Youtube chess legend, Kingscrusher, has created an inspiring series on the career highlights of the top sacrificial artists in chess history.  The artistic side of chess is rarely displayed in such clear focus.

Who is next?  Off the top of my head, these players are also famous for Sacrificial Artistry: Anderssen, Keres, Stein, Velimirovic, Hodgson, Hector, Topalov, Sutovsky, Jobava.  Even within this league of sacrificial artists there are distinctions. Some approached chess with the subtlety of a chainsaw hacker, others played imaginative and fantastic conceptions (Nezh, Keres, Bronstein), still others conveyed a sense of epic/unrelenting power (Alekhine, Kasparov, Topalov).  Viktor Korchoi, one of the greatest defenders, was quoted as saying that the greatest attackers in chess history through the 1970s were: Alekhine, Keres, and Spassky.  I find this subject fascinating.  I have made a detailed study of the Art of Sacrifice at my hobbyist level.

Here is my attempt to compile an enjoyable, practical, and fun 1.e4 repertoire based solely on high-quality(!) free videos hosted at YouTube.  Most of the presenters are quite strong players/trainers!  This is not an airtight or exhaustive repertoire but all the videos hit the big ideas and, for the most part, avoid drowning in minute details.  I favored short and sweet videos, although the lengthy entry on the Scotch Game could not be omitted due to the charisma and practical strength of its presenters.

Here is how the YT repertoire breaks down:
Scotch Game presented by Kingscrusher (2200 FIDE) and Paul Gheorgiou (2300 FIDE)
Sicilian, Czerniak-Gelashvili variation (2.b3) (and Part 2) by IM Andrew Martin
French, Nunn-Korchnoi gambit by SuperChessGuru and siciliandragon28: Part 1, Part 2
Caro-Kann, Spassky gambit by GJ_Chess (or Two Knights by FM Charles Galofre: Part 1, Part 2)
Scandinavian, Nf3/d4/c4 systems (and Part 2) by GJ_Chess
Pirc, f3/g4 attack by Majnu2006
Alekhine, Balogh variation (4.Bc4) by IM Vojislav Milanovic

As the Sicilian coverage is the lightest, here is a PGN of games played by Gelashvili in his pet line.  I think it helps to think of the opening as a reversed Queen's Indian.

Note: A full 1d4 YT repertoire has already been done by IM Christof Sielecki.

Here is my list of the three best chess apps for Android (my opinion):

• Entering games with variations and engine analysis:  Droidfish
• PGN viewer:  Chess PGN Master
• Opening tree functions:  Chessbase

And here are two honorable mentions:

• Training functions:  Perfect Chess Trainer
• Online play:  Mobialia Chess
  

I do not have a favorite for tactics puzzles, but am open to suggestions.

UPDATE: My favorites for puzzles are: TacticTrainer and EndgameTrainer, both by CoreGames.

Everybody knows that the move f2-f3 drives a toothpick into Black's heart.  White's only real concern is what moves to place around it as accompaniment.  After carefully selecting an action verb in the present-progressive tense, a unique font, and high-contrast colors, I am proud to announce my forthcoming Opening Repertoire Book for White.  Rock and roll.

I wondered what a reading list based on the 16 world champions would look like.  The 25 books in the slideshow probably contain approximately 1,800 games.  I imagine that a person who actually studied all of them could not avoid reaching a playing strength of international standard.

Although chess is lucky to have a rich written legacy from its lineage of champions, it is a shame that there are deficiencies in the list.  For instance, there is no definitive book on Spassky, and Euwe's book on his own games has been out of print for 30+ years.

I've read only 1.5 of the books in the slideshow: Capablanca's Best Endings by Chernev and Alekhine's My Best Games 1924-1937-- though I've read portions of Lasker's Manual and Capablanca's Chess Fundamentals.  I've also read The Art of Attack by Vukovic, which is essentially a treatise on the middlegame methods of Capablanca and Alekhine.  (Vukovic wrote that no master up to the time of publication, 1965, contributed anything to his subject that was not already fully developed by Capablanca and Alekhine!)

I can also give honorable mention to other worthy books along the same lines:

• Beim, Paul Morphy: A Modern Perspective
• Spielmann, The Art of Sacrifice
• Keres, Road to the Top & Quest for Perfection
  
• Bronstein, Sorcerer's Apprentice
• Larsen, Master of Counter-Attack
  
• Korchnoi, My Best Games
  
• Marin, Learn from the Legends
• Kasparov, MGP series

“When you lose, you really feel a sense of self ... You actually feel that you are being taken apart, rather than just your pieces.”
--Viswanathan Anand

The rest of Vishy's interview is published at the Financial Times.  'Tis one of the best chess interviews I've read in a while.

Other champions speak of what it feels like to win, or as Vishy paraphrases Fischer in the article, "to crush a man's ego."  Vishy talks about what it feels like to lose.  But then, the last two decisive games between Anand and Carlsen were very painful, flesh-rendering ordeals.

I am looking forward to this match!  I want Magnus to win, but I don't think he should be a 3-1 favorite as the oddsmakers have it.  Anything can happen in a short match, and Anand, at number 8 in the Live Ratings, is already playing on borrowed time and has nothing to lose.