The Mind's Gambit
Chapters in Progress
Each article below is a draft chapter from The Mind's Gambit, published here to invite conversation before the book goes to print. Read them, challenge them, and help me sharpen the arguments. For a deeper dive, each chapter has a companion episode on the Podcast.
Dive In — Read, Challenge, Discuss
Choose a chapter below to read, react, and share your thoughts.
The Constant Board: From Mégrine to Manhattan
A personal journey through the coffee houses of Tunisia and across the Atlantic—how a vinyl board, a humbling defeat, and a father’s quiet faith shaped a lifelong relationship with chess.
The Number: Elo Ratings, Identity and the Sociology of Competitive Chess
How a statistical tool designed for neutral measurement became one of the most powerful psychological forces in the game, and what that tells us about the systems we build to measure human worth.
Upcoming Chapters
The Myth of the Mad Genius
Why the story chess tells about itself—that the game drives people mad—is a cultural construction that flatters players while excusing institutions.
Two Endgames: From Fischer to Naroditsky
Separated by half a century, undone by the same institutional indifference. Two endgames with no one left to play for them.
The Prodigy Machine
Inside the systems that identify, develop, and sometimes destroy young chess talent.
One More Game
The architecture of online blitz and bullet chess is nearly perfectly designed to produce addictive behavior.
Chapter 6
Coming soon.
Chapter 7
Coming soon.
Chapter 8
Coming soon.
Chapter 9
Coming soon.
Chapter 10
Coming soon.