28 February 2012

The First World Championship

In his Chess Note no.4360, Both stood up, Edward Winter gave several versions of an apocryphal anecdote concerning the first two candidates for the title of World Champion. Here's the Irving Chernev version:-

Steinitz and Zukertort were once present at a dinner where a toast was given to the "Chess Champion of the world". Both players stood up.

After the great 1883 London Tournament, both players had a legitimate claim to the title. The incipient challenge over the next few months was recorded by the British Chess Magazine (BCM), starting with an article 'Some Aspects of the Two Tournaments' (i.e. the 'major' and 'minor' tournaments).

Counting from the end of the 1883 London event, where Zukertort won the 'major' tournament in June, more than two and a half years would pass before the start of the first recognized World Championship event, the 1886 Steinitz - Zukertort Title Match.

27 February 2012

Been There, Done That ... Several Times

It turned out that next on the list for Been There, Done That was an updated version of Chess Ratings. I added a couple of images that were not in the original version, plus their explanatory text, and left the rest alone. Related material is

If only all of my web projects were that easy.

26 February 2012

Smirnov's Gambit

When we last visted GM Igor Smirnov in Signing Up for Stuff, I wasn't quite sure what to make of his chess instruction marketing. That was three months ago and I'm still following his lessons with keen interest. Here's one of the video clips released since my previous post on the subject. It might also have been titled, 'Looking for an Alternative to the Sveshnikov Sicilian?'


Smirnov Gambit (Part 1) (27:05) • 'I am going to show you one very interesting opening line which I have discovered recently. I am sure that you will get some ideas after watching this video lesson.'

For more instructional clips, including parts 2++, see GMIgorSmirnov's Channel on YouTube.

24 February 2012

All Too True


The Supermodel and the Chess Shop (1:13) • 'What happened when model Helena Christensen walked into The Village Chess Shop in Greenwich Village, NYC? Photos, interview and editing by Claire Ward.'

Supermodel or not, when you walk for the first time into just about any chess club on the planet, chances are you'll be ignored. It's the way of the chess world.

23 February 2012

1890 Chigorin - Gunsberg

British Chess Magazine (BCM) to the rescue. Three years ago, in Chigorin Wrapup, I wrote

I had planned to wrap up this series on Chigorin with a summary of the 1890 Chigorin - Gunsberg match, using the same format I developed for 1893 Tarrasch - Chigorin (Anatomy). I ran into a snag when I realized that, although I have copies of the game scores, I have no record of the sequence in which they were played (and no way of knowing if my game scores are complete or accurate). There appears to be nothing on the web except for the final result of the match. The summary will have to wait until I have access to contemporary sources.

It turns out that all of the game scores were published by BCM in 1890. From the February 1890 issue:-

Mr. Gunsberg's friends (and he has many) are naturally very jubilant over the turn of the tide in his match with Tschigorin [Chigorin]. It looked all up with him at the commencement, and the great Russian expert seemed to be having it all his own way. Mr. Gunsberg's friends are already discounting his victory, and then -- ? Then they say he will challenge Steinitz. In that case I think I may say that a match between the two would come off, for I don't think that any great bother would take place over preliminary arrangements.

From the March 1890 issue:-

The great contest of ten games up between Messrs. Tchigorin [Chigorin] and Gunsberg, came to an end on February 19th. After various fluctuations in the state of the score, it reached on that day the total of nine won games each, and five drawn, a result which has rarely been attained in any match of first class importance. After such a neck and neck struggle, the winning of one more game would have had so little effect in determining the relative position of the two masters, that the committee, very wisely we think, resolved that the decisive game should not be played.

And, yes, one of my game scores was in error. It had the players switched as White and Black. Next step: 1890 Chigorin - Gunsberg (Anatomy).

21 February 2012

Fischer on the 'Rubbish' Defense

A recent post, Kenny Rogoff as You've Never Seen Him, points the way to a Boys' Life column by Bobby Fischer where the eight-time U.S. champion annotated a game by Rogoff. Played in the last round of the U.S. Junior (Invitational) against Steven Spencer of New York City, it clinched the title for Rogoff.

Rogoff: Fischer actually wrote an article about one of my games from the 1969 U.S. Junior championship, one of the very few times he ever chose to write about someone else’s games.

That alone makes Fischer's notes worthy of study. Already after the initial moves 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7, I learned something new.

Fischer: The Pirc defense, also called the 'Rubbish' or 'Rat' defense because of the cramped but fighting game it gives Black.

The game continued 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3. Here Fischer gave a relatively detailed analysis of the alternative 4.Bc4. Why spend this effort on the fourth move? Due to Black's having avoided ...Nf6, the game has already branched off into less charted territory, which Fischer obviously thought was important. After the further 4...d5 5.h3, White's fifth is the sort of move that sometimes gets a '?'. Fischer gave it a '!'.

Fischer: Ordinarily you should avoid unprovoked Rook Pawn moves because there's something more important to do. In this position, though, it's justified because ...Bg4 would have been very strong for Black, pinning White's Knight and putting pressure on his d-Pawn indirectly.

Now the players continued 5...dxe4 6.Nxe4 Nd7 7.Bc4 Ngf6 8.Nxf6+ Nxf6 9.O-O O-O, reaching the diagrammed position.

Here comes the sort of brief comment that we see so rarely in notes by top players, but that can be so useful to the improving club player.

Fischer: Now White's advantage is that he has a Pawn in the center -- which means more space -- plus both his Bishops have good diagonals. [...] Black's pieces, on the other hand, have little scope.

'More space, good diagonals, little scope', got it? Again, after 10.c3 Qc7 11.Qe2 b6 12.Bg5,

Fischer: Notice how slowly Ken builds up his position. Before he takes any decisive action he brings all his pieces out to their most active posts.

And again, after 12...b5,

Fischer: This move, besides being inconsistent (because he could have moved here last move -- in one move!), slightly weakens Black's square on c5, creating a 'hole' on that square, which could be very helpful to White later on. You may notice how much I emphasize this business of 'holes' or weak squares. That's because it's so important. It has been correctly said that 'Pawns are the soul of chess'. It is also a truism that Pawns cannot move backwards, and a thoughtless Pawn move can ruin an otherwise good position.

A much better plan would have been 12...Bb7 followed by 13...c5 as soon as possible, hitting back at White's key center Pawn.

After a few more comments admiring Rogoff's attack and combination that led to a win in 20 moves, Fischer finished his column with 'Now for some tips that I think will be useful to you.'

  • 'Don't "turn off" your mind when it's your opponent's turn to move. Use this time to think ahead to your next possible move. And when he does move, always ask yourself, "Why did he make this particular move?" before you do anything else.

  • 'Try to control an open file with your Rooks, especially when there is only one open file.

  • 'Don't give up in the middle of the game if you don't think you're doing well -- or even if you're in big trouble. There's always the chance that you'll have a flash of brilliance or that your opponent might slip up. Chess is a kaleidoscope -- it's ever changing -- and opportunities suddenly appear.

  • 'Don't be discouraged if you are Black and think that you're automatically going to lose. With Black you have the advantage of not having to show your hand first, and you can play a defense of your own choosing -- preferably one you're familiar with.

  • 'When you have free time, study the game of chess. A good book to look at is Larry Evans's Beginner to Expert (Lee Publications). In it, Evans shows you the basic moves. He explains the various forces that decide chess games, and shows how to win in the end games. He provides a lot of one- and two-move checkmate puzzles to sharpen your finishing-off techniques. One particularly interesting part of the book is when he replays one of his games and explains what was going on in his head at each move. He also provides an interesting glossary of chess terms.'

All very good advice, but that last paragraph made me wonder, as had another parenthetical sentence in the note after my diagram above, where I replaced it with '[...]':-

Fischer?: (And once again remember the four important elements to keep in mind before making any move are space, force or material, time, and Pawn structure.)

This is a classic example of Evans' didactic technique. Who really wrote those Boys' Life columns -- Fischer or Evans or both?

20 February 2012

Been There, Done That with ECO

I finished the work started with Image Galleries Revisited -- the result is called ECO at a Glance -- and added it to my page on Learn to Play Chess.

The newer version of the Jalbum software displays its own ads along with a message 'Don't want ads? Upgrade!', where 'Upgrade!' means 'Pay!' There are better ways to convince me to buy a license than by annoying my visitors, but I'm going to have to accept their annoyance for the time being.

After I've finished the work started with Been There, Done That, I'll add some new image galleries. Then maybe, just maybe, I'll consider buying a license.

19 February 2012

Stein, Mettlach (not Leonid)

Chess Sells Beer? Or maybe beer sells chess? On Top eBay Chess Items by Price, you're never sure which is selling what.

The item on the left sold under the title 'ANTIQUE METTLACH GERMAN STEIN WITH CHESS PIECES WITH BOARD'. It received 30 bids from 16 bidders, finally selling for US $1009. The price more than doubled in the last five minutes of bidding.

Were those 16 bidders chess collectors, stein collectors, some other kind of collector, or a few individuals looking for a nice piece to display on the fireplace mantle? Whatever the motivation, the item's description stated clearly that it was something special:-

This listing is for a very handsome Mettlach german antique stein. It is 1/2 liter stein that measures 9 1/2 inches or 24 cm high. It is an incised stein with a pewter top. The stein is decorated with the center design being a chess board flanked by two Knight chess pieces. Above this is a motto in German "SCHACH DEM KONIGE" or "The Chess Kings".

The stein is signed on the bottom with "METTLACH GESCHUTZ 2049" along with Mettlach's incised castle mark. The pewter top is fancy with a mask on the thumb piece. A handsome stein. It is in exceptional condition. There is no damage and the lid is tight and strong.

I'm not sure that the translation of "SCHACH DEM KONIGE" as "The Chess Kings" is entirely accurate, but I'm not going to quibble. It's a nice piece whatever you call it.

17 February 2012

Death Plays Chess


THE CHALLENGE (2010) Death Plays Chess © Flickr user Alejandro Lorenzo under Creative Commons.

The thumbnail page for the set, Death plays chess (2010) - a set on Flickr, explains,

"Death Plays Chess" is a visual story in photographic art of the characters originally created by Ingmar Bergman for the film "The Seventh Seal". Every artwork examines precise details. Anything excessive has been eliminated in order to concentrate fully on the characters and the storyline. The simplicity of the images almost reaches a level of abstraction.

Your first challenge is to figure out which color you just picked. Is the Pawn White or is it Black?

16 February 2012

Kenny Rogoff as You've Never Seen Him

Unless you happen to have an August 1969 copy of Chess Life lying around the house and flip to page 335, where it says, 'Rogoff Wins U.S. Junior : Kenneth Rogoff of Rochester, New York scored 6-1 to win the United States Junior Chess Championship by the widest margin ever recorded in the four-year history of this invitational event.'

That's the same Kenneth Rogoff (CL photo credit, Marc Miller) who went on to become a chess grandmaster, a Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and a Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Chess Life also noted,

Rogoff, at 16, is the youngest player to win the U.S. Junior, an event in which the eight highest rated players under twenty years of age compete each year. He has played tournament chess for only two and one-half years and emerged during the past year as the dominant player in upstate New York. Among the interested spectators and analysts at this year's games was GM Robert Fischer, who apparently feels Rogoff has great future potential if his development continues at the same rapid rate.

In his chess bio, Harvard Econ Department - Kenneth Rogoff - Biography, Rogoff points to one of his wins from the 1969 U.S. Junior annotated by Fischer in the October 1969 Boys' Life. He is frequently featured for the topic of 'Chess Player Makes Good ... But Not at Chess', so liked by the mainstream chess media. A recent example was Rogoff on chess addiction and why he had to give up the game on Chessbase.com.

His page at Chessgames.com, Kenneth Rogoff, currently has 2827 pages of kibitzing. I doubt that more than a few of those pages have much to do with chess, and are more likely filled with flame wars related to the subject of economics, aka the dismal science.

I also doubt that the Harvard professor likes being called 'Kenny'. I found only a few such references on the web and all were decidedly irreverent.

14 February 2012

An Opening Quartgrip

The little known term 'quartgrip', coined by Hans Kmoch, denotes a formation of eight Pawns -- four White and four Black -- that find themselves in a curious pattern that resembles a circle. If you search for the term on the web, you'll find a few hundred references, most of them dealing with examples from the endgame.

In a chess960 post from last year, Pawn Power in Chess960, I gave some examples of Kmoch's chess neologisms, most of which have been long forgotten. About the quartgrip, he wrote,

The quartgrip must be understood as containing a duo of shielded stragglers on the second rank, which virtually doubles the disadvantage of such a straggler. The attacker, having at his disposal two head-duos on the fifth rank, can create an advanced passer by force the sneaking way.

Kmoch also noted that the quartgrip is 'likely to occur only at an advanced stage of the game'. I recently played a game where it occurred in the opening. In the following diagram, the quartgrip is the formation of Pawns on the e- through h-files.

The initial moves were 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h6 5.g4 Bd7 6.h5 e6 7.f4, reaching the quartgrip on the seventh move. Euwe called White's 4.h4 'the Hara-Kiri System', probably because it cost Tal dearly as White in his 1961 return match against Botvinnik. In recent years, Kramnik used it during the last game of his 2004 title defense against Leko. In a must-win situation, he won.

Kmoch gave another example of an opening quartgrip in the variation 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3. Where's the quartgrip? He wrote, 'White is entitled to strive for the formation e5, f4, g4, h5, which may lead to the quartgrip'. Then again, it probably won't.

My example of a quartgrip must be a record. It takes at least six moves to set up the formation and I did it in seven, the move 2.d4 being the only unnecessary move. In an earlier game, I achieved a quartgrip on the 13th move, but this was a different formation: White's lead Pawns were on the fourth rank, Black's on the fifth. Neither player was able to enforce a breakthrough before the game ended prematurely.

13 February 2012

Image Galleries Revisited

The next conversion project for Been There, Done That is based on an image gallery. Of course, I want to use the same design guidelines I worked out for Image Galleries and Image Galleries Standardized, but there's a complication. I hadn't yet installed the Jalbum software on the laptop I currently use, as mentioned in How I Spent My Summer Vacation. I installed the software, started a new image gallery, added the required images, performed some initial customization, and uploaded the result to my Chess for All Ages website. The current version isn't fit for public view, so I'll keep the address of the new page secret for now.

12 February 2012

World Championship Day by Day

Curious to know on which days people are most likely to visit my World Championship site, I gathered daily statistics starting from 1st January 2000, calculated averages, and developed the following chart.

Fewer visitors on the weekend than during the week? Wednesday the second busiest day of the week? Those aren't the results I expected.

10 February 2012

Tata Steel, Wijk aan Zee 2012

The media presentations for top chess events just keep getting better and better. Here's the last round wrapup for the most recent supertournament at Wijk aan Zee. The presenter, if I'm not mistaken, is WGM Bianca Muhren of the Netherlands.


Tata Steel Chess 2012 (6:16) • 'Our daily video update round 13, final round'

See also similar clips for each of the other rounds: Tata Steel Chess 2012, Daily0001020304050607080910111213

09 February 2012

American in Havana

Pictured below is one of a small series of photos, currently being offered on Ebay, all showing GM Larry Evans in Havana 1964. The item's description said,

An authentic vintage photo that shows Cuban guerrilla leader Ernesto Che Guevara playing chess against the United States Grandmaster Larry Evans during the 1964 Capablanca Memorial Tournament. The photo was taken in the Havana Hilton Hotel.

The photo shows Evans with about two minutes on the clock, while Che Guevara appears to have about five minutes (his arm partially obscures the clock). I suppose it was a blitz game at time odds.

When I first saw the photo I wondered why Evans was able to play in Havana 1964, while Fischer was prevented from travelling to Cuba for the next edition of the event in 1965. Wikipedia to the rescue:-

U.S. Champion Bobby Fischer had been invited to play and was offered a $3000 appearance fee, but the United States Department of State would not allow him to travel to Cuba due to tension in Cuba-United States relations. American Grandmaster Larry Evans had been permitted to play in the tournament the year before, as he was also acting as a journalist. The U.S. Department of State often allowed newsmen and journalists to travel to off-limits countries, but it would not budge on Fischer even though he had made arrangements to write about the event for the Saturday Review. Fischer instead played his games by telex from the Marshall Chess Club in New York City. • Capablanca Memorial

The January 1965 Chess Review presented one of Evans' games as its Game of the Month, annotated by Max Euwe, although Evans lost. The introduction to the game stated,

Apparently, the present government of Cuba desires to keep alive the memory of Jose Raul Capablanca. A third memorial tournament was held in Havana during 1964 and, this time, too, with a large roster of players -- no less than 22 participated among whom were several top-level grandmasters. That the players were enthusiastic about the prize fund was hardly surprising: the tenth prize was even more than was the first prize at the FIDE Interzonal tournament. For the winner, $2500 was available.

Similar arrangements for FIDE tournaments would probably encounter resistance. Nevertheless, it is high time for FIDE to revise its present financial dispositions. The well-known Swiss organizer, Alois Nagler, has even stated that he does not wish to be embarrassed by adhering to 'FIDE prizes'.

'Encounter resistance' from whom? The Soviets?

07 February 2012

Garry's Finest Moment

Let's tie one of Kasparov's finest moments, as recounted in Garry's Story and Garry's Games, together with World Championship Opening Preparation. In the last game of their 1985 match, the soon-to-be 13th World Champion was ahead by one game as challenger against the 12th World Champion. Karpov was in a must-win situation. Kasparov discussed the tension, psychology, and emotions of that 24th game in Kasparov, My Story (last part), starting around the 40th minute of the Youtube clip.

[Before the game] I spoke to Tal. He told me, 'Last game, just play something new. It's very difficult for a player who has to win to find the right move or the right idea if he didn't expect this position to arise.'

I expected Karpov to play 1.d4. It's no longer a secret, I wanted to play the Gruenfeld for the first time in my life after 1.d4. So that would be my surprise. I already prepared it partially for our unlimited match in 1984-85, during the match, under heavy coaching by Adorjan and Dorfman. For game 24 I decided I would not go for a Queen's Gambit, I would go for a Gruenfeld.

One of the reasons was that I felt Karpov's best chance would be to play a long, tiring, boring game. Remember what I did in Seville in 1987. I just remembered that what would be the most unpleasant for me would be if he plays for the slight edge, to postpone the final celebration. Because if you force your opponent to fight, he doesn't have a choice. It's easier for him to forget that [only] a draw is needed, so he'll play and it's two to one. Two of the results are in favor of the leading player. So I was a bit afraid of Karpov playing 1.d4 and trying to play a very quiet game with a slight edge. That would be very irritating and eventually I could crack under pressure. That's why I wanted to play a Gruenfeld, bot a Queen's Gambit.

Then when I came to Tchaikovsky Hall, imagine the tension there. It was a big day and I knew I had to win -- I had no doubt I would win the match. And I had a strange feeling it would be an interesting game.

Suddenly Karpov played 1.e4. It was the best present for me he could give. After 1.e4 it would be a Sicilian.

The interviewer, GM Plaskett, asked, 'You came to the board with no special preparation for 1.e4? You expected 1.d4?'

I would play 1...c5 and 2...d6. That's what I prepared after game 16, after we found the refutation of my gambit. I switched back to my Scheveningen, we played game 18, and Karpov didn't do well. He was slightly worse when he offered a draw and I accepted. I was following the Candidate tournament in Montpellier and I saw Sokolov [as White] beating Ribli with this line. We looked at this game for probably an hour, maybe even less, before game 24, not specifically for game 24. I already had an idea for developing my pieces the way I developed them in this game. We didn't have a precise strategical configuration, but on 1.e4 I was very happy. The Sicilian! That would be the opening I've been playing since my childhood, since I was nine. It was a very good omen.

Karpov wants to play Sicilian, it would be my territory, not his. Eventually I knew he would have to play either g4 or f5 to make something dramatic. That's not how Karpov wants to win. He was always trying to avoid it. The good sign was that in the decisive game Karpov had to play some move that he didn't believe in and I had to play the moves I believed were the best in the position.

The opening we played very quickly. Everybody wanted to save time. That's the line we played already in game 18, and now Karpov played 15.g4.


White to play 15.g4

Very natural. If you want to win with White in the Scheveningen, you have to play g4. But it's against Karpov's beliefs. When Karpov plays g4 he considers Pawn weaknesses. In order to play g4, g5, f5, you should not be concerned about weaknesses, because it's too late.

Even in the final game I guess Karpov had certain ideas about positional weaknesses and about balancing the position and not creating any further weaknesses. We'll see what happened in the game.

The rest of Kasparov's presentation is a classic lesson in weighing the dynamics of an unbalanced position, an art in which he was an unsurpassed master.

06 February 2012

Bound for Glory

Working title: Been There, Done That with Binds! I added a new tutorial, Bobby's Binds (that's 'Bobby' of Robert J. Fischer fame), to Improve Your Chess Game.


The best known bind

In the tutorial I observed,

To find good examples of binds, we have to look at the notes of master level games. One excellent source for examples is Robert J. (Bobby) Fischer's 'My 60 Memorable Games'. More than a third of the games contain examples of binds, most often in the notes.

I worked on other instances of recurring themes from the writings of world-class grandmasters, but this was the only topic that ever became an article.

05 February 2012

Chess for Baby Boomers of All Ages

If you've been following this fortnightly series on Top eBay Chess Items by Price, you know that the majority of those items are chess sets. The set pictured in the left column of my composite image below was titled '1969 WOODSTOCK UNIQUE ONE OF A KIND HANDCRAFTED CHESS SET' and sold Buy-It-Now for $500.

The description said,

This set is in progress... Please give me approximately three weeks after winning bid... The following pictures are shown in order to give a visual feel for the aesthetics of my chess sets... I have made many of these rock & roll chess sets and thought that the ultimate set would naturally be Woodstock. Take a "Leap of Faith" and be repaid with a guaranteed unique one of a kind handcrafted and hand painted chess set.

This is a must have for any chess enthusiast/collector or Woodstock fan / collector... It is a fun, colorfully aesthetic nostalgic conversation piece... Not to mention, recession proof, chess is fun entertainment enjoyable at the comfort of home with family or friends -- a great mind stimulator... and a functional piece of art that will draw immediate attention and curiosity.

The theme is "Woodstock Performers" on one side and the "Woodstock (Hippyish) Crowd" on the other... • Woodstock Performers Pieces: King: Jimi Hendrix / Queen: Janis Joplin / 2 Bishops (playing guitar) Carlos Santana & Alvin Lee / 2 Knights (keyboards) Sly Stone... (drums) Keith Moon... Drum will have painted Woodstock logo on front... Rooks will be amps and musical instruments (bongos, congas) • Woodstock Crowd Pieces: ... Hard to describe, but will be cool.

Absolutely no molds used here -- these are each individually hand sculpted from a porcelein white ceramic clay, I then apply a hardening coat / sealer finish to give the piece more strength, then I hand paint each piece and apply a high gloss finishing coat...

There is no art in mass production... You are purchasing a one of a kind chess set... Pictures don't do justice in capturing the essence of the set as a whole... I have attempted in taking pictures of the complete set, I hope they give a good visual feel for the aesthetics of the chess set.

The 'FOLLOWING PICTURES' included the Beatles and Pink Floyd images in the right columns of my composite. These were on offer in other auctions by the same seller. I can't be sure, of course, but I don't think these will have any trouble selling. This music was, after all, part of the culture of the baby boomers.

03 February 2012

Longbeard at the Bar

'The chess champion deciding on a quick one.'
Drawn by Puys


Chess Champion Cartoon © Flickr user janwillemsen under Creative Commons.

Original publication unknown.

02 February 2012

Hunting Treasure in Chess Review

At Chesshistory.com, a spate of references to Chess Review over the last few months reminded me that I have a series on Kings of Chess Journalism running, last seen in my post on Early Chess Magazines. Chesshistory's Chess Notes column referenced Chess Review six times last month, twice in the previous month, and a whopping ten times in November 2011.

The many references, some by Edward Winter, some by his correspondents, might be because the complete run of CRs is available in PDF format, making them accessible to anyone with a highspeed web connection and a few extra gigabytes of mass storage.

The Wikipedia page on Chess Review informs us that the magazine was started by Isaac Kashdan as editor, with

Al Horowitz and Fred Reinfeld as associate editors. After one year Kashdan left and Al Horowitz became editor, a position he retained for the remainder of the magazine's existence. Chess Review was virtually unchallenged as the premier U.S. chess periodical from its start in 1933 until a rival emerged in 1961.

That rival was the USCF's Chess Life. In 1969 the two magazines merged to become Chess Life & Review, a title which held until the '& Review' portion was dropped in 1980. Wikipedia also maintains a List of Chess Periodicals, many of them with links to their own Wikipedia pages.