Luke McShane is chess columnist for The Spectator.
White to play. Miles-Pritchett, Lloyds Bank Masters 1982. Tony Miles found a powerful counter to the queenside threats. What did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 4 July. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for
Forbidden things have a secret charm – that delicious paradox applies to the chessboard just as it does in life. Moves which appear to be unthinkable (for example, when the piece in question can be readily captured) can create a strong aesthetic effect. Composers of chess problems often make great play of this fact –
White to play. Rezasade-Movsesian, Bundesliga 2022. White was an underdog in this game, but found a subtle winning idea. What did he play? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 27 June. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow
The Candidates tournament is underway in Madrid, where eight of the world’s best players vie for the right to challenge Magnus Carlsen in the World Championship. As the event began, Carlsen gave his judgment on each player’s prospects, dividing them into three tiers. Tier 1: Fabiano Caruana and Ding Liren are ‘the best and most
White to play. Trent-Carlstedt, Hamburg 2022. Lawrence Trent spotted a way to deliver a quick mate. Which move did he play? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 20 June. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks
Returning to the board, Mamedyarov looks at Anand’s outstretched hand with bemusement. It can’t be a draw offer – that would be a rude way to do it, and besides, the tournament rules prohibit an early peace treaty. No, Anand is resigning! He looks crestfallen, like a child whose ice cream has fallen to the
Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, ‘El Ajedrecista’, died in prison in the United States on 31 May. The Colombian drug lord, a leader of the Cali cartel in the 1990s, acquired his splendid nickname, which translates as ‘the Chess Player’, on account of his ability to stay a step ahead of his rivals and pursuers. Curiosity sent
White to play and mate in 3. Composed by Sigmund Franz Josef Lehner, 1864. There are several ways to give mate in 4 moves, but it takes a delicate finesse to get the job done in 3. What is White’s first move? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 13 June. There is a
White to play. Giri-Praggnanandhaa, Chessable Masters 2022. A game from the preliminary stages. What did Giri play to induce resignation? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 6 June. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for
Ding Liren took first place at last month’s Chessable Masters, the fourth event in the 2022 Meltwater Champions Tour. But it was his defeated opponent in the final, 16-year-old Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa from India, who stole the show. The teenager’s reputation is already well established, and he made headlines in the (non-chess) media in February when
Black to play. Bacrot-Anand, Bastia Rapid 2001. A spectacular blow from Anand prompted Bacrot to resign. What did he play? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 30 May. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for
Viswanathan Anand left the spectators in awe at the Superbet Rapid earlier this month. The ‘Tiger of Madras’, as he is sometimes known, was awarded a wildcard spot to the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour in Warsaw, which began just a couple of days after the first leg ended in Bucharest. At 52,
White to play. Vachier-Lagrave-Caruana, Bucharest 2022. The Bh4 can retreat to g3, f2 or e1. Which one is best, and why? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 23 May. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks
The Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest concluded last weekend in a dramatic tiebreak between Wesley So, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian, who all took wildly different paths to finish the main event on 5.5/9. Wesley So was the tournament rock. He won two controlled games against Nepomniachtchi and Mamedyarov and otherwise never looked in danger.
White to play. Averbakh-Zita, Szczawno-Zdroj 1950. Black has just interposed Rb6-g6, so White needs an accurate finish before e3-e2 mate arrives. What did Averbakh play next? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 16 May. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal
Yuri Averbakh had a wry explanation for why he was made chairman of the USSR Chess Federation in 1972. There was a feeling that Boris Spassky, the Soviet world champion, would lose his title to Bobby Fischer in Reykjavik that year. Nobody else wanted to deal with the fallout, so Averbakh got the job. Whatever
White to play. Reshevsky-Savon, Petropolis 1973. Reshevsky played the awful 1 Qxg6+, and resigned after 1…Bxg6. Many moves win, but which one forces mate in just three moves? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 9 May. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer picked. Please include a postal address. Last week’s
There is a video in which a small group of students amble about passing a basketball back and forth. The instruction at the start is to count how many times the players pass the basketball. Then comes the punchline – did you see the gorilla? Halfway through, a figure in a gorilla suit walks through
White to play and draw. Composed by Jan Timman, 2011. 1 h8=Q Rxd5 wins for Black, so how does White escape? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Tuesday 3 May. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks
In the dying seconds of an online blitz game, I promoted a pawn and instantly regretted it. There was nothing wrong with the move, but the extra second spent on choosing and clicking the queen was more than I could spare. A few flailing moves later, my time ran out. Of course, I had forgotten