Luke McShane is chess columnist for The Spectator.
Here’s a challenge which appeared in a German chess magazine in 1848: place eight white queens on an empty chessboard so that no two queens occupy the same file, rank or diagonal. In other words, none of the queens may defend each other. Perhaps you start with a queen in the top left corner, on
White to play. Gelfand–Karjakin, Tal Memorial Blitz 2008. Gelfand’s pawn is pinned, and moving the king runs into more checks. But here he missed a surprising shot. What should White play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 24 January. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please
White to play. Maxime Lagarde-Thai Dai Van Nguyen, Reykjavik 2021. Lagarde found a brilliant finish, forcing mate in just a few moves. What was his next move? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 17 January. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a
Recently, with some regret, I declined an invitation to play chess in the Netherlands. I fancied the trip, but alas it made little sense to commit to what would have been a fleeting visit. Travel hurdles have become a Rumsfeldian ‘known unknown’, and sure enough, that country was in lockdown not a week later, requiring
White to play. Abdusattorov–Rakhmatullaev, Uzbek Championship 2021. How did White deliver a pretty mate in two moves? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Tuesday 10 January. 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
Chess offers one ultimate consolation in defeat: the opportunity to set the pieces up and start again. At least in theory, a new game is a clean slate, and a release from past tribulations. But in practice, sometimes one simply cannot manage to air out the miasma of what came before. In the second half
White to play and mate in 3. Composed by Albert Barbe, 1861. Only the first move is required, but it’s not as obvious as it looks! Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Tuesday 4 January. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal
1. ‘I like the game, the money, and the fame.’ Which Twitter-loving top grandmaster said that, in response to an interviewer’s question: ‘What three things do you absolutely love about chess?’ 2. Which former women’s world champion chose to sue Netflix, seeking damages of ‘at least $5 million’ for her portrayal in The Queen’s Gambit?
1. Anish Giri 2. Nona Gaprindashvili 3. Jamie Njoku-Goodwin 4. Alireza Firouzja 5. Magnus Carlsen–Hikaru Nakamura 6. 2 Qf4+! gxf4 3 Rb7+ Kc8 4 Rc7+ Kd8 5 Rd7+ etc with a draw. The rook is immune due to stalemate. 7. Abhimanyu Mishra 8. Ian Nepomniachtchi 9. Garry Kasparov 10. Trafalgar Square, London 11. Yuri Averbakh
White to play and mate in 2. Composed by W.A. Shinkman, Montreal Spectator, 1880. As things stand, White has no immediate mate in answer to 1…Ka3 or 1…a3. The key move offers an ingenious way to meet these moves. Please note that owing to Christmas printing deadlines there is no prize for this puzzle. Last
Game 6 of the Carlsen–Nepomniachtchi world championship match was one for the ages. After draws in the first five games, the world champion broke the deadlock with a 136-move victory — the longest in world championship history. It lasted almost eight hours, and Nepomniachtchi made the final mistake in an endgame with a lone queen
Black to play. Plat-Esipenko, European Team Championship, 2021. The 19-year-old Russian playing Black found a way to force mate in three moves. What did he play next? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 6 December. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a
Alireza Firouzja produced a momentous performance for France at the European Team Championships, held in Slovenia last month. The 18-year-old, originally from Iran, had taken first place at the Fide Grand Swiss in Latvia just a few days earlier. In Slovenia, his seven wins and two draws was a staggering achievement, earning him an individual
White to play. Erigaisi–Liem, Tata Steel Rapid, 2021. Here 1 Rxf6? Qd1+ sees White getting mated on the back rank. The 18-year-old Indian grand-master found a much stronger move. What did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 29 November. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a
‘Time to say Dubai,’ tweeted Magnus Carlsen, like some wry Bond villain, when he learned that the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi would be his next challenger for the world championship title. Hosted at the Dubai Expo, battle will commence on Friday 26 November. Carlsen wrested the title from Viswanathan Anand in 2013, and since then has
White to play and win. The conclusion of an endgame study by Henri Rinck. The imminent promotion of the g-pawn makes White’s situation look desperate, but there is one way to win the game. What is White’s winning move? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 22 November. There is a prize of £20 for the
One of the most eye-catching games from the recently concluded Fide Grand Swiss in Riga saw an early sacrifice of queen for knight, bishop and pawn. This exotic balance of material usually favours the queen, based on the rule of thumb that pawn = 1, knight = 3, bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen
White to play. Trisha Kanyamarala–Roderick Mckay, EJCOA Forest Hall Invitational, 2021. White found a brilliant strike on the kingside, forcing a quick mate. What did she play? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 15 November. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a
Alireza Firouzja, just 18 years old, was the clear winner of the Fide Grand Swiss, which concluded in Latvia last weekend. Originally from Iran but now settled in France, Firouzja already looks like a credible future contender for the world championship, and his victory in the Grand Swiss has earned him a spot in the
White to play. Short-Ye, Sanjin Hotel Cup 2004. A snappy finish from a game in Winning. Which move allowed Short to force a quick checkmate? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 8 November. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address
