Recent content from Dennis J. McGrath
Review: 'Turnout,' by Joan Anderson Growe, with Lori Sturdevant
New book examines Minnesota's history of getting out the vote.
With tall ships moving on, chess players descend on Twin Ports
Following on the heels of a blues festival and a parade of tall ships, chess players from around the region will arrive for the annual and popular Twin Ports Open.
Review: 'Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing,' by Robert Caro
NONFICTION: Robert Caro set aside work on the final volume of his LBJ biography to publish a memoir about his decades of work on the late president and Robert Moses.
Burnsville chess team may get sectional win at nationals after ethics probe of Texas team
Metcalf Middle School finished in second place in a section at the K-9 National Chess Championship in April, runner-up to a Texas team that chess officials recently concluded violated numerous ethics rules.
Review: 'Say Nothing,' by Patrick Radden Keefe
NONFICTION: Former IRA members reveal details of bombings and killings — and blame a prominent politician for a widow's death.
Review: 'The Improbable Wendell Willkie,' by David Levering Lewis
NONFICTION: Wendell Willkie's political career was tragically short, but he had a huge impact at a critical moment in our nation's history.
Review: 'Autumn in Venice' by Andrea di Robilant
NONFICTION: Ernest Hemingway fell hard for a Venetian teenager, and she inspired him to write one of his greatest works.
Minnetonka chess grandmaster fails to repeat as U.S. champion
Wesley So didn't lose any games, but too many draws and too few wins left him in third place.
American chess grandmaster wins right to play for world championship
Minnetonka grandmaster Wesley So, the youngest competitor, finished in 7th place in the 8-player field.
Wayzata student becomes one of nation's few chess grandmasters
A Wayzata High School student is the first homegrown Minnesota player to earn the game's top title.
DFL's mishandling of 1976 Senate appointment led to party's 'Minnesota Massacre'
Voters' ire over the appointment was a key factor in the DFL losing the top three statewide races; it took years to win back all three seats.
Minnetonka chess grandmaster qualifies for world championship cycle
Wesley So is one of eight who will be in the Candidates tourney in Berlin in 2018.
Review: 'Death in the Air,' by Kate Winkler Dawson, recounts deadly London fog and a serial killer
NONFICTION: A parallel look at the 1952 smog that killed 12,000 people and a serial killer who murdered eight.
Minnetonka chess grandmaster's 67-game unbeaten streak comes to an end
So, who became the U.S. Champion earlier this month, hadn't lost a game in elite play dating to last July.
Midwest is king of world chess as lavish St. Louis club lures top players
St. Louis donor helped shift center for the brainy game away from Moscow.
Minnetonka grandmaster is new U.S. Chess Champion
Minnetonka grandmaster gets closer to world playoff.
Minnetonka chess player shares lead at U.S. Chess Championship
Grandmaster Wesley So, who has an unbeaten streak of 65 games, won a stunner on Friday.
Minnetonka chess star faces tiebreaking playoff for U.S. championship
Shockingly short game leaves grandmaster Wesley So in a two-way tie for first.
Minnetonka chess player one of three with chance to win U.S. championship
Wesley So is in a three-way tie entering the final round of the national championship.
Minnetonka chess player ranked No. 2 in world after latest super tournament win
Minnesotan has had a stunning six months.
Twin Cities chess grandmaster reaches lofty heights, hauls in big prizes
Wesley So has a chess rating that only 11 others in the history of the game have achieved.
Chess story begins, but doesn't end, with son's memory of father
When Che Vora thinks of chess, he thinks of his dad, who taught him the game.
Chess fans flood world title match, but have trouble seeing players
Organizers were caught off guard by the unexpected turnout, which led to long lines, rare glimpses of the two World Chess Championship contenders and ticket refunds for some.
Golden Valley boy gets to see World Chess Championship in New York City
Golden Valley boy was a spectator at the World Chess Championship.
Pay-per-view model comes to World Chess Championship
The company that stages the World Chess Championship match, which begins Nov. 11 in New York, is making it pay-per-view in hopes of bringing new riches to the world's best players.
World Chess Championship in New York includes international intrigue
Norwegian champ takes on Russian challenger.
Twin Cities chess player wins one of world's premier events
One year after a disastrous last-place finish, the grandmaster from Minnetonka came out on top of a tournament that's the chess equivalent of winning Wimbledon.
Not losing wasn't enough for local grandmaster to win U.S. championship
"Sometimes wild, complicated lines get thrown out there, and in the end, oh, it's a draw," said tournament commentator Maurice Ashley.
Minnetonka grandmaster faces long odds in U.S. title chase
Wesley So in second but needs help to win U.S. championship.
Minnetonka player bunched near top for final rounds at U.S. Chess Championship
Wesley So of Minnetonka is in second place with two days left.
Minnetonka player shares lead at US Chess Championship
Grandmaster Wesley So has earned a share of first place by playing attacking chess and sacrificing pieces to rip open the protection around his opponents' king.
Elite Minnetonka chess player starts U.S. championship with big win
The game was hailed by chess experts for the ease in which Wesley So took apart one of the nation's strongest players.
With his own buzzer-beater, Wayzata student is a national HS chess champ
"Andrew Tang down to 8 seconds," live Twitter coverage said. "This is gonna be intense."
Minnetonka grandmaster scores his biggest win on world chess stage
Wesley So won a Spanish tourney that included a former world champion.
Can chess find a new audience with game show payouts and reality TV?
Promoters hope that big payouts and game-show gimmicks will make the traditional game ready for prime time.
The United States is actively collecting nerds
Jon Stewart wasn't kidding when "The Daily Show" had some fun with reports that the U.S. was offering large sums to recruit chess nerds from abroad.
Family battle turns chess grandmaster into pawn
Surprise encounter with estranged mother began a series of contentious meetings over a handful of days — and as the family drama unfolded, Wesley So unraveled.
Twin Cities grandmaster rebounds, in 1st place at elite chess tournament
Wesley So's three wins and a draw puts him ahead of the current world champion in the tournament in Azerbaijan.
![Chess Grandmaster Wesley So played chess with Sean Nagle at the Ridgedale Public Library on Friday, February 27, 2015 in Minnetonka, Minn. ] RENEE JON](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/IZ3CN3SXWAPXXII5MXUXKTHDNA.jpg?h=120&w=180&fit=crop&bg=999&crop=faces)
Grandmaster's mother explains why she showed up at chess tournament
Eleanor So writes that she and her family are at the "end of our rope."
Minnetonka grandmaster finishes third amid memorable first U.S. Championship
Minnetonka grandmaster Wesley So finished just 1.5 points behind the champion.
After forfeit, grandmaster reveals ambush visit by estranged mom
The U.S. Chess Championship went from bad to horrible for Minnetonka's Grandmaster Wesley So as he forfeited his game Friday for a rules violation. Behind it is a tale of what has been called an ambush by his estranged mother on the eve of the tournament.
3rd loss crushes So's chances of winning chess title
Grandmaster Wesley So, the No. 8 player in the world, says that his first U.S. Chess Championship tournament is turning out to be one of his worst ever.
Top chess player makes his move – to Minnetonka
Wesley So is a fast-rising grandmaster who ranks No. 8 in the world and is being hailed as a possible world champion. A few months ago, the 21-year-old Filipino surprised chess experts by settling in Minnetonka, far from the world's premier chess centers.
Minnetonka grandmaster moves up a notch in chess championship standings
Wesley So, the Minnetonka 21-year-old, moved from third place into second place, but still trails the sole leader, Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, by a half point.
