Luke McShane is chess columnist for The Spectator.
My first round game from the first edition of the London Chess Classic in 2009 remains a vivid memory, not least because it ran for 163 moves and nearly eight hours. (I won!) England’s premier international event returned for its 14th edition in December, having skipped two pandemic years, with new sponsorship from XTX markets, and
Black to play. Gukesh-Giri, Wijk aan Zee, 2025. With less than a minute, Giri erred and lost here. Which move would have won him the game? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 27 January. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include
Besides the controversial anticlimax at the World Blitz Championships, in which Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi agreed to share the title, there were several old-fashioned tournament winners to celebrate in New York. China’s Ju Wenjun, the reigning women’s world champion in classical chess, won her first women’s world blitz championship. The women’s world rapid championship, held
White to play. Karthikeyan–Tabatabaei, Qatar Masters 2024. With his next move, Karthikeyaninitiated a winning combination. What did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 20 January. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address. Last week’s solution : 1
‘To share is to do’, as no Latin proverb dared to suggest. The 2024 Fide World Blitz championship, held in New York just before the new year, awarded gold medals to both Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi when their final match remained tied after seven games. The last three games were played in ‘sudden death’
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Edith Baird, Pen and Pencil, 1888. Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 13 February. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for prize delivery.
White to play. Composed by František Dedrle, Deutsches Wochenschach, 1921. Black plans to draw by eliminating the last pawn on b5. What is White’s only winning move? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 6 January. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please
Cast your mind back to April 2023, when Ding Liren from China became the world champion, defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi in Astana. After 14 seesaw games, Ding triumphed in a rapid tiebreak, in which his move 46…Rg6! from the final game was a memorable piece of brinkmanship, living dangerously and pushing for the win. December 2024 saw
Eighteen-year old Gukesh Dommaraju, from India, has become the youngest ever world chess champion – after defeating defending champion, China’s Ding Liren, in Singapore yesterday. There is an adorable clip online in which an 11-year old Gukesh, smiling shyly, states his ambition to become the youngest world champion. Bold as that goal was, at the age
1) Which former US women’s chess champion, who in 1961 became the first chess player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, died earlier this year? 2) This year a boy from Argentina became the youngest ever to be awarded the International Master title, at the age of ten years and eight months. He
White to play. The conclusion of one of the rapid games from the ‘Battle of Generations’ match (See question 4 above). Which move did the grandmaster play to decide the game in her favour? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Friday 27 December. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of
It may sound strange to say that Ding’s win in the first game of his world championship match came as a shock, but it did. His recent form had been shaky and his challenger Gukesh, heavily favoured by pundits, had the advantage of the white pieces. There was every reason to expect Ding to stick
White to play. Adewumi-Shlyakhtenko, New York, November 2024. The dangerous passed pawn on a7 means that White is the side pressing for the win. Which move allowed 14-year-old Tani Adewumi to win the game? Please note that because of the Christmas printing schedule there is no prize for this puzzle. Last week’s solution 1…c3! 2
The World Championship match between Ding Liren and Dommaraju Gukesh is now underway in Singapore. The $2.5 million prize fund will be decided over 14 games of classical chess, and in the event of a 7-7 tie, there will be rapid tiebreaks on 13 December. Pre-match consensus had Ding, the reigning champion from China, as a
Black to play. Gretarsson-Fressinet, European Individual Championship, November 2024. In this position, both players overlooked a decisive tactical idea. Which move should Black play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 2 December. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks
‘I kind of played old man’s chess in that game,’ said Magnus Carlsen, after winning a game against S.L. Narayanan, a top Indian grandmaster, at the Tata Steel Rapid in Kolkata last week. ‘No long variations, just positional chess.’ None of his moves would have come as a great surprise to his opponent, while Narayanan’s
Black to play. Erigaisi-Dubov, Tata Steel India Blitz, November 2024. Dubov chose Rg4-e4, overlooking a tactical shot that would have won the game. What was the winning move? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 25 November. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal
To an outsider, we chess players might seem a rather uniform breed. Studious and contemplative, we spend hours absorbed in a board game to no apparent end. It is the archetypal thinker’s hobby. But within the subculture, there are many, perhaps even a majority, who identify as pragmatists, not thinkers. Results are the driving motivation.
White to play and mate in 2. Composed by Sam Loyd, La Stratégie, 1867. Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 18 November. 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 prize delivery. Last week’s solution 1 Be8! threatens
Garry Kasparov retired from competitive chess in 2005, but has proved that at the age of 61 he remains competitive at the highest level. That is an extraordinary achievement in an time when just five of the world’s top 100 active players are older than 50. The former world champion joined a powerful field in
