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.

I donated toward this film's production about a year ago, and I truly enjoyed seeing it last weekend.  

It even turned out to be a good "date movie," which may be the first time that term has ever been applied to a chess-themed documentary.  But that is probably because Brooklyn Castle is not really about chess any more than the Batman movies are about flying rodents -- chess is just a prominent part of the scenery.  On the most superficial level, it's a kids' competition movie that unconventionally has you rooting for the big bad favorites (I.S. 318, the Yankees of scholastic chess) rather than the plucky underdogs.  Others may see it as a political advert for the funding of extracurricular programs.  To me, though, the movie is about a handful of lovable (yes, lovable) Brooklyn kids who despite modest beginnings seem destined for greatness as if they are living out the early chapters of a Charles Dickens novel.  Film critics may applaud the film for getting the audience to care about its characters, but that seems backwards to me, since these awesome kids are the ones responsible for making me care about the movie.

On a related note, I submitted an application last month to volunteer at the local Boys & Girls Club, but I was informed the club is not open on Saturday (my only free day).  Seeing the movie reminded me that I should volunteer with kids somehow.  I grew up in a small town in the middle of nowhere and now practice law in Beverly Hills.  Without getting too personal, it is fair to say my parents were not exactly bankers, doctors, or lawyers and our version of a summer vacation was to drive a hundred miles and stay at a Holiday Inn.  Without a point of reference, it can be difficult to realize (both meanings) what is achievable.  This movie can help kids and communities to reach and dream beyond their immediate surroundings.

Here is a video interview with the film creator including excerpts from the movie!