Meanwhile Kirsan Ilyumzhinov makes a bold move to save FIDE from bankruptcy.
the gutter press of chess
razor sharp
[its] satirical nature and penchant for sharp games makes it compulsive reading for the average club player
irreverent and entertaining
Aside from being funny, Kingpin is often pretty controversial too, with many an allegation or insinuation strewn amongst its pages
Both serious and funny, I recommend it to anyone who wants to smile as he reads
Utterly irreverent . . . genuine wit . . . good instruction for club players
Scurrilous, funny, sometimes serious, sometimes libellous
Publication of the British magazine Kingpin is always an eagerly-awaited event
one of my favorite magazines
Lev Khariton The attractive countryside of Meudon is a 15-minute train ride from Paris. Here I came to interview Boris Spassky just three days before his 60th birthday. He reminiscences about his life, his chess career, his rivals and friends. Dear Grandmaster, I should…
Andy Lewis A common Arimaa starting position Anyone for a variation on chess? Is chess played out? This concern has been voiced periodically over the history of the game, and the challenges has never been more profound: over-refinement of opening-theory; perfection of endgame technique;…
Sarah Hurst was a regular contributor to CHESS magazine in the 1990s and also edited the British Chess Federation’s newsletter, ChessMoves. Her fine book Curse of Kirsan: Adventures in the Chess Underworld is now available on Kindle at a bargain price. Since 2002 she has been translating…
Why Life Does Not Imitate Chess Part 3: The Visionary Followers of Garry Kasparov on Facebook will have noted that he has taken to styling himself as a ‘politician’. What’s his track record? All chess players will know about his campaign for FIDE president…
Justin Horton Ray Keene’s charity, The Brain Trust, appears to donate a lot of the money it raises to organisations run by Ray Keene and his friends. What’s going on? Let’s ask Ray directly. Email, Sunday 13 January, to rdkobe@aol.com. [For details and…
The Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen and the Match that Made Chess Great Again Brin-Jonathan Butler 224 pages | softback | £12.95 London: Simon & Schuster, 2018 Sarah Hurst The directionless nature of Brin-Jonathan Butler’s book is evident from its title, ‘The Grandmaster: Magnus Carlsen and…
This Armageddon-style knockout tournament will take place amid the splendour of the Vladimir Putin Memorial Tearoom, St Petersburg. Play will begin on Christmas Day and continue until one player is left standing. He will be declared the winner and carry off the Prince Salman Bone-saw…
Chess and Early Cold War Propaganda Chess, like many sports, has been used as a political instrument. Files recently released by the National Archives reveal how the Soviet Union exploited chess for propaganda during the early years of the Cold War (1953–1960). In December 1953,…
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