Raymond Keene 
Norwegian Blue
Magnus Carlsen, the Norwegian chess superstar who will be challenging Viswanathan Anand for the world title later this year, disappointed his home supporters by failing to win the first ever… Read more
puzzle no. 267
Black to play. This position is from Carlsen-Wang Hao; Norway Masters 2013. Can you spot Black’s clever winning move in this endgame? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday… Read more
Fire and ice
Sergei Karjakin stormed into an early lead with 4/4 in the elite tournament at Stavanger in Norway, which finishes on Saturday 18 May. Karjakin also triumphed in a blitz tournament… Read more
Chess puzzle no.266
White to play. This position is from Anand-Nakamura, Norway Masters. What is White’s best move? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 21 May or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk… Read more
Alekhine Memorial
The Alekhine Memorial split between Paris and St Petersburg has been won jointly by Lev Aronian and Boris Gelfand. The final scores (out of 9) were as follows: Aronian and… Read more
Great Alexander
As I write, the prestigious Alekhine Memorial tournament is drawing to a close. Brainchild of sponsor Andrei Filatov, this high-powered event is taking place partly in the Louvre in Paris… Read more
Puzzle no. 264
White to play. This position is a variation from Alekhine-Hofmeister, Petrograd 1917. A typical Alekhine conclusion. A queen down — how does he force the win? Answers to me at… Read more
Poisson d’Avril
Trust the French to have cuisine in mind when coining their phrase for April Fool. On the front page of the Daily Telegraph of 3 April, I spotted a statistical… Read more
Adrian Hollis
Adrian, who died earlier this year, was both an Oxford classicist from Keble College and a Correspondence Chess Grandmaster. One of the outstanding personalities of British chess, he won the… Read more
Magnus force
Magnus Carlsen has qualified from the London Candidates tournament to earn a title match against the incumbent world champion Vishy Anand of India. Final scores were as follows: Carlsen and… Read more
Passed pawns
This week, further fascinating positions from the world championship qualifier Candidates tournament recently concluded in London. Although there were the regulation number of draws, for such an elite event, the… Read more
Candidates
The Candidates tournament to decide the challenger to world champion Anand is the strongest tournament ever to have graced the capital. As I write, three rounds of fighting chess have… Read more
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