No. 595
Black to play. Tomashevsky–Lomasov, Nutcracker Battle of the Generations, Moscow 2020. A position with a surprising twist. Tomashevsky has just…
Chess borders
In the 1800s, several chess matches were conducted by telegraph. Modern technology ought to make long-distance matches easier than ever,…
Peasants’ revolt
The German word for pawn, ‘bauer’, can also be translated as peasant, or farmer. There are many spectacular games in…
No. 594
Black to play. Puranik–Sjugirov, another spectacular game played at the Aeroflot Open. Puranik was perhaps counting on 1…Rc1 2 Qa3…
Increment and excrement
The science-fiction writer Douglas Adams ridiculed our primitive species for considering digital watches to be ‘a pretty neat idea’. Digital…
no. 593
White to play, a variation from McShane–-Kamsky. In the game above, I was hoping to see 31…Qa5, as I had…
Confidence tricks
Three consecutive losses in a tournament is dryly termed ‘castling queenside’, in reference to the chess notation for that move…
No. 592
Black to play, Kateryna Lagno–Ju Wenjun, February 2020. Material is approximately balanced, but White’s king is in serious danger. What…
Beasts of the board
The Dutch artist Theo Jansen has a unique speciality. His ‘Strandbeest’ (beach animals) are kinetic sculptures, which he likes to…
no. 591
White to play, Dubov–Artemiev, Wijk aan Zee 2020. White is pressing here, but Black seems to have everything covered. Which…
Meeting an idol
We had never met, but David Paravyan, from Russia, has been something of a personal idol since August 2018. My…
no. 590
Black to move, Paravyan vs McShane, Isle of Man 2019. Here I intended 49…Bxd1. What had Paravyan planned after that…
Women’s World Championship
Looking at the first 12 games of the 2018 Carlsen-Caruana World Championship, which all ended in draws, I saw a statistical…
no. 589
Black to move. Javakhishvili–Adams, Gibraltar 2020. Adams has a few plausible moves here, including Rf1, Rf3+ and Rxf7, but only…
More than a game
Cars, computers and cadavers: taking them apart is normally reserved for experts and the pathologically curious. In his new book,…
no. 588
Rowson-Yermolinsky, World Open 2002. This position arose after a tactical skirmish. White has only one good way to meet the…
12 rules for chess
As backhanded Christmas gifts go, a copy of 12 Rules for Life, must be up there with wrinkle cream or a…
no. 587
Sanguineti–Najdorf, Mar del Plata 1956. White to move. White played 1 Kd8?, to threaten 2 Qe7#. Black resigned, overlooking 1…Rxg4…
A question of motivation
‘Every day is different’, people like to say about their jobs. For the world’s best chess players, that’s only partly…
No. 586
Carlsen–Nakamura, December 2019. In the decisive playoff game, Carlsen played 1 Nxf7+ and won quickly. But there was a mate…
A multitude of contests
Besides the Grand Chess Tour final, an abundance of chess was played at this year’s London Chess Classic. More than…
No. 585
Black to play. Ilfeld & Vachier-Lagrave–Picot & McShane. Pro-Biz Cup, London 2019. My move. White threatens checkmate with Qc4-g8, so…
Ding’s wings
Ding Liren, from China, was a convincing winner of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, which reached its climax in London…
no. 584
White to play. Aronian–Carlsen, December 2019. Carlsen won the third-place playoff, but Aronian found a nice finish in this game.…
The Saric Supremacy
There is a gritty fight scene in The Bourne Supremacy, in which Jason Bourne (played by Matt Damon) faces down…
