What is Chessentials?
Chessentials is a chess blog about everything related to chess. Since its authors are from Croatia and since they have a strange sense of humour (which should be apparent from the blog name itself), they have added the “clickbaity” subtitle: First Croatian Chess Blog.
What can I do around here?
First of all, you can read a lot. We write chess articles about everything that comes to our minds. We cover chess events. We write book and equipment reviews. We conduct chess interviews. We write about chess history. We write articles for beginners. We write random articles about things from the chess world we find funny.
Secondly, you can also do some training here. We have posted chess tactics and chess studies regularly. Check our list of chess tactics for an easier set of problems, or check our list of chess studies if you want to shock your brain with difficulty and beauty. Note that we haven’t been posting new problems here in a while – mainly because we think there are far better ways to get your daily dose of chess tactics than chess blogs.
God, it is difficult to navigate this site. What is a good place to start?
Depends on your interest. On our home page, you will see the list of our most recent posts. You can also browse different categories with the help of the drop-down menus at the top of the website.
We have also assembled a list of our favourite articles. You can find them on the page with the modest title: Best Of Chessentials.
Who are the people behind Chessentials?
Chessentials was founded by CM Vjekoslav Nemec back in November, 2016. After a year of solo-coasting, in February 2018, Chessentials became a two-man band – Bruno Pavčević applied and became a co-author and collaborator for a short period of time, until the duo departed again later in 2019.
You may find out about who we are and what we do in life below.
CURRENT MEMBERS
Vjekoslav Nemec – Founder
Who are you?
My name is Vjekoslav Nemec. I am 30 years old. I used to be an electrical engineer, but these days I am trying to make it as a full-time chess professional, coach and a content creator.
What do you know about chess?
I am a candidate master from Croatia. My current rating is 2227 FIDE.
Once in a while, I manage to play a decent game. And beat someone much higher rated. But more often than not I do something described at the beginning of this post… or this…
When did you start playing chess?
I learned the rules of the game when I was a kid. My father taught me how to play. My uncle and my cousin were both passionate players and I was always involved with chess since I was often playing against them.
However, I didn’t play competitive chess until my college days. I played my first chess tournament in August 2012, just before my 20th birthday. I have been ‘hooked’ ever since.
(For a longer account of my chess journey, check my Quora answer where I describe it).
Where is your chess nowadays and what are your future plans?
Currently, my chess is on the rise. I have recently reached my peak rating of 2250 and I am continuing to enjoy the game and am studying it daily.
My goal is to become an FM, or possibly even IM someday – Polish player Andrzej Kryzda showed nothing is impossible even at the age of 38. When and if circumstances change, I intend to devote myself to fulfilling that goal, although I am aware of the dangers of setting overly ambitious goals and then devoting everything to them.
Can you describe your relationship with chess in a couple of sentences?
“Chess, like love, like music, has the ability to make people happy” – Saviely Tartakower
I really love chess and everything involved in chess, whether it is playing, reading, or following top-level games. And someone somewhere has once remarked that you should always pursue things you love. Which seemed like a really convenient excuse to start playing a chess blogger instead of dealing with ugly terms like adulthood or responsibility.
Why and how did you decide to start Chessentials?
In September 2016 I started working at my current workplace. Just like many twentysomething millennials, it triggered a quarter-life crisis. I kept asking myself: “Is it all there is?”
After two months of agony, I realized I’ve gotta do something. I realized the abundance of opportunities the Internet provides us with. And I realized I love both chess and writing and that I’d like to combine them into something tangible.
As they say, the rest is history. Chessentials was born and has survived to pester you all until this day.
How did the collaboration between Bruno and you come to life?
After a year, I realized I don’t have enough time to do everything I want to do on my own. I’ve decided to search for a collaborator on my social media accounts. I wasn’t expecting anyone to answer it since I have openly written I can’t pay much.
Thankfully, Bruno was naive enough to send me an email. Since he was virtually the only candidate, I had no choice but to hire him. I hired him because I knew I am able to kick his ass in bullet and blitz. I also thought he is very famous – I confused him for Ralphie from the Christmas story.
All the jokes aside, I didn’t really know Bruno beforehand and I didn’t know what to expect. My intuition was correct – Bruno is a great guy and a valuable contributor and it is a privilege to have him on the Chessentials team. I am very blessed he decided to apply because I didn’t just get a collaborator.
I got a friend.
Why did the collaboration between you and Bruno end?
Because after a while, it turned out we have different priorities and ambitions regarding Chessentials. We departed on good relations and I am pretty sure we still haven’t seen the last from Bruno on his website.
What is your ultimate goal with Chessentials?
My short-term goal is to write regularly and create quality content and attract a broader audience.
My mid-term goal is to write a couple of chess books and open a chess store. I also aim to establish a Pro Chess League team, Zagreb Chessentials, firmly in the ProChess league.
My long-term goal is to make my career as a chess professional sustainable. I also dream of making permanent positive changes in Croatian chess and allowing Croatian chess players to compete and watch in Pro Chess League (and other online competitions).
Do you have any hobbies apart from chess?
Yes, perhaps too many.
I am a passionate writer. Apart from Chessentials, I run and maintain another blog where I write about topics related to popular psychology and self-improvement. I am also regular contributor to the Q&A website Quora, where I became a Top Writer for the year 2018.
Other than that, I enjoy playing table tennis, reading, making bad puns (which should be apparent from the blog name), following stand up comedy (apart from Rowan Atkinson, Dave Allen is the favourite) and posing for Facebook.
FORMER MEMBERS
Bruno Pavčević (from 02/2018 until 06/2019)
Who are you?
My name is Bruno Pavcevic. I’m 20 years old. I’m an electrical engineering student from Zagreb, Croatia.
What do you know about chess?
I am former Croatian Youth Champion and Croatian candidate master. My current rating is 2056 FIDE.
When did you start playing chess?
I first started playing chess at the age of 5-6. I learned how to move pieces playing with my grandfather and father. About half a year after, my childhood friend began to train chess and invited me to come to training. Quickly after I fell in love with chess. My first trainer WFM Ana Biti deserves a lot of credit for that. She recognized my talent and had thought me a lot. Results came soon after. About 4-5 months after I started training I already won my first competition- “Championship of Zagreb U9”. It was a big surprise to everyone. Nobody knew who I was and I just stormed my way throw competition winning convincingly with 8.5/9 if I recall correctly.
Where is your chess nowadays and what are your future plans?
These days I stopped to train actively. I coach kids in my club, play a lot of blitz and bullet on Lichess ( @BrunoPavcevic), play in the Croatian league and local tournaments. Of course, I also create content for Chessentials.
In the future, my goal is to become an FM and to be more involved in Croatian chess. Of course, I intend to remain a part of Chessentials for as long as possible – now that I have all the passwords, Vjeko ain’t getting rid of me that easy.
Can you describe your relationship with chess in a couple of sentences?
Chess has affected every area of my life. It changed the way how I think and who I am. Chess defined me as a person I am today. I’m grateful that I had and still have an opportunity to meet awesome new people, hang out with chess colleagues, travel the world and most importantly have fun all thanks to a war on 64 squares.
Why and how did you join Chessentials?
When I heard Vjekoslav’s cry for help on social networks I knew I had to help him. I liked what Vjekoslav started and I wanted to be part of it. Also, Vjekoslav promised me I’d get rich from Chessentials and I believed him (I have never been so wrong in all my life).
Back in Feburary, 2018 I was looking for a way to be more involved in chess. Chessentials was a perfect chance for me. It was a way to remain in chess besides classical training or watching top level games.
Do you have any hobbies apart from chess?
Most of my free time I spend playing table tennis, cycling or watching movies and series. Besides that, I like to grab a beer with friends.
Oh, I also study electrical engineering from time to time….