Luke McShane is chess columnist for The Spectator.
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White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by B.P. Barnes, Skakbladet 1961. Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 5 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…Qf5?
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If you wish to unsettle your opponents, first attack them and second, play the moves quickly. It’s far from easy to pull it off, but nobody does it better than Ian Nepomniachtchi. Among the world’s best, ‘Nepo’ stands out for his aggressive play, made all the more dangerous by marshalling an element of bluff. Are those moves coming so fast because he is still playing from memory, following his sharp opening repertoire? Has he already seen that the attack is overwhelming, and barely merits a second thought? One cannot know for sure, but Nepo is such a strong player (fourth in the world, at the last count) that one has to take him seriously. Nor does staring down a bluff promise an easy victory.
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Black to play… and lose! Aronian–Van Foreest, March 2021. Van Foreest’s next move didn’t blunder his queen but was nonetheless a fatal error. Can you see what he played? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 29 March. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address. Last week’s solution 1…Rb4! 2 Rxh4+ Kg3! Now 3 Rxb4 is stalemate, or 3 Rg4+ Rxg4 4 hxg4 Kxg4 is a draw. White played 2 Kh2 and after Ke3 a draw was agreed soon after.
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Have you ever played the Frankenstein-Dracula variation? The Monkey’s Bum? The Nescafé Frappé Attack? These are all real chess openings, and each has some merit. That is more than can be said for the Bongcloud, which begins with the moves 1 e4 e5 2 Ke2. This daft opening exploded in popularity last year when it was championed (in jest) by grandmaster and Twitch streamer Hikaru Nakamura. In fact the Bongcloud has hung in the air for much longer than that. According to one origin story (which appears genuine, but who knows?) an online persona named Lenny_Bongcloud was already playing it more than a decade ago. The Bongcloud has impeccable memetic credentials.
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Black to play. Kosteniuk–Koneru, Skolkovo Grand Prix, 2019. The obvious 1…Kg3 fails to 2 Rg5+ Kf4 3 Rg4+. Losing the pawn looks inevitable, but Koneru found the only move to save herself. What did she play? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by 22 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 Qh3!
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I write this with a sunny feeling. That’s partly because spring is upon us, but mostly because I have just spotted one of those winsome coincidences which lifts the spirits with its serendipity. The first part of this delightful dyad occurred in the preliminary stage of the latest (and ongoing) Magnus Carlsen invitational event. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov–Daniil Dubov,Magnus Carlsen Invitational, March 2021 Two pawns up, Mamedyarov is certainly expecting to grind out a win. His last move, 66 Bd4-e5 threatens Re7-c7+, skewering the bishop on c2. Quick as a whip, Dubov fires back with 66…Rf1!! to attack the pawn on f5. If White loses that pawn, the game is bound for a draw, and anyway Mamedyarov’s move 67 Rc7+ appears to win the bishop.
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White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Philip Hamilton Williams, Birmingham Post, 1890. Answers should be emailed to chess@-spectator.co.uk by Monday 15 March. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address. Last week’s solution : 1 Qd5! Nc5+ 2 Ka2 and the threat Qd5-g8 is decisive. 1 Bxe6? Qa3+! soon led to a draw, because it’s stalemate if the queen is captured: 2 Kc4 Qb4+ 3 Kd5 Qd6+ etc. Or 1 Qe3? Nd4+ 2 Qxd4 Qa3+ is similar.
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In the 21st century, which country has won more international chess Olympiads than any other? Russia? USA? China? None of the above — it’s Armenia, which won gold three times (2006, 2008 and 2012). Despite a population of just 3 million, the country has a healthy number of top flight grandmasters, and Levon Aronian (the current world no. 5, and former world no. 2) has been its pre-eminent player for many years. So Aronian’s announcement that he will switch federations, representing the USA in future events, is significant. He will relocate to St Louis, which has become a major chess centre in recent years, with the backing of the American philanthropist Rex Sinquefield.
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Is working from home the future of a productive society, or a fleeting aberration? Nobody knows yet, but a significant minority (at the very least) have found it viable, and even desirable. The shift in perception creates possibilities that weren’t there before. Similarly, chess organisers are discovering a strong appetite for ‘play from home’ events, and I anticipate that we will see lots of new online tournament formats in the coming years. Last summer, Fide’s Online Olympiad was the first of its kind, and later in 2020 came the Online Olympiad for People with Disabilities, which I wrote about last week. February 2021 saw another new event — the Fide Online World Corporate Chess Championship.
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White to play. Garcia Ramos–Maurizzi, -Barcelona 2021. Black has just played Kg8-h7, to attack White’s queen by unpinning the knight on e6. Choose between 1 Qd5, 1 Qe3 and 1 Bxe6. Which do you prefer? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 8 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…Rb8! and White resigned, since 2 Rxb6 Bxg2+! wins easily.
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Black to play. Warakomski-–Korobov, February 2021. White has a pin on the b-file and 1…Bxg2+ 2 Kxg2 Bc5 3 Rb7 should suffice for a draw, despite the pawn deficit. But Korobov’s next move provoked instant resignation. What did he play? Answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 1 March, for a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include your address. Last week’s solution 1 Rc8! Now 1…Rxc8 or 1…Raa8 are both met by 2 Bd4 mate. Or 1…Bxc3 2 Rxd8+ leaves White with an easy win.
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Diamonds are forever, they say. Likewise, brilliant games of chess have an everlasting sparkle. I will never tire of replaying the combination from Steinitz–von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895. So I’m a huge fan of tournaments which award brilliancy prizes, in recognition of these achievements. Fide recently organised an Online Olympiad for People with Disabilities. This excellent initiative was a reminder that the game is uniquely accessible, and saw 61 teams competing from 45 different countries. Many players overcame significant physical obstacles in order to take part. Vladimir Trkaljanov, who is visually impaired, was awarded the Gazprom Brilliancy prize, his game singled out from the shortlist by six out of 13 international judges.
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White to play. Carlsen–Vachier-Lagrave, Opera Euro Rapid 2020. Carlsen played 31 Bd4+ Rxd4 32 cxd4 Bxd4 which should be drawn, though he won in the end. Can you find the much s-tronger move which he missed? Answers to be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 22 February. 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 Qh1!, e.g.
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If there was one ingredient which separated the two finalists of the Opera Euro Rapid, it was confidence. The third event of the Meltwater Champions’ Chess Tour, which concluded last weekend, saw Wesley So take on Magnus Carlsen in the final. That was the same match-up we saw in the final of the Skilling Open in November, and yet again So emerged as the victor. Wesley So has become a difficult opponent for the World Champion, since he also beat him in the 2019 Fischer-Random World Championship. Carlsen has looked out of sorts for months now. ‘I don’t trust myself,’ he said regretfully, after the match ended. ‘This shows in critical moments.’ The game below was typical of that hesitancy.
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40 min listen
On this week's episode, we talk vaccine passports (1:10), Nord Stream 2 (14:55) and the appeal of chess (30:50).With entrepreneur Louis-James Davis, journalist James Ball, analyst Wolfgang Münchau, academic Kadri Liik, chess columnist Luke McShane and chess streamer Fiona Steil-Antoni.
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In 2005 Steve Jobs gave a commencement address at Stanford University. The late Apple CEO kicked off with a story about a calligraphy course he took after dropping out of college in the 1970s. He was fascinated by the artistry of it, but what seemed like a whim of idle curiosity found a practical application ten years later when it came to designing typography for the Mac. Jobs’s tale of resurgent aesthetic ideas came to mind when I read an interview which Demis Hassabis, the CEO of artificial intelligence company DeepMind, gave to the Times last year. Hassabis is a brilliant technologist, but while growing up he was also one of the top-ranked junior chess players at international level.
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White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Theodore Herlin, Schachzeitung 1852. Answers to be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 15 February. 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 Rxh7! and then Kxh7 2 Rd7+ Kg8 (or 2… Kh8 4 Nxg6+) 3 h7+ Kh8 4 Nxg6 mate.
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Ten years ago, comedian Matt Kirshen’s one-liner was voted the fifth-best at the Edinburgh Fringe. ‘I was playing chess with my friend and he said “Let’s make this interesting”. So we stopped playing chess.’ Not bad, as jabs go, and I’ve heard a few — as has any lifelong chess player. Well, times have changed. Late last year, Netflix TV series The Queen’s Gambit was watched by 62 million households in its first 28 days. Who’s laughing now? I suppose I can admit that the popularity of the series wasn’t entirely down to the chess. The wondrous eyes of Anya Taylor-Joy as heroine Beth Harmon surely played a part, and period styling works like catnip on TV audiences.
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Are you not entertained? The climax of this year’s elite Tata Steel tournament was as riveting as it was vulgar. After two weeks of sublime classical chess played over-the-board in the Dutch town of Wijk aan Zee, the winner was decided by two blitz games and an armageddon playoff — crash, bang, wallop. Surprisingly, neither Carlsen nor Caruana remained in contention. Instead, it was the Netherlands’ two top players, Anish Giri and Jorden van Foreest, vying for the title. Giri is a steady world-class player who already tied for first in 2018, losing out to Carlsen in the playoff. The Dutch no. 2, van Foreest, is less experienced, but his games have always fizzed with ideas. He seems to have fused that with some extra maturity, and, like Giri, was undefeated on 8.5/13.
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White to play. Giri-Wojtaszek, Wijk aan Zee 2021. On his last move, Black waited with 48… Ba1-b2, yielding White a decisive opportunity. Which move enabled Giri to break through? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 8 February. 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...Bc3+!