North American Chess Association

The North American Chess Association has a new website, which is still a work in progress at this writing (and which could take some lessons in design from the new USCF site). Free membership is required to access the best material (follow this link, since you won't find it easily via their site navigation). It is worth the time it takes to fill out the registration form, however, if only to download the May and July issues of the North American Chess Review (in zipped PDF, under "Members Only">"Publications"). These long inaugural issues include some good annotated games from recent North American FIDE events, some very good opening analysis by IM Irina Krush (covering the Queen's Gambit Accepted and Declined for White), discussion of Queen's Gambit middlegame strategy from IM Ben Finegold, gambit opening analysis on the Albin Counter Gambit by NM Jon Burgess and the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit by IM Angelo Young, annotations of two Kamsky games by IM Lev Milman, some nice endgame instruction, and tactical puzzles edited by GM Pascal Charbonneau (whose fine victory over Anand from the recent Turin Olympiad is nicely annotated by IM Jan van de Mortel in their sample "Game of the Week" issue).

UPDATE (January 1, 2007): The North American Chess Federation site seems defunct. The blog has not been updated since October and there is actually less content on the site than when I saw it in June. They still have a message on the "Join" page suggesting that paid membership will be required as of January 1, 2007, to access the site content. Based on the fact that there no longer is site content (not even the material I mentioned above), I would suggest that you not pay to join until further notice.