Jeroen van de Weijer Should we still be playing suicide chess (also known as ‘antichess’, ‘losing chess’, etc.)? After all, computer analysis by Mark Watkins (University of Sydney) has recently shown that White wins (1 e3!) against all defences. In my view, this should…
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very, very entertaining . . . some of the back issues of Kingpin were instant classics
In the chess satire stakes @KingpinEd are masters of the art form … a veritable feast: irony, sarcasm, hyperbole
Both serious and funny, I recommend it to anyone who wants to smile as he reads
A great English chess favourite
It seems to me that you haven’t quite achieved the manic, off-the-wall style of humour that Informator manages so well, but you run them a pretty good second
the ‘Private Eye’ of the chess world
In Kingpin, nothing is sacred, and this makes Kingpin such a hit
razor sharp
Its rather coarse satirical manner may not appeal to everyone – just the majority of us who enjoy sharp games and low humour
those who are unfamiliar with Kingpin are missing out on a real delight: there are many good chess magazines around, but in my opinion Kingpin is the best out there
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…
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…
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;…
“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 ….
Machiavelli on Ice
The Brain Games Scandal click below Brain Games First published in Kingpin 40 (Autumn 2009)
A Creature without Counterpart
Sir George Thomas wrote more about badminton than chess, which makes this article (published in 1927) something of a rarity. In it he compares chess with his favourite sports, tennis and badminton. ‘the true chess fiend is a creature without counterpart’ Chess Fiends! By…
Chess and the Nazis
Tim-Jake Gluckman Chess in the Third Reich How the Game Was Played, Glorified, and Abused in Nazi Germany, 1933–1945 Taylor Kingston vi + 285 pages | 98 photos, appendix, notes, bibliography, indexes hardback | €49.95 Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2025 Taylor Kingston (TK) is…
Sweden’s Man of Steel
Gideon Ståhlberg: An Epoch in Swedish Chess Volume I: The Musketeer Years 1908-1939 Peter Holmgren xvi + 582 pages | photos and tables hardback | €50.00 Tallinn: Verendel Publishing, 2024 Gideon Ståhlberg was one of the world’s leading players from the mid-1930s to…
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Alan Crombleholme
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