Chess
Robot Wars
Twenty years ago, I was an avid fan of the cult TV programme Robot Wars. Teams of contestants would design…
Swindlers’ art
A lost cause at the chessboard is hard to define, but, like obscenity, I know it when I see it.…
Steinitz Memorial
I like a memorial tournament. It’s true that the champions they celebrate may be less skilled than their modern counterparts.…
Online Nations Cup
Fifty years ago, the USSR faced a ‘Rest of the World’ team in a match in Belgrade, with the likes…
Magnus wins Magnus Carlsen Invitational
‘I haven’t felt this kind of tension in a long while. This was real!’ Those were Magnus Carlsen’s words, after…
Hovering amid the din
‘I am extraordinarily patient — provided I get my own way in the end’. That’s a disposition fit for a…
FantasticStar beats MagzyBogues
‘I’m just completely collapsing in these games… unbelievable.’ World Champion Magnus Carlsen didn’t hide his anguish after losing a game…
Old wine, new bottles
‘Old wine in new bottles’ must be the most protean idiom in the English language. I encountered it a few…
At your own risk
If there were regulatory oversight of chess openings, some would come with a litany of disclaimers. ‘You may lose more…
Half measures
Would you slice a book in two? I learned of this peculiar practice in January, and I can’t fault its…
The slow puzzle movement
I could list all manner of things I don’t try, because I know I won’t like them, like skydiving and…
Candidates goes ahead
Coronavirus is causing chess events to fall like dominoes, with cancellations all over the world. But the Candidates tournament in…
Chess borders
In the 1800s, several chess matches were conducted by telegraph. Modern technology ought to make long-distance matches easier than ever,…
Peasants’ revolt
The German word for pawn, ‘bauer’, can also be translated as peasant, or farmer. There are many spectacular games in…
Increment and excrement
The science-fiction writer Douglas Adams ridiculed our primitive species for considering digital watches to be ‘a pretty neat idea’. Digital…
Confidence tricks
Three consecutive losses in a tournament is dryly termed ‘castling queenside’, in reference to the chess notation for that move…
Beasts of the board
The Dutch artist Theo Jansen has a unique speciality. His ‘Strandbeest’ (beach animals) are kinetic sculptures, which he likes to…
Meeting an idol
We had never met, but David Paravyan, from Russia, has been something of a personal idol since August 2018. My…
Women’s World Championship
Looking at the first 12 games of the 2018 Carlsen-Caruana World Championship, which all ended in draws, I saw a statistical…
More than a game
Cars, computers and cadavers: taking them apart is normally reserved for experts and the pathologically curious. In his new book,…
12 rules for chess
As backhanded Christmas gifts go, a copy of 12 Rules for Life, must be up there with wrinkle cream or a…
A question of motivation
‘Every day is different’, people like to say about their jobs. For the world’s best chess players, that’s only partly…
A multitude of contests
Besides the Grand Chess Tour final, an abundance of chess was played at this year’s London Chess Classic. More than…
Ding’s wings
Ding Liren, from China, was a convincing winner of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, which reached its climax in London…
The Saric Supremacy
There is a gritty fight scene in The Bourne Supremacy, in which Jason Bourne (played by Matt Damon) faces down…
