British championship
This year’s British Championship starts on Saturday and is endowed with an outstanding prize fund supplied by Capital Developments Waterloo…
no. 467
White to play. This position is from McShane-Istratescu, London 2013. How did White conclude his kingside attack with a fine…
New in chess
New in Chess is one of the world’s leading chess magazines. At one time or another, every contemporary champion and…
no. 466
White to play. This position is from Quparadze-Uzunoglu, Cesme 2017. Black is hoping for counterplay on the a1-h8 diagonal but…
no. 465
White to play. This is from Nepomniachtchi-Korobov, Khanty-Mansiysk 2017. Black’s king is clearly in desperate trouble. What is the most…
Queen’s gambit
International master Andrew Martin is the head of the English Chess Federation Academy. He is well qualified for this post,…
no. 464
Black to play. This is a position from Carlsen–Vachier–Lagrave, Paris blitz 2017. Carlsen was winning this game but has just…
Judgment of Paris
This year’s Grand Chess Tour started in Paris, continues in Leuven (Belgium) and will go on to St Louis and…
Sporting life
Can chess and bridge be considered sports? According to a European Court of Justice judgment earlier this month, bridge is…
no. 463
White to play. This position is from Caruana–Carlsen, Paris 2017. Can you spot White’s winning coup? Answers to me at…
Great Tigran’s heir
Tigran Petrosian is the great chess hero of Armenia. World champion from 1963-1969, his best games exhibit a profundity which…
no. 462
White to play. This position is a variation from Kramnik-Giri, Stavanger 2017. How can White exploit the terrible position of…
no. 461
White to play. This is a variation from Karjakin-Giri, Stavanger 2017. Can you spot White’s fine winning coup? Answers to…
no. 460
White to play. This is from Wyvill-Williams, London 1851. Can you spot White’s fine winning coup which exploited various tactical…
Parliamentary moves
With the election dominating the news, this week I focus on the strongest chess player to have entered Parliament. Marmaduke…
Vote Basman
To the best of my knowledge, Michael Basman is the first officially titled chess master to ever stand in a UK…
No. 459
Black to play. This position is from Mecking-Basman, Hastings 1966. How did Black make the most of his active knights?…
Thoroughly modern
In 1972, in collaboration with George Botterill, two-times British champion, I published a revolutionary book on 1 … g6 which…
No. 548
Black to play. This position is from Arnason-Keene, London 1981. This position also arose from a Modern Defence. How did…
Trumpeting success
Regular readers will recall my column of 15 April in which I speculated on the future of the eccentric Fidé…
no. 457
White to play. This is from Euwe-Fischer, New York 1957. How did Euwe capitalise on the threatening position of his…
Tetralogy
Four important events have taken centre stage over the past few weeks. These were tournaments in Shenzen (won by Ding…
no. 456
White to play. This is from Kramnik-Adams, Shamkir 2017. How did Kramnik complete his rout of the black position? Answers…
Catalan
The Catalan opening looks as if it should be relatively harmless, combining as it does the Queen’s Gambit with the…
no. 455
White to play. This position is from So–Kramnik, Gashimov Memorial 2017. So retreated with 1 Ne3 and eventually won. How could…
