Editor's Note on the January Chess Life
By Dan Lucas   
January 11, 2014
Magnus300.jpgMany readers are asking why the January Chess Life does not include coverage of Magnus Carlsen’s victory at the World Championship. We have a long lead time of two months—that is, we begin production two months before you receive an issue with the final files being delivered to the printer about 3 weeks before you receive that issue. The match did not end until we had almost completed the January issue files that needed to be delivered to our printer.  Further, the match was originally scheduled to be completed later than it ended up finishing due to Carlsen’s relatively quick march to the required 6.5 points.

Could we have reserved space and rushed the article into production? Yes, but almost certainly with a loss of quality. We thought it better to follow our standard editorial calendar to ensure the high level of coverage that USCF members have come to expect.

Regular coverage of the match was provided on Chess Life Online, and you can still access those reports in the November archives.  The February Chess Life, with 10 pages of World Championship reporting and annotations by GM Ian Rogers as well as photos, will be available online beginning February 1 and hitting mailboxes that same week.  I am sure you will enjoy it and find the cover photo and article well worth waiting for!

Regards,
Daniel Lucas
USCF Director of Publications
Editor, Chess Life