FIDE Grand Swisses and Nakamura’s Path to the Candidates

The FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 has 116 players, and there are 56 players in the concurrent FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss. The top two finishers in both the Open and the Women’s will earn places in the 2026 Candidates and the 2026 Women’s Candidates, respectively. The two Grand Swisses are being contested in Samarkand, with the first round on September 4. More 🡢

Cheesy Chess at the 2025 U.S. Open

The 2025 U.S. Open offered a variety of schedules and Mixed Doubles prizes. Last century, the U.S. Open was usually 12 rounds. This century, the event has generally been nine rounds. The 2025 U.S. Open was held in Wisconsin, a state famous for its cheese. More 🡢

State Pride in Chess and Pawn Chains

In Openings for Amateurs: Theory vs. Practice (Mongoose Press, 2024), Pete Tamburro’s annotations on one game included negative remarks about a Nebraskan’s chess moves. My state pride took offense! More 🡢

Play Chess or Have Fun?

National Master Dana Mackenzie wrote a chess blog, Dana Blogs Chess, from 2007 to 2022. He wrote 1,245 blog posts and selected about 40 of his favorites to update and improve. New In Chess published Mackenzie’s revised blog posts, plus new material and two appendices, in book form in 2025. The book’s title is Did You Come Here to Play Chess or to Have Fun? More 🡢

GM Alex Shabalov versus GM Jesse Kraai, 2024 U.S. Senior Championship

U.S. Senior and Junior Chess Championships: Qualify in July

Chess players 50 or older, and under age 21, will travel to Chicago in late July 2025 to earn spots in the 2026 U.S. Senior Championship, 2026 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship, and 2026 U.S. Junior Championship. Chess players between the ages of 21 and 50 will travel to Chicago too, as excellent prize money is offered for that age group! More 🡢

Cheese Life or Chess Life?

The U.S. Open, an annual tournament run by US Chess, returns to Middleton, Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s nickname is “America’s Dairyland” and state residents are sometimes referred to as “Cheeseheads.” More 🡢

Alexandra and Andrea Botez: Chess Content Creators

Alexandra and Andrea Botez are best known as chess players and chess content creators. Their YouTube channel, which has 1.81 million followers, is described as “two sisters who like chess and chaos.” Their BotezLive Twitch channel has 1.3 million followers. Its description is “Welcome to BotezLive, a chess show hosted by two sisters…. Both grew up playing chess competitively and represented Team Canada in many international events.” More 🡢