Twelve questions for Christmas

1 One top player, besides admiring his trainer’s creativity, noted that they had a shared appreciation of 1980s music. Who was the player and his trainer?

2 How to Win at Chess is a new book for novice players, which became a New York Times bestseller. Which popular YouTuber wrote it?

3 One episode of the TV spy drama series Slow Horses made reference to a chess game played in 1851. Who were the original players?

4 ‘In chess, like tennis, you get lost for a moment and the game has already turned. In this aspect they are two quite similar disciplines.’ Which tennis player described how chess helps him train?

5 ‘Each life is a game of chess that went to hell on the seventh move…’ Which author, who died in 2023, wrote those words?

6 The diagram above left resembles the outline of a Christmas tree. Mate in two, composed by Pal Benko. Chess Life and Review, 1975.