Sep 14, 2025
Thank goodness the formatting's back to normal. As for my thoughts on the game, I feel it could have been done without the constant emphasis on the clock. If the time control was much lower, then yes, it would make sense, but both players had over 10 minutes on their clocks and were never in any real time trouble. The game by itself is solid though.
And now I just realized this is the latest chapter, so review time. As someone who also writes a chess novel, I feel my grading system might be a bit harsher compared to others, or more lenient in a sense as well. You've got a great premise, but sadly with this being the latest chapter, there isn't really much else to go off. There are many mysteries and potential face offs you could explore in future volumes, but with what's currently available, the story as a whole feels incomplete.
In terms of the games, you currently have just two, but sadly both suffered for a few reasons. The first game was more so just a minor gripe with me not liking how you were explaining how the notation works while the game was ongoing, but with the second one, the bad formatting completely ruined the experience. Luckily, some proper formatting is all I think you'd need to do to fix that game. I'm not sure if you'll ever return to this series, but if you do, know that you've got a good premise for any future plot lines.