No, not the Church of England and its troubles with the question of whether women should be allowed to be bishops, but chess endgames, with rival bishops moving respectively on black and white squares. Traditionally, the fact that the bishops can play, as it were, past each other increases the possibility of a draw, as
There is a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where Sir Lancelot’s servant, Patsy, is shot in the back by an arrow and seems to expire. As Lancelot ( John Cleese) brusquely proceeds on his mission, Patsy (Eric Idle) protests that contrary to appearances he is not dead yet. The world champion Vishy
Just before the London Classic, Magnus Carlsen and Judith Polgar contested a four-game match under speed and blindfold conditions as part of the Gran Fiesta of chess at UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico) in Mexico City. Supported by the enterprising Mexican Chess Federation, the festival’s highlight was this clash between the top-ranked player and
The fourth London Classic at Olympia, organised by the indefatigable Malcolm Pein, was the strongest of the series including, as it did, the reigning world champion, a former world champion and the current world ranked no. 1. In addition, the contest was graced by the strongest ever female player, Judith Polgar. Final scores, based on three
London has seen three World Championship matches in the post-war period, Kasparov-Karpov 1986, Kasparov-Short 1993 and Kasparov-Kramnik 2000. The game I have chosen to start the new year is Kasparov’s most convincing win from his 1986 title defence at the Park Lane Hotel, a match opened by the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and closed
In my series of homages to great masters in London, this week an outstanding win by Anatoly Karpov, who took first prize in the major international tournaments in London 1982 and London 1984. The position is by Alexander Alekhine who came second to Capablanca in London 1922, won in London 1932 and would have defended
This Christmas and New Year I am publishing a series of tributes to players in great London games. This week, examples of play by Capablanca, who won the great tournament at London in 1922, and Lasker, who stormed to victory in London 1899. The Capablanca game in particular is a mighty struggle which still causes
This week I continue my homage, during the London Classic which finishes this coming week, to great players who have achieved outstanding things in London. In 1866 Wilhelm Steinitz defeated Adolf Anderssen in what was, to all intents and purposes, a World Championship clash. Steinitz marked it as the beginning of his World Championship tenure,
To celebrate the London Classic, which starts at Olympia this Saturday, I shall be paying a series of homages to illuminati of the game who have achieved great things in London. I kick off with Howard Staunton, who won the equivalent of World Championship matches against the German masters Harrwitz and Horwitz in London and
Armenia won the gold medals in the Istanbul Chess Olympiad for the third time in four years — an astonishing feat for a small nation. Part of the secret of their success is the fact that chess is now taught as a curriculum subject in Armenian schools; the Armenian hero Tigran Petrosian created a chess
Last week, in the context of the discovery of the chessboard of Sir John Tenniel, the Times related a famous, possibly apocryphal story in which Aron Nimzowitsch mounted a table after yielding to a lesser player, shouting ‘why must I lose to this idiot?’ Nimzo is also in the news after the recent publication of
Entries are now being invited to what I believe to be the world’s finest open tournament held at the Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar over January and February next year. I attend as often as I can and the atmosphere and general camaraderie exceed anything I have experienced elsewhere. Brian Callaghan, the spiritus rector of the
Michael Basman is in many ways the most important person in British chess. As a player, he is an International Master, who tied for the British Championship in 1973, losing out in the tie-break. Since then he has turned his hand to organising a mass annual schools championship, attended by 70,000 entrants every year. Sponsored
In contemporary high-class tournament play both adjournments and early draws have been banned. This is partly due to the accessibility of computer analysis and partly to the realisation that well-remunerated grandmasters have an obligation to entertain. As a result, more and more games are being decided in seemingly level endgames which in former times might
Magnus Carlsen has won the elite tournament split between Sao Paulo, Brazil and Bilbao, Spain ahead of a squad of top grandmasters, including the world champion Viswanathan Anand. Using the 3 for a win, 1 for a draw and nothing for a loss system, the final scores were as follows: Carlsen and Caruana 17, Aronian
The London Grand Prix at Simpson’s in the Strand finished in a triple tie between the three grandmasters Topalov, Gelfand and Mamedyarov, who ended in that order after a tie break. Britain’s Mickey Adams performed creditably after being granted just one day’s notice that he was playing, while the top-ranked US Grandmaster, Hikaru Nakamura, experienced
Boris Gelfand, the challenger for this year’s World Championship in Moscow, continues, as I write, to lead the Agon/Fidé Grand Prix at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand. He is being pursued by a pack of great players which includes Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan and Vesselin Topalov from Bulgaria. The surprise of the event has been the complete collapse of
When this article appears, the AGON Grand Prix at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, brought to London by Andrew Paulson, will be reaching its midway stage. The players who have shone in the early stages of this stellar event are Boris Gelfand of Israel, the World Championship challenger earlier this year, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan, and Peter Leko from
Every year I give many so-called simultaneous displays, usually for charity, where I take on 20 opponents at one and the same time. The only game I have lost this year in such events was a complicated battle during the Phoenix Legacy weekend in Dorset, organised by Rosie Barfoot, to raise awareness of the need
The indefatigable Michael Basman continues to identify future chess superstars with his annual Delancey UK Schools Chess Challenge for schoolchildren. Eight-year-old Alex Golding won an astounding £1,000 prize in the most recent edition of the challenge, which attracts a world record entry of 60,000 every year. Brandon Clarke emerged as the overall winner of the
