How do you think you would go against the highest rated chess player in the world?

In a full game of chess you would clearly lose, but what if you took over a game that was already half-way through?  Perhaps then you have a chance?

The world’s highest rated player is 19 year-old Magnus Carlsen from Norway who will no doubt be world champion before too long.  He has an unfair advantage of course as his coach is a guy named “Kasparov”.

So, let me get you started against Carlsen.  You...

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I particularly like endgame puzzles where, despite the absence of many pieces, you can still find a quirky twist or an unexpected finish.  Here is one that appealed to me with only four pieces on the board. 

White to play ... Find the Quickest way to win

ANSWER:

The quickest win is 1.Rh3+!! gxh3+ 2.Kf3 g4+ 3.Kf4 g3 4.hxg3#.  

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For today’s puzzle I decided to hop onto the internet and search for “best short chess games” to see if that would come up with a nice tactic to show you.   The first post that came up was “Nigel Short’s best games!”   Don’t you just love the way computers think.  Nigel Short is the famous British chess prodigy who has been a leading grandmaster for may years and once challenged Kasparov for the world championship.   Whether Short played may short games however is unclear....

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I’ve been playing through some of Pal Benko’s games lately.   Benko was a Hungarian Grandmaster who moved to the USA and at one stage made the Candidates Matches for the world championship.   He was clearly a very strong player, and in today’s puzzle from back in 1960 was pitted against the British IM Bob Wade, who Benko would be expected to beat.

They reached the following position when Wade shocked Benko with the sacrifice 1.Rxg7.  Benko can’t take it because of 2.Nh5+ but has ...

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I thought for a change we might have a chess “who am I puzzle” to test your brain this week.

This should suit older readers who, whilst their brains may have slowed down a bit, have a lot more to remember.    As an additional clue I can confess to having in my possession a letter from this chess player to Cecil Purdy advising how much he charges to give a simul.

WHO AM I?   (There are 6 clues if you need them).

1. I was born in 1943.

2. My parentage is a little unclear, and the name I...

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Have a look at the position below (with White to move).   Clearly Black is well up on material and in normal circumstances would win comfortably.   White doesn’t seem to have a checkmate in the offing and he’s not threatening to win material back so it doesn’t look good.

There is however a neat way that White can save the game …. and even win!

Can you find it?

  White to play.

ANSWER:

1.a4+ Kb6 2.Rc8! and Black is in zugzwang.

For those of you who may not be familiar with this ter...

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Chess Kids Superstars Bobby Cheng and James Morris took out Australian Junior Championship titles inHobart

Bobby Cheng is having a great run, after winning the World U12 championships he won the Best Junior of                     the Year award and then just a few days later became the youngest ever Australian Junior Chess Champion!

IM James Morris has also had a good streak and took out the U16 Title in a playoff with Yi Yuan.

Full results on the ...

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