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.
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 🡢
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 🡢
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 🡢
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 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 🡢
The Real Paul Morphy: His Life and Chess Games by FIDE Master Charles Hertan relies on past Morphy scholarship, especially David Lawson’s Paul Morphy: The Pride and Sorrow of Chess. Hertan promises three innovations in his book. First, Hertan takes a fresh look at Paul Morphy’s games, thanks to Fritz 18. The Elo rating of […] More 🡢
When Maurice Ashley became a grandmaster, he was the first USA federation Black player to achieve that title. Brewington Hardaway, whose father is African American, is the second USA federation Black player to become a grandmaster. At SuperNationals VIII, Hardaway finished with 6 points out of seven games. That score placed Hardaway in a seven-way […] More 🡢
The SuperNationals VIII tournament run by US Chess has the Susan Polgar Foundation as one of its sponsors. It is an unexpected collaboration. Previously, Grandmaster (GM) Susan Polgar and her husband FIDE Master Paul Truong faced US Chess, then known as USCF, in court. More 🡢
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