Luke McShane is chess columnist for The Spectator.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
It was a treat to see so many of the world’s top players in London for the World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships last week. Now in its third edition, the event has an unusual format, in which teams of six must include one female player and one rated below 2000 (roughly, a strong club
White to play. Grischuk-Firouzja, World Blitz Team Championship, London 2025. A bishop up, Firouzja seems to have everything covered. Which move allowed Grischuk to save the draw? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 23 June. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please
Magnus Carlsen slammed the table with such force that the pieces jumped from the board. Immediately, he resigned his game against teenage world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, who thereby achieved his first victory in a classical (slow) game against the world no 1. His comment on Carlsen’s pique was typically gracious: ‘I’ve also banged a lot
White to play and win. In this classic endgame, promoting the pawn to a queen allows a knight fork, with a draw. A king move is needed to win – but which one? Email answers (first move only) to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 16 June. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for
The final weekend of the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) took place on the early May bank holiday, and promised a close race between the defending champions Wood Green and the strong Manx Liberty team, who began the weekend a couple of match points in front. The league looked likely to be decided in a
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Joseph Cowley, The Chess Bouquet, 1897. Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 9 May. 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.
Anyone who plays chess will know the feeling of reaching a winning position, only to screw it up and to lose the game instead. So far so normal, and the cliché about ‘snatching defeat from the jaws of victory’ can apply to any sport. But chess offers a far more piquant anguish, unavailable in most
White to play. Torre-Parker, New York Simultaneous exhibition, 1916. White resigned, seeing no defence to the threat of Rc5-c1+. Which move would have led to the opposite result? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 2 June. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat.
A ‘Fair Play violation’ got the YouTube streamer DrLupo booted out of the most recent series of PogChamps, Chess.com’s online invitational tournament for streamers and athletes, which has a $100,000 prize fund. DrLupo’s transgression was not particularly subtle. In elementary fashion, he blundered his queen for two minor pieces at move 11, only to comprehensively
Black to play. Donchenko-Blübaum, German Championship Masters 2025. White threatens mate on the queenside. Which move allowed Blübaum to strike first on the kingside? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 26 May. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal
The other day, a top computer chess engine demolished the world no. 2 Hikaru Nakamura in a series of online blitz games by a 14-2 margin. Nothing unusual in that; computers have played at superhuman levels for decades now, to the point where scoring two points out of 16 counts as an achievement. But those
White to play and draw. The conclusion of an endgame study composed by Frédéric Lazard in 1946. Which move allows White to salvage a draw from this position? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 19 May. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat.