Wednesday, 16 May 2007

Writing for Chess Magazines

Usually hard work, especially for the reward.
At the moment I write for one magazine, Australian Chess, and I write and edit another magazine, Australian Correspondence Chess Quarterly (ACCQ).
For Australian Chess I usually write a regular column, Open and Shut, and the occasional feature. The current issue of Australian Chess contains both, although the fact that I had written a feature (on the Doeberl Cup) did come as a surprise to me. The magazine editor Brian Jones had quite skillfully put together my posts from this blog on the Doeberl Cup (click on the archive link for the originals) into a full report on the tournament! If only all my articles were so easy to write.
As for ACCQ this is still hard work. If you are anxiously waiting for the May issue, I can tell you it is at the printers and will be sent out shortly. Meanwhile, here is a game that came from an article on the Danish Gambit which I wrote for the current issue.

Bird,H - Lasker,E [C21]
Newcastle upon Tyne, 1892

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Qg5 6.Nf3 Qxg2 [As the text move leads to an almost forced loss, the following may be Blacks most sensible choice. 6...Qg6 7.0-0 d6 (7...Qxe4?? 8.Re1) 8.Nc3 Bg4? (8...c6 preventing the knight from reaching d5 appears to be Blacks best choice, although the lack of development must be a worry. 9.Nh4 is one way that White can strive for an advantage, inviting the following plausible, but flawed continuation. 9...Qg4 10.Nf5 Qxd1 11.Raxd1 Bxf5 12.exf5 d5 looks good at first glance but now White simply crashes through. 13.Bxd5!! cxd5 14.Nxd5+-) 9.Nd5±] 7.Rg1 Bb4+ [7...Qh3 8.Bxf7+] 8.Ke2! Qh3 9.Bxf7+ Kd8 [9...Kxf7 10.Ng5+] 10.Bxg7 Ne7 11.Ng5 Qh4 12.Ne6# 1-0

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