October 2007 "Chess Life"

Nice cover - it's IM Irina Krush on a beach, in the sun, with a king clutched in her hand and a "fierce" smirk on her face... No, she's not in a bikini, guys. There are, I think, better photos of her on page 4 and 23, in black and white, where she looks radiantly young and lovely (and yes, she is fully dressed). Krush is the cover story on page 22 with a review of the round by round action from the 2007 U.S. Women's Chess Championship. Yaaaayyyy! Goddesschess' Brilliancy Prize is mentioned on page 26 along with our url (www.goddesschess.com, ahem) and Liz Vicary's annotation of her brilliancy prize winning game behind the black pieces with Camilla Baginskaite. The cover story is 8 pages long - nice job, Chess Life. A bit of irony, the next article (beginning page 31) is "Ivanchuk Tops Montreal; Kamsky Disappoints." But flipping through the magazine I find on page 73 a "Special Notice!! GM Gata Kamsky (blah blah blah) will be playing BOARD #1 2008 National Open June 6-8, 2008 at the Riveria in Las Vegas." Of course, Gata is a draw, and a compelling story - but Chucky has been playing unconscious lately and winning just about everything in sight he's been invited to! Ivanchuk always has been brilliant, just has had problems with nerves at times (hey, darling, I can identify). On the October ratings list Ivanchuk has moved into the #2 position by virtue of his recent red-hot results. Way to go! Of more interest to me, though, is the photo that starts the article on page 31 - in the background are Pia Cramling and Iweta Rajlich waiting to face off against each other. The expressions on the ladies' faces is - well, priceless. The ladies were not playing in the 8th Montreal International but in a women-only event (without checking my notes, I believe it was the Monreal Grand Prix Finale that was running at the same time). I deduce from the photograph in question that the ladies and the gentlemen from both events (and maybe more events, for all I know) were playing at the same time, in the same venue. IM Irina Krush, who also played in the Ladies' Grand Prix in Montreal, was the author of the article that had to report on the rather disappointing finish for her main man GM Pascal Charbonneau, who still managed to score a point above GM Nigel Short, who finished in last place with 2.0! Paging through the mag now...interestingly, there are two reviews this month of books that aren't chess training manuals: a "letter" by J.C. Hallman containing a review of Michael Chabon's novel "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" and a review PLUS an article about Paul Hoffman's memoir "King's Gambit - A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game" AND an excerpt. Just curious - I wonder if Paul Hoffman made a generous contribution to USCF... This edition of Chess Life contains the USCF Sales Catalog for Winter 2008. Does anyone ever order anything from the USCF??? The catalog is 47 pages - and naive me, here I thought Chess Life was finally giving us a really meaty issue. An article worth a read - "Steroid Chess - How Computers, Tournaments & Etiquette Have Changed the Royal Game" by IM Danny Kopec, Ph.D.