Luke McShane is chess columnist for The Spectator.
Black to play. Ponomariov-Dragnev, Serbia 2023. Which move allowed Black to seize his chance on the queenside? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 20 March. 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
The great tradition of the Varsity match rolls on, ringing in the 141st edition earlier this month at the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, London. Oxford were slight favourites, but the match finished on a knife edge. The game on board 2 was particularly hard-fought, with both sides having winning chances at different stages.
White to play. Iskandarov-Babazade, Azerbaijan2003. Which move allowed White to save the draw? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 13 March. 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 Ke6!
‘The greatest pleasure? When you break his ego.’ So said Bobby Fischer on the Dick Cavett Show in 1971. He was right, of course – experienced players can sense that moment of mental despair in the opponent, which may arrive well before the outstretched hand of resignation. In fact, getting an accurate read on the opponent’s mood
White to play. Vallejo Pons-Santos Latasa, Leon 2018. The choice is between 1 Ke6 and 1 Rh8+. White calmly played the wrong one and Black resigned immediately! But which move wins the game? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 6 March. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a
Can ChatGPT play chess? A few weeks ago, when the AI chatbot was making headlines, someone had the cute idea of getting it to play a game against the popular chess engine Stockfish. At the start, it followed a standard line of the Ruy Lopez opening. But soon the illegal moves began – ChatGPT tried to
White to play. A variation from Roberson-Adams, Cambridge International Open 2023. Which move allows White to salvage a draw from this desperate situation? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 27 February. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow
The Cambridge International Open, held last week in fine surroundings at the University Arms Hotel in the city centre, is a valuable addition to the UK tournament scene. Organised by the English Chess Federation, demand for this debut event was strong and registrations had to close early at around 120 participants, when the capacity of the
Black to play. Yakubboev-Kramnik, Airthings Masters 2023. White’s last move, Re7-e6, was a blunder, allowing Kramnik to land a decisive tactic. What did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 20 February. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow
If a series of chess games is drawn, how do you split the tie? One answer is to play two more games (one of each colour) at a faster time limit, to boost the odds of a decisive result. But that might take a while. When the games get too brisk, the tiebreak feels divorced
White to play and mate in two. This position was published in the Bonus Socius (The Good Companion), a treatise from the 13th century. Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 13 February. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and
I picture a medieval priest, hunched over a desk with bells clanging in his ears. He is on a deadline – tomorrow is Sunday and his congregation have heard enough sermons about the spiritual value of threshing. The leatherbound book in front of him, Summa collationum, sive communiloquium, is his source of inspiration. It’s a
Black to play. Adhiban-Warmerdam, Tata Steel Challengers, 2023. Adhiban’s last move, Nd4-e6, prepared a series of checks, starting with Nxg7+. Warmerdam’s response was a rude awakening. What did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 6 February. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include
Two rounds before the end of this year’s Tata Steel Masters, Jorden Van Foreest, the Dutch no. 2, declared himself ‘excited to play the role of spoiler’. Van Foreest was placed near the bottom of the leaderboard, but had yet to face two of the leaders. His opponent in the penultimate round was Anish Giri. True to
White to play. Bibisara Assaubayeva-Rakshitta Ravi, Delhi 2019. Assaubayeva is down a bishop for two pawns, but she had aimed for this position, foreseeing a knockout blow. Which move did she play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 30 January. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat.
Fide’s clock was ticking, and their position looked difficult. But at last they have made their move, announcing that the next world championship match will take place in Astana, Kazakhstan with a €2 million prize fund, beginning on 7 April. Two factors explain the delay. One was Magnus Carlsen’s abdication, announced in July last year. Ding Liren
White to play. Emory Tate-Alexander Shabalov, Curaçao 2006. With his next move, Tate brought his attack to a crisp conclusion. What did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 23 January. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six
Internet bogeyman Andrew Tate, recently detained in Romania on trafficking and rape charges, is a chess fan. Disciples who visit his ‘The Real World’ website in search of the influencer’s insight will encounter a logo featuring a cobra entwined with a chess knight. ‘King Cobra’, as he was known during his days as a professional
White to play. Tartakower–Winter, Hastings, 1935. White’s next move required careful calculation, but William Winter resigned once he had seen it. What did Tartakower play? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 16 January. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address
After a pause during the pandemic, the Hastings Chess Congress returned for its 96th edition in the days after Christmas, with renewed support from software company Caplin. A newly published book, The Chess Battles of Hastings by Jürgen Brustkern and Norbert Wallet (New in Chess, 2022), offers an enjoyable chronicle of the event’s rich history.