History at Hastings
The Hastings International Chess Congress hasn’t skipped a year since the second world war, so I was delighted to learn…
No. 636
Gormally–Turner, Caplin Hastings Online 2021. Black looks safe, but Gormally’s next move forced a win of material. What did he…
Missed opportunities
In game 1 of his Airthings Masters Final against Radjabov, Aronian’s pawn push 21 e4-e5 (shown in the first diagram)…
No. 635
Mastrovasilis–Marechal, Cappelle la Grande 2011. Black is a whole rook up, so his last move 34… Nd5-e7, angling for an…
Antiques Roadshow
It is one of life’s comforts to see a forgotten trinket being dusted off and appreciated afresh. So in chess,…
A puzzling dozen
This Christmas, government guidance says that board games are out and quizzes are in. Thus, 12 questions for Christmas. Answers…
No. 634
White to play and mate in five moves. Composed by Kohtz & Kockelkorn, 1875. Be careful — four moves isn’t…
A puzzling dozen - answers
1. Alexander Grischuk 2. Stephen King 3. Iepe Rubingh 4. Shohreh Bayat 5. Ding Liren vs Magnus Carlsen 6. White…
Four puzzles in one
Four puzzles in one, composed by Werner Speckmann, 1963. In each case, White to play and mate in two. (a)…
Birthday surprise
The Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour is back. This time, the series of online events is rebranded as the Champions Chess…
Chess improvement
The juicy prospect of improvement constantly dangles above a chess player. Those morsels of knowledge one has acquired whet the…
No. 633
White to play. A position taken from Chess Improvement (perhaps from Luchowski–Gridnew, Moscow 1992.) Black’s menacing pieces make the situation…
Forbidden pairings
Put yourself in the shoes of Aryan Gholami, the teenage master from Iran who was paired with an Israeli opponent…
No. 632
White to play and win. E. Pogosjants, Shakhmaty v SSSR 1976. Promoting the a-pawn allows Black a perpetual check. Which…
No. 631
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Sam Loyd, 1857. Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by…
Speed freaks
Writing in January, I described internet bullet chess, where the players have one minute for all their moves, as ‘popular,…
The Brick
I own a few chess books that could serve as a murder weapon, but none so hefty as Chess: 5334…
No. 630
White to play. Mista–Kloza, Poland 1955 (supposedly). Which move does White play to force a quick checkmate? Answers should be…
The Queen’s Gambit – Accepted
‘It’s chess. We’re all prima donnas.’ You can hear it spoken with a wink in the Netflix miniseries The Queen’s…
No. 629
White to play and mate in 3. A puzzle featured in The Queen’s Gambit, apparently composed by W. Atkinson in…
Collapsing barricades
Geometry shmometry. The pirouette of a knight may be pleasing to the eye, but sometimes what I really crave is…
No. 628
White to play. Wade–Korchnoi, Buenos Aires, 1960. Bob Wade’s next move prepared a surprising and decisive breakthrough. What did he…
Sweet surrender
It’s over. Magnus Carlsen’s undefeated streak in classical chess has finally come to an end, after 125 games. It is…
No. 627
Black to play. Sjugirov–Paravyan, Russian Higher League, October 2020. A piece for a pawn down, Black’s follow up was subtle…
Chess players on ice
We are what we do. Alas, in its zeal to suppress the virus, this government would have many people doing…
