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February 9, 2009 No Comments

Burmese GM Oo Kyaw Tun Nay

What is your earliest memory of playing chess? It was a few weeks ago. I was watching some other Burmese Grandmasters playing, and I said, what’s that horsey bit, and how does it move? They kindly showed me how all the bits moved, and next…

February 8, 2009 No Comments

Armageddon

The Pawn likes nothing better than an undignified catfight, and the rumpus over the Krush–Zatonskih Armageddon game which decided the US women’s championship is one of the finest of recent years in that regard. For anyone who’s missed it, Zatonskih won on time in…

February 8, 2009 No Comments

What’s in a Name (a made up game)?

Geoff Chandler Jose Raul Capablanca. Look at the that? What a magnificent way to start an article about chess. Sometimes when the morning post has depressed me with various companies demanding money, I write ‘Jose Raul Capablanca’ on their bills and somehow they feel…

December 5, 2007 No Comments

Kramnik

There is this to be said for being a fan of Vladimir Kramnik – you do a get a better class of insult for your money. Reading Toilet War one is reminded, quite apart from the unmistakable whiff of madness arising from the pages,…

November 27, 2007 11 Comments

No Regrets: Boris Spassky at 60

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…

November 9, 2007 No Comments

Final Solution

You read some strange things on the internet. Chesscafe carried a review of Glenn Flear’s Practical Chess Endings which asked the curious rhetorical question, ‘Is this the best book on endgames ever written?’. I just paused there to let that sink in. Now Glenn’s a nice…

No Regrets: Boris Spassky at 60

November 27, 2007· 11 Comments

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· 7 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…

Buy all the back issues

March 4, 2020· 6 Comments

“a must-read for everyone who doesn’t take chess too seriously; it’s especially a must-read for everyone who does take chess seriously!” ChessVibes “. . . very, very entertaining . . . some of the back issues were classics and I have some of them at home ….

Boy George

April 9, 2024· No Comments

© Thomas family collection This is the earliest known photograph of George Thomas (later Sir George). It was taken in Southsea in September 1895 when George was 14 years old. A few weeks earlier he had been a spectator at the great Hastings tournament where…

The Mystery of the Chilled Chess Champ

September 11, 2023· No Comments

Ron Katz* The Carlsen/Niemann/Chess.com dust-up has recently been resolved, but not explained. This fictional explanation fills that gap… “According to this article,” Barb Silver said to her husband, Bernie, “Baby Boomers like us are responsible for inflation.” She was peering over the newspaper she held,…

It’s Really Him

April 23, 2023· No Comments

Nearly fifty years ago CHESS published this irate letter: CHESS (October 1973) It provoked a lively response: CHESS (November 1973) One reader sprang to Mr Lorley’s defence with knowing verve: CHESS (December 1973) Having made his point, Mr Lorley kept a dignified silence. No…

Steinitz the Great and Grumpy

April 10, 2023· No Comments

Adrian Harvey Steinitz in London A Chess Biography with 623 Games Tim Harding 421 pages | 84 photos | hardback | $75.00 Jefferson: McFarland, 2020 For three reasons this reviewer regards Steinitz as the greatest chess player of all time. In the first…

Gary Kenworthy

September 8, 2024

Does he like james bond movies about Amsterdam diamonds?- e.g. -Born December 5, 1944 · Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands Birth name…
→ Commenting on: Tim Krabbé: 20 Questions

Jon Manley

June 4, 2024

You are very welcome. Andrew Soltis has some excellent material on Spassky's early years in his 'Tal, Petrosian, Spassky and…
→ Commenting on: No Regrets: Boris Spassky at 60

IchessU

May 24, 2024

Thanks for sharing this with us.
→ Commenting on: No Regrets: Boris Spassky at 60

S.B. Cohen

July 19, 2023

An incredibly long article about nothing.
→ Commenting on: Chess and Sex – The Survey

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