Luke McShane is chess columnist for The Spectator.
If you play chess like a wet rag, sooner or later you will be made to regret it. In Nigel Short’s new book Winning (Quality Chess, 2021), that precept pops up in countless guises, and nobody is above criticism. Peter Leko ‘infamously offended the gods by attempting to draw his way to the title’ in
Black to play. Turner–Jackson, Hull 4NCL GM Tournament 2021. Which move did James Jackson play to ensure a decisive advance of his passed a-pawn? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 1 November. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address. Last
Anyone who has attended the Varsity chess match knows that an online version just wouldn’t be the same. The annual event is held in great style at the Royal Automobile Club in London’s Pall Mall, and has tradition at its heart. This year’s, the 139th edition, could not be held at the usual time in
White to play. Bjerre–Maiwald, Bundesliga 2021. Black has menacing counterplay, so White’s attack needs an accurate conclusion. What did he play next? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 25 October. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six
I don’t like losing at chess. It feels bad in the moment, whether my position subsides like a failed pudding, or crashes like a severed tree. It feels bad right afterwards too, staring at a big fat zero on the scorecard. But worst of all is the lingering knot of disgust, because usually one’s mistakes
White to play and mate in one. I found this puzzle online, composed by someone with the pseudonym ‘Illion’. I was stumped for several minutes before the solution dawned on me. Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 18 October. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a
The hero pauses, plays the move, and announces ‘Checkmate!’ The villain crumples in shock. It’s a scene played out countless times on screen, but it so often looks ludicrous. In slow games between skilled players, checkmate on the board is much rarer than resignation. Occasionally, when the denouement is brisk and elegant, it will be
White to play. Mamedyarov–Artemiev, MeltwaterChampions Final 2021. Black’s last move, was Ra8-a4, attacking the pawn on g4. But it allowed Mamedyarov a decisive tactical opportunity. What did he play? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 11 October. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please
Since tennis matches are decided in sets, they are sometimes won by the player who has won fewer games. For example, with a 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 scoreline, 12 wins can beat 14. This statistical quirk goes by the name of Simpson’s paradox, and from a sporting point of view it is quite attractive. Even an
White to play. This was a variation which could arise in the game R. Pert–M. Parligras, Manx Liberty Masters 2021. Here, White has a surprising way to conclude the game. What is the winning move? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 4 October. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct
I sat on the plane to the Isle of Man, leafing through a copy of Nigel Short’s new book, Winning. Since I was about to play a chess tournament, you would imagine that Short’s analysis of eight memorable tournament victories contained insights for my own campaign. Strange to say, that thought hardly crossed my mind.
Black to play. J. Polgar — Gaprindashvili, Novi Sad Olympiad 1990. Gaprindashvili’s next move prompted immediate resignation. What did she play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by 27 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 year’s Netflix mini-series The Queen’s Gambit hit all the right notes. For the neophytes, it was quirky and intriguing. For those already smitten with the game, it was a rare joy to see that chess-wise, they mostly got the details right. Mostly. One awkward exception was the portrayal of Nona Gaprindashvili, the contemporary women’s
White to play. Gaprindashvili–Servaty, Dortmund 1974. The dark squares around Black’s king are critically weak, and White found an accurate way to conclude the attack. What was her winning move? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 20 September. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat.
I suspect many players perceive the chess board in rich contrast, like a heat map. Glowing bright red are those pieces which are attacked but not defended. A gentler shade applies to pieces which are vulnerable to attack in future, or squares that are ripe for occupation. In the diagram below, the intrusion 10 Nd5-e7+
White to play. Harvey–Roberson, Northumbria Masters 2021. Black’s last move, 37…Kf7-e7 looked plausible, but walked into a clever tactic. What was White’s next move? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 13 September. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and
At the beginning of August, seeing his outstanding performance at the Fide World Cup in Sochi, I wrote that Ravi Haria ‘must now sense that the grandmaster title is well within reach’. But who could expect that he would achieve two more grandmaster ‘norms’ before the month was out? Haria, 22, now has all three
White to play. Swiercz–Xiong, Sinquefield Cup 2021. 1 Kxb2 allows a perpetual check. But forcing an exchange of queens would allow the f6-pawn to decide the game in White’s favour. Which move did Swiercz play to bring that about? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 6 September. There is a prize of £20 for the
A popular conceit among chess authors, particularly dead ones, is to describe a fine game as the execution of a multi-stage plan. In fact, a close inspection often reveals that the plan could only have been mapped out in hindsight, and the loser’s fate was entirely avoidable. Grand plans are overrated, but modest plans are
There be dragons! What we now call the Sveshnikov variation of the Sicilian defence was, in the 1970s, largely uncharted territory, and viewed with deep suspicion. Its modern name immortalises the Russian grandmaster whose pioneering analytical efforts, and practical success, put the variation on the map. Evgeny Ellinovich Sveshnikov died on 18 August at the
