Raymond Keene

In my pantheon of heroes a particular place of honour is occupied by the hypermodern grandmaster Richard Réti, the first to adopt the double fianchetto since the days of Howard Staunton.   Réti-Yates: New York 1924; Réti Opening (See diagram 1)   12 Rc2 This manoeuvre connected with this rook move must have struck onlookers as nothing short of revolutionary. Réti is planning to place his queen, the most powerful piece, on the extreme flank at a1. This is consistent with his theory that occupying the centre with pawns in classical style, as Black has chosen to do, exposes the pawns to pressure from the wings. 12 ...

White to play. This is from Nguyen-Alekseenko, Khanty-Mansiysk 2019. White’s queen and rook are both attacked. How does he maintain material parity? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 24 September or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. 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.

The Hungarian/American grandmaster Pal Benko has died at the age of 91. Among his numerous distinguished achievements was his double qualification for the World Championship Candidates tournaments of 1959 and 1962, eight victories in the US Open, his invention of the Benko Gambit (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5) and his prowess as a subtle composer of endgame studies. Over the board, he defeated such eminent opponents as Tal, Fischer, Petrosian, Smyslov, Korchnoi, Keres and — as seen in this week’s game — Najdorf.

Ding Liren, the Chinese grandmaster, has scored a career best in the Classical time limit section of the Grand Tour in St Louis which concluded late last month. Ding tied for first prize with world champion Magnus Carlsen in the main tournament, and then went on to crush the champion in the quickplay tie-break.   Carlsen was on the verge of holding a draw in this game, until Ding decanted a vintage win in the endgame.   Ding-Carlsen, St Louis 2019 (see diagram 1)   This is the position from the first play-off game where Carlsen lost on time. Black has control over the g8-square so the win is not straightforward. The key to White’s winning plan is to relocate the rook to the a-file and establish the bishop on the a1-h8 diagonal.

Black to play. This is from Nepomniachtchi-Anand, St Louis 2019. How did Anand exploit his opponent’s lapse? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 3 September or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. 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.

At St Louis, world champion Magnus Carlsen met with unexpected setbacks in both the rapid and blitz sections. In both cases his play was unusually lacklustre and his self-assurance seemed to crumble. I can’t imagine Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik or Kasparov ever uttered such words about their own play as Carlsen did when he said: ‘Everything’s going wrong. My confidence is long gone and now I just don’t really care anymore. My number one wish now is for the tournament to be over, it cannot come soon enough.’ Lev Aronian was the overall winner.   Yu Yangyi-Carlsen: St Louis Blitz 2019 (see diagram 1)   19 Nxf6+ Bxf6 20 gxh5 c3 21 Qg2 Kh7 This defensive measure proves too slow. The best chance was counterattack with 21 ...