British Chess Magazine September 2025

The 111 th edition of the British Championship saw chess legend Michael Adams clinch his ninth title, but not without a challenge from veteran Stuart Conquest. The tournament in Liverpool was also a showcase for the next generation, with 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan becoming the youngest girl to win a medal and Supratit Banerjee, also 11, earning his first IM norm. The 111th British championship took place in Liverpool, from 31 July to 10 August. It was a big Swiss event, with 100 participants, with men and women playing together, something that has always raised some eyebrows when it came to the decision of the title in the women’s category. The whims of the pairing system inevitably affect the fate of the players, but this…

CHESS.COM IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST NAMES, IF NOT THE BIGGEST NAME IN THE CHESS BUSINESS TODAY. THEY’RE NOT JUST A PLACE WHERE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE COME TO PLAY CHESS EVERY DAY; THEY ALSO RUN AND SPONSOR TOURNAMENTS, BROADCAST, RUN A NEWSROOM AND ARE ALSO A BIG CHESS PUBLISHER, OWNING SEVERAL RENOWNED CHESS BRANDS. THEIR STATUS HAS BROUGHT THEM PRAISE BUT ALSO CRITICISM, AS YOU WOULD EXPECT. WHAT MAKES THE SUCCESS OF CHESS.COM EVEN BIGGER IS THE STORY OF ITS CO-FOUNDER WHO – JUDGING BY HIS EARLY TRAJECTORY IN LIFE – DID NOT SEEM DESTINED TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR OR A LEADING FIGURE OF A GLOBAL CHESS BRAND. Danny Rensch is calling from a car heading to the airport, apologising for the lack of video. "I'm actually going to California…

The Smart Moves Summit – a first of its kind global education conference focusing on the transformative power of chess in education – took place in Washington D.C. on 5th and 6th August Organised by FIDE and Freedom Holding (an international financial company originating from Kazakhstan), the conference brought together government officials, scientists, researchers, EdTech entrepreneurs, innovators, and chess experts, with a goal to build a global framework for cognitive development through chess and promote the game’s role in education. Congressman Jamie Raskin, of Maryland’s 8th congressional district, opened the event. Raskin, a prominent fan of the game and a staunch supporter of chess in education, noted that the U.S. Chess Center, a significant and historically noteworthy non-profit located in his district, has taught chess to over 40,000 students. CHESS…

References to chess vocabulary abound in Shakespeare, with frequent use of words such as king, queen, castle, knight, bishop, check and mate. The most suggestive usage occurs in Act II of King John, “that thou mayest be a Queen and check the world.” However, such vocabulary works equally well outside a chess context. In fact, the only conclusive evidence of a pure chess scenario in Shakespeare arises in The Tempest Act V where the stage direction reads: “Prospero discovers Ferdinand and Miranda playing at chess.” And the subsequent dialogue between the two lovers, Ferdinand and Miranda, removes any shadow of a doubt: “Mir: Sweet Lord, you play me false. Fer: No, my dear’st love, I would not for the world. Mir: Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle,…

In Permanent Attraction: Man Ray & Chess, writer and curator Larry List explores how Man Ray's art and his life were shaped by the game, bringing to light how he merged the worlds of art, luxury, and celebrity patronage through his revolutionary chess sets. I. Chess as Art, Art as Chess Neither Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura nor any of the other top-rated Grandmasters of the 21st century would think of limiting themselves to the strategies of Howard Staunton and his era yet they still play chess using the Nathaniel Cook Design chess pieces endorsed by Staunton in 1849. The 20th century artist Man Ray believed that chess imagery and the chess pieces with which people played should be as new, fresh, and modern as the innovative games that each new…

1 Antonio Tarnawiecki (Peru) Mate in 2 ORIGINAL 2 Paul Michelet (London) Mate in 5 (b)Pf7>f6 ORIGINAL dedicated to Ian Watson 3 Jozef Holubec (Slovakia) Selfmate in 9 – 2 solutions ORIGINAL 4 Audrey Kueh (Guildford) Helpmate in 2, with set play ORIGINAL SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS This month’s originals It’s a delight to introduce three composers new to this column. Jozef Holubec is a long-established expert in the field of selfmates. Antonio Tarnawiecki began his career as a composer fairly recently; and Audrey Kueh, one of the top British solvers, makes her composing debut here! Welcome to all – as well as to one of our leading regular contributors, Paul Michelet. Antonio’s is a quite traditional mate in two. You may decide quickly which white piece makes the key move…