Luke McShane is chess columnist for The Spectator.
The boy they call the ‘Messi of Chess’ achieved a milestone result at the ‘Legends and Prodigies’ tournament, held in Madrid last month. Eleven-year-old Faustino Oro, from Argentina, won the tournament with 7.5/9, thereby achieving his first grandmaster-level performance. The requirement is for three such results before the title is awarded. But in Madrid he
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Franz Dittrich, Ceske Listy Sachove, 1897. Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 6 October. 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.
‘When you play professional chess… you have to always believe in miracles. Especially if you are a player like me who’s not really good.’ A couple of rounds before the end of the Fide Grand Swiss, held in Samarkand in early September, Anish Giri gave a typically modest assessment of his chances of taking one
White to play. Anish Giri-Viktor Laznicka, France 2010. Black’s king is in obvious peril, and Giri found the only move which wins by force. What did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 29 September. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal
Halfway through the Fide Grand Swiss, held in Samarkand earlier in September, Magnus Carlsen picked out 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus as the player who had impressed him the most. The Turkish teenager, a grandmaster since last year and already established in the world’s top 100, looked utterly undaunted by the elite opposition he faced there.
Black to play. Szymon Gumularz-Nihal Sarin, Fide Grand Swiss, 2025. Sarin found a tactic which decided the game in his favour immediately. Which move did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 22 September. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address
Here we go again! By the end of this year, eight players will have qualified for the 2026 Candidates’ Tournament, whose winner earns the right to challenge Gukesh Dommaraju for the World Championship title. One player, Fabiano Caruana, is qualified already, thanks to strong results in 2024. Fide, the international federation, also holds two major
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Edith Baird, British Chess Magazine, 1894. Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 15 September. 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. Last week’s solution 1…Qxg2+!
Patience is the companion of wisdom, declared St Augustine. That wisdom was manifest in Wesley So’s victory at the Sinquefield Cup last month, one of the strongest classical events in the calendar, with a $350,000 prize fund. So grabbed his first win as late as round seven, against world champion Gukesh; going into the last
Black to play. Cervantes Landeiro-M. Muzychuk, Women’s World Cup 2025. Black, down rook for knight, retreated Ne4-g5 and went on to lose. How could she have salvaged a draw? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 8 September. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a
In one sense, everything went right for Nodirbek Yakubboev at the Rubinstein Memorial, held in Poland earlier this month. The 23-year-old grandmaster, who was part of Uzbekistan’s gold medal winning squad at the Chennai Olympiad in 2022, scored a convincing tournament victory with four wins and five draws and pushed into the world’s top 50.
Black to play. O. Bronstein – L. McShane, World Blitz Team Championships, London, 2025. Bronstein sacrificed a knight for a kingside attack, but here I missed a chance to decide the game in my favour. Which move should I have played? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 1 September. There is a prize of £20
The life cycle of Drosophila melanogaster lasts a couple of weeks, so the humble fruit fly is far more useful than a giant tortoise to a geneticist with a hypothesis and a deadline. Similarly, for AI researchers, chess has long been a useful testbed because it has clear rules but unfathomable depth. And yet there
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Godfrey Heathcote, Manchester Evening News, 1887. Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 25 August. 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.
The final round of the British Championships, held at the St George’s Hall in Liverpool, promised plenty of drama. Six players shared the lead, and knowing the butterflies that swarm before critical games, it was a safe bet that at least one of the top three boards would see a winner. Top seed Nikita Vitiugov,
Black to play. Siva Mahadevan-Nikita Vitiugov. White is attacking the f7-pawn, but Vitiugov’s next move won him the game. What did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 18 August. 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
They say chess is an art, a science and a sport. Now it’s an e-sport too. The Esports World Cup, held in Riyadh, is an annual international tournament for major computer games such as Dota 2, this year with $38 million in prizes across the 25 events. For the first time, chess took its place
White to play. A position from an internet game played in 2025. Black looks well placed, as the Bd6 is pinned and the c3 pawn is menacing. But there is an extraordinary move which wins the game for White. Which one? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 9 August. There is a prize of a
Michael Adams took first place in a strongly contested English Championship, held in Kenilworth in July. The veteran elite grandmaster defeated Nikita Vitiugov in a tense playoff, after the two tied for first place with five wins and two draws each. Vitiugov, a former Russian champion, now lives in the UK and has represented England
White to play. Byron-Pereslavtsev, English Championship, 2025. The game ended in a draw by perpetual check: 1 Ne3 Ng5+ 2 Kh2 Nf3+ etc. White could avoid that in various ways, but only one wins easily. Which move should he have chosen? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 4 August. There is a prize of £20