Luke McShane is chess columnist for The Spectator.
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White to play and win. Composed by Josef Hasek, 1929. One plausible try is 1 Kc5 but 1…f5! prepares to meet Kc5-d6 with Rf8-f6+. Which first move should White prefer? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 3 July. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat.
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Somewhere in hell, there is a cavernous hall filled with row upon row of people playing online speed chess. Their games bear not a trace of exuberance or wit. Instead, these wretched souls are confronted with utterly sterile positions, perhaps a lone king and rook on each side, but their flinty, remote adversaries will not agree
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White to play and mate in 4 moves, composed by Theodore Herlin, 1845, Le Palamède, 1845. The solution has just a single line of play. Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 26 June. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address
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David Hodge is the 2023 British Chess Solving champion, after winning the Winton British Chess Solving Championship in Nottingham last month. Hodge is now a two-time champion, having first won the event in 2019. Above left is a position which caught my eye, taken from the Category B event, which is aimed at less experienced
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White to play. Canal – NN, Simultaneous exhibition, 1934. Black has just castled queenside, in a game sometimes referred to as the ‘Peruvian Immortal’. Which move did Canal play to take advantage? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 19 June. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of
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In recent years, the battle for the number two spot in the world rankings has resembled the gentle undulation of a lava lamp. Players rise and fall, and others take their place. I counted 11 different players who have occupied that spot over the past decade, all while Magnus Carlsen sits at the apex. The
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White to play. Nunn-Gaprindashvili, ECU Senior Championship, Acqui Terme 2023. The former women’s world champion Gaprindashvili has just played 16…Nc6-a5. Which move did Nunn play to capitalise on this mistake? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 12 June. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat.
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One of the quirkier books on my shelf is titled Kingwalks: Paths of Glory (Seirawan & Harper, 2021, Russell Enterprises). King safety is a fundamental imperative for chess – after all, checkmate is the aim of the game – so the exceptions where that instinct is best overridden tend to be rather appealing. Probably the
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White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by David Murray Davey, the Tablet, 1946. Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 5 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 prize delivery. Last week’s solution 1
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Michael Adams took first place at the Chessable English Championship in Kenilworth last weekend, winning the tournament with 6/7. In the third round, he was on the ropes in the endgame against Mark Hebden, but survived after several unexpected twists. In the diagram position, Adams has two plausible captures available but surprisingly, neither is the
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White to play. Another variation from McShane – Carlsen, London Chess Classic 2012 (in case of 32…Qf6-f5) Carlsen avoided this position, since he had spotted a winning move for White. What was it? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 29 May. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out
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Aspirin, a greasy fry-up, even hair of the dog – all are popular options when nursing a hangover. The last thing you would choose to do is play a long game of chess, but that’s exactly the pickle in which Magnus Carlsen found himself during the first round of the 2012 London Chess Classic. The
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White to play. Shirov-Wedberg, Lundin Memorial, Stockholm 1990. Black has just played Rh6-h5, attacking the e5 pawn, but Shirov found a powerful response. What did he play? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 22 May. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a
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The Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) season concluded last month in a resounding victory for Chess.com Manx Liberty. The team from the Isle of Man won all eleven matches, thanks to narrow 4.5-3.5 victories against both of their closest rivals, Chessable White Rose 1 and Cheddleton. On the final weekend, the Manx squad was boosted
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Moehring-Kaikamdzozov, Elekes Memorial, Zamardi 1978. White avoided perpetual check and won the game. Which move did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 15 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 prize delivery. Last week’s
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Seconds before resigning the decisive game of the world championship, Ian Nepomniachtchi’s hand, trembling with emotion, involuntarily toppled the captured pieces at the side of the board. It was a crushing disappointment to lose a match in which he had taken the lead on three separate occasions, and come agonisingly close to an almost unassailable
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White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Henri Gerard Marie Weenink in The Good Companion (1919). Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Tuesday 9 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 prize
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Ding Liren from China has become the 17th world champion, defeating the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi in Astana. The 14-game classical match saw triumph and tragedy on both sides, with six decisive games. But with honours shared at 7-7, the classical world championship was to be decided in a four-game rapid tiebreak, just as it was in
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White to play. Grandelius-Aabling Thomsen, Xtracon Open 2018. White has just one winning move. What did he play? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 1 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 prize delivery.
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This year’s Reykjavik Open attracted a record turnout of more than 400 players. The Icelanders’ affinity for chess is well established, and the Harpa Conference Centre is a beautiful playing hall looking over the waterfront. At the top of the seedings was Ukrainian luminary Vasyl Ivanchuk, but first place went to the affable Swedish grandmaster