For the second year in a row, GM Gata Kamsky takes second place behind world-number-two GM Veselin Topalov, leaving the American unsatisfied as he prepared for his upcoming Candidates’ matches.

Fans of J.C. Hallman’s The Chess Artist will remember Glenn Umstead (left). Even if you haven’t read the book, Umstead’s 1997 New York Open encounter with GM Hannes Stefansson (right) will resonate with any player who dreams of matching wits with a GM.

August is back-to-school month in much of the country, so as chess programs start gearing up for the new school year, Chess Life picks the brains of a selection of our top American coaches—but adult students should read this too.

While Chess Life does not usually devote space to variants, bughouse is a force to be reckoned with as any visitor to a scholastic event can see—possibly it is as popular as blitz. Now it is even generating its own literature.