Kingpin Chess Magazine » Sovietskaya Kalmykia

Latest in Sovietskaya Kalmykia

November 22, 2015 No Comments

Killing a Journalist

Remembering the Murder of Larisa Yudina under Ilyumzhinov Valery Badmayev editor-in-chief of newspaper Sovremennaya Kalmykia (7 October 2015) A couple of days ago I was sent a link to an interview with Ilyumzhinov on Ekho Moskvy, but I only found time to read it today….

February 14, 2009 1 Comment

Saddam’s Friend

Sarah Hurst Up here in Alaska, we’re used to earthquakes. FIDE is not, apparently. The prospect of a democratic challenge to His Excellency Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s reign at the Bled Olympiad proved too much for the organisation to withstand, and the election was cancelled….

No Regrets: Boris Spassky at 60

November 27, 2007· 9 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· 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…

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…

Michael Basman’s Questionnaire

November 3, 2022· No Comments

What is your earliest memory of playing chess? I went up to Selfridges with my dad and we bought a wooden set for 10s. 6d. He taught us to play chess that evening. I remember him showing us the knight move. What is…

Basman at the British

October 29, 2022· No Comments

Michael Basman Editor’s note: What is striking about these games is how each highlights different aspects of Mike’s playing style. As you might expect, there is his calling card – the outlandish opening 1 e4 g5 (‘totally bonkers’ –Nigel Short), but next is an epic…

B is for Basman

October 27, 2022· No Comments

In 1968, the American magazine Chess Review introduced Michael Basman as ‘another bright B’ in the tradition of famous British chess players represented by Bird, Blackburne and Burn. That’s some billing for a 21-year-old. Basman would never be the brightest chess star in this firmament…

Dvorkovich Wins Second Term as FIDE President

August 7, 2022· No Comments

That victory speech in full: See also Dvorkovich re-elected FIDE president by landslide A New Dawn for Chess The Election of Arkady Dvorkovich The Perfect Combination We Are Family

Moyra Ashford

November 17, 2022

Dear David, What an interesting read and I agree with everything you say about Biggs. I was a journalist in…
→ Commenting on: The Chess Player and the Train Robber

Danny Nakamura

October 23, 2022

I have all your back issues. Sometimes I can even find them. But when is the next one coming out??…
→ Commenting on: Buy all the back issues

Big Fan

October 23, 2022

I already have all your back issues. Sometimes, I can even find them. But what I really want to know,…
→ Commenting on: Buy all the back issues

Paul Dargan

June 24, 2022

Many suffered because of Brian - people gave up the game to avoid being near him. Great shame that justice…
→ Commenting on: Poetry Corner

10 Seconds with 7
About Us 1
Archive 227
- April 11
- August 14
- December 5
- February 7
- January 10
- July 14
- June 9
- March 8
- May 12
- November 16
- October 7
- September 7
Articles 99
Back issues 48
Cheating 27
Creative chess 94
Features 219
FIDE 51
Front Page 116
Games 90
Hack Attack 55
History scrapbook 137
Homepage 114
Interviews 41
Kirsan 43
Letters 9
Nosher 11
Private Eye 4
Quotes 130
Reviews 90
Shop 29
The Penguin Files 38
- Books, journalism, plagiarism 23
- Brain Games 5
- Penguin profiles 10
The Poisoned Pawn 6
Uncategorized 7

More Articles