I could list all manner of things I don’t try, because I know I won’t like them, like skydiving and revolting cocktails. But there’s another list of things I don’t try, knowing I might like them just a bit too much. ‘Puzzle Rush’ was, for some time, in the second category. Chess.com is one of
Coronavirus is causing chess events to fall like dominoes, with cancellations all over the world. But the Candidates tournament in Yekaterinburg, which selects a challenger for the World Championship, is still standing. The first round took place on Tuesday 17 March. It goes ahead without Teimour Radjabov, from Azerbaijan, whose request to postpone the event
In the 1800s, several chess matches were conducted by telegraph. Modern technology ought to make long-distance matches easier than ever, but in fact competitive international chess is almost always played in person these days. That is partly because it is impossible to police computer-assisted cheating if the players play at home. But equally, the practical
The German word for pawn, ‘bauer’, can also be translated as peasant, or farmer. There are many spectacular games in which the pawns pick up their pitchforks and overrun the landed gentry. A historic example, played in 1834, is the game McDonnell–de La Bourdonnais, in which the Frenchman playing Black advanced his pawns to d2,
The science-fiction writer Douglas Adams ridiculed our primitive species for considering digital watches to be ‘a pretty neat idea’. Digital chess clocks really are pretty neat, because they enable modern competitive games to be played with an ‘increment’. For each move played, you earn extra seconds to make the next one, a simple innovation which
Three consecutive losses in a tournament is dryly termed ‘castling queenside’, in reference to the chess notation for that move (0-0-0). Carissa Yip went one worse, starting with four demoralising zeros at the Cairns Cup in St Louis this month. The 16-year-old American was the lowest ranked player in the elite women’s all-play-all tournament, so
The Dutch artist Theo Jansen has a unique speciality. His ‘Strandbeest’ (beach animals) are kinetic sculptures, which he likes to set free upon a windswept beach. Fashioned from plastic tubes, bottles and the like, these imposing skeletons appear to ‘walk’ along the seafront with a gait at once laboured and graceful: a compelling synthesis of
We had never met, but David Paravyan, from Russia, has been something of a personal idol since August 2018. My veneration was exclusively based on one game whose dazzling ingenuity was, to my eyes, awesome. Last week he took first place (and a £30,000 prize) at the Gibraltar Masters, one of the most prestigious open
Looking at the first 12 games of the 2018 Carlsen-Caruana World Championship, which all ended in draws, I saw a statistical blip where others saw an ossified match format and the death of classical chess. But nobody could decry the drama at this year’s Women’s World Championship, in which reigning champion Ju Wenjun from China saw off a
Cars, computers and cadavers: taking them apart is normally reserved for experts and the pathologically curious. In his new book, The Moves that Matter, Jonathan Rowson takes a scalpel to the game of chess itself, and finds abundant meaning in its cultural, psychological and metaphorical aspects. Or as he puts it: ‘Chess is just a
As backhanded Christmas gifts go, a copy of 12 Rules for Life, must be up there with wrinkle cream or a nose-hair trimmer. One generous soul decided that Jordan Peterson’s bracing self-help book, published two years ago, was just the tonic I need to improve my life and character. Who knows what advice to take,
‘Every day is different’, people like to say about their jobs. For the world’s best chess players, that’s only partly true. The game will be different, but the day will look much the same, and so will the international hotel room. In fact, professional players love a routine: they keep their energy for the game,
Besides the Grand Chess Tour final, an abundance of chess was played at this year’s London Chess Classic. More than 2,000 children visited the festival, which was organised by the charity Chess in Schools and Communities. Fittingly, two talented youngsters shared first place in the Fide Open event — 14-year-old Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa from India and
Ding Liren, from China, was a convincing winner of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, which reached its climax in London last weekend. The Grand Chess Tour Finals, a four-player knockout, was the flagship event at this year’s London Chess Classic. The match format was a blend of classical (slow), rapid and blitz games. Although the slower
There is a gritty fight scene in The Bourne Supremacy, in which Jason Bourne (played by Matt Damon) faces down his adversary Jarda at an apartment in Munich. Both men are skilled assassins, but they aren’t wielding their weapons of choice. The villain’s hands are tied, but he lands the first blow with his elbows.
Magnus Carlsen is the star attraction at this year’s London Chess Classic. The festival, now in its 11th edition, runs from 29 November to 8 December at the Olympia Conference Centre in Kensington. The World Champion will play in the final leg of the Grand Chess Tour, in a four-player knockout event with a $350,000 prize
Reimagine democracy. Reimagine capitalism. Reimagine education. For all the reimagining thrown at big ideas, they don’t seem much perturbed. You can reimagine a problem too, but it probably won’t be fruitful. It won’t help you find the end of the Sellotape, or balance the books (unless you worked for Enron). But some problems really
When Daniil Dubov advanced his queen’s pawn in Batumi last month, he might as well have chewed the head off a bat and set fire to the board. For diehard chess fans, it was a true rock’n’roll moment, still more transgressive for being done in a team event on behalf of Mother Russia. The 23-year-old had
The hammering downpour before the last round in Batumi was, in retrospect, a precious omen. After all, England’s medal drought in international team competitions has lasted nearly 20 years. This year our rain dances finally took effect, as we brought home the bronze medals from the European Team Championship last week. It’s our second major
‘If the ball came loose from the back of the scrum, which it won’t of course…,’ said Boris, about his prospects of becoming prime minister. Disingenuous or not, it’s surely not a job won by determination alone. One needs a little help from events. Despite a strong start, Wang Hao, from China, downplayed his