Luke McShane is chess columnist for The Spectator.
Mistakes in chess come in pairs. Last month, and not for the first time, that nugget of wisdom thumped me on the nose. Representing England at the Olympiad in Budapest, my game against Luca Moroni was proceeding rather pleasantly. It was clear the Italian grandmaster had underestimated my sacrifice of rook for bishop in the
White to play. Ciolacu-Khotenashvili, Fide Women’s Olympiad, Budapest, September 2024. How did White crown her kingside attack? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 7 October. 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
White to play. Kulaots-Kadric, Budapest Olympiad, September 2024. The Estonian grandmaster spotted a neat sequence to gain a decisive material advantage. What was his first move here? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 30 September. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address
The Gaprindashvili Cup, named after the Georgian former women’s world champion Nona Gaprindashvili, is awarded at the biennial Chess Olympiad to the country with the highest total standings between the open and women’s events. In Chennai in 2022, that honour went to India, who won the bronze medals in both sections. The 45th Chess Olympiad,
When I select puzzles to accompany this column, I stick to the plain vanilla. The stipulation must be short and sweet, and one move solutions must be accepted (though I like to include a few further words of explanation). Alas, a thousand such puzzles can never do justice to the wondrous ingenuity of chess composers.
Le-Sindarov, Budapest Olympiad, September 2024. White’s next move induced immediate resignation. What did he play? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 23 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
‘I don’t think it will be decided on the chessboard… I broke him in the Sinquefield Cup… as long as I can look him in the eyes and understand that there is absolutely nothing he can do to even enter my mind space then I believe that victory will be mine.’ Thus spake Hans Niemann
White to play. Niemann-Nakamura, Chess.com Speed Chess, Paris 2024. In this game from the third-place playoff match, Niemann crowned his attack in style. Which move did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 16 September. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal
Polishing an opening repertoire is essential for top chess players, who must have variations prepared to meet all the standard openings. Those may be selected on grounds of stylistic appeal or rarity, hoping to catch an opponent off-guard. There are standard responses in turn, and a well-prepared player will have counter-ideas locked and loaded. Vast
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Dmitry Vasilevich Klark, La Stratégie, 1868. Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 9 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
Earlier this month, at the Kingston Invitational, Peter Lalic won a game against 12-year-old Billy Fellowes in 272 moves. Published in full, it would take up most of this article and resemble a cryptographic message more than a game of chess. But it earns a place in the record books as the longest over-the-board game
White to play. Caruana-Firouzja, Sinquefield Cup, 2024. Caruana exchanged rooks, but soon ran out of checks and resigned before the b2 pawn could promote. Which move would have secured a draw here? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 2 September. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat.
For the irrepressible Hans Niemann, August is no time to chill. The 21-year-old American grandmaster began the month by defeating his compatriot Wesley So by 13-10 in the quarter-final of the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship. He gave a vitriolic interview after the match, railing against the ‘chess establishment’ and those he perceives as trying to ruin
White to play. Maghsoodloo-Nepomniachtchi, Fide World Rapid Team Championship, 2024. Maghsoodloo found a beautiful winning sequence here. What was his first move? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 26 August. 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
Amina Abakarova, a 40-year-old chess player from Russia, supposedly tried to poison a younger rival at the Dagestan Chess Championship this month. Camera footage seems to show her furtively applying a substance to one side of a chess board before the start of the game. Her opponent later became unwell and a Russian news agency
The British Championships, which concluded in Hull earlier this month, saw a notable achievement for 15-year-old Shreyas Royal, whose stellar performance was his third and final qualifying result to earn him the grandmaster title. He becomes the youngest British player to reach that milestone, beating David Howell’s record which had held since 2007 (and before
Black to play. Vidit-Al-Mudahka, Fide World Rapid Team Championship, 2024. The Qatari grandmaster landed a decisive blow here. What did he play? Email answers tochess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 19 August. 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
The stench of burning rubber hung in the air as I trudged back to my hotel in Hull city centre last Saturday evening. A wheelie bin lay in the street, with a fire flickering out next to it. Everywhere there were tired-looking policemen, obviously relieved the yobs had dispersed. I too was spent, and a little
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by C.W.M. Feist, Hampshire Magazine, 1884. Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 12 August. 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…Rxh4+! 2
All eyes are on the Games in Paris, where an estimated 10,000 athletes from more than 200 nations will compete. This comes 100 years after the Paris Olympics of 1924, a milestone event when the number of competing nations jumped from 29 to 44. That same year, Fide, the international governing body of chess, (Federation
