Chess

The Caruana conundrum

30 June 2018 9:00 am

Over the course of this year Fabiano Caruana has scored splendidly in tournaments with classical time limits, notching up first…

Altibox

23 June 2018 9:00 am

Fabiano Caruana has won the elite Altibox tournament ahead of world champion Magnus Carlsen. This result might appear to give…

Viktor the Terrible

16 June 2018 9:00 am

Viktor Korchnoi is the subject of a poignant new book from the distinguished pen of the Dutch grandmaster and former Soviet…

Title background

9 June 2018 9:00 am

Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana will be contesting their World Championship match in London in November. As I mentioned last…

Sherpa

2 June 2018 9:00 am

My Great Predecessors is an indispensable guide to the achievements, style and best games of the former world chess champions.…

Short shrift

26 May 2018 9:00 am

On 10 May, Britain’s most famous grandmaster, Nigel Short, chose the pages of the Times to announce his surprise candidacy…

Musical chairs

19 May 2018 9:00 am

Chess, the musical by Sir Tim Rice and the male half of ABBA, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, runs at…

Biblical

12 May 2018 9:00 am

Matthew Sadler was the star of the evening on the night of the Royal Automobile Club annual dinner which I…

Grenke

5 May 2018 9:00 am

The Grenke Chess Classic, played in Karlsruhe and Baden Baden, has been won by Fabiano Caruana, who also won the…

Viennese Waltz

28 April 2018 9:00 am

The Vienna variation of the Queen’s Gambit is notable for a line in which the pieces conduct an elaborate dance…

Fischer redivivus

21 April 2018 9:00 am

The Berlin qualifying tournament to determine the challenger to world champion Magnus Carlsen has ended in victory for the American…

Class club

14 April 2018 9:00 am

The annual Hamilton-Russell competition for London Clubs has been won by the Royal Automobile Club, with the Marylebone Cricket Club…

Space travel

7 April 2018 9:00 am

No, not the type of space travel allegedly enjoyed by the World Chess Federation president, Kirsan Ilumzinov, during his self-confessed…

Victor Ludorum

31 March 2018 9:00 am

A match which has attracted less attention than it deserves was Luke McShane’s victory over David Howell in the final…

Kramnik’s Immortal

24 March 2018 9:00 am

Every so often a game is played which is worthy of joining the immortals in the pantheon of chessboard masterpieces.…

First round nerves

17 March 2018 9:00 am

The three most important events in the World Chess Federation calendar are the World Championship match, the Olympiad and the…

Berlin

10 March 2018 9:00 am

This weekend the Candidates tournament commences in Berlin to decide the challenger who will face Magnus Carlsen for the world…

Bunratty

3 March 2018 9:00 am

This year’s tournament at Bunratty in Ireland was the celebratory 25th in the series and I was invited to deliver the…

Another Troy

24 February 2018 9:00 am

One of the sharpest lines in the Ruy Lopez (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 f5) is widely…

Knight outriders

17 February 2018 9:00 am

A good rule of thumb is to avoid sending off knights to excursions at the edge of the board, where…

Chess on the Rock

10 February 2018 9:00 am

The Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian has won first prize of £25,000 in the important Tradewise Masters which has just finished…

Hypnosis?

3 February 2018 9:00 am

Various champions have been accused of hypnotising their opponents, including Alexander Alekhine, Mikhail Tal and, not least, the reigning world…

Frankenchess

27 January 2018 9:00 am

A remarkable event took place in London towards the end of last year, when the AlphaZero computer program took on…

Willing to wound

20 January 2018 9:00 am

‘Willing to wound and yet afraid to strike,’ wrote Alexander Pope about Atticus. Those lines more or less describe the…

On speed

13 January 2018 9:00 am

Although it does not have the prestige of the Classical World Championship (to be staged in London in November), the…