Luke McShane is chess columnist for The Spectator.
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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
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White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Sam Loyd, The Musical World, 1859. Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 24 April. 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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As I write, six of 14 games of the world championship match between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren have been played in Astana, Kazakhstan, with the score tied 3-3. By the time you read this, events will have moved on, so any prognosis would be futile. One ought, so to speak, to wait until the
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White to play. Volokitin-Kallai, Hungarian Team Ch 2018. Volokitin’s next move was a crushing blow. What did he play? Be careful – there are a couple of false trails here. Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 17 April. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include
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Is chess a sport? Naively, I once considered that to be a philosophical question. Physical strength or dexterity – nope. Feeling of exertion and elevated heart rate – yes, at least if you’re doing it with soul. Global competition and recognition – yes, emphatically. It was no accident that Louis Vuitton’s ad campaign last year pictured
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Black to play. A variation from the game Ding–Nepomniachtchi, shown above. Only one move crowns the attack here. Which move should Black play? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 10 April. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow
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The forthcoming world championship match, which begins in Astana on 9 April, was described by Garry Kasparov as an ‘amputated event’. The abdication of Magnus Carlsen, who remains the world’s strongest player, is of course a disappointment. But the 14 game match between the world number 2 and 3, respectively Ian Nepomniachtchi from Russian and Ding
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White to play and draw. Composed by A. Lifanov, 2002. The pawn on h4 looks unstoppable, but the draw is still within reach with an accurate sequence. What should White’s first move be? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 3 April. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a
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An uncharacteristic blunder from Wesley So handed tournament victory to Hikaru Nakamura at the American Cup, which finished at the St Louis Chess Club last weekend. The event was held with an unusual ‘double elimination knockout’ format, in which players who lost a match would continue playing in the ‘elimination bracket’, and only a second