Whenever the popular press presumes to write with authority about chess, the self-appointed custodians of the game (that’s us) get sniffy, usually with good reason. When chess hits the headlines it tends to trigger a reflex in newspapers. They (tabloids especially) reach for their trusty…
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John L. Watson [This withering indictment of the stupidity and arrogance of chess players was written over 16 years ago. It is still relevant today and lends weight to Sarah Hurst’s recent observation that ‘chess brilliance has nothing to do with high intelligence in other areas,…
Read More‘What does the average player do when he can neither threaten anything useful nor has to parry some specific threat? He just has no guide, and probably ends up making a pawn move which he thinks will do least harm, but may actually ruin…
Read More‘Another twenty years of Ilyumzhinov’ – Mikhail Golubev talks to Sarah Hurst Mikhail Golubev became a grandmaster in 1996, the year he won the Ukrainian Championship. He has won or shared first prize in 17 international tournaments and has assisted former world champions Anatoly…
Read MoreAntony Mann Peter Leko. Ian Rogers. Luke McShane. Raymond Keene. Darryl Johansen. John Nunn. I don’t like to name-drop, but these are just some of the stars of world chess that I’ve seen reasonably close-up during my years as a chess player. Heady times,…
Read MoreBruno Carlier – Neil Carr Guernsey, 1986 (Notes by Neil Carr) 1 e4 g6 2 d4 Bg7 3 Nc3 d6 4 Nf3 Nf6 5 h3 O-O 6 Be3 Nc6!? A common move for Black in this position is 6…b6, and after 7…
Read MoreNeil Coward Capablanca and Nimzowitsch were brilliant players whose names are revered to this day. However, these two men were completely different in their approach to chess. Nimzowitsch, scientific and methodical, one of the founding fathers of positional chess and author of My System, a…
Read MoreTim Krabbé was born on 13 April 1943 in Amsterdam. His main occupation is that of a novelist; his books have been translated into 18 languages and often been adapted for films. He is best known for Marte Jacobs (2007), The Rider (De Renner), his…
Read More‘. . . although chess may be a thoroughly logical game when boiled down, you can’t boil it down when actually playing, so it is of more practical use to see it as logic and romance in conflict. Be ready to adjust your mind…
Read MoreOf related interest Saddam’s Friend The Man Who Bought Chess Yabloko Press Release Chess, Murder, Fraud We Are Family
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