Perpetual Chess Linkfest #168, May 29, 2026

A Niemann-Nepo exhibition match started today, with Nepo striking the first blow. FM Dennis Monokroussos points out that with a good result, GM Hans Niemann can crack the world top 10. (That is looking less likely after round 1) ( The Chess Mind)

In today’s round, Magnus started the inevitable bounce back by beating Gukesh on the Black side of a Ragozin. Notes and analysis from FM Dennis Monokroussos. (The Chess Mind)

FM Dalton Perrine surveyed some well known coaches to ascertain what they may be doing right, and wrong. “Coaching that feels comfortable is usually coaching that’s serving the coach.” (Chess Chatter)

To me, Chess Hell is a lack of momentum, lack of progress, lack of motivation. The only way to gain momentum is to start, the only way to progress is to keep moving forward, and the only way to build motivation is to take action. As I sat down before my unrated opponent, I promised myself that I would keep calm, keep looking for winning opportunities, and no matter what keep going. Sheldon of Osaka on fighting through slumps

What chess lessons can we learn from the unexpected success of a soccer/football club? IM Junta Ikeda extracts many. “When I was younger I played a lot of tournament games but barely analysed any of them. Part of it was not really knowing how, but mostly I told myself it would be too much work, so I avoided it. What I actually needed to do was this: look for recurring weaknesses and patterns, find one thing to take into training, repeat.” (Infinite Chess)

Chris Wainscott reflects on the personal lessons he absorbed from reading Jennifer Shahade’s Thinking Sideways. (On the Road to Chess Master)

That’s all for this week- have a good weekend!- Ben

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GM Noel Studer-

GM Studer has published two popular courses- one with the goal of getting you to 1200, and the second designing a study

Check out Noël’s updated course on studying chess the right way here (https://courses.nextlevelchess.blog/courses/simplified-chess-improvement-system?ref=bc4be0)

Chessiverse:

If you have not already, be sure to check out IM John Bartholomew’s new site, Chessiverse. It offers over 600 human like bots to spar and practice openings against, and is rolling out more features and courses, including IM John Bartholomew’s Comprehensive Scandinavian. Playing is free, but you can use the code “Perpetual30” to save 30% on premium courses and subscriptions.