As I write, the prestigious Alekhine Memorial tournament is drawing to a close. Brainchild of sponsor Andrei Filatov, this high-powered event is taking place partly in the Louvre in Paris and partly in the Mikhailovsky Palace of the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg, combining Mr Filatov’s twin passions for chess and art. The event
Trust the French to have cuisine in mind when coining their phrase for April Fool. On the front page of the Daily Telegraph of 3 April, I spotted a statistical prediction by my old rival for the British chess championship, Bill Hartston, that Seabass (a horse, not a marine delicacy) would win the Grand National.
Adrian, who died earlier this year, was both an Oxford classicist from Keble College and a Correspondence Chess Grandmaster. One of the outstanding personalities of British chess, he won the UK Correspondence Chess Championship three times, either outright or shared. But his superlative achievement was to win a world title. From 1982 to 1987 he
Magnus Carlsen has qualified from the London Candidates tournament to earn a title match against the incumbent world champion Vishy Anand of India. Final scores were as follows: Carlsen and Kramnik 8½; Svidler and Aronian 8; Grischuk and Gelfand 6½; Ivanchuk 6 and Radjabov 4. Kramnik tied for first and in my opinion played better
This week, further fascinating positions from the world championship qualifier Candidates tournament recently concluded in London. Although there were the regulation number of draws, for such an elite event, the general tenor was one of superb fighting chess, with little quarter asked or given. The theme of many of the games from the second cycle
In the history of suppression of press freedom in the UK, now once again a fierce topic of debate, an honourable role was played by the chessplayer, writer, editor and irrepressible optimist James Mortimer. An officer in the US diplomatic corps, Mortimer was posted to Paris from 1855 to 1860, during which time he was
The Candidates tournament to decide the challenger to world champion Anand is the strongest tournament ever to have graced the capital. As I write, three rounds of fighting chess have produced the following scores: Aronian 2½, Carlsen and Svidler 2, Kramnik Grischuk and Radjabov 1½, Gelfand and Ivanchuk ½. The tournament continues at the IET
The world championship qualifier, known as the Candidates’ tournament, should now be underway in London. (For details see the website worldchess.com/candidates.) The favourite is Magnus Carlsen, who has identified Lev Aronian of Armenia as his most dangerous rival according to an interview in the Guardian with Stephen Moss. If Magnus fails to rise to the
There are two new books about Aron Nimzowitsch, chess strategist and author of My System. Aron Nimzowitsch on the Road to Chess Mastery 1886-1924 by Per Skjoldager and Jorn Erik Nielsen is published by McFarland, while Aron Nimzowitsch 1928-1935 by Rudolf Reinhardt (on which the notes to today’s game are based) is shortly to be
Rudolph Spielmann, a contemporary of Rubinstein, Reti, Alekhine and Capablanca, can be seen as the Romantic equivalent to a further great master of the 1920s, Aron Nimzowitsch. Whereas Nimzowitsch made his literary reputation with his book of chess strategy, My System, Spielmann entrusted his thoughts on the right way to play chess in his parallel
The Bride and the Bachelors is an impressive exhibition of the work of Marcel Duchamp, John Cage and related artists which is on at London’s Barbican Centre until 9 June. Cage learnt chess in order to communicate with Duchamp without asking crass questions. Other artists, notably Max Ernst, Picabia, Calder and Man Ray also took
Any book by the erudite Steve Giddins is an event and he has now produced a valuable guide to the popular Winawer Variation of the French Defence, championed by the eponymous Simon Winawer, as well as Nimzowitsch, Botvinnik, Petrosian and Korchnoi. The Winawer gives up the bishop pair early on in most lines, seeking to
The Gibraltar Masters, where I was last week, has been won by a quartet consisting of Vitiugov, Short, Sandipan and Vachier Lagrave. In the final knockout to determine who would receive the £20,000 first prize, Nigel Short lost out narrowly to Vitiugov. In my opinion, the British grandmaster’s display of fighting spirit after an early
No, not the Church of England and its troubles with the question of whether women should be allowed to be bishops, but chess endgames, with rival bishops moving respectively on black and white squares. Traditionally, the fact that the bishops can play, as it were, past each other increases the possibility of a draw, as
There is a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where Sir Lancelot’s servant, Patsy, is shot in the back by an arrow and seems to expire. As Lancelot ( John Cleese) brusquely proceeds on his mission, Patsy (Eric Idle) protests that contrary to appearances he is not dead yet. The world champion Vishy
Just before the London Classic, Magnus Carlsen and Judith Polgar contested a four-game match under speed and blindfold conditions as part of the Gran Fiesta of chess at UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico) in Mexico City. Supported by the enterprising Mexican Chess Federation, the festival’s highlight was this clash between the top-ranked player and
The fourth London Classic at Olympia, organised by the indefatigable Malcolm Pein, was the strongest of the series including, as it did, the reigning world champion, a former world champion and the current world ranked no. 1. In addition, the contest was graced by the strongest ever female player, Judith Polgar. Final scores, based on three
London has seen three World Championship matches in the post-war period, Kasparov-Karpov 1986, Kasparov-Short 1993 and Kasparov-Kramnik 2000. The game I have chosen to start the new year is Kasparov’s most convincing win from his 1986 title defence at the Park Lane Hotel, a match opened by the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and closed
In my series of homages to great masters in London, this week an outstanding win by Anatoly Karpov, who took first prize in the major international tournaments in London 1982 and London 1984. The position is by Alexander Alekhine who came second to Capablanca in London 1922, won in London 1932 and would have defended
This Christmas and New Year I am publishing a series of tributes to players in great London games. This week, examples of play by Capablanca, who won the great tournament at London in 1922, and Lasker, who stormed to victory in London 1899. The Capablanca game in particular is a mighty struggle which still causes
