Chess
Game of the year
The time has come again when I award the accolade of most spectacular game of the year. It adds lustre if…
Leviathan
Last week I compared the Norwegian world chess champion Magnus Carlsen to a lurking crocodile, ready to grab its oblivious…
Beneath the surface
After 12 games of classical chess, the world championship between the incumbent, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, and his American challenger,…
Atticus
The Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot by Alexander Pope contains a memorable excoriation of his fellow wit and former friend Joseph…
Dante’s millions
As I write, the London world championship is tied at 3½-3½, after seven games. In striving to move ahead, the…
Paradise mislaid
World champion Magnus Carlsen missed several chances to win with black in the first game of his title defence, currently…
Nos morituri
Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, those two gladiators of the mind, will duel in London during the remainder of this…
Man made
This year’s Isle of Man Masters, sponsored by Chess.com, could claim to be the strongest ever open chess competition. The…
Condottieri
The recently concluded European Club Cup, held at Porto Carras in Greece, resembled late medieval Italian warfare — populated by…
Ship ahoy
The Evans Gambit was invented by a British naval officer of the early part of the 19th century, Captain W.D. Evans,…
Eastern promise
The Batumi Olympiad ended as a great success for the teams from China, which captured the gold medals in both…
Role model
World champion Magnus Carlsen is not competing in the Batumi Olympiad (of which more next week). Doubtless he is conserving…
Batumi Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad for national teams is now underway in Batumi, Georgia. Over 200 teams are competing and the lavish…
Interregnum
The only official interregnum in the reigns of the world chess champions was that between the death of Alekhine in…
Caruana chronicles
In the run-up to the Carlsen-Caruana World Championship match set for London in November, I will be previewing their prospects.…
Peaceful solution
In the recent super-tournament in St Louis, Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and Lev Aronian opted to share the laurels. According to…
Shak attack
The Azeri grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has been distinguishing himself recently at both classical and speed chess time limits. Last month…
Royal road
The mathematician Euclid once boldly informed King Ptolemy Soter I of Egypt that there was no royal road to geometry.…
Luke’s gospel
Perhaps the outstanding clash of the recently concluded British championship in Hull, supported by Capital Developments Waterloo Ltd, was the…
Royal shame
Nine-year-old Shreyas Royal, widely regarded as the UK’s best hope to become a future world chess champion, is being deported…
Rice gambit
The recent successful revival of the musical Chess, by Sir Tim Rice and the men of Abba, featured some genuine extracts…
Fiend from Hull
This year’s British Championship commences today in Hull. Among a powerful field, which includes Michael Adams and defending champion Gawain…
Mental sport
Sporting commentators frequently resort to chess metaphors to convey the flavour of a particular contest. In the case of football, chess tends…
Leningrad Lip
This description of Viktor Korchnoi was coined (an oblique reference to Muhammad Ali’s nickname of Louisville Lip) by Ian Ward…
We still have Paris
The second leg of this year’s Grand Tour was contested in Paris, almost immediately after Leuven. For Paris, Anish Giri…
