Raymond Keene

Raymond Keene is The Spectator's chess columnist.

no. 476

30 September 2017 9:00 am

White to play. This position is from Paul-Jonsson, Isle of Man 2017. How did White make a decisive material gain?…

Bronstein’s legacy

23 September 2017 9:00 am

Last week I focused on the games and somewhat tragic career of the ingenious David Bronstein. Before his time the…

no. 475

23 September 2017 9:00 am

White to play. This position is from Jobava-Nepomniachtchi, FIDE World Cup, Tbilisi 2017. Can you spot White’s winning coup? Answers…

Study in obsession

16 September 2017 9:00 am

Genna Sosonko is a writer and grandmaster who straddles two great chess cultures, Holland and the USSR, his chosen and native…

No. 474

16 September 2017 9:00 am

Black to play. This position is from Carlsen-Bu, Fidé World Cup, Tbilisi 2017. Can you spot Black’s winning coup? Answers…

David and the Giants

9 September 2017 9:00 am

The overall scores of the exceedingly strong combined rapid and blitz tournaments in St Louis were as follows: 1. Aronian 24½;…

no. 473

9 September 2017 9:00 am

Black to play. This is from Kasparov-Navara, St Louis Blitz 2017. White has just given what appears to be a…

Hou dares wins

2 September 2017 9:00 am

Hou Yifan, the leading female grandmaster, is beginning to place strain on Judit Polgar’s record as the best woman chess…

no. 472

2 September 2017 9:00 am

White to play. This position is a variation from Hari-krishna-Studer, Biel 2017. Can you spot White’s winning thrust? Answers to…

Philidor’s heir

26 August 2017 9:00 am

There was a time when France was the dominant power in world chess. When Howard Staunton commenced his remarkable series…

no. 471

26 August 2017 9:00 am

White to play. This position is a variation from Vachier-Lagrave–Nepomniachtchi, St Louis 2017. How can White make a decisive material…

Magnum opus

19 August 2017 9:00 am

A new book on the ingenious Hungarian master Gyula Breyer ranks, in my opinion, at the very top of chess…

No. 470

19 August 2017 9:00 am

White to play. This is from Breyer-Esser, Budapest 1917. White has a multiplicity of tempting options but the best move…

Test of time

12 August 2017 9:00 am

Last week I pointed to the fact that games played at accelerated time limits are acquiring an official imprimatur that…

no. 469

12 August 2017 9:00 am

White to play. This is from Anand–Caruana, St Louis 2017. Can you spot White’s incredible winning move? Answers to me…

Classical conundrum

5 August 2017 9:00 am

The great Mikhail Botvinnik excoriated chess played at fast time limits. Botvinnik believed that classical chess at time limits of,…

no. 468

5 August 2017 9:00 am

Black to play. This is a position from Kramnik–Carlsen, Leuven Blitz 2017. How did the world champion win even more…

Psephology

22 October 2016 9:00 am

The polls are in for next month’s big event in the USA and Magnus Carlsen has emerged the clear favourite…

Puzzle no. 431

22 October 2016 9:00 am

White to play. This position is a variation from Carlsen-Karjakin, Monaco 2011. Although White is a rook up he only…

Life on the edge

4 June 2016 9:00 am

The grandmaster Nigel Davies has just written a new book on the Pirc Defence, a variation in which Black sacrifices…

No. 411

4 June 2016 9:00 am

Black to play. This is from Cherin-Pedini, Italy 2016. Black has just sacrificed some material as he could foresee a…

Garry’s comeback

28 May 2016 9:00 am

To great surprise, the former world champion Garry Kasparov staged a brief comeback when he participated in a blitz tournament…

No. 410

28 May 2016 9:00 am

Black to play. This position is from So-Nakamura, Ultimate Blitz Challenge, Saint Louis 2016. How did Black make a key…

Cyrus the Great

21 May 2016 9:00 am

I think I hold the world record for the greatest number of chess books written (or co-written) and published. At…

No. 409

21 May 2016 9:00 am

White to play. This position is from Dubov-Yandemirov, Russian Team Championship, Sochi 2016. How can White exploit the unfortunate placing…