Chess
World Senior Championship
English grandmaster John Nunn was the top seed in the over-65 section at the World Senior Championship, held in Italy last…
Losing their heads
Chess players tend to fidget while they think. They crack their knuckles, stir their coffee, and bounce their legs. I…
Awestruck
‘I can comprehend Alekhine’s combinations well enough; but where he gets his attacking chances from and how he infuses such…
Switchback
Vishy Anand’s eyes lit up as he described a beautiful variation from his game with Shakriyar Mamedyarov, played at the…
Girls compete
Judit Polgar, the strongest female player of all time, conducted an enchanting interview in the commentary room during the Chennai…
The Generation game.
The latest flashpoint in the Carlsen-Niemann saga took place in the sixth round of the preliminaries at the Julius Baer…
Royal’s success
The London Mindsports Centre in Hammersmith opened its doors in 2021, after it was converted from a Salvation Army building.…
Pique or cheat?
In the third round of the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis, Magnus Carlsen was beaten by 19-year old Hans Niemann,…
Chess speaks for itself
‘Plug the fucking laptop in!’ Hans Niemann, the lively 19-year-old from the US, was left fuming – understandably – after…
Match of the half-century
They called it the Match of the Century. A full 50 years has passed since Bobby Fischer defeated Boris Spassky…
A week in Torquay
Hats off to Harry Grieve, who took clear first place at the Chessable British Championships which concluded in Torquay last…
The first Olympiad
Everyone remembers their first Olympiad. As I boarded the flight to Chennai last month, it struck me that two full…
India’s young stars
At the Chennai Olympiad, the Indian team began as second seeds, even with former World Champion Vishy Anand absent from…
A lucky escape
I chatted to a spectator after one of my games at the Sparkassen Chess Trophy in Dortmund. ‘A close shave…
Heavy is the head
On International Chess Day, 20 July, Magnus Carlsen announced that he will not defend his world championship title next year.…
Wetware
Modern chess computers, like the program ‘Stockfish’, are treated as oracles. Plug in a position, start the engine, and within…
Silver and gold
The ‘English chess explosion’ that began in the 1970s produced a bumper crop of grandmasters, which meant that by the…
Nepo’s playbook
Ian Nepomniachtchi is back for more. The former world championship challenger left his rivals in the dust at the Candidates…
Maximum mischief
Forbidden things have a secret charm – that delicious paradox applies to the chessboard just as it does in life.…
