The Carlsen Era

Pigs could still fly, dodos could still walk the Earth, and Viswanathan Anand could still save his world championship match against Magnus Carlsen. But I wouldn’t bet on it! Carlsen now leads the best-of-twelve match by 6-3, and needs only one more draw to...

News flash! Future world champion born!

Because the first game of the world championship match doesn’t give us much to talk about today, I can catch up on one important piece of news from earlier this week: Elizabeth Spiegel (née Vicary) gave birth to a baby boy! His name is Noah. If you’d like...

The “P” Word

The day the chess world has waited for is almost here — the beginning of the match between Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen for the world chess championship. It’s ironic that Carlsen is still so young (22 years old, with his 23rd birthday a couple days after...

Day-After Thoughts

Ordinarily, if you asked me which I would enjoy more, playing in a chess tournament or staying at home and watching a chess tournament on the Internet, I would say, “Playing in a chess tournament.” It’s a complete no-brainer. I’d rather be a...