Chess News

Malcolm Pein on…ChessFest 2021

Malcolm Pein

July 21, 2021

Malcolm Pein on…ChessFest 2021

ChessFest came to London town last Sunday with a day of chess based entertainment and fun for all the family. The festival was for every chess player, from expert, to those who may come to learn. The outdoor event took over Trafalgar Square for the day, with free chess lessons, simultaneous displays by Michael Adams and Gawain Jones, giant chess sets and over 100 tables for people to play on.

The theme of ChessFest was Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Lewis Carroll’s book is loosely based around a chess game in which Alice advances down the board to become a new queen and it is 150 years since publication.

A giant chess board was built in the square on which 32 actors in costume acted out a game based on Alice’s journey. The event was open to all and free, see chess-fest.com.

It is also just over 48 years since the attacking genius Leonid Stein died tragically young at the age of 38. Few demolished Tigran Petrosian in this fashion.

L. Stein – T. Petrosian
28th USSR Ch. Moscow 1961
French Winawer

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 Nf5 8.Bd3 h5 9.Qf4 Nc6 (9…Qh4 10.Qxh4 Nxh4 11.Bg5! gives White an advantage) 10.Ne2 Nce7 11.Ng3! Ng6 12.Qd2 Bd7 13.Rb1 Rb8 14.0–0 c4 (Sensibly trying to close the position) 15.Be2 Nxg3

(If 15…h4 16.Nh5 Kf8 17.g4!; 15…Ba4 16.Nxh5) 16.fxg3! h4 (Not 16…Ba4 17.h4!) 17.Bg4 hxg3 18.hxg3 Qe7? (White is better after 18…Ba4!? 19.Qf2 0–0 20.Be3 – Euwe) 19.a4! Bxa4 20.Ra1 b5 21.Ba3 Qd7

22.Rf2! Rb7 23.Raf1 Qd8 (23…Nf8 24.Rxf7 Qxf7 25.Rxf7 Rxf7 26.Bxf8 and Bxe6 wins or 24.Qg5 is very strong) 24.Qd1 (24.Bc5 was more accurate when White breaks through as in the game) 24…Rh6 (24…b4 25.cxb4 Nf8 was the only way to fight on) 25.Bc1! Rh7

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White to play and win

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26.Bxe6! 1–0 In view of 26…fxe6 27.Qg4 followed by Qxg6+ or Rf8+ or 26…Nh8 27.Qf3!

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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