American Chess Magazine Issue 42

American Chess Magazine #42:

The Big Boss Tells All – Once Upon A Time in American Chess

In an exclusive interview, Bill Goichberg shares his remarkable journey through the American chess scene, which has spanned over 60 years.

In 1964 Bill Goichberg was the third most active chess player in the United States. At some point, his passion for and aptitude in organizing chess tournaments surpassed his competitive ambitions. Since then, his name has become synonymous with the organization of prestigious chess events across the country, largely through the Continental Chess Association (CCA), which he founded in 1968.

FM Jon Jacobs conducted this exclusive interview, highlighting Goichberg’s versatility in handling various roles: introducing rated scholastic tournaments, competing with other organizers, engaging in USCF governance, advocating for U.S. players within FIDE, banning tobacco smoke in tournaments, setting trends in time-controls, and much more. To offer insight in Bill’s chess strength (rated over 2500 FIDE in the late 1970s!), a selection of his games, annotated by both Jacobs and Goichberg, perfectly rounds out this extensive summary of his six-decade chess career.

ACM multiple award-winning author, GM Sarunas Sulskis, first dissects two games by the new (old) U.S. Champions – Fabiano Caruana and Carissa Yip – before concluding his Magnificent 3 column with a remarkable win by one of the world’s fastest-rising stars, Arjun Erigaisi from India. 

As 2024 draws to a close, we asked our contributors to select the best openings, middlegames and endings played this year. GM Spiridon Kapnisis prepared an extensive overview of the year’s most significant opening lines. His analysis exceeded the available space in this issue, so the second part will be published in ACM issue #43. GM Illia Nyzhnyk presents notable examples of middlegame play, tying them to themes he introduced in his earlier columns. He also prepared three puzzles for solving – a wonderful opportunity for readers to test their knowledge and skills. Meanwhile, ACM endgame expert GM Alex Fishbein highlights some of the most critical endgames of 2024, featuring elite-level players.

In his regular column, GM Jacob Aagaardoffers a fresh dozen of instructive examples from tournament play focusing on attacking the opponent’s king placed in the center of the board. The main objective is to maintain “momentum” and prevent the king from finding safety.

Dr. Corey Butler’s psychology column takes a fascinating turn this issue, spotlighting playing styles. Is there a link between a player’s personality and their style? Can playing style be “measured”? Can it be changed? Is there such a thing as a universal style? Dr. Butler tackles these enduring questions in an effort to shed light on this long-standing debate.

This issue was prepared before and during the World Championship match in Singapore. FM Dylan McClain examines the future of classical chess, a topic brought into sharper focus since Magnus Carlsen’s decision to relinquish the title. The once-unquestioned status of the classical world champion as the best player in the world is now under scrutiny. McClain explores whether this perception can be restored and what challenges classical chess may face in the years ahead.

The entire chess world closely followed the World Championship match between Ding Liren and Dommaraju Gukesh. The ACM team was no exception. Our deadline coincided with the conclusion of game 6, so we provide a short summary of these games, focusing on the most intriguing moments from the opening stages of the match.

The successes of our contributors make us immensely proud. Our Features Editor, FM Grayson Rorrer, achieved his second GM-Norm at the 2024 SPICE Cup in Missouri, taking a significant step toward earning the highest title in chess. In a personal retrospective, he reports on this strong open tournament, which concluded with a triumphant finish by another ACM contributor, GM Illia Nyzhnyk, who ultimately won the event and proved his high class.

As usual, Grayson also reports on the most notable tournaments played in the U.S. and abroad over the past two months. His comprehensive report is enriched with annotated games that captured his attention, with a particular focus on the U.S. Championships in both sections. Meanwhile, FM Carsten Hansenreviews ten newly released chess books.

To conclude this issue, our guest in “5x5” is GM Liem Quang Le, Webster University Head Coach, 2019 Asian Champion, 2013 World Blitz Chess Champion and currently ranked 15^th in the world. We are also thrilled to feature Matthias Wuellenweber, CEO of ChessBase, who explains the most important new features of the recently released ChessBase 18 – the indispensable tool for modern chess preparation.