White to play. This position is from Staunton-Horwitz, London (Game 3) 1846. How did White conclude his attack? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 19 July or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow
As we bid farewell to the great Viktor Korchnoi, it is worth pointing out that he was one of those rare players who at various times held a diversity of national titles. His record included winning the championships of the USSR, the Netherlands and finally Switzerland. I conclude my tribute to him this week with one
White to play. This is from Kasparov-Alonso, Simultaneous Display, Moenchengladbach 2016. How did White conclude his attack? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 12 July or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please
White to play. This position is from Nakamura-Caruana, Leuven Blitz 2016. White can now win material. What is the key move? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 5 July or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal
The first two legs of this year’s Grand Chess Tour have now been staged in Paris and Leuven. There will be follow-ups later this year in St Louis and London. The format of Paris and Leuven consisted of a rapidplay and blitz tournament at each venue. After the conclusion of these events the leading overall
Local hero Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir, Azerbaijan by virtue of three consecutive victories at the last minute. Two of these wins came against the leaders Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri. That catapulted Mamedyarov into a tie for first prize with Caruana, and then he went on to win the tie-break.
Black to play. This is from Caruana-Mamedyarov, Gashimov Memorial Play-off 2016. Black played 1 … Kg8 here, missing a clever winning move. What should he have played instead? (This is a tough puzzle.) Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 28 June or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. There is a prize of £20 for
I had intended this week to write about the surprise surge by Mamedyarov which overturned all expectations in the elite Gashimov Memorial. Instead, the death of Viktor Korchnoi, known variously as Viktor the Terrible or the Leningrad Lip, represents a force majeure priority. An outspoken defector and three-times world champion contender, Korchnoi was one of the
White to play. This is from Korchnoi-Karpov, Candidates Final, Moscow 1974. White’s next move destroyed the black position and led to one of Karpov’s quickest ever defeats. What did White play? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 21 June or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. There is a prize of £20 for the first
Black to play. This is from Arnason-Keene, London 1981. How did Black bring his bishops to life? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 14 June or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please
Last week, commenting on Nigel Davies’s new book The Pirc Move by Move (Everyman Chess), I wrote about my win against Dr Jonathan Penrose which clinched the British Championship title for me. I want to expatiate further on the black defensive strategy which is predicated on flank development with the aim of destroying White’s pawn
The grandmaster Nigel Davies has just written a new book on the Pirc Defence, a variation in which Black sacrifices immediate control of the centre to White’s pawns, in the hope of a later counterattack, designed to paint the centre of the board black instead of white. Davies is a solid, dependable and reliable guide
Black to play. This is from Cherin-Pedini, Italy 2016. Black has just sacrificed some material as he could foresee a simplifying manoeuvre leading to a winning ending. How did he continue? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 7 June or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. There is
To great surprise, the former world champion Garry Kasparov staged a brief comeback when he participated in a blitz tournament held to celebrate the close of this year’s US Championship. His opponents were the top three from the championship and an 18-round competition resulted in the following scores: Nakamura 11, So 10, Kasparov 9½ and
Black to play. This position is from So-Nakamura, Ultimate Blitz Challenge, Saint Louis 2016. How did Black make a key breakthrough while also winning material? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 31 May or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. There is a prize of £20 for the
I think I hold the world record for the greatest number of chess books written (or co-written) and published. At the last count I managed to identify 199, with several of them translated into a total of 13 different languages. Last week, a new book by the prolific Cyrus Lakdawala dropped through my letterbox. Lakdawala
White to play. This position is from Dubov-Yandemirov, Russian Team Championship, Sochi 2016. How can White exploit the unfortunate placing of the black pieces? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 24 May or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. There is a prize of £20 for the first
World champion Magnus Carlsen has taken first prize in the Norway tournament at Stavanger which finished last month. Carlsen had dominated proceedings but was briefly derailed by a loss to the triple Olympiad gold medallist Levon Aronian of Armenia, who eventually emerged as the runner-up. As so often, Carlsen pulled a rabbit out of the
White to play. This position is a variation from So-Kasparov, St Louis 2016. What is White’s quickest kill? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 17 May or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat.
Last week we saw the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen taking a leaf from Alekhine’s book to destroy eccentric opening play by the Swedish grandmaster Nils Grandelius. This week we see Alekhine himself in action, launching a sacrificial maelstrom which destroys his hapless opponent. Alekhine once wrote, ‘It is especially with respect to the original
