Luke McShane is chess columnist for The Spectator.
Magnus Carlsen slammed the table with such force that the pieces jumped from the board. Immediately, he resigned his game against teenage world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, who thereby achieved his first victory in a classical (slow) game against the world no 1. His comment on Carlsen’s pique was typically gracious: ‘I’ve also banged a lot
White to play and win. In this classic endgame, promoting the pawn to a queen allows a knight fork, with a draw. A king move is needed to win – but which one? Email answers (first move only) to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 16 June. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for
The final weekend of the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) took place on the early May bank holiday, and promised a close race between the defending champions Wood Green and the strong Manx Liberty team, who began the weekend a couple of match points in front. The league looked likely to be decided in a
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Joseph Cowley, The Chess Bouquet, 1897. Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 9 May. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for prize delivery.
Anyone who plays chess will know the feeling of reaching a winning position, only to screw it up and to lose the game instead. So far so normal, and the cliché about ‘snatching defeat from the jaws of victory’ can apply to any sport. But chess offers a far more piquant anguish, unavailable in most
White to play. Torre-Parker, New York Simultaneous exhibition, 1916. White resigned, seeing no defence to the threat of Rc5-c1+. Which move would have led to the opposite result? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 2 June. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat.
A ‘Fair Play violation’ got the YouTube streamer DrLupo booted out of the most recent series of PogChamps, Chess.com’s online invitational tournament for streamers and athletes, which has a $100,000 prize fund. DrLupo’s transgression was not particularly subtle. In elementary fashion, he blundered his queen for two minor pieces at move 11, only to comprehensively
Black to play. Donchenko-Blübaum, German Championship Masters 2025. White threatens mate on the queenside. Which move allowed Blübaum to strike first on the kingside? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 26 May. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal
The other day, a top computer chess engine demolished the world no. 2 Hikaru Nakamura in a series of online blitz games by a 14-2 margin. Nothing unusual in that; computers have played at superhuman levels for decades now, to the point where scoring two points out of 16 counts as an achievement. But those
White to play and draw. The conclusion of an endgame study composed by Frédéric Lazard in 1946. Which move allows White to salvage a draw from this position? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 19 May. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat.
Vasyl Ivanchuk was at the centre of a heart-rending scene during the tenth round of the World Blitz Championship in New York in December. The former world no. 2 could certainly have won his dramatic game against Daniel Naroditsky, but he lost on time after his nerves let him down at the critical moment. Overcome
White to play. F. Olafsson – Tal, Alekhine Memorial, Moscow 1971. Tal’s last move, attacking the queen, was a huge mistake. How did Olafsson win the game? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 12 May. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address
Magnus Carlsen’s run of nine straight wins at the Grenke Freestyle Open was, even by his own standards, extraordinary. The world no. 1 is a zealous advocate for freestyle chess, in which the pieces on the first rank are placed in one of 960 possible configurations at the start of the game. The format has
White to play. Dardha-Sorensen, Grenke Freestyle Open, 2025. The knight forks rook and bishop, and Re6-e3 runs into another fork with Nd4-c2+. Which move enabled Dardha to decide the game in his favour? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 5 May. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct
Women’s world champion Ju Wenjun has scored a convincing 6.5-2.5 victory over her challenger Tan Zhongyi in the Women’s World Championship match, held in China earlier this month. Tan took an early lead by grinding out a minuscule advantage in the second game, but Ju levelled the scores with an equally patient win in the
Black to play. Wikar-Rida, European Women’s Championship, 2025. Three pawns down, 13-year-old Rida had done well to create counter-chances, and here she spotted her opportunity. Which move won her the game? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 28 April. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out
Good, but why now? Did they only just notice? Those were my thoughts when Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016. I’m similarly pleased and bemused by the new BBC series Chess Masters: The Endgame. I recall evenings after school more than 30 years ago, watching the Kasparov-Short world championship match in
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Sam Loyd, Detroit Free Press, 1877. Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 22 April. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal addressand allow six weeks for prize delivery. Last week’s solution 1 Rb3!
I like tournaments which award prizes for the best game, offering a welcome reminder that there is more to chess than points on the scoreboard. Naturally, who wins those is a subjective matter, and even what you call the award is up for debate. Should it be a ‘best game’ prize, in the sense of
White to play. Bjerre-Bodrogi, European Individual Championship, 2025. The game was eventually drawn, but in this position Bjerre missed a beautiful winning move. What was it? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 14 April. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and