Raymond Keene

Raymond Keene is The Spectator's chess columnist.

no. 561

6 July 2019 9:00 am

White to play. This is from Reti-Bogolyubov, New York 1924. How did Reti conclude his attack with a fine blow? Answers…

King’s Indian

29 June 2019 9:00 am

The King’s Indian Defence is one of Black’s most dynamic reactions to closed openings such as d4/c4 and Nf3. Black…

no. 560

29 June 2019 9:00 am

White to play. This position is from Michalik-Jirasek, Prague 2019. The game is only just out of the opening but…

Fortune’s wheel

22 June 2019 9:00 am

The elite tournament at Stavanger in Norway has resulted in yet another victory for the world champion Magnus Carlsen. The…

no. 559

22 June 2019 9:00 am

Black to play. This position is from Grischuk-Anand, Altibox (Armageddon game), Stavanger 2019. How does Black break White’s resistance? Answers…

Morse and Lewis

15 June 2019 9:00 am

The Isle of Lewis chess pieces are one of the proudest possessions of the British Museum and also the National Museum…

no. 558

15 June 2019 9:00 am

White to play. This position is a variation from Ding Liren-So, Stavanger 2019. White could continue the attack with 1…

Spirited

8 June 2019 9:00 am

An unusual tournament has taken place at the Lindores Abbey Whisky Distillery in Scotland, namely a double-round competition between four…

no. 557

8 June 2019 9:00 am

White to play. This position is from Ding Liren-Anand, Lindores Abbey Stars 2019. Here White played 1 Rb8 which lost…

Holy Grail

1 June 2019 9:00 am

Gawain Jones has fought his way to the no. 1 position on the UK ranking list by a series of recent…

no. 556

1 June 2019 9:00 am

Black to play. This position is a variation from today’s game, Hillarp Persson-Jones, Malmo 2019. How can Black conclude the…

Goring the gambit

25 May 2019 9:00 am

One of the most irritating defences to meet when playing 1 d4 as White is the Benko Gambit (1 d4…

no. 555

25 May 2019 9:00 am

White to play. This position is from Dubov-Giri, Moscow 2019. How did White conclude with a fine blow that forced…

Ivory gates

18 May 2019 9:00 am

This year’s Grand Chess Tour kicked off in the Ivory Coast with a significant innovation, the first ever tournament in…

no. 554

18 May 2019 9:00 am

Black to play. This is from Topalov-Carlsen, Côte d’Ivoire 2019. How did the world champion finish off? Answers to me…

Revolutionary

11 May 2019 9:00 am

The French Defence appears to be somewhat cautious in nature but can in fact lead to disruptive middlegame clashes. It…

no. 553

11 May 2019 9:00 am

Black to play. This is from Carlo-Haast, Grenke Chess Open 2019. There is a saying in chess that when you…

Déjà vu

4 May 2019 9:00 am

In my column of 20 April I reported on the overwhelming victory by world champion Magnus Carlsen in the elite Gashimov…

no. 552

4 May 2019 9:00 am

Black to play. This position is a variation from Keymer-Carlsen, Grenke 2019. Black is a piece down. What is the…

Venit, vidit, vicit

27 April 2019 9:00 am

India is quite possibly the birthplace of chess, with the four branches of the ancient Indian army, infantry, cavalry, chariots…

no. 551

27 April 2019 9:00 am

White to play. This position is a variation from Vitiugov-Duda, Prague 2019. How does White exploit the greater activity of…

Carlsen the Great

20 April 2019 9:00 am

I cannot conceal the feeling over the years of Magnus Carlsen’s leading position at the head of world chess, that…

no. 550

20 April 2019 9:00 am

Black to play. This position is a variation from Navara-Carlsen, Shamkir 2019. What is Black’s only winning move? Answers to…

Be prepared

13 April 2019 9:00 am

Last week I wrote about Cyrus Lakdawala’s new book, which provides an aggressive repertoire based on the solid move 1…

no. 549

13 April 2019 9:00 am

White to play. This is from Gukesh-Paramzina, Sharjah 2019. Twelve-year-old Gukesh is the second youngest grandmaster of all time (behind…