Chess News

Malcolm Pein on…a Problem Shared

Malcolm Pein

June 5, 2021

A problem shared is a problem halved, as the old saying has it – but Malcolm Pein is not interested in draws and asks you to find a checkmate in two moves in today’s Daily Telegraph column.

Malcolm Pein on…a Problem Shared

It’s that time again, get out the pocket set and set up the position below, because the starter problem for the Winton British Chess Solving Championships has been revealed.

White, playing up the board, is to play and force mate in two moves

There is no entry fee, and the competition is open to British residents only. Send White’s first move by post to:

Nigel Dennis
Boundary House
230 Greys Road
Henley-on-Thames
Oxon
RG9 1QY

…or by email to [email protected].

All entries must be postmarked or emailed no later than July 31, 2021, and must give the entrant’s name and home address. Juniors under the age of 18 on August 31, 2020, must give their date of birth.

If you get the answer right you will also receive the postal round, which will contain eight more difficult and varied problems.

In due course, the best competitors and the best juniors from the postal round will be invited to the final in February 2022. The ultimate winner of the final will win the right to represent Great Britain at the World Chess Solving Championships 2022.

To find out more about the BCPS, and to follow the course of the competition, go to theproblemist.org.

The Grand Prix Attack in Action

Magnus Carlsen deployed the club player’s favourite Grand Prix Attack earlier this year in a bullet match against the Iranian prodigy Alireza Firouzja.

M. Carlsen – A. Firouzja
Grand Prix Attack
Lichess.org

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bc4 Nc6 6.a3 (The light bishop is a potent weapon and Carlsen wants to preserve it) 6…e6 7.0–0 Nge7 8.d3 0–0 9.Ba2 Rb8 10.Qe1 b5 11.f5 (The classic thrust) 11…exf5 12.Qh4 Ne5? (A losing blunder. 12…c4! 13.dxc4 bxc4 14.Bxc4 Qb6+ 15.Kh1 Ba6 is good for Black) 13.Bg5 Rb7 14.Nd5 Re8 15.exf5 (15.Nf6+ Bxf6 16.Bxf6 h5 17.Qg5 wins) 15…Bxf5 16.Rae1 h6 17.Nf6+ Kf8 18.Bxh6 (Or even 18.Qxh6 for fun) 18…Ng8 19.Nh7# 1–0

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Malcolm Pein

Malcolm Pein is a British International Master, chess organizer, author and journalist. He was a child prodigy and a former British Junior Champion. He qualified for the International Master title in 1985. Malcolm is a distinguished writer, journalist and editor. He has been a chess correspondent of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph for over 30 years, has written numerous chess books and is the Executive Editor of CHESS Magazine. In 1992, he founded the London Chess Centre, a games store in central London and the UK's only chess shop. He is also the founder and CEO of Chess in Schools and Communities, a UK charity whose aim is to introduce chess to state schools and has taught the game to over 250,000 children since its inception in 2009. Malcolm is also well-known for his chess event management. He was responsible for the pre-planning of the World Chess Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik in London 2000. In 2002 he was appointed as Technical Director of the 'Brains in Bahrain' match between Vladimir Kramnik and the computer program Fritz. In 2009, Malcolm devised and organized the 1st London Chess Classic - the UK's first world-class elite all-play-all tournament since the 1980s which ran annually until 2019. Malcolm is also very active with the English Chess Federation. In 2016, he was appointed as the Manager and Captain of the England national team. He was also appointed as English Chess Federation delegate to the European Chess Union and FIDE and is the Director of International Chess. In 2018, he also stood for the post of Deputy President of FIDE. In 2021, Malcolm joined the ranks of Chessable authors by bringing the highlights of his column in the Daily Telegraph in the form of an interactive Chessable course, titled Telegraph Tuesday. Profile photograph © Lennart Ootes