no. 500
White to play. This position is from Jones-Deac, European Team Championship, Batumi 2018. Can you spot White’s crushing breakthrough? Answers…
Victor Ludorum
A match which has attracted less attention than it deserves was Luke McShane’s victory over David Howell in the final…
no. 499
White to play. This position is from a later game in the match, McShane-Howell, London 2017. How did White conclude…
Kramnik’s Immortal
Every so often a game is played which is worthy of joining the immortals in the pantheon of chessboard masterpieces.…
no. 498
Black to play. This position is a variation from today’s game Aronian-Kramnik, Berlin 2018. How can Black briskly conclude his…
First round nerves
The three most important events in the World Chess Federation calendar are the World Championship match, the Olympiad and the…
no. 497
White to play. This position is from Kramnik-Andreikin, Tal Memorial 2018. White now finished off quickly. What did he play?…
Berlin
This weekend the Candidates tournament commences in Berlin to decide the challenger who will face Magnus Carlsen for the world…
no. 496
White to play. This position is from Mamedyarov-Savchenko, Moscow 2015. White’s forthcoming tactic led to a decisive material gain. What…
Bunratty
This year’s tournament at Bunratty in Ireland was the celebratory 25th in the series and I was invited to deliver the…
no. 495
White to play. This position is from Tiviakov-Jones, Bunratty Play-off. White’s next led to a decisive material gain. What did…
Another Troy
One of the sharpest lines in the Ruy Lopez (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 f5) is widely…
no. 494
Black to play. This position is from Drozdowski-Tay, chess.com 2014. Black played 1 … Qg6 which was good enough to…
Knight outriders
A good rule of thumb is to avoid sending off knights to excursions at the edge of the board, where…
no. 493
White to play. This position is from Capablanca-Fonaroff, New York 1918. Once again there is a knight on h6. What…
Chess on the Rock
The Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian has won first prize of £25,000 in the important Tradewise Masters which has just finished…
no. 492
White to play. This position is from Wang Hao-Howell, Gibraltar 2018. What opportunity did White overlook? Answers to me at…
Hypnosis?
Various champions have been accused of hypnotising their opponents, including Alexander Alekhine, Mikhail Tal and, not least, the reigning world…
no. 491
White to play. This position is from Goriatchkin-Bosiocic, Gibraltar 2018. How did White finish off? Answers to me at The…
Frankenchess
A remarkable event took place in London towards the end of last year, when the AlphaZero computer program took on…
no. 490
White to play. This position is from Ivanchuk-Lafuente, Gibraltar 2011. White now terminated proceedings abruptly. What was the key move?…
Willing to wound
‘Willing to wound and yet afraid to strike,’ wrote Alexander Pope about Atticus. Those lines more or less describe the…
no. 489
White to play. This position is from O. Howell-Pickersgill, Hastings 2017/18. White now terminated proceedings abruptly. What was the key move?…
On speed
Although it does not have the prestige of the Classical World Championship (to be staged in London in November), the…
no. 488
Black to play. This is from Carlsen-Anand, Riyadh Rapid 2017. The needle clash from the Rapid was Anand’s destruction of…
