Chess Cafe

Site URL: http://www.chesscafe.com Type: Information Site Sub-Type: News and Instruction Written by: M.Lieberman

Prominent chess historian Hanon Russell deserves our thanks for an excellent online chess magazine that contains something for everyone. The contributing authors and columnists form the basis of a truly international site without communication problems. Go to your favorite Internet Café, find a comfortable couch, and point your browser to Chess Cafe for an enjoyable evening of chess. As with many physical chess studios you can find chess books and equipment. But while you can buy equipment online at the Chess Cafe, it is the magazine content that makes The Chess Cafe special. The content changes weekly and you can obtain an e-mail preview of each weekly issue (at no cost) if you want one. Articles from past issues are kept in archives and can be downloaded at a later time. Chess trivia buffs will find mention each day of famous players who were born on that day (as well as their ages). Those who enjoy reading will find insightful chess related book reviews as features and in columns. When chessplayers get together there must be a "Skittles Room" for relaxation. The Chess Café has a "Skittles Room" that contains non-technical articles related to chess. The May 2 issue, for example, features an article on chess in India. While it mentions players like Sultan Khan and Vishy Anand, the article focuses on a number of young rapidly rising stars and includes pictures, biographical information, and games. What is a café without pictures? The Chess Café contains about 650 photos of chess stars provided by Edward Winter and dating back into the 19th century in some cases. If you play over a game played by a chess superstar of the late 1800s and throughout the 1900s you can probably find their picture in the gallery. Chess problemists and serious endgame students will appreciate the endgame studies area, with a different study each week. There is also an "Endgame Corner" column. There are a dozen or so other chess columns which cover a wide range of subjects. For example, "Opening Lanes" by Gary Lane and "Hoisting the Hippopotamus" by Lev Alburt (author of the Comprehensive Chess Course) and Al Lawrence (former USCF Executive Director) focus on openings. Richard Forster's "Late Knight" column currently is reviewing the 1846 match between Staunton and Horwitz. "The Miles Report" is based on the experiences of British GM Tony Miles and provides good international tournament reporting as well as games. "An Arbiter's Notebook" by Geurt Gijjsen focuses on FIDE rules issues and their ramifications. Dan Heisman's "Novice Nook" Mark Dvoretsky's "The Instructor", and Bruce Pandolfini's "The Q and A Way" are oriented to helping beginners and intermediate players. Tim Harding's "The Kibitzer" is also helpful to lower rated players. The current version continues his discussion of the Two Knights' Defense. Hans Ree's "Dutch Treat" benefits from the perspective of one of Holland's strongest and most interesting players. International chess politics enters into some of the individual columns from time to time. What if you have something to say? The Chess Café has its own moderated chess bulletin board where people can exchange ideas without the risk of it becoming a flame war. The Chess Café's links section provides a good listing of international chess links on subjects ranging from chess history through chess satire. It is, of course, linked to This Week in Chess (TWIC), so it doesn't need to present the level of news coverage that TWIC does. You can seamlessly go to TWIC as a basic news reference directly from The Chess Cafe. The Chess Cafe has won awards as the best chess website and I can see why. I rate it a 9.9 out of 10, meaning it is one of a very small number of sites that should be bookmarked and visited frequently.

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