Problems

The Candidates’ Tournament 1959 was one of the greatest triumphs of Tal’s career. It was a star-studded field with eight players: Smyslov, Keres, Petrosian, Tal, Gligorich, Benko, Olafsson and a 16-year-old Bobby Fischer! ( Misha beat him 4-0) The event began rather ominously for Tal with losses to Smyslov and Keres. But he picked up […]

Black, a young player was completely outplayed by a former world champion. He still managed to reach the following position. Two minutes before the time control his position appeared hopeless with 38.Qe5. Questions: 1)What did he do? 2)Who were the players? Black to Play   38…Rg1+! 39.Kh2 Rh1+! 40.Kg1+ Rg1+!= Draw and thereby hangs a […]

The 3rd FIDE World Cup in Composing was held in the second half of 2013 under the aegis of WFCC*The event directed by Dmitry Turevsky included both studies and problems. In the Two-mover Section there were as many as 45 entries. At the moment Preliminary results have been announced.They will be declared final after two […]

In the following position White had just played 28.Nf1? (no prizes for guessing the names of players!) and resigned immediately after 28…Qe1! But what about 28…Qd1? Doesn’t that win for Black as well? Our readers easily remembered this position from Game 9 of the recently concluded World Championship Match 2013. But some wrongly assumed, all […]

In the following position Black played 1…Bd6. He had other aggressive continuations like 1…Nf3+ followed by…Rxh2+. Would they have been preferable to the game continuation? Answer: No. Other moves are not preferable to 1…Bd6!. It’s still the best move in this position, combining attack and defence. Reader John Ngangi’s move 1…Ba3!? leads to fascinating play […]

It was a mystery that I had not been able to unravel for decades. Way back in 1990s I had found the following position in a wonderful book, Chess Wizardy, ABC of Chess Problems (Batsford.1996) by John Rice. The author happened to mention the following position from a game, Keres-Bronstein, Zürich 1965. But I had […]

Mario Matouš (16th June, 1947 – 4th July, 2013) Mario Matouš is no more. There could not have been a greater blow to his fans. Yet such is public apathy that we have learned of his loss only now, months after he breathed his last. He was a prince among men and died a pauper, […]

The recently concluded 37th World Chess Solving Tournament (24th September-25th September, 2013) in Batumi, Georgia was an affair to remember. The event held under the aegis of WFCC* was directed by Axel Steinbrink, Germany. 56 Solvers from 19 countries participated in the competition. Poland was first, followed by Germany and Serbia in this prestigious event. […]

Many years ago I saw a beautiful combination in a chess column. If my memory serves me right, it was played by one of the 19th Century masters (probably Adolf Anderssen). While I do not remember the exact position I still remember the combination. So I have reconstructed the position and embellished it a little […]

In the following position both kings are on the edge of precipice. Should White play for a win or go for a draw? In the game he made the wrong decision. Perhaps you can do better. White to move Scherbakov– Arlazarov USSR1972