no. 582
Black to play. Zelcic–Melkumyan, Tournament of Peace, November 2019. Melkumyan enjoys a big endgame advantage, and he found a cute…
A fresh approach
Reimagine democracy. Reimagine capitalism. Reimagine education. For all the reimagining thrown at big ideas, they don’t seem much perturbed. You…
no. 581
Bagi–Zvjaginsev, Montenegro 2019. Black to play. 61… Ke6 looks obvious, but Zvjaginsev preferred 61… Rg6! and White resigned instead of…
Dubov’s dynamite
When Daniil Dubov advanced his queen’s pawn in Batumi last month, he might as well have chewed the head off…
no. 580
Dubov-Svane, White to play. Later in the event, Dubov played another masterpiece, sacrificing a rook to reach this extraordinary position.…
Bronze in Batumi
The hammering downpour before the last round in Batumi was, in retrospect, a precious omen. After all, England’s medal drought…
no. 579
Black to play. Erwin l’Ami–Luke McShane, Batumi, 2019. The pawn on e6 looks powerful, but White’s king is more vulnerable…
Seizing the moment
‘If the ball came loose from the back of the scrum, which it won’t of course…,’ said Boris, about his…
no. 578
White to play. Dahl-Kolbus; Isle of Man, 2019. In this game between two Manx players, White had promoted a pawn…
Great sacrifices
Impelled by his engineer’s mindset, the former world champion Mikhail Botvinnik wrote a short essay to answer a simple question:…
no. 577
Black to play. From Stepanov–Romanovsky, Lenin-grad 1926. Stepanov resigned two moves earlier, seeing that he would soon lose his queen.…
Atmospheric pressures
‘Poor indoor air quality hampers cognitive performance significantly’, concluded a recent study in the IZA (Institute of Labour Economics). Of…
No. 576
White to play, Black to win. Shirov-Caruana from the Isle of Man. Caruana threatens 53… d1=Q 54.Qxd1 Qxb2 mate. Shirov…
Plates in the sink
‘Chess is a constant struggle between my desire not to lose and my desire not to think.’ I’m fond of…
no. 575
White to play. The final game of the match between Radjabov and Ding. White’s safer king confers a huge advantage,…
Visky business
‘Visky,’ said the man driving the taxi. ‘Risky?’ ‘Visky.’ ‘Ah… whisky! Or vodka.’ I grinned as I…
no. 574
Black to play. Here is my own tragedy, from Yuffa-McShane, Khanty-Mansiysk 2019. Needing a win, I tried 81 … Kg7-f7…
Editor’s picks
Most Popular
- Read
- Read
