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March 1, 2017 No Comments

The Accountant Who Shunned Percentage Chess

H.E. Bird: A Chess Biography with 1,198 Games Hans Renette 608 pages | hardback | 150 illustrations | 1,198 games | $75.00 Jefferson: McFarland, 2016 Adrian Harvey During the period after 1860 three British chess players had a plausible claim to be in…

No Regrets: Boris Spassky at 60

November 27, 2007· 7 Comments

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…

Arimaa, Computers and the Future of Chess

February 6, 2015· 7 Comments

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: 20 Questions

January 8, 2015· 6 Comments

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…

We Need to Talk about Garry, Part 3

November 16, 2015· 5 Comments

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…

Brain Scam

January 26, 2019· No Comments

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…

Brief Encounters

January 6, 2019· No Comments

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…

King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championships, 25 December

December 18, 2018· No Comments

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…

‘Disgusted with the Chamber of Horrors’

December 3, 2018· No Comments

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,…

Nagesh Havanur

December 18, 2018

For all his apparent candour in this book Tal often hid his real self from the rest of the world.…
→ Commenting on: Misha’s Vodka

Kirsan

December 17, 2018

Thank you for an interesting article about our republic. We don't get to read a lot about criticism of Kirsan.…
→ Commenting on: Chess, Murder, Fraud

William Patrick Shea

December 15, 2018

Jimmy Adams, Thanks for this great reply. I am thoroughly enjoying your book on Chigorin and interested in your book…
→ Commenting on: GYULA BREYER, Part 3

John Upham

September 23, 2018

A last amongst equals !
→ Commenting on: Caption competition

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'Clarity, common sense and elegance.' Saveily Tartakower on the chess style of the French CHESS, Dec. 1948, p.64. t.co/YKhQ1iRAeV • 1 Day via Hootsuite Inc.
Tartakower's preparation for #Hastings. Chess Review (March 1946) #war t.co/LnWTMUodhr • 1 Day via Hootsuite Inc.
Saveilly Tartakower was born #OTD in 1887. t.co/tOBinKFfLU • 1 Day via Hootsuite Inc.
Gift from a thoughtful American colleague. t.co/RxkfXarcJU • 2 Days via Twitter Web Client
Professional chess is more about points than passion. Bronstein/Smolyan, Chess in the Eighties (1982) t.co/cRTwmZAyCP • 3 Days via Hootsuite Inc.

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