CHESS Magazine – September 2020 Back to the Board Magazine, 60 pages All the regular features of the UK’s best-selling CHESS magazine and more! Regular features include: How Good is Your Chess? by GM Daniel King, Saunders on Chess, Find the Winning Moves, Never Mind the Grandmasters…, Studies, Home & Overseas News, Forthcoming Events Calendar and Book Reviews. In this issue: Editorial – Malcolm Pein on the latest developments in the game 60 Seconds with…Pentala Harikrishna – The Indian world no.20 always enjoys travelling to tournaments Ba ..read more

THE Pacific Northwest Chess Center (PNWCC) in Washington, has run a number of major online events in recently including a match in which Jeffrey Xiong was defeated 2.5-1.5 by world number 26, Russia’s Nikita Vitiugov. Xiong enjoyed success in the PNWCC Super Invitational. Top seed Shak Mamedyarov defeated the American teenager to lead on 3.5/5, but Xiong gained revenge in the final round to claim sole first on 4/6, with Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia) back on 50 per cent and Le Quang Liem (Vietnam) making just 1.5/6.  S. Mamedyarov – J. Xiong Summer of Seattle, Chess.com Benko Gambit Declined ..read more

Magnus Wins with White by Zenon FrancoForward by Peter Heine Nielsen In Magnus Wins With White Grandmaster Zenon Franco deeply analyses 32 of Magnus Carlsen’s most instructive games where he wins with the white pieces. This book is written in “move by move” style, a good training tool containing exercises and tests. This format is a great platform for studying chess, improving both skills and knowledge, as the reader is continually challenged to find the best moves and the author provides answers to probing questions throughout. Most of the games are taken from Magnus’s recent career, includi ..read more

THE 99th Irish Championship took place on the south side of Dublin, attracting a field of 32. Just as in the top section at Biel, the players were divided by a perspex screen located just above the middle of the board. Top seed IM Sam Collins was defeated by FM Tom O’Gorman, 17, in round six. O’Gorman was to go on and claim his first national title after a dramatic final round. Leaders at the start of play, Collins and FM Colm Daly, were outplayed by FMs Stephen Brady and Conor O’Donnell respectively, which paved the way for O’Gorman, who defeated Shane Melaugh to be the only player with ..read more

CHESS Magazine – August 2020 The King of Lockdown Magazine, 60 pages All the regular features of the UK’s best-selling CHESS magazine and more! Regular features include: How Good is Your Chess? by GM Daniel King, Saunders on Chess, Find the Winning Moves, Never Mind the Grandmasters…, Studies, Home & Overseas News, Forthcoming Events Calendar and Book Reviews. In this issue: Editorial – Malcolm Pein on the latest developments in the game 60 Seconds with…Jack Rodgers – The Australian chart-topper likes to sacrifice and attack Carlsen Claims ..read more

MAGNUS Carlsen’s domination of online tournaments continued in the Legends of Chess final online at Chess24. This is the third game of the first set of Carlsen’s semi-final against Peter Svidler. It was interesting to see Carlsen employ a setup against the Colle-Zukertort system that has been played by other world champions. The famous game Keres-Smyslov, Zurich 1953, continued 11.Rc1 Rc8 12.Re1 Nb4! 13.Bf1 Ne4 and Black exchanged knights and stood satisfactorily.  P. Svidler – M. Carlsen 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 b6 4.b3 Bb7 5.Bb2 Be7 6.d4 0–0 7.Bd3 c5 8.0–0 cxd4 9.exd4 d5 10.Nc3 Nc6 11.Qe2 ..read more

Arkell’s Endings by Grandmaster Keith Arkell With chess booming online and time controls becoming ever faster, mastery of the endgame has never been so important. A few positions can be memorised; most rely on feel. How would you go about converting an extra pawn in a rook endgame and would you have any idea how to even try to win bishop and knight against knight and pawn? In Arkell’s Endings, acclaimed endgame expert Keith Arkell guides you through some of his finest games – and grinds. Making good use of clear explanation, not a wealth of variations, he should convince even the most ard ..read more

THE TOP Chess Engines Competition (TCEC) continues to throw up some amazing games. In the 18th series, Stockfish gained revenge over Leela Chess Zero, regaining its crown with a 23-16 victory (with 61 draws) in the final. Arguably the most impressive win, though, was Leela’s from the 65th game, where the engines debated a critical and very modern line of the Bogo-Indian Defence. With 9 h4!, White threatens a Greek Gift sacrifice on h7 and it was noticeable that in the return game Leela opted for 9…h6 as Black.   LCZero – Stockfish 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 0-0 5.a3 Be7 ..read more

We have a whole bunch of great new books available now, as well as exciting new pre-orders and some amazing discounts on other titles, check them all out below.  If you need any advice or inspiration, do call (+4420 7486 7015) or email us (info@chess.co.uk) and we will be happy to help you choose a suitable product. You can order online at shop.chess.co.uk or over the phone.  Our retail store is now open again – see our shop info for revised opening times and safety measures that will be in place. BROWSE ALL NEW CHESS PRODUCTS The po ..read more

Playing the Stonewall Dutch by Nikola Sedlak (Paperback)A bold repertoire against 1.d4 The Dutch Defence is one of Black’s most combative responses to 1.d4, and the Stonewall is the boldest version of this opening. Black immediately seizes space in the centre and clamps down on the e4-square, laying the foundations for a complicated strategic battle. Many players believe the Stonewall to be a substandard opening, naively assuming that the e5-outpost and bad light-squared bishop must give White the advantage. GM Nikola Sedlak disagrees, and in Playing the Stonewall Dutch he shares the insights ..read more