Chess
Grenke
The Grenke Chess Classic, played in Karlsruhe and Baden Baden, has been won by Fabiano Caruana, who also won the…
Viennese Waltz
The Vienna variation of the Queen’s Gambit is notable for a line in which the pieces conduct an elaborate dance…
Fischer redivivus
The Berlin qualifying tournament to determine the challenger to world champion Magnus Carlsen has ended in victory for the American…
Class club
The annual Hamilton-Russell competition for London Clubs has been won by the Royal Automobile Club, with the Marylebone Cricket Club…
Space travel
No, not the type of space travel allegedly enjoyed by the World Chess Federation president, Kirsan Ilumzinov, during his self-confessed…
Victor Ludorum
A match which has attracted less attention than it deserves was Luke McShane’s victory over David Howell in the final…
Kramnik’s Immortal
Every so often a game is played which is worthy of joining the immortals in the pantheon of chessboard masterpieces.…
First round nerves
The three most important events in the World Chess Federation calendar are the World Championship match, the Olympiad and the…
Berlin
This weekend the Candidates tournament commences in Berlin to decide the challenger who will face Magnus Carlsen for the world…
Bunratty
This year’s tournament at Bunratty in Ireland was the celebratory 25th in the series and I was invited to deliver the…
Another Troy
One of the sharpest lines in the Ruy Lopez (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 f5) is widely…
Knight outriders
A good rule of thumb is to avoid sending off knights to excursions at the edge of the board, where…
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…
Hypnosis?
Various champions have been accused of hypnotising their opponents, including Alexander Alekhine, Mikhail Tal and, not least, the reigning world…
Frankenchess
A remarkable event took place in London towards the end of last year, when the AlphaZero computer program took on…
Willing to wound
‘Willing to wound and yet afraid to strike,’ wrote Alexander Pope about Atticus. Those lines more or less describe the…
On speed
Although it does not have the prestige of the Classical World Championship (to be staged in London in November), the…
Game of the year
It is traditional that in my first column of the new year I review the previous 12 months and select…
Grand prix
The London Classic is over and full reports in this column will follow in the new year. Meanwhile, we now know…
Books of the year
The English Chess Federation has awarded its Book of the Year prize to Timman’s Titans: My World Chess Champions by…
London Classic
The London Classic gets underway this weekend in Olympia. The line-up is formidable, including the world champion Magnus Carlsen, his…
Alekhine’s heir
Garry Kasparov was without a doubt Alekhine’s creative heir. The 1985-2000 world champion said himself that he became entranced at…
Alekhine’s anniversaries
Alexander Alekhine was one of the two world champions (the other being his fellow native Russian Mikhail Botvinnik) who won,…
Master class
While researching some early games in the Bf4 version of the Queen’s Pawn openings favoured by world champion Magnus Carlsen,…
Chigorin lives
Nigel Short, who challenged Garry Kasparov for the world title in 1993, has made a reputation for employing slightly offbeat…
