The Left-Hander’s archive

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I look at chess from the edges: the brain that calculates, the player who doubts, and the society around them. Find my articles here, from newest to oldest.

73articles to explore
3 sections, another perspective

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1–9 of 73 articles

Two empty speech bubbles coming from opposite sides, overlapping at their center.

Society6 min read

Chess and Immigration: The Board as a Common Language

For a refugee who doesn't speak the host country's language, the chessboard can be the first successful conversation. For an immigrant searching for their place, the chess club can be the first community space. The history of chess is partly a history of migration and integration.

October 29, 2026

A worn circular track with a fresh path leading out.

Mind6 min read

Habit Formation in Chess: Why Your Training Plan Never Survives

You've already built one perfect chess habit: clicking "new game." Stable context, immediate reward, zero willpower required. Your training plan has none of those properties. This isn't a discipline problem, it's a design problem.

October 27, 2026

Deux bougies identiques côte à côte, l'une presque consumée, l'autre à peine entamée.

Science6 min read

Hyperfocus et attention soutenue aux échecs : comprendre l'absorption

Être absorbé par une position et rester attentif pendant une longue partie décrivent des expériences différentes. La recherche ne permet pas de les opposer comme deux régimes cérébraux à choisir selon la cadence.

October 26, 2026

An hourglass nearly empty, set next to a chess piece that has not moved.

Mind6 min read

Procrastination and Chess: What the Board Teaches About Avoidance

Procrastination isn't a time management problem. It's an emotional regulation problem. And the chessboard, with its uncomfortable positions, forced decisions, and implacable clocks, is one of the best laboratories for understanding and fighting avoidance.

October 22, 2026

A lamp illuminating only one branch of a divided path.

Mind6 min read

Confirmation Bias in Chess: You Calculate Your Plan, Never Its Refutation

Eight minutes on a combination, and he plays a defense you never even looked at. That isn't a shortage of time. A study run on chess players shows that masters try to refute their own plan, while novices try to confirm it.

October 20, 2026

A pawn casting a long shadow whose geometric shape does not match the object.

Society7 min read

Cheating in Chess: What the Niemann Affair Really Revealed

The Niemann controversy: separate online findings, the Saint Louis game, the 2023 agreement and FIDE's decision. Reading detection analysis and event protections without turning suspicion into a verdict.

October 19, 2026

A completely empty room with every lamp shining at full brightness.

Science7 min read

The Default Mode Network and Chess: Thought, Attention and Distraction

The clock runs while your mind wanders. The default mode network helps frame some mental activities, but does not explain every distraction or mistake in chess.

October 15, 2026

A taut thread pulling a suspended pendulum sideways.

Mind3 min read

Emotional Manipulation in Chess: What Happens Around the Board

A sigh, a look or a draw offer can distract you. Distinguish observable behaviour, assumed intentions and the remedies provided by the rules.

October 13, 2026

A chessboard grid whose squares merge into five large, coherent blocks.

Mind6 min read

Mental Visualisation in Chess: Following a Position Without Looking

Representing a position, following a variation and using your knowledge: progressive exercises without a promised timescale.

October 12, 2026

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