White to play. This position is from Anderssen-Kieseritzky, London 1851. It is a brilliant encounter that became known as the Immortal Game. White has already gambitted both rooks. How does he finish off? Please note that this is not a prize competition. No need to send in answers! Last week’s solution 1 Be3
London chess fans are about to enjoy a great treat. The London Chess Classic will run from the 10-14 December with a tremendous line-up: Viswanathan Anand, fresh from his title challenge against Magnus Carlsen in Sochi; former world champion Vladimir Kramnik; world no. 2 Fabiano Caruana; as well as grandmasters Anish Giri, Hikaru Nakamura and Britain’s
White to play. This position is a variation from Larsen-Portisch, London 1986. How can White exploit a fatal weakness in the black position? Please note that, owing to printing deadlines, this is not a prize competition. No need to send in answers! Last week’s solution 1 Rc1 Last week’s winner Dean Davis, Kedleston, Derbyshire
The Tiger of Madras has gone the way of the sabre-toothed tiger. Viswanathan Anand, world champion from 2007 to 2013, has now suffered his second consecutive match defeat at the hands of precocious Magnus Carlsen from Norway. On Sunday night Carlsen scored his third win, which clinched the World Championship title in his favour by
White to play. This position is a variation from move 37 of today’s game. How does White win? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 2 December or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. The winner will be the first correct answer out of a hat, and each week
For reasons unknown, the world championship in Sochi between Carlsen and Anand is turning into a catalogue of disastrous blunders by both sides. Last week we witnessed Anand’s instantaneous implosion with one catastrophic move in game two, when he could still have resisted, while in game three Carlsen returned the favour, blundering material in a
Black to play. This is from Korchnoi-Karpov, World Championship (Game 17), Baguio 1978. Can you spot Black’s winning coup? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 25 November or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. The winner will be the first correct answer out of a hat, and each week
The common feature of the first two games of the World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen in Sochi has been that play was decided in a major piece endgame consisting of a queen and rook each. I have often maintained that Emanuel Lasker (world champion from 1894 to 1921) has been the
Black to play. This position is a variation from Anand-Carlsen; World Championship, Sochi (Game 1) 2014. Can you spot Black’s winning coup? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 18 November or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. The winner will be the first correct answer out of a
On Saturday 8 November the first game will be played in the three-week long rematch between defending world champion Magnus Carlsen and the man from whom he took the title last year, Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand. When Carlsen seized the title from Anand in Chennai last year, the magnitude of his victory was so immense
White to play. This position is from Carlsen-Anand, Amber Rapidplay 2008. White is a pawn ahead but Black has counterplay. How did White now increase his material advantage with a tactical shot? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 11 November or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. The
Tension has always existed between games of skill, such as chess or draughts, and games seemingly based on chance, like backgammon and poker. The Russian grandmaster and chess historian Yuri Averbakh has suggested that different kinds of games mirror changing human attitudes towards life, the universe and everything. So games of chance indicate the idea of
White to play. This is from Hebden-Mannion, Isle of Man 2014. White’s next move completely destroyed the black position. What was it? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 4 November or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. The winner will be the first correct answer out of a
The irrepressible Fabiano Caruana has added to his laurels by sharing first prize in the Baku Grand Prix, which finished earlier this month. The surprise was that in the process of doing so he lost two games. Caruana had started to seem invincible after a run of wins, yet the fact that he only participated
White to play. This position is from Gelfand-Andreikin, Baku 2014. What is White’s best move? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 28 October or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. The winner will be the first correct answer out of a hat, and each week I am offering
Tigran Petrosian seized the world championship from Mikhail Botvinnik in 1963, defended the title against Boris Spassky in 1966 and only relinquished it against the same dangerous opponent three years later. In individual play he defeated every other world champion whom he met over the board and in chess Olympiads he twice earned the gold
White to play. This is from Petrosian-Rosetto, Portoroz 1958. White’s knight is threatened and appears to lack a safe escape square. What did Petrosian have in mind? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 21 October or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. The winner will be the first
Good news. Fabiano Caruana will be coming to London this December to participate in the sixth London Classic. This will be a great privilege for the London audience since Caruana is, in my opinion, now creating the best, most exciting, most aggressive and most accurate chess that we have seen since the glory days of
White to play. This position is a variation from Aronian-Anand, Bilbao 2014. White needs a subtle move to complete the rout. Can you see it? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 14 October or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. The winner will be the first correct answer
Recently Professor Jackie Eales gave a lecture in Canterbury on ‘Queenship in the Age of the Enraged Chess Queen’. (The title of course refers to the new powers conferred on the queen as a piece after the transition from the slower Arabic and medieval games.) In 1560 the bishop of Limoges, the French ambassador in
