Luke McShane is chess columnist for The Spectator.
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In one sense, everything went right for Nodirbek Yakubboev at the Rubinstein Memorial, held in Poland earlier this month. The 23-year-old grandmaster, who was part of Uzbekistan’s gold medal winning squad at the Chennai Olympiad in 2022, scored a convincing tournament victory with four wins and five draws and pushed into the world’s top 50.
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Black to play. O. Bronstein – L. McShane, World Blitz Team Championships, London, 2025. Bronstein sacrificed a knight for a kingside attack, but here I missed a chance to decide the game in my favour. Which move should I have played? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 1 September. There is a prize of £20
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The life cycle of Drosophila melanogaster lasts a couple of weeks, so the humble fruit fly is far more useful than a giant tortoise to a geneticist with a hypothesis and a deadline. Similarly, for AI researchers, chess has long been a useful testbed because it has clear rules but unfathomable depth. And yet there
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White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Godfrey Heathcote, Manchester Evening News, 1887. Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 25 August. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher 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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The final round of the British Championships, held at the St George’s Hall in Liverpool, promised plenty of drama. Six players shared the lead, and knowing the butterflies that swarm before critical games, it was a safe bet that at least one of the top three boards would see a winner. Top seed Nikita Vitiugov,
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Black to play. Siva Mahadevan-Nikita Vitiugov. White is attacking the f7-pawn, but Vitiugov’s next move won him the game. What did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 18 August. 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
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They say chess is an art, a science and a sport. Now it’s an e-sport too. The Esports World Cup, held in Riyadh, is an annual international tournament for major computer games such as Dota 2, this year with $38 million in prizes across the 25 events. For the first time, chess took its place
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White to play. A position from an internet game played in 2025. Black looks well placed, as the Bd6 is pinned and the c3 pawn is menacing. But there is an extraordinary move which wins the game for White. Which one? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 9 August. There is a prize of a
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Michael Adams took first place in a strongly contested English Championship, held in Kenilworth in July. The veteran elite grandmaster defeated Nikita Vitiugov in a tense playoff, after the two tied for first place with five wins and two draws each. Vitiugov, a former Russian champion, now lives in the UK and has represented England
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White to play. Byron-Pereslavtsev, English Championship, 2025. The game ended in a draw by perpetual check: 1 Ne3 Ng5+ 2 Kh2 Nf3+ etc. White could avoid that in various ways, but only one wins easily. Which move should he have chosen? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 4 August. There is a prize of £20
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Levon Aronian took the $200,000 first prize at the latest leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, held in Las Vegas earlier this month. The fifth event of the tour’s debut year, scheduled for Delhi in September, has been cancelled due to a lack of sponsors, but Carlsen tops the leaderboard ahead of the final, which
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Black to play. So-Keymer, Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, Las Vegas 2025. Keymer’s next move forced So to resign. What did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 28 July. 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
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Before the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz tournament, held in Zagreb earlier this month, Magnus Carlsen spoke frankly: ‘Gukesh hasn’t done anything to indicate he’s going to do well in such a tournament.’ That was, in a sense, true. Granted, 19-year old Gukesh Dommaraju has been world champion since December, when he defeated the reigning champion
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White to play. Gukesh-Firouzja, SuperUnited Rapid, Zagreb 2025. Firouzja has just walked into a trap. Which move allowed Gukesh to reach an easily winning position? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 21 July. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a
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The team of young talents from Uzbekistan, who sensationally won gold at the Chennai Olympiad in 2022, continue to develop apace. The strongest, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, is in the world top 10, and Javokhir Sindarov is at no. 25. They tied for first at the strong UzChess Cup, held in Tashkent in June, competing against elite
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White to play. Abdusattorov-Rapport, UzChess Masters 2025. The a-pawn seems bound to promote before the h-pawn. Which move allowed Abdusattorov to win the game anyway? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 14 July. 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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For a chess player, delivering a check to the king always feels like asking a question, as if to say, ‘What are you going to do about that?’ And I was instructed as a child: ‘Don’t answer a question with a question!’ So naturally, I get an impish thrill from those rare occasions where a
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White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Barry Barnes, the Observer, 1964. Barnes, who died in January, was a great expert and composer of mate in two problems. Email answers (first move only) to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 7 July. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of
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Right before the end of my game against Alexei Shirov at the World Rapid Team Championships earlier in June, I had the better side of a drawn position and a full 20 seconds to make a move. Not too bad: Shirov is a former member of the world elite, whose brilliant games I had revered
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White to play. Maroroa Jones-Aronian, World Rapid Team Championship, London 2025. Aronian’s last move Nf6-e4 was a blunder. Which response prompted immediate resignation? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 30 June. 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