Chess
Déjà vu
In my column of 20 April I reported on the overwhelming victory by world champion Magnus Carlsen in the elite Gashimov…
Venit, vidit, vicit
India is quite possibly the birthplace of chess, with the four branches of the ancient Indian army, infantry, cavalry, chariots…
Carlsen the Great
I cannot conceal the feeling over the years of Magnus Carlsen’s leading position at the head of world chess, that…
Be prepared
Last week I wrote about Cyrus Lakdawala’s new book, which provides an aggressive repertoire based on the solid move 1…
Advance planning
One way to improve your results is to develop a specific opening repertoire and learn it thoroughly so as to…
Fischer favourite
A favoured line of the great Bobby Fischer was to meet both the French Defence (1 e4 e6) and the…
Family silver
The World Team Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan, finished last week with a victory for Russia but with an outstanding team…
Oxford win
The annual Varsity Match between Oxford and Cambridge ended in a surprisingly narrow victory for the dark blues. Their team…
Bunratty
The Bunratty tournament in Ireland is one of the highlights of the chess year and always attracts an impressive field.…
Playing the blues
This Saturday (2 March) sees the annual varsity match between the teams of Oxford and Cambridge. Oxford are strengthened this…
Rock solid
This year’s Gibraltar Masters saw some surprising results at the top, chiefly the victory by the young Russian, Vladimir Artemiev,…
Homage to Kramnik
The former world champion Vladimir Kramnik recently announced his retirement from competitive chess. He is one of the greats of the…
Kramnik retires
A notable feature from the recently concluded elite tournament at Wijk aan Zee was the abject failure of former world…
A tale of two tournaments
The start of the year sees the elite of the chess world divided between Wijk aan Zee in Holland and…
Game changer
Game Changer, the long-awaited book by Matthew Sadler and Natasha Regan, has now appeared. This represents the most thorough inside…
Knockout
The 2018 UK Knockout, won by Gawain Jones, ahead of Luke McShane (silver) and Michael Adams (bronze), was played in…
Three titans
The Dutch grandmaster Genna Sosonko specialises in biographies of the greats of the Soviet era. His earlier forays covered the…
Game of the year
The time has come again when I award the accolade of most spectacular game of the year. It adds lustre if…
Leviathan
Last week I compared the Norwegian world chess champion Magnus Carlsen to a lurking crocodile, ready to grab its oblivious…
Beneath the surface
After 12 games of classical chess, the world championship between the incumbent, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, and his American challenger,…
Atticus
The Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot by Alexander Pope contains a memorable excoriation of his fellow wit and former friend Joseph…
Dante’s millions
As I write, the London world championship is tied at 3½-3½, after seven games. In striving to move ahead, the…
Paradise mislaid
World champion Magnus Carlsen missed several chances to win with black in the first game of his title defence, currently…
Nos morituri
Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, those two gladiators of the mind, will duel in London during the remainder of this…
Man made
This year’s Isle of Man Masters, sponsored by Chess.com, could claim to be the strongest ever open chess competition. The…
