WHO AM I?

1. I was born before 1976.

2. I learnt chess from one of my parents.

3. I became a grandmaster before I turned 20 years of age.

4. I am the strongest player in my country and have been so for many years.

5. I have been ranked as the world no.1 for over 15 months, but am not currently the highest rated.

6. I may or may not have once complained that my opponent visited the bathroom 50 times during our game.

7. I am currently playing a chess match in Bulgaria.

8. My given name start...

Today’s puzzle is a Fischer combination from the 1960 Olympiad when he was 17 years of age.

Letelier v Fischer 1960

Black to play and win

ANSWER:

1…Rxe3! 2.Rxe3 Rxe3 3.Kxe3 Qxf4+!! 0-1   If 4.Kxf4 Bh6#

Tactics are tricky things.   They are so easy to miss.    Then, when you find one, how deeply do you analyse it to make sure that it is OK?  Does your opponent have any counter-tactics?   It’s all very hard, but this is what chess is about.  Most games are decided by tactics or blunders.  Here is a typical example.

The diagrammed position is from Pokorny v Konecny Prague 1912 where both sides are clearly trying to attack the other side’s King.   It’s White turn and he spots a tact...

Cecil Purdy’s advice to young players who wanted to improve their chess was to study master games. The method he used was to get an annotated game and cover the moves with a piece of paper then try to guess the player’s next move.   Having decided upon a move he would move the paper down to reveal the player’s move and compare it with his own.   In this way he could (in effect) have a grandmaster sitting beside him giving him a free coaching lesson (“No Cecil, I wouldn’t go t...