I am in Singapore for a training camp with a private student and to be part of a four-man team that will give a training camp to some of the region's biggest talents during the start of the World Championship Match. The other trainers will be long-term friends Boris Gelfand, Pavel Eljanov, and Thomas Luther. 

I tend to overprepare for big group camps. I find it helpful, even if things often take a different turn once things begin. At least I am mentally prepared. So, I have been spending a lot of my time thinking about the camp and less of it thinking about the World Championship. 

But everyone comes with a prediction these days, and I do not want to be different. There are only two reasonable predictions. It will be close, or Gukesh will win by a significant margin. Most have hedged their bets, saying both. I shall refrain from cowardice and predict a blowout +2 or +3 win for Gukesh that never feels competitive. I also expect Ding to retire after the match, should he lose. It has been sad to see a man struggling so much with his dreams coming true. 

We are working on integrating the backend operations in the New In Chess Group. Joint shipments to dealers, people in Glasgow and Alkmaar working together. Learning from each other. The most notable changes when looking from the outside are the following: 

  • Everyman Chess is changing its name to Popular Chess, and books will slowly move across as they go out of print. In 2025, we will also change the name on Kindle and other ePub formats
  • New in Chess Magazine will give the yearly subscribers two free ebooks each year. The first one was CONCEPTUAL ROOK ENDGAMES: WORKBOOK, which I wrote. We want to reward the readers who help us keep this important magazine going. 
  • We will publish a quarterly group leaflet digitally and in print. You can already see the first two on the New in Chess website: 2024 Q3 and 2024 Q4
  • Quality Chess will be on Kindle, and buying our hardcover books through Amazon in the US will eventually be possible.
  • A new imprint will begin in the 2nd half of 2025, called Chess Elevation.