Chess
Hat trick
For the second year running, 24-year-old Sergei Karjakin has won the Norway International, on both occasions ahead of Magnus Carlsen. The…
Vlad the Impaler
As I write, the former world champion Vladimir Kramnik is leading in the Norway tournament in Stavanger. The line-up is…
On the brink
The last great tournament to have been completed before the outbreak of war in 1914 was St Petersburg, which saw…
Close run
Although world champion Magnus Carlsen clearly secured first place in the Gashimov Memorial tournament, he did not have things all…
Iron nerves
The game that clinched Magnus Carlsen’s victory in the Gashimov Memorial came, fittingly, in a last-round cliffhanger against his closest…
In training
In my column of 26 April I suggested that the new world champion Magnus Carlsen was in need of some…
Pantheon
From 1950 to 1962, the challenger for the world title was determined by a Candidates tournament of the world’s leading…
Vengeance is mine
The history of the world chess championship includes five title matches where the challenger was the former champion, seeking his…
Watch and wait
While Viswanathan Anand, the former world champion, has been qualifying for a revenge match for the world title, Magnus Carlsen,…
Express train
The erratic Ukrainian grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk has scored an overwhelming victory in a rapidplay tournament sponsored by the Latvian railway.…
Vishy regime
The Candidates tournament has been won by Vishy Anand who adopted the safety-first policy of winning two of his first…
Candidates compendium
This week I focus on a number of key positions from the World Championship qualifier, the Candidates tournament, which concluded…
Magnus force
As the World Championship qualifier (aka Candidates tournament) approaches its final rounds in Khanty-Mansisk, it is worth emphasising the Everest which…
True Blue
The Oxford v. Cambridge Varsity Match held at the Royal Automobile Club two weeks ago ended in a draw. This…
War fever
It is a little known fact that Emanuel Lasker, the German world chess champion, who reigned from 1894 to 1921,…
Varsity match
On Saturday 8 March the 132nd Varsity match between the teams of Oxford and Cambridge will see Oxford seeking to…
Ukrainian knights
This week I pay tribute to the chess grandmasters from Ukraine, led by Vassily Ivanchuk, many times a candidate for…
Triumvirate
Three important tournaments concluded this month, for two of which (Gibraltar and Bunratty) I attended the awards ceremonies. I have…
Georgics
George Osborne is a supporter of chess. During the award ceremony at 11 Downing St for last year’s London Candidates’…
Lions’ den
Daniel Johnson, the distinguished editor of Standpoint magazine, can be bracketed with Tim Congdon and Dominic Lawson, as having had…
Gates’ exit
In Virgil’s Aeneid the hero Aeneas escapes from Hades via one of two gates, one made of ivory and the…
Nimzo style
As promised, this week a victory by chess aficionado Dominic Lawson, former editor of The Spectator. Dominic’s distinguished opponent was…
Warhorses
Towards the end of last year, those two old warhorses Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman added to their total of over…
Different paths
Daniel Johnson, Dominic Lawson and Tim Congdon all had the potential to become chess masters. However, all three chose alternative routes,…
Vale Vishy
Viswanathan Anand, the 15th world champion, suffered a complete meltdown in his title defence against Magnus Carlsen towards the end…
