no. 561
White to play. This is from Reti-Bogolyubov, New York 1924. How did Reti conclude his attack with a fine blow? Answers…
King’s Indian
The King’s Indian Defence is one of Black’s most dynamic reactions to closed openings such as d4/c4 and Nf3. Black…
no. 560
White to play. This position is from Michalik-Jirasek, Prague 2019. The game is only just out of the opening but…
Fortune’s wheel
The elite tournament at Stavanger in Norway has resulted in yet another victory for the world champion Magnus Carlsen. The…
no. 559
Black to play. This position is from Grischuk-Anand, Altibox (Armageddon game), Stavanger 2019. How does Black break White’s resistance? Answers…
Morse and Lewis
The Isle of Lewis chess pieces are one of the proudest possessions of the British Museum and also the National Museum…
no. 558
White to play. This position is a variation from Ding Liren-So, Stavanger 2019. White could continue the attack with 1…
Spirited
An unusual tournament has taken place at the Lindores Abbey Whisky Distillery in Scotland, namely a double-round competition between four…
no. 557
White to play. This position is from Ding Liren-Anand, Lindores Abbey Stars 2019. Here White played 1 Rb8 which lost…
Holy Grail
Gawain Jones has fought his way to the no. 1 position on the UK ranking list by a series of recent…
no. 556
Black to play. This position is a variation from today’s game, Hillarp Persson-Jones, Malmo 2019. How can Black conclude the…
Goring the gambit
One of the most irritating defences to meet when playing 1 d4 as White is the Benko Gambit (1 d4…
no. 555
White to play. This position is from Dubov-Giri, Moscow 2019. How did White conclude with a fine blow that forced…
Ivory gates
This year’s Grand Chess Tour kicked off in the Ivory Coast with a significant innovation, the first ever tournament in…
no. 554
Black to play. This is from Topalov-Carlsen, Côte d’Ivoire 2019. How did the world champion finish off? Answers to me…
Revolutionary
The French Defence appears to be somewhat cautious in nature but can in fact lead to disruptive middlegame clashes. It…
no. 553
Black to play. This is from Carlo-Haast, Grenke Chess Open 2019. There is a saying in chess that when you…
Déjà vu
In my column of 20 April I reported on the overwhelming victory by world champion Magnus Carlsen in the elite Gashimov…
no. 552
Black to play. This position is a variation from Keymer-Carlsen, Grenke 2019. Black is a piece down. What is the…
Venit, vidit, vicit
India is quite possibly the birthplace of chess, with the four branches of the ancient Indian army, infantry, cavalry, chariots…
no. 551
White to play. This position is a variation from Vitiugov-Duda, Prague 2019. How does White exploit the greater activity of…
Carlsen the Great
I cannot conceal the feeling over the years of Magnus Carlsen’s leading position at the head of world chess, that…
no. 550
Black to play. This position is a variation from Navara-Carlsen, Shamkir 2019. What is Black’s only winning move? Answers to…
Be prepared
Last week I wrote about Cyrus Lakdawala’s new book, which provides an aggressive repertoire based on the solid move 1…
no. 549
White to play. This is from Gukesh-Paramzina, Sharjah 2019. Twelve-year-old Gukesh is the second youngest grandmaster of all time (behind…
