No. 415
White to play. This position is from Nakamura-Caruana, Leuven Blitz 2016. White can now win material. What is the key…
Grand tour
The first two legs of this year’s Grand Chess Tour have now been staged in Paris and Leuven. There will…
Grand tour
The first two legs of this year’s Grand Chess Tour have now been staged in Paris and Leuven. There will…
No. 415
White to play. This position is from Nakamura-Caruana, Leuven Blitz 2016. White can now win material. What is the key…
No. 214
Black to play. This is from Caruana-Mamedyarov, Gashimov Memorial Play-off 2016. Black played 1 … Kg8 here, missing a clever…
Memorable Mamedyarov
Local hero Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir, Azerbaijan by virtue of three consecutive victories at the…
Memorable Mamedyarov
Local hero Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir, Azerbaijan by virtue of three consecutive victories at the…
No. 214
Black to play. This is from Caruana-Mamedyarov, Gashimov Memorial Play-off 2016. Black played 1 … Kg8 here, missing a clever…
No. 413
White to play. This is from Korchnoi-Karpov, Candidates Final, Moscow 1974. White’s next move destroyed the black position and led…
Leningrad Lip
I had intended this week to write about the surprise surge by Mamedyarov which overturned all expectations in the elite…
Leningrad Lip
I had intended this week to write about the surprise surge by Mamedyarov which overturned all expectations in the elite…
No. 413
White to play. This is from Korchnoi-Karpov, Candidates Final, Moscow 1974. White’s next move destroyed the black position and led…
No. 412
Black to play. This is from Arnason-Keene, London 1981. How did Black bring his bishops to life? Answers to me…
Edgehogs
Last week, commenting on Nigel Davies’s new book The Pirc Move by Move (Everyman Chess), I wrote about my win…
Edgehogs
Last week, commenting on Nigel Davies’s new book The Pirc Move by Move (Everyman Chess), I wrote about my win…
No. 412
Black to play. This is from Arnason-Keene, London 1981. How did Black bring his bishops to life? Answers to me…
Life on the edge
The grandmaster Nigel Davies has just written a new book on the Pirc Defence, a variation in which Black sacrifices…
No. 411
Black to play. This is from Cherin-Pedini, Italy 2016. Black has just sacrificed some material as he could foresee a…
Garry’s comeback
To great surprise, the former world champion Garry Kasparov staged a brief comeback when he participated in a blitz tournament…
No. 410
Black to play. This position is from So-Nakamura, Ultimate Blitz Challenge, Saint Louis 2016. How did Black make a key…
Cyrus the Great
I think I hold the world record for the greatest number of chess books written (or co-written) and published. At…
No. 409
White to play. This position is from Dubov-Yandemirov, Russian Team Championship, Sochi 2016. How can White exploit the unfortunate placing…
Magna cum laude
World champion Magnus Carlsen has taken first prize in the Norway tournament at Stavanger which finished last month. Carlsen had…
No. 408
White to play. This position is a variation from So-Kasparov, St Louis 2016. What is White’s quickest kill? Answers to…
Out of the book
Last week we saw the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen taking a leaf from Alekhine’s book to destroy eccentric opening…
