CHESS
With the recent popularity of “The Queen’s Gambit” on Netflix, I have been noticing an increased interest in chess, so I figured I would use this issue of the Internet Gazette to highlight some free online chess resources for you to check (pardon the pun).  All of these sites are incredibly beneficial to players of all skill levels, whether you’re a Grandmaster who’s ready to go toe-to-toe with Magnus Carlsen, or a beginner who doesn’t quite know the names of all the pieces yet. 
 
PLAY
There are several sites out there where you can play chess and sharpen your skills.  The two most popular ones are lichess.org and chess.com.  Both allow you to play against the computer or other people, keep track of your chess rating, have puzzles and lessons to improve your game, and offer analysis to show you what you did right and where you blundered.  The big difference between the sites is that lichess.org is completely free, whereas chess.com has limits on some of their features if you don’t have a membership (you can still play an unlimited amount of games for free though).
 
www.lichess.org  
www.chess.com
 
PUZZLES
Chess puzzles are designed to help reinforce tactics and pattern recognition, presenting the player with a snapshot of a game in progress and asking them what the best move is for one side.  Doing enough of these should help you identify potential pins, forks, skewers, checks, and mates that might not always be obvious in the heat of a live game.  ChessPuzzle.net has countless puzzles from actual games. You can browse their puzzle selection by difficulty, task, type of position, or by player, and you can register (for free) if you want the site to keep track of your progress and rating.
 
https://chesspuzzle.net/
 
YOUTUBE TUTORIALS
BRAINFUSE CHESS
 
You can use YouTube to learn pretty much anything these days, and chess is no exception.  Agadmator is a popular YouTuber who provides move-by-move analysis of famous matches.  GothamChess analyzes games and gives tutorials and advice for beginners.  Saint Louis Chess Club has an archive of hundreds of free chess lectures from Grandmasters geared towards players at all levels.    
 
https://www.youtube.com/user/AGADMATOR
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQHX6ViZmPsWiYSFAyS0a3Q
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM-ONC2bCHytG2mYtKDmIeA
 
 
Brainfuse – the multi-purpose tutoring resource for people of all ages - now offers live chess tutoring (Monday through Thursday, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.) and has a list of resources from expert chess players to help you with your chess tactics and strategy.   Just follow the link below, type in your library barcode, and click on the "Expert Help" dropdown menu, under "Featured Service".

http://main.suffolk.ny.brainfuse.com/authenticate.asp
 
REVIEW OLD GAMES
One of the best ways to improve your chess skills is to review and analyze old games.  Chessgames.com  is a database that allows you to do just that, with thousands of documented (and annotated) games from pros all over the world.  You can search by the specific game, year, player, openings played, and even by the number of moves!  They also have lists of the most notable games, allowing you to watch and analyze immortal games from the best players of all-time.     
http://www.chessgames.com/
 
SPOTLIGHT ON - WARM UP TO A GOOD BOOK: THE VIRTUAL ADULT WINTER READING CLUB
You have until March 20th to participate in Warm Up to a Good Book: The Virtual Adult Winter Reading Club!   It’s a fun activity that you can participate in without ever having to leave the comfort and safety of your home.  To register and submit reviews, visit commackpubliclibrary.org and click on the Reading Club link on the bottom of the page.  Submit five reviews (the books you report on don’t have to be from the library) and we’ll send you a prize.  Complete a BINGO card with your reviews and you’ll get the prize and a ticket for our grand prize drawing at the end of the club.  For any additional information, email brian.bonelli@commackpubliclibrary.org
 
Questions? Comments?
Please contact Brian Bonelli by email at brian.bonelli@commackpubliclibrary.org