Malcolm Pein on…So Striking Back

We take another trip to the Opera Europe Rapid tournament in today’s Daily Telegraph chess column to see Wesley So striking back against Magnus Carlsen after an early defeat.  Malcolm Pein on…So Striking Back Wesley So’s second victory over Magnus Carlsen in a Meltwater Tour event on Chess 24 came on Valentine’s Day at the Opera Europe Rapid. So took the second […]

Peter Romanovsky’s Checkmates

Checkmate Monday is here again and we start a brand new month with a look at some checkmates by Peter Romanovsky. Romanovsky’s name may not be as familiar to readers as some of the people we have featured in our Checkmate Monday series but he was a very strong player, who won the Soviet Championship […]

Chigorin’s Checkmates

Checkmate Monday continues with a selection of Mikhail Chigorin’s checkmates. Chigorin (1850-1908) lost two matches for the World Chess Championship against the defending champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, in 1889 and 1892. He was a highly creative player who enjoyed a long and successful chess career, despite dying at the comparatively young age of 57. His sharp […]

Malcolm Pein on…The Dramatic Finale

Malcolm Pein brings his coverage of the Opera Euro Rapid Tournament up to the end of the preliminary rounds in today’s Daily Telegraph chess column. Two big names took a tumble and are out of the tournament. Malcolm Pein on…The Dramatic Finale In a dramatic finale to the Opera Europe Rapid preliminaries on Chess24, speed chess supremo Hikaru Nakamura and Candidate Ian Nepomniachtchi failed […]

Malcolm Pein on…Galvanising Magnus Carlsen

Malcolm Pein starts his coverage of the Opera Euro Rapid Tournament in today’s Daily Telegraph chess column, explaining how an early defeat only succeeded in galvanising Magnus Carlsen. Malcolm Pein on…Galvanising Carlsen Wesley So did his fellow competitors no favours when he defeated Magnus Carlsen in the opening round of the preliminaries of the Opera Rapid on Chess24. The defeat […]

Chess Tactics: Forks and Pins in Action

Today we continue with our occasional series on chess tactics with an examination of forks and pins. Specifically, today’s examples show the two tactics working together to help one of the players land a crushing blow. First, a reminder of what the two tactics are all about. The Fork A fork is when one piece […]

Saving the Day With a Stalemate Trap

Who can resist the lure of a stalemate trap? We have already seen some stalemate traps in action in our series on chess tactics and today we return to the theme, this time with the emphasis firmly on the endgame phase of the game. Hidden Resources Zuger vs. Ru. Rodriguez Dubai Olympiad, 1986 White to […]

Checkmate by Royal Appointment

Checkmate Monday is here again and this time we are going upmarket as we examine a case of Checkmate by Royal Appointment. Before we look at the main example, which shows the white king strolling cooly up the board to help the queen deliver checkmate, we have a prelude featuring a related theme. Speed Chess […]

The Last of the Old Romantics

As Valentine’s weekend approaches, so too does the latest batch of Chessable courses in the big sale. What advice can we give ahead of the big weekend? Perhaps it will be something Rekindled; in this case, The Vienna Game. Or maybe it is time for a little Understanding…the Ruy Lopez/Italian Structures. The more ambitious may […]