British Chess Magazine - December 2020

Volume 140
DECEMBER
2020
CINEMA
02012
SQUARED:
044000
ISSN 0007-0440
CHESS ON
770007
SCREEN
9
HOW HAS THE

MOVING IMAGE
ATTEMPTED TO
DRAMATISE THE
JUDIT POLGAR WORLD OF CHESS
THE NETFLIX SERIES
DOESN’T COME CLOSE TO
HOW HARSH IT IS FOR
WOMEN IN CHESS
CHESS COACH
BRUCE
PANDOLFINI
I SUGGESTED
THE TITLE FOR
WALTER TEVIS’ BOOK
‘THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT’
BCM EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

WITH THE STAR OF THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT
ANYA TAYLOR-JOY:
CHESS IS A LOT LIKE ACTING,
AND I FELL IN LOVE WITH IT
IMPRESSUM
Contents
BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
Founded 1881
www.britishchessmagazine.co.uk
Chairman Shaun Taulbut

Director Stephen Lowe
Editors
734
Milan Dinic and Shaun Taulbut
Sex, drugs & chess…
Photo editor
David Llada
Prepress Specialist 710 BCM Exclusive interview: Anya Taylor-Joy

Milica Mitic Chess is a lot like acting,
and I fell in love with it
Photography
David Llada, Netflix,
By Milan Dinic
Wikipedia, Shutterstock
717 A review of the NETFLIX series
Advertising 'The Queen's Gambit'
Stephen Lowe FROM BLACK TO WHITE?!
By Peter O’Brien
Enquiries
[email protected]
721 Bruce Pandolfini
I suggested the title for Walter
ISSN 0007-0440
© The British Chess Magazine Limited
Tevis’ book ‘The Queen’s Gambit’
By Milan Dinic
Company Limited by Shares
Registered in England No 00334968 725 Cinema Squared: Chess on Screen
By Ian Haydn Smith
Postal correspondence:
Albany House, 14 Shute End 731 Judit Polgar
Wokingham, Berkshire RG40 1BJ The real life of a
woman chess champion
Subscription
[email protected]
By Milan Dinic
12 monthly issues
UK: £55 | RoW: £85 738 Chess Kaleidoscope - article from the
1960 September issue of Chess Life
Printed in the UK: by Lavenham Press Ltd Chess behind the Iron curtain
Cover photography: 750 The US 2020 Championship
Courtesy of NETFLIX A soulless online affair
By GM Aleksandar Colovic
December 2020
It´s now even easier to subscribe

to British Chess Magazine
An exclusive chess magazine!

Great news, BCM just got better! More content, more pages, more GM and IM writers
(including top UK grandmasters), outstanding photography and design, and the regular
features which have long been part of BCM’s tradition.
Now in partnership, American Chess Magazine and BCM have combined to re-launch BCM
which now offers more high class, authoritative and in-depth coverage of major British chess
events and leading players, a brand new look, and of course our much loved regular articles.
printed magazine
save
UK Non-UK
£55 £85
12 issues per year
postage included
subscribe
Purchase or renew your subscription and have BCM delivered to your door:
On-line: visit our website www.britishchessmagazine.co.uk
Email: contact [email protected], we’ll get back to you right away
By post: write to BCM at Albany House, 14 Shute End, Wokingham, Berkshire, England
RG40 1BJ with a cheque payable to British Chess Magazine Limited, your post and email
addresses (and if possible a contact phone number)
Save time, go on-line. It’s more convenient and better for the environment, why not do it
on-line. Enjoy priority support. No waiting for your turn, we are here for you 24/7. Anytime,
anywhere. If you’re on the move, read digital BCM from your handheld or other device.
Thank you for your continuing support!
BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE, the World’s Oldest Chess Journal
BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 707

A year to remember…
The year 2020 will be remembered probably more than any other year before it in the
21st century. The keyword for the year, of course, is COVID−19/coronavirus and all
the calamity and sorrow it brought. However, the chess world will remember the year
2020 completely opposite to almost everybody else!
The omens were not good when 2020 started. You might have forgotten by now, but
things weren’t so rosy even before coronavirus made its full global impact in March.
The year started with bushfires in Australia which killed more than 500 million
animals. A drone strike in Baghdad on the third day of January, in which the US killed
the top Iranian military figure Qasem Soleimani and which was followed by Iranian
retaliation on US bases in Iraq, left the world on the brink of yet another war in the
Middle East. Closer to home, the UK formally withdrew from the EU on 31st January,
beginning the uneasy transition period which today seems to have no clarity in sight.
In February the stock market crashed for seven days consecutively, announcing the
arrival of COVID−19 in the minds (and, more importantly, in the pockets) of people
in the West. So, it wasn’t looking good even before the novel virus struck us… And
the year closed with even more doom and gloom: the possibility of a civil war in the
US, global insecurity, uncertainty over a UK−EU trade deal and, on the flip side, high
hopes pinned on one of the successful vaccines saving the world (and Christmas -
which seems to be very important to a large population on this Island).
For those in the chess world, the year 2020 was supposed to be a decisive one with
regard to the fight for the title of World Champion. In the women’s competition, Ju
Wenjun beat Aleksandra Goryachkina in a match played between Vladivostok and
Beijing in January, defending her title as the Women’s World Champion. But the key
focus of the year was on the Candidates tournament which was due to produce a
challenger to Magnus Carlsen, in a match which was supposed to take place at the
end of 2020, in Dubai. However, it was not meant to be. FIDE, the international chess
body, did its best to push forward despite the odds: just as the air bridges started
closing hour by hour and countries went into lockdowns, the Candidates tournament
started in the middle of March in Yekaterinburg, only to be stopped half−way through
because of restrictions introduced in Russia. The first part of the ‘Coronavirus
candidates’ ended with Maxime Vachier Lagrave and Ian Nepomniachtchi in the
lead, and it was recently announced that the event is expected to continue in early
spring 2021. The list of chess tournaments cancelled in 2020 also included the chess
Olympiad - played every two years − which was due to take place in Moscow in
August. The great number of cancelled and missed tournaments have disrupted the
events calendar in a way which has not been seen since WW2.
708 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

December 2020
Or a year to forget?
But, it wasn’t all bad for chess… On the contrary! Lockdowns and movement
restrictions led to a boom in online chess - websites such as chess.com and chess24
reported an increase in players hundreds of times over. Top chessplayers were quick
to take note, flooding the Internet with numerous speed chess events packed one after
the other (to the point that it’s almost impossible to distinguish between them).
It isn’t just online chess which is booming: eBay said sales of chess sets in the US
have soared by 60% since last year, which is a sign that households are spending their
time at home together playing chess, implementing the true spirit of Gens Una Sumus!
This year we also saw chess making a move to the stock market: in October Play
Magnus Group, the tech firm founded by World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen,
was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Chess even made it to Eurosport - something
which has been on the agenda of chess organisers for years: the largest European
sports broadcaster is providing live coverage of the Champions Chess Tour!
And that wasn’t all. In November came ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ - a drama about a
fictional chess prodigy Beth Harmon placed in the 1960s US. It quickly became
the most popular series on Netflix, giving public interest in chess another lift and,
especially, boosting women’s chess which has for years been struggling to attract
players.
So, as the erratic 2020 draws to a close - whilst this is the year many would like to
forget, for chess it may turn out to be the best year since the 1972 Cold War Fischer−
Spassky match, which was followed by millions around the globe.
Assuming the chess world is wise enough to engage the world more and keep the
interest in the game high, the new motto of the chess community could be: Play chess
and prosper!
Milan Dinic, Editor

12/140
BCM exclusive interview with Anya Taylor-Joy,

the leading actress in the Netflix hit series
The Queen’s Gambit

December 2020
Chess is a lot like acting,

and I fell in love with it
By Milan Dinic; Photo: By Pip/Netflix
Chess doesn’t seem like the most obvious topic for making a hit in the film industry or
advancing one’s career on the big screen, but that just might be the case for Anya Taylor−
Joy, the actress playing the seductive and charismatic Beth Harmon in ‘The Queen’s
Gambit’, a new Netflix drama series which has been watched by tens of millions around
the world.
The 24−year−old actress who has carved her profile on the big screen by playing headstrong
women in dark movies (such as The Witch, Split, or the black comedy Thoroughbreds) has
captivated the hearts and minds of a global audience thanks to her portrayal of a troubled
but resolute chess prodigy Beth Harmon.
Based on the 1983 novel by Walter Tevis - himself an amateur chess player − the Netflix
limited drama series ‘The Queen’ Gambit’ is a coming−of−age story about a girl who makes
her way from an Kentucky orphanage to the top of the chess world, struggling with addiction
and emotional troubles, as well as the sexism and stereotypes of the 1950s and 1960s.
‘The Queen’s Gambit’ is the most watched series in 63 countries, including the UK. It’s
in the top 10 most watched in over 90 countries and, in the first month of streaming,
more than 62 million people watched it. After the coronavirus (which lead to more people
moving their activities and interest online) the Netflix series is the second godsend to the
chess world in 2020, as the interest in the game has had a significant jump since Netflix
started airing it in October!
In an exclusive interview for the British Chess Magazine Anya Taylor−Joy explains how
she saw Beth Harmon and why she felt a personal deep connection to the character, as well
as sharing her views on learning and playing chess.
British Chess Magazine: How did you get involved in the project?
Anya Taylor-Joy: Scott Frank [the screenwriter for the series - note, BCM] sent me the
Walter Tavis book to read before we met. I devoured the book in about an hour! I fell in
love with Beth immediately and I felt a really
strong kinship, even though I knew nothing I understood that for Beth
about chess whatsoever. I felt that she was chess was what my art is for me,
somebody who, especially throughout her and that it has the same
teen years, felt like she was very separated
from people and felt like the ‘other’, and I profound level of passion. I
could connect with that. I really cared about didn’t feel like I could on my
her immediately. own play this character in full
BCM: The series has been praised in without understanding the
the chess community as being the most theory of chess
12/140
accurate depiction of the game ever shown on television. How difficult was it for you
to learn chess?
ATJ: I think I tried chess once when I was about nine, but I really didn’t know how to
play! However, I felt very deeply connected to the character. I understood that for Beth
chess was what my art is for me, and that it has the same profound level of passion. I
didn’t feel like I could on my own play this character in full without understanding the
theory of chess. But, as you know, the theory of chess is immense and there is so much
to learn and study. I dare say I now have a good understanding of the general theory of
chess and that was very important to me. I didn’t find learning it very difficult because
I was enthralled with it.
BCM: And what about chess moves - how did you manage to memorise the sequence of
the moves? Chess variants are very precise.
ATJ: The reality of playing the games is something different. On the whole, there were
350 chess games to go through for this production and on the first day I showed up they
changed the game five minutes before we were due to start filming the play. I just stored
it in my short−term memory, bashed it out and then did the same with the next one. And
that’s how I did it until the end.
For me this was a wonderful exercise and I really loved pushing my short−term memory in
that way. I particularly enjoyed playing three speed chess games simultaneously. Also, I’m
a dancer and choreography is something I really enjoy and there is a connection between
that and chess.
BCM: What’s the connection?
ATJ: As a dancer, the majority of the classes you spend watching someone perform moves
and then repeating. They do it once and then you repeat it immediately. I think having that
experience of seeing something and then repeating was really helpful from a practical
point of view. I was playing fifty chess matches through the series, in different outfits
and circumstances, and if I hadn’t had that short−term memory and my experience in
choreography, it would have been very difficult.
BCM: What did you find most interesting or unusual in learning how to play chess, that
you didn’t know before?
One of the things that I love ATJ: One of the things that I love most
about the game is the fact that you must
most about chess is the fact be able and willing to pivot at any given
that you must be able and moment. You can go in with a game plan,
willing to pivot at any given but you have to be willing to sacrifice and
moment. You can go in with a change that plan instead of being anchored
in something in a stubborn way. You have to
game plan, but you have to be be reactive.
willing to sacrifice and change
that plan instead of being It’s kind of a lot like acting. In acting, in
the majority of the scenes you are with a
anchored in something in a partner and you’re playing with what they
stubborn way are giving to you. If you’re not fast and

December 2020
A mad and awesome form of chess

− One of the things I found during filming was the subject of chess that I didn’t know
existed called “Chess Boxing”, which sounds like the most insane and wonderful thing
to witness. You basically play a round of chess and then you do a round of boxing and
you go back and forth between the two of them. You’re challenging yourself as much as
possible both mentally and physically. It’s mad and it’s awesome.
good at reacting to one another it’s not going to be as good. I think that’s the case for
chess as well.
BCM: It’s often said that chess geeky and that chess players are geeks. Do you agree?
ATJ: I have issue with the word “geek”. First, I don’t necessarily know what they
mean when they call someone “a geek”. What I’ve taken to attribute to the meaning
of that word is that a geek is someone who really cares about something, very
deeply and passionately. I love people with passion. If you love something enough
that you will sacrifice yourself to it, I feel that’s the coolest thing to be. But, I don’t
really know what the word ‘geek’ means. I see it as being passionate.
Chess to me is like learning a different language. You learn the rules but then you’ll
never stop learning. There’s never a point when you say ‘I’m done, that’s all there is
to it’. On the contrary, in chess there are so many different sequences. Again, that is
what I really like about the game - this almost infinite amount of sequences that you
could play out. I would, therefore, say to everyone who doesn’t play chess: ‘learn the
basics and then just start playing’. And I fell in love with it!
BCM: The character of Beth Harmon has some resemblance to that of a true chess
legend from the US, Bobby Fischer. In your preparation for the role, did you read any
biographies of important chess players?
ATJ: I love history and I love learning, but when it comes to characters sometimes
there is such as thing as overload, when you stop feeling connected to the thing that
made you feel you could play the person in the first place. I think I consciously stayed
away from modelling Beth on anybody. I just needed her to be real, from the book and
from the script rather than give my own over−interpretation of that.
BCM: So, how did you interpret the role of I really love the idea that,
Beth? What’s the most interesting thing for
you about her character?
any kind of shot of the board
and the way she moves the
ATJ: Something that I really enjoyed in pieces, the audience would
portraying her was creating her particular find intriguing and inspiring.
style of playing. I don’t know where it
comes from; I’m an instinctual actor. It It wasn’t something that was
could have come from Beth, the way she necessarily important for the
is as a character, or it could have come other people involved, but, for
from me, but I really love the idea that,
any kind of shot of the board and the way me, I wanted somebody to be
she moves the pieces, the audience would able to tell who she was just by
find intriguing and inspiring. It wasn’t the way she moved her pieces
12/140

December 2020
something that it was necessarily important for the other people involved, but for me, I
wanted somebody to be able to tell who she was just by the way she moved her pieces.
BCM: Being successful at chess and having an addiction to alcohol or medication are
not things which go together. How difficult was it for you to merge the two in your
portrayal of Beth?
AYT: It made complete sense to me. Any situation where you’re rejected, blamed, shoved,
you’re desperately looking for a way out. It was very important for director Scott and me
to portray that link she has between pills and her creativity. Beth feels the pills and her
genius are inexplicably linked. Or, when she is drinking, she is saying - ‘you know what,
the voices in my head are just too loud and I need to switch them off’. In all, that makes
a lot of sense to me.
BCM: The drama also tackles issues of a woman’s identity and sexism in the 60s. How
would you interpret Beth’s struggle with these issues?
AYT: I think Beth is a bizarrely asexual character, which I really like. She’s so centred
on the ability of her mind and how intelligent she is that she doesn’t necessarily
think of herself as a woman first. I think there is something to that because you’re
experiencing the 1960s through her in the way that she just automatically assumes
that she is equal.
When I read the book for the first time, I really understood that, to her, both the
pills and the alcohol are like a magic wand. When she’s feeling really angry or sad
or humiliated, the substance acts as an obliterator. It just takes those emotions away
and she’s able to stop feeling isolated and alone. I can understand how you get to
that place, but I do think it is incredibly sad because she doesn’t feel like she’s
enough without them.
The Queen’s Gambit isn’t really about chess

BCM: What is the key message of Queen’s Gambit, for you?
That it’s really not about chess. It’s unbelievable because what this story is about is the
price of genius.
Overall, there are two big messages. First, you have to find a way to make peace
with yourself because you will not be able to accept real love without that. This
really got to me. Beth so desperately wants people around her but also her history
has taught her that they will let her down a lot of the time, so she always tries to
keep them away. But in chess she could escape the uncertainty and control her
fate - an entire little world and in it she it literally the queen of that kingdom.
The second message is that there is a place for everybody. And I could really
identify with that. As a kid I didn’t really fit in, I didn’t fit in school, I couldn’t
find my niche and I had this belief that there is a world in which I would find my
place and be able to give something back to it. I think it’s the same with Beth -
she is a very particular person and then there is something in her that helps her
shine and give something back. I think that’s a beautiful message.

12/140
Chess to me is like learning a

different language. You learn
the rules but then you’ll never
stop learning. There’s never a
point when you say ‘I’m done,
that’s all there is to it’. On the
contrary, in chess there are so
many different sequences
BCM: A well-known American chess

coach, Bruce Pandolfini, was the key
person involved from the chess side of
things. How was it working with him?
AYT: Wonderful. He was gracious

and accepting of me. It was really
encouraging and also fun. From the
outset it was clear that he was very
excited about teaching me and I was
very excited about what he had to teach
me. Our relationship was one of mutual
admiration and respect.
BCM: As you’re someone coming from

the world of the visual arts, how difficult
is it to portray chess on the big screen?
AYT: I was very surprised when

someone originally asked ‘how did you
think this was going to make good TV?’
In my head I was going: ‘You have two
people mentally stretching themselves
beyond anything you can apply to your
day−to−day life. Of course it’s going to
be interesting.’
I think chess could be interesting to watch

on the big screen, but you have to be more
creative with the camera angles. There is a
lot going on there which gives a great sense
of experience and if you have the right
camera angle there, you can capture it.
BCM: Finally, will there be a second season?
AYT: Never say never in this world, but I

don’t think so. I think the final scene puts a
nice end to the story.

December 2020
A REVIEW OF THE NETFLIX SERIES

“THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT”
FROM BLACK TO WHITE?!

By Peter O’Brien; Photo: Phil Bray (Photo courtesey Netflix)
Chess as an activity has benefited enormously from COVID-19. It is one of the few sports readily
adapted to an online existence, where the speed of play can be adjusted to short, sharp encounters,
tournaments involving players from across the world can be started and finished within 24 hours,
and spectators can indulge in binge watching. Despite being stuck in enclosed spaces, players
and spectators alike can experience some sense of freedom.
Binges, space and meanings of freedom all occupy large roles in what has been THE Netflix series
in the age of COVID, namely “The Queen’s Gambit”. Set primarily in the first half of the 1960s,
adapted from a notable novel of Walter Tevis published in 1983, it hit the small screen at a time
of major social, technological and political changes in the world. The story is ostensibly centred
around the first couple of decades of the highly troubled life of Beth Harmon, tragically orphaned
as a child, stripped of identity in an orphanage (her favourite dress bearing “Beth” on it is burned
and she has to wear the drab uniform of the institution), who seeks freedoms through a mix of
drugs and chess. Is this a mediaeval morality play? An example of a micro revolution at a period
when upheavals of all kinds are starting to explode, within the USA and beyond? A discourse
on redemption? An instance of how twin obsessions, drugs/alcohol in one dimension, chess in
another, can interact with both negative and positive consequences? The answer to all these
questions, and several more suggested by the series, is both yes and no. Black as well as White
are perpetually present, and the variations are infinite.

12/140
Beth is the daughter of a mother with a Ph.D in Mathematics from Cornell, and a father who is
essentially absent. The mother is herself under severe psychological pressures, yet with a lucid
mind. A visit to the estranged husband, where the parents argue bitterly while Beth remains in the
car, hints at the finality of the marriage. As she and her mother drive away, Beth asks who the man
was, and receives the indelible response “a rounding error”, a condemnation of millions of husbands
through the ages. It is in this departure that the car crashes, the mother is killed instantly, and the
physically unscathed but emotionally severely scarred Beth is taken to the orphanage.
Those brief scenes establish many of the dominant themes of “The Queen’s Gambit”. Women,
faced with dramatic internal and external struggles, come through as far tougher than men. All the
male figures are desperate losers (her biological father and Allston, the travelling salesman who
adopts her only to disappear), “Harmon junkies” (the case of the young American chess players
whom Beth defeats), guys who fall in love with her, or, and often, a combination of the last two.
The exceptions to this are the janitor at the orphanage, with whom she learns chess; Luchenko, the
grandmaster whom she defeats and appears fleetingly as a father figure; and Borgov, the Soviet
grandmaster who is the player she must defeat to conquer the world.
Yet the women have to confront massive personal and societal barriers. Both Beth’s biological
mother and her adoptive one are living in fragile states. Each has very considerable talent, one in
mathematics and the other in music (the two most frequent skills with which chess players tend
to be associated). Each resorts to drugs of some kind, along with alcohol, to cope. Neither has
the chance to realise her latent potential. Their searches for identity in the face of severe adversity
end in death, sudden and terrible for one, protracted yet relatively peaceful for the other – will Beth
achieve what they sought?
The enclosed space of the orphanage immediately throws up further serious hurdles, and
effectively introduces the core idea of “defiance”, the need to find ways out of straitjackets. On
entering the institution, virtually the first word Beth hears is screamed - “cocksucker”. And it’s
screamed by Jolene, who will become Beth’s friend. Jolene has to fight, among many other things,
the racial discrimination, oh so strong in the Kentucky region where she and Beth have been fated
to start life. Jolene uses the pills given out daily as part of coping. In those times, it was legal to
trade in these items, and they could be bought over the counter. She tells Beth how to use them,
and it turns out to be Beth who becomes by far the more addicted. Jolene is the one who develops
the street-savvy approaches to work the system. When the two meet years after the time in the
orphanage, it is again Jolene who acts as guardian. She seems to have mastered memory much
better than Beth, and knows how to operate. Chess skill is offering Beth a path out of her personal
prison, but it is not necessarily taking her that much further.
People are themselves and their circumstances, In “The Queen’s Gambit”,

as the Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gassett circumstances are interpreted
remarked the best part of a century ago. In “The
Queen’s Gambit”, circumstances are interpreted
in their richest form. The
in their richest form. The choice of music choice of music brings out the
brings out the changes which are transforming changes which are transforming
society. From the shifts in power illustrated by society. From the shifts in power
tracks from “The Monkeys”, to the sexual force illustrated by tracks from “The
of Peggy Lee’s rendition of “Fever” (to which Monkeys”, to the sexual force
a half-dressed Beth tries a sinuous solo in her of Peggy Lee’s rendition of
hotel room), what was latent is becoming highly
visible. The “unheard melodies” that are vital to
“Fever” (to which a half-dressed
a chess game (and the reason why millions of Beth tries a sinuous solo in her
pages are written in the rubric “analysis”) begin hotel room), what was latent is
to reverberate in the film. becoming highly visible

December 2020
The startling contrasts of internal décor show up the range of places where Beth has to play her
games, learn her craft, and be introduced to bits of life. A glitzy final of the US championship takes
place in Las Vegas, with Benny Watts keeping his cowboy hat on while he plays Beth in the final.
Later, when he is coaching her in preparation for the struggles against Borgov, we switch to his
basement flat in New York. There she meets Chloe, a model whom she then encounters again,
sexually, in a luxury hotel in Paris. In Mexico City the mix of history and modernity is effectively
shown. It is there that her adoptive mother dies of hepatitis, though not before having a last fling
with a Mexican with whom for years she was a “pen pal” (that marvelously archaic term). In these
scenes the mother seems to be living what Kundera described as “the unbearable lightness of
being”. This is just the opposite of what Beth is going through. So it is with no little irony that her
mother remarks “There is no hint of a protestant ethic in Mexico”, a comment 60 years ago that is
a description of dreadful attitudes all too prevalent in the USA today.
The surroundings in which the tournaments are played reflect really well the status of top players
of chess in those countries. This dance of décor reaches its crescendo when Beth is invited
to what was then the Mecca of the game, namely Moscow. There the tournament venue is
impeccably organised, the games are described from booths resembling those of simultaneous
interpreters in major international meetings, and the spectators treat the players as if they were
fundamental to the architecture.
Success in any endeavour requires very hard work. The “10,000 hour rule” applies to chess as to
anything else. It’s easy to confuse this with addiction and obsession. Many early artistic depictions
of chess players, whether by Stefan Zweig, Vladimir Nabokov or others, tended to emphasise this.
Psychological analysis, including that by one of the outstanding players of the 20th century, Reuben
Fine, likewise veered in the same direction. This stereotyping is neatly avoided in “The Queen’s
Gambit”. Instead, and for all her tribulations with drugs and alcohol, Beth is seeking a territory
she can control, a fixed point in a changing universe (in T S Eliot’s apposite phrase). The great
pioneer of women chess players, Vera Menchik, said she was trying to do this. Vera Menchik was
born (1906) in Moscow of a Czech father and English mother, with Russian as her main language
and imperfect command of Czech and English. Fleeing with her parents to England following the
Russian revolution, the 64 squares became her device for finding a more stable life.
Since it’s very easy to visualise the board, as Beth frequently does when looking at ceilings, work
on the game continues more or less non-stop, whether you consciously want it or not. In fact,
it’s likely that many of our best games are not against physical opponents, but appear in the
windmills of mental analysis. Is that so different from writers producing drafts of texts, musicians
experimenting with compositions, directors doing numerous takes of a film scene, or painters
doing sketches for canvas? Indeed, to judge from biographies of many of the great painters, the
ratio of sketches to completed work was often of the order of 30 to one, or more.
All the same, many of today’s leading players (though not all) appear to be well free of being
depicted as obsessional. Magnus Carlsen has terrific dedication (he probably surpassed the 10k
hours mark when he was in his early teens, if not before), maintains excellent physical condition
(water is a preferred liquid), has a tournament Instead, and for all
schedule arguably more intense than any other her tribulations with drugs
player in history – and is noted for his many and alcohol, Beth is seeking a
other interests, at which he is also pretty good.
Women players, from the Georgian school that
territory she can control, a fixed
developed in the Soviet regime, on to the Polgar point in a changing universe
sisters, the Muzychik sisters, and Hu Yifan, (in T S Eliot’s apposite phrase).
have similarly demonstrated that their splendid The great pioneer of women
performances on the chess board are just part chess players, Vera Menchik,
of a range of talents. said she was trying to do this
12/140
Seen from today’s perspective, therefore, it seems When Tevis wrote his book,
oddly dated to view chess as an emotional escape however, and still more in the
valve. It has far less significance than is too often
attributed to it. Chess is not the most difficult of
earlier period when he set the
binary adversary games (that distinction belongs to story, perceptions of the game
“Go”). It is not a great help in business strategy. It were very different than now.
is not of much use in geopolitics. Maybe it can be So to deploy today’s perspective
a handy little bit of training for the memory (visual is not always an advantage in
and otherwise), though there are several alternative assessing something conceived
and good ways of doing this. When Tevis wrote his yesterday. Hindsight can be a
book, however, and still more in the earlier period
when he set the story, perceptions of the game were
blur as much as a benefit
very different from now. So to deploy today’s perspective is not always an advantage in assessing
something conceived yesterday. Hindsight can be a blur as much as a benefit. Beth is a character
of her time and place, battling through an early life which is an accurate reflection of so many
things that existed then, and there.
In the final parts of the series, the signs of impending triumph are splendidly displayed. Beth’s walk
becomes ever more purposeful, ever more seductive, ever more an exhibition of superiority. Her
stare, notable from the start, is now encompassing. It is directed far more at the opponent than the
board, exercising a power that in the actual chess world was associated above all with Mischa Tal
(obelisk eyes). As her fame has grown, and her bank balance with it, so she has become able to
indulge her love of fashion. The players (men) she meets treat her with a respect that certainly was
not a feature of those times, either in chess or in other dimensions of life. She is winning through
chess – but has enough happened for her to win in the personal struggle for mastery?
True to a “happily ever after “ scenario, Beth wins her decisive game against Borgov. She does so
playing a queen’s gambit opening, as conventional as it gets. Borgov accepts the gambit, since to
decline it would hardly fit the narrative. The plaudits are profuse, from players, public and the press
alike. Our heroine has hit full stardom.
The tale would not be complete, however, without a crucial flourish of the independence she has
won. Now dressed in magnificent white, she is being accompanied to Zheremtyevo airport by a
US government official who is telling her of her forthcoming engagements with the President and
the rest. Beth stops the car, over the protests of the functionary. She gets out to walk, no undulate,
literally as queen of all she surveys. And she comes across men playing chess. They recognize
her, start chatting and then one asks her to play. Right on cue, she sits down, exquisite in her white
cloak, fixes him in her gaze, and says to him in Russian, “your move”. The game hasn’t begun, but
Beth has won. The demons are exorcised.

December 2020
BCM Interview
Chess coach Bruce Pandolfini
talks about his experience
in getting chess right in the
new Netflix hit-series,
and how he got involved
with the story almost
four decades ago!
I suggested the title for Walter Tevis’ book

‘The Queen’s Gambit’
By Milan Dinic
Bruce Pandolfini is a household name in − It has always been my goal in life to
the US when it comes to chess. Despite portray chess as a great discipline and as
ending his playing career in 1970, a great art form. It’s hard to pull it off. I
Pandolfni is one of the most influential failed many times. But here, I think we
faces and promoters of the 64−square did good, says Pandolfini as we begin
game, conducting training, commenting our call.
and writing about chess − not to mention
the fact that .he coached the world’s No. Not many people get to appear on the big
2, Fabiano Caruana, in his most critical, screen, and only a few get the honour of
formative years. Pandolfini worked as being played by legendary actors. But, Bruce
a consultant for Netflix in making ‘The Pandolfini got both - being portrayed by
Queen’s Gambit’. He was in charge of Ben Kingsley in the 1988 movie ‘Searching
making sure chess was portrayed properly, for Bobby Fischer’ as well as appearing in
something which has seldom been the case the Netflix series ‘The Queen’s Gambit’,
when it comes to movies showcasing the playing the role of a tournament director in
eternal game. one of the episodes.

12/140
− It was fun but I don’t think I’ll receive my trying to change the moves. He was
many offers for movie roles after that, very appreciative and he gave me a nice
says Pandolfini. acknowledgement but, as I read the novel
after the book came out, I realised he had
The production of the series started taken almost none of my suggestions! A
in March 2019 but, for Pandolfini, his few trivial things were changed. The only
involvement with ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ important thing which came from me was
started almost four decades ago! the title. Walter and I later exchanged a few
letters and he was willing to take some chess
− It’s been a 38−year project for me. I lessons. He was also a very good teacher -
was the original consultant for Random he taught English and writing - and gave
House, the publisher who published Walter me advice on my own work. However, soon
Tevis’ book. I first saw the manuscript in he got sick and passed away.
the summer of 1982. It was essentially a
finished manuscript and they have called BCM: How did you take the fact that
me in to read it. Random House wanted my he didn’t follow your corrections in
take on it. I loved the book and I love the the games?
character of Beth Harmon. But I thought
that there were some problems with the B.P: There was nothing to be done and the
chess in the book: some of the moves were book was published already. I understood
not quite right, and I said that. Walter Tevis’ that he is an artist and that he felt entitled
editor was very interested, but Walter was to express things his way. I didn’t take it
not. He himself was a chess player and he personally - it’s his novel! Anyway, I’m used
thought he had done his job and that he to things like that in this business - the artist
did not need any advice. Secondly, he was will often not agree with you, especially in
afraid that in some way I would destroy the the chess world. My feelings were not hurt.
literary quality of the work. So, that was
going nowhere. As I was leaving the office, However, what you can do in a novel you
I said what I thought the title should be ‘The can’t get away with on screen. So, when I
Queen’s Gambit’, and the editor stopped was hired in 2018 for the series, it was a
me and said ‘let’s talk some more’. Half an completely different thing.
hour later, I was hired as the consultant for
‘The Queen’s Gambit’. They were thinking BCM: How did you get involved with
about ‘The Queen’s Game’ or something the series?
similar, Pandolfini explains.
B.P: The producer Bill Horberg − who I
BCM: What was Walter Tevis like? knew from ‘Searching for Bobby Fischer’
- called me. He and I are the only two to
B.P: I met with Walter in his home in be involved in both screen presentations.
Manhattan eight to ten times. We would He wanted me to meet with him and Scott
go over various things about the script and Frank, the screenwriter and director. Allan
I loved the book and I love the character of Beth Harmon. But I
thought that there were some problems with the chess in the book:
some of the moves were not quite right and I said that. Walter
Tevis’ editor was very interested, but Walter was not. He himself
was a chess player and he thought he had done his job and that he
did not need any advice. Secondly, he was afraid that in some way
I would destroy the literary quality of the work
December 2020
What makes it difficult to portray chess accurately in movies?

BCM: Among chess people, you probably have the most experience on how things work
on the big screen. How difficult is it to get chess on the big screen?
B.P: There is one thing that works against chess when it comes to presenting it on the
big screen, and that’s the time factor. Chess players need a lot of time, even great ones.
You can’t allow for a lot of thinking time in film; it’s just not going to work and people
will turn you off. So, things must speed up considerably, but on the other hand that brings
excitement.
With new technologies and gifted analysts who know how to convey the message and
explain the game to the wider audience, we can have big chess matches broadcast on
major networks.
The producers realised they were taking a great risk. Bill Holbert, the producer who was
involved in “Searching for Bobby Fischer”, knew he was taking a great risk but it was
an artistic production which received much praise and appreciation through the years.
Sports Illustrated ranked it as one of the top sports films of all time.
Scott, the other producer, who purchased was so packed that he just couldn’t make
the rights from Walter Tevis’ widow it. However, he was hired as a consultant
in 1991, was also involved. We met in and gave some valuable input about chess
Manhattan, had lunch and there I was hired in Russia, Moscow, and the setting, as well
to be a part of the team. with some of the dialogue. Garry went over
the key chess positions especially. There are
I read the script very carefully. I made six to eight of those, and Garry applied his
some suggestions and came up with a body genius to that.
of work - 92 positions, which we called
“The Bible”. Those were the main games BCM: Apart from coming up with the
in the series. We had a really fine German positions, your job was to train the actors
tech crew and they would set up positions as well. How did that go?
in the back which are not directly filmed,
but it all contributed to a greater level of B.P: The key thing there was to make the
authenticity. The final game was picked up actors look comfortable. Anya, who plays
by Garry Kasparov. He put it in an engine Beth, was very interesting to work with.
and came up with some variations that She preferred to see the moves right before
could work with the script and they were the scene was due to be filmed. She would
really ingenious! retain the moves very easily and find ways
to express them very clearly in a very
BCM: How did Kasparov get involved? professional fashion. Chess is an aesthetic
Is it true that he was considered for the thing for her, like her acting or dancing.
role of Borgov, the Russian champion in She can convey so much just by her facial
the series? expressions and moves.
B.P: I had discussions with the director and BCM: What was most difficult for you
the producer, and I said we should get Garry when working on the series?
down and we did. They did want him to play
the role of Vasily Borgov, the Russian star. B.P: There’s a whole package of things
That would have been amazing and Garry we were focusing on. One of the most
would have been great. Sadly, his schedule important things for us was how they hold

12/140
their pieces, making sure they didn’t knock

other pieces over when they made a move.
The current chess elite are not
There is a lot of aesthetics involved in
the best at ‘selling the game’
making chess moves - from the way you
to the wider audience
slide the pieces to how you capture other
− The current top chess players, great as
pieces. If you play chess, you can pick up
they are, are not really trying to sell the
on that immediately.
game. They are trying to play chess to the
highest level they can reach and perform
Luckily, the cast was wonderful and they
at. It may work against presentations: you
worked very hard to make it look like they
ask a question, and they give a short, one−
were pros. Anya worked hard but she makes
word answer or not answer at all. At that
it look very easy. And it’s quite clear that
point, you need a creative interviewer
she is becoming a megastar and she will be
and there are more and more of them.
huge. She created a character which has a
These guys are interested in chess and
life of her own!
not necessarily interested in making it
interesting for all. However, they realise
BCM: Some mistakes, however, did happen
that their incomes depend on people
– for example, when Beth is speaking with
appreciating them so that’s why you have
a player during the game, which isn’t
seen serious competition speed up, with
allowed; or, in one of the blitz games she
shorter time controls. They realise that’s
plays, her flag is already down…
most likely to get interest, even though it
goes against the ways of the past.
B.P: Chess here was the secondary art form -
the primary is the filming. We wanted to get BCM: How well does the series portray the
it right and I think we largely did. However, US 1960’s chess scene?
we have to keep in mind that sometimes
something was filmed correctly from the B.P: The US chess scene in the 1960s was
perspective of chess but it was not as good a little bit different, but the spirit and the
a take as something which, chess−wise, ambience were all caught - the smallness of
was slightly incorrect. In such cases, what American tournaments.
are they going to do? Of course, they’ll go
for the right take. We have to keep in mind BCM: Overall, how successful do you
that there are sometimes even hundreds of think The Queen’s Gambit will be in
people on the set, so that is also a factor! attracting people to chess?
There were a couple of mistakes I wish B.P: It’s incredibly successful - many millions
I had spotted. I don’t want to embarrass of people got caught up in the story and chess
myself by mentioning them… can feed off that. The character of Beth Harmon
is truly memorable - she goes through all types
One of the most important of problems such as being an orphan, drugs,
things for us was how they drink, difficult relationships, sexism, but she
hold their pieces, making sure fightsit all off and in the end she succeeds. This
makes her an example of a tremendous role
they didn’t knock other pieces model for our time and it has inspired many
over when they made a move. people to learn more about chess. There is no
There is a lot of aesthetics question that many girls will be drawn towards
involved in making chess chess and inspired by this. Now you have many
strong female players, and women are getting
moves – from the way you slide there. I can well see a female world champion
the pieces to how you capture one day and that will have impact on the
other pieces popularity of chess.

December 2020
The iconic scene

from Bergman’s The Seventh Seal
Cinema Squared:
Chess on Screen
The Queen’s Gambit isn’t the first time the moving image has attempted
to dramatize the world of chess, writes Ian Haydn Smith
Whether or not chess and the screen are ideally suited, it hasn’t stopped filmmakers trying
to match them. One of the earliest appearances of a chess game was in British pioneer
R.W. Paul’s one−minute comedy A Chess Dispute (1903). It involves a disagreement and
subsequent fight between two men over a contested move. The focus here is less on chess
and more on the comic chaos of the fight. By contrast, in their 1925 comedy Chess Fever,
Soviet filmmakers Vsevolod Pudovkin and Nikolai Shpikovsky turn the world into a
chessboard. The main protagonist’s obsession with the game is so great that chess imagery
can be found in all aspects of his life, from designs on clothes and floors to a whole city.
Obsession on this scale is also featured in two later films: Andrew Bujalski employed
comedy for his hilarious 1980s−era satire Computer Chess (2013), while Marleen Gorris
adopted a more sombre approach for The Luzhin Defence (2000), an adaptation of Vladimir
Nabakov’s 1930 novel ‘The Defence’.
THE FACTS
Obsession lies at the heart of many biographical and non−fiction films dealing with the
game. Arguably the best is Steven Zaillian’s Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) - known
in the UK as Innocent Moves - which is based on the life of Joseph Waitzkin. Its highlight
is a taut sequence featuring a game between Max Pomeranc’s Waitzkin and Laurence
Fishburne’s speed chess gamester, in Manhattan’s Washington Square. Advisers on that
film were involved in the production of The Queen’s Gambit.

12/140
Fischer himself appears in the solidly entertaining biopic Pawn Sacrifice (2014) and
is played by Tobey Maguire. But like The Luzhin Defence, the film seems overly keen
on drawing parallels between gifted players and psychological abnormalities. Fischer
is also the subject of the hugely entertaining Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011)
and the more melancholy Me and Bobby Fischer (2009). Elsewhere, biographical
features have highlighted the popularity of chess around the world, from Uganda
(Queen of Katwe, 2016) and New Zealand (The Dark Horse, 2014) through to the
sprawling chess−playing communities of New York (Knights of the South Bronx, 2005;
Brooklyn Castle, 2012).
Impressive though many of these films are, the most memorable cinematic sequences
featuring chess tend to be less concerned with the game itself and more interested in
employing it as a way of drawing out a theme or character detail.
MIND GAMES
In the first instalment of J.K. Rowling’s magical series, Harry Potter and the
Philosopher’s Stone (2001), her protagonist is the hero, Hermione Grainger is the
intellect and, when faced with a life−size game of Wizard Chess, Ron Weasley proves
himself the tactician. It’s fun, but it isn’t the first time the game has been employed
as a shorthand for highlighting a character’s ability to outwit an opponent in any
given scenario.
Humphrey Bogart in the 1942 Hollywood classic Casablanca
In Independence Day (1996), Co−writer and director Roland Emmerich needs to

convince us that Jeff Goldblum’s MIT dropout and numbers geek, David Levinson,
not only has the ability to understand an alien force’s deadly intentions, but can
also outfox the invading aliens. We’re convinced because of the casual way he
defeats his father in a game of chess in Central Park at the start of the film.
A similar character device is employed by Michael Curtiz in the Hollywood
classic Casablanca (1942). Rick (Humphrey Bogart, one of Hollywood’s most

December 2020
accomplished chess enthusiasts) plays

against himself at his Café Américain. FIVE FILMS WITH THE
It not only designates him a loner, but
a man for whom the best strategy in this BEST CHESS SCENES:
dangerous world of spies and warring
nations is everything. Sherlock Holmes:
X−Men (2000) also uses a chess game to Game of Shadows
tease out characteristics of its principal
adversaries, this time through the way they From Russia with Love
employ their pieces on the board. As in
life, Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto is willing to
sacrifice his minions in order to save the The Thomas Crown Affair
higher−ranking pieces, whereas Charles
Xavier/Professor X’s understanding of The Thing
the importance of every piece finds him
outwitting his former friend in both the
game and the world at large. The Seventh Seal
Master Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray THE BEST CHESS FILM
also explored how the sacrifices required
of the game were reflected in life, in his You Might Not Have Heard Of:
elegiac 1977 drama The Chess Players
(Shatranj Ke Khilari). An adaptation
of beloved Hindustani writer Munshi Computer Chess
Premchand’s 1924 short story, the film
is set early in the British occupation of the country. It finds two friends playing
Shatranj, an ancient version of the game (based on the earlier chaturaṅga), as their
world falls apart around them; their failure to understand the tactics of a changing
world ensures their undoing. Chess becomes a metaphor for the shift in power
within the country.
HIGH STAKES
Who holds power is the dominant theme of most sequences in screen dramas
that use chess as a metaphor. In Blade Runner (1982), reclusive tech genius
Eldon Tyrell plays a remote game with one of his brilliant minions J.F. Sebastian
(based on the 1851 ‘Immortal Game’ between Anderssen and Kieseritzky). It’s
with a sly move, threatening Tyrell’s advantage, and prompts the megalomaniacal
entrepreneur to allow his employee access to his palatial private quarters. Only
then does he discover that the move came from the mind of his own creation, the
replicant Roy Batty; Tyrell, in essence, played against and defeated himself. His
penalty, in a game where no quarter is given, is a grisly and painful death.
In a more recognisable world - New York in the 1990s - Sean Nelson’s titular
hero in Fresh (1994) employs the tactics he learned from playing against speed
chess hustlers to wage war between rival gangs, in order to avenge the death of
his friend. His advantage in this deadly game is that the major players have no
idea one of the minor pawns in their drug network holds the balance of power.
It’s a similar situation to the one articulated in ‘The Buys’, an early episode of
David Simon’s acclaimed Baltimore drama The Wire, when one of the corner

12/140
dealers explains to two underlings the importance of knowing your strengths in

any given situation.
But with great power comes the shadow of hubris. In an early scene from the
James Bond thriller From Russia with Love (1963), Czechoslovakian Grand
Master Kronsteen dazzles with his acumen - inspired by the King’s Gambit played
by Boris Spassky against David Bronstein in 1960. However, this high−ranking
member of the SMERSH criminal fraternity fails to understand that his arrogance
in underestimating his opponent, our hero, will lead to his downfall. The same
mistake is made by Professor Moriarty at the climax of Sherlock Holmes: Game
of Shadows (2011). The villain’s belief in his own brilliance results in the most
elementary of blunders. His strategy may have been sound, but a few wrong moves
cost him the game. That game, played against the backdrop of the legendary
Reichenbach Falls, is also infused with homo−erotic tension - the opponents’
admiration for each other suffused with barely suppressed sexual desire.
Chess featuring in the 1963 James Bond thriller From Russia with Love
DESIRE AND DEATH
The simmering passions of Robert Downey Jr. and Jared Harris’ characters
notwithstanding - or even those of Matt Damon’s Tom Ripley and Jude Law’s Dickie
Greenleaf playing chess in the bathroom in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) - no sequence
featuring chess quite matches the seductiveness of game played in The Thomas Crown
Affair (1968). This is chess as foreplay, wherein Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen’s
characters move their pieces (which recalls the 1898 Vienna game Zeissl−Walthoffen)
as though they are caressing each other, which they eventually do. It was later parodied
with juvenile glee by Mike Myers in his spoof Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged
Me (1999). Another parody of a chess game in a film can be seen in Bill & Ted’s Bogus
Journey (1991). The film’s heroic airheads find themselves face−to−face with the grim
reaper and in order to live they have to face a mortal challenge. But rather than choose
chess, the game which Max von Sydow’s noble knight Antonius Block plays against

December 2020
Death in The Seventh Seal (1957) - and the film Bogus Journey parodies - Bill and Ted
opt for Battleship, then Cluedo, Electronic Football and finally Twister.
By contrast, Ingmar Bergman’s celebrated medieval drama is no laughing matter. The

film’s opening scene, when Antonius first encounters Death and agrees to play chess for
his life, was inspired by a wall mural painted by the 15th century artist Albertus Pictor.
Bergman saw it as a child in a small, rural Swedish church. The mural featured Death
playing the game - with a nobleman watching on, perhaps considering his own mortality
in those precarious times. The scene it inspired remains the most famous appearance of
the game in a film.
Bergman wasn’t the only great filmmaker fascinated by the game. Stanley Kubrick
was both a gifted player and featured it a number of times in his films; it appears
in the taut crime drama The Killing (1956), is alluded to in the most immoral
terms in Lolita (1962) and makes its most famous appearance in 2001: A Space
Odyssey (1968). That film features a ‘mistake’ made by the HAL9000 computer.
But is it? Or did Kubrick, who would have known better, use the error to hint to
those who spotted it that HAL was malfunctioning. Intentional or not, it usually
features amongst the list of egregious ‘errors’ that filmmakers all too often make
when including the game in their dramas.
HAL & Frank play Chess (2001: A Space Odyssey, by Stanley Kubrick)
THE PERFECT GAME IMPERFECTLY PLAYED
With the budgets that some films and TV shows command, you might think they would
spend a little of it on an adviser who can ensure a chessboard is set up correctly. That
way, if a famous game is being replicated, there aren’t two pawns missing, as there
were in the set−up that appears in From Russia with Love. Or pieces aren’t positioned
correctly (Captain America: Civil War, 2016). Or, most common of all, the board is the
wrong way round. There are too many blunders in that category to list here). Perhaps
technology is the way forward. One of the most delightful chess sequences unfolds

12/140
in John Carpenter’s The Thing (1980). It finds Kurt Russell’s hero facing off against
an Apple II computer, rebranded as Chess Wizard. When he loses, he pours his glass
of J&B and ice into it, perfectly encapsulating the frustration of losing just when you
thought you had an advantage.
The Queen’s Gambit stands out as one of the better dramas to fully engage with
chess. And it makes only a few errors along the way. It also finds a healthy balance
between the players’ interior thoughts and exterior actions. And thanks to imaginative
production and costume design, the drama conjures up a fabulously seductive world.
It may not convince the most ardent sceptic that chess and the moving image have any
kind of future together, beyond the occasional appearance of the game as a metaphor.
However, with sales of chessboards on the increase, it has at least inspired some
people to do more than watch other people play the game.
Ian Haydn Smith is a writer and broadcaster. He is editor of

Curzon Magazine and annual editor of 1001 Movies You Must
See Before You Die. He wishes he was a better chess player.

December 2020
JUDIT POLGAR SPEAKS about ‘The Queen’s Gambit’

and her experience at the top of the chess world
THE REAL LIFE OF A

WOMAN CHESS CHAMPION
By Milan Dinic
Judit Polgar is the most successful woman The struggles Beth is going
chess player of all time. Becoming a through in the chess world
Grandmaster at the age of 15, she climbed I thought were not nearly
up to the position of the eighth player in
the world, on a list dominated purely as harsh as I experienced in
by men. Thorugh her career as an active real life. The series doesn’t
player - from the mid−1980s to 2014 − Judit come close to how harsh
Polgar successfully played against all the
top dogs in the chess world, beating many it is in reality
of them convincingly. It is, therefore, not
an overstatement to say Polgar shook Coached by parents who believed their
the male−dominated game like no other children could be the best in the world at
woman before or since. The recent Netflix chess, the Polgar sisters achieved success
series ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ portrays which is one of the greatest examples in
the struggles of a fictional character Beth fighting for gender equality and debunking
Harmon as she climbs the steps to the top stereotypes about women.
of the chess world. On the other hand, Judit
Polgar’s life tells the real story of what it − At some moments I felt funny whilst
meant to be a woman in a man’s world. watching the series. I had a déjà vu feeling
in some of the scenes from the tournaments.
− I watched the series when it came out and It’s funny to realise that, practically, I am
finished it in two days. Chess is portrayed the only woman who was beating the world
better than in any other movie/series I champion and being there, and now you see
ever saw. It seems that the team behind that portrayed in a fictional story, says Polgar.
the series paid attention to the slightest
detail. Usually, movies connected to chess Judit was the first woman to achieve a rating
are very superficial and, in most of them, above 2,700 which is considered to be the
there’s no authentic representation of chess, entry point to the crème de la crème of the
making it painful to watch. However, the chess world. Her peak rating was 2735,
struggles Beth is going through in the chess ranking eighth in the world. At the time there
world I thought were not nearly as harsh as was only one player above 2800 - Garry
I experienced in real life. The series doesn’t Kasparov. Having made it from the local
come close to how harsh it is in reality, tournaments in communist Hungary to the
Judit Polgar tells BCM. circles of the global chess elite and having
beaten top players of her time, Judit Polgar
Judit is the youngest and most successful of is best placed to assess how realistic is the
three sisters (Susan, who is a Grandmaster portrayal of Beth Harmon’s experiences
and Sofia who is an International master). competing in chess.

12/140
− Having lived through it myself, I know it It’s funny to see that,

was much more difficult, says Polgar.
practically, I am the only
She begins by referring to the scene in woman who was beating
one of the first episodes when Beth is the world champion and
registering for her first tournament and
she wants to play in the rated tournament
being there, and now you
despite not having a rating. see that portrayed in a
fictional story
− There Beth is told she doesn’t have a rating
so she can’t really play. In reality, she would I experienced all of this, both positive and
probably have been told - ‘you can’t play negative comments.
because you’re a girl’. That was the reality
for women in chess up until recently. On the other hand, the former top woman player
says there are people at the top of the chess
Gender is an issue in chess. Not so long ago world who serve as ‘very positive examples’.
top players - from Garry Kasparov to Nigel
Short − publicly made remarks about women − Boris Spassky was a world champion who
not being naturally able to succeed in the game. is gracious in defeat and a gentleman. I was
‘The Queen’s Gambit’ also highlights that fortunate to meet him when he was in his 50s
issue, with scenes of derogatory comments and and still strong, and he complimented my play
snide remarks towards Beth Harmon. However, without exaggeration. The real question is would
when it comes to how Beth Harmon was treated a sitting world champion do something like that?
by chess players in ‘The Queen’s Gambit’, ‘the
portrayal is not realistic’, argues Polgar. Polgar is referring to the scene where Vasily
Borgov - the world champion in ‘The
− On the contrary, it was much worse and Queen’s Gambit’ − graciously congratulates
much more challenging than that. This Beth and kisses her hand and claps with the
applied especially if - like Beth - you had a audience after she beats him at a prime
very unique and beautiful girl. In that respect, event in, of all places, Moscow!
the series is definitely fiction. In reality,
there were inappropriate comments during − That looks like fiction to me. In theory, a
play, and guys hitting on female players. As sitting world champion can do that, but not
a woman player, you feel different. It starts at the very moment when they have just
even with the best intentions, when people lost. For example, look at how Kasparov
just emphasize how great it is that you are ran away in frustration when I beat him in
playing in a tournament ‘because you are a Moscow in a rapid game, which wasn’t even
woman’. In the harsher cases, you would get really important. In that particular case, I
comments such as - ‘why are you wasting think Garry ran away not because he lost to
your time, chess is not for girls; you will never me, but because he was frustrated with the
be able to beat men; go and play somewhere game he played. In fairness - unlike in most
else with other women, you don’t belong other sports, we have to sit there for hours
here’… Unlike the scenes where Beth’s playing. After such a strenuous experience,
opponents graciously congratulate her on it’s difficult to show emotions and energy,
defeating them, the reality was - in my case says Polgar.
and others I know of - of players refusing
to shake hands. On the other hand - I also Since retiring from actively laying chess
experienced the admiration of some of my in 2014, Judit Polgar has run been running
male colleagues on my performance. And if a charity organisation focusing on the
you were successful at an event you would promotion of chess as an important social and
hear some people saying it was ‘by chance’. educational tool, with a special focus on girls.

December 2020
In the Russia vs the Rest of the World Match in 2002,

Judit Polgar finally defeated Garry Kasparov
− Although I’m primarily interested in The next question is - can chess use the
promoting more girls taking part in chess, I momentum created by the series and attract
don’t emphasize that in my events. Partly I more people to the game? Polgar is cautious
do that because I don’t want to emphasise the about the prospects.
divide. In that respect, I also like that the series
‘The Queen’s Gambit’ did not labour the point − The series ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ has
too much when it comes to gender, because I provided a great opportunity to promote chess.
don’t think that’s the right approach. To take opportunities you have to always be
in shape. A good wave may come, but you
In ‘The Queen’s Gambit’, Bath Harmon have to be able to ride it to make full use of it,
is seriously struggling with opioid and right? However, the chess community is not
alcohol addiction. Despite being abandoned great at using opportunities. Basically, they
by everyone at the most critical junctions of lack the skills how to do things professionally
her life, she finds focus in chess and pulls and responsibly. This series has managed
through. Can one become a top chess player to revive the interest in chess which existed
and be dependent on opioids, as is the case in the period of the 1972 Fischer−Spassky
with Beth Harmon? match, where people were talking about chess
everywhere. Now this is the case thanks to
− To deal with something like this alone - as ‘The Queen’s Gambit’, says Polgar.
Beth does - it’s very difficult or maybe even
impossible. For me, the advantage was that She argues that the chess community needs
I had the backing of my family which gave to make it clear that chess is much more
me a strong mindset, says Polgar. than a sport and that it has a place in the
educational path of every person.
Chess often features in movies, usually as a
symbol of somebody’s intellect or power, but − It’s not the question of whether chess should
rarely as the focal point. In the Netflix series, be included in the educational system but what
argues Judit Polgar, chess got its rightful form would work best for a particular society
place: ‘Chess deserved to have a series, to or culture. There is a huge need to clarify to
make people understand more the depths of people why chess is beneficial for personal
the game and the battles in the background’. development and for the community itself.

12/140
Grandmaster Aleksandar Colovic on

addictions and chess
Sex, drugs & chess…

By GM Aleksandar Colovic / www.alexcolovic.com
THE CONSENSUS IS THAT NO EFFECTIVE DRUG EXISTS THAT CAN HELP
CHESS PLAYERS PERFORM BETTER. SEX AND ALCOHOL ARE, HOWEVER,
A DIFFERENT STORY...
What most likely still holds true

Chess is hard. There are two fangs to the is that the well-known heavy
difficulty of the game. One is the stress
it produces. The other is the need for a
narcotics like heroin cannot
high level of ability to perform well. help a chess player. Stimulants
like cocaine have been tried and
There have been many ways throughout there is a rumour of a former
history in which chess players have tried World Championship challenger
to improve their performance by addressing
these two issues. Have they been successful? using it during games. The
Does anything work? Let’s take a look at question of its effectiveness
some of them. remains open.
December 2020
SEX
This probably caught your attention. The Yes to coffee, no to sex before the game:
taboo topic is rarely, if ever, discussed Mikhail Botvinnik
in the chess world, but there has been
advice on this form of “relaxation” by
some knowledgeable persons. I cannot
quote it as I write from memory and I
don’t remember where I read it, but
Botvinnik himself was strictly against
these activities during a tournament.
This rationale resonates with the advice
often given to athletes not to expend their
energy on the eve of an important event.
On the other hand, I personally know
one very strong grandmaster who played
much better after “relaxing” before the
game in this way.
During his Candidates match final

against Victor Korchnoi in 1968, Boris
Spassky was involved with two members
of the opposite sex and this stroked his
ego, which, in his own words, helped his
play. Korchnoi was accompanied by his
wife and lost the match without a chance.
Perhaps age was also a factor when nine

years later, in Belgrade (Yugoslavia)
in 1977, another Candidates match
final between the same opponents saw escapades, but the topic is largely veiled in
Spassky (then aged 40) lose five games mystery. The chess world is a place where
and draw five from the first 10 games of everybody knows some of the secrets, but
the match. The alleged reason? Before nobody knows all the secrets.
the match he spent a month “preparing”
on an island with a female companion. ALCOHOL
Spassky was completely devoid of energy
at the beginning and managed to mount The great escape. Chess players have
a comeback only starting from Game 11. used alcohol for all sorts of situations:
comfort after a loss, celebration after
The only bad result in Bobby Fischer’s a win, chilling out after a short draw,
career was in 1960 at the tournament in relaxation after a long one. In other
Buenos Aires. During the tournament, words, chess players don’t need an
17−year old Fischer was introduced to excuse to have a drink.
women by his compatriot Evans and
the combination didn’t work well for There have been documented cases when
his chess. From then on, he never mixed Alekhine played games in an inebriated
chess and women. state; Mikhail Tal had his adventures
too. There is also the famous story of
There have been many undocumented Grandmaster Ratmir Kholmov coming to
stories about famous players and their a game and wanting to play his beloved

12/140
Grunfeld Defence against 1.e4. Failing Still, homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum
to notice the difference he continued puto, as in a recent interview Carlsen
with 1…¤c6 and after 2.f4 b6 3.¤f3 revealed an episode from the World Rapid
e5 4.fxe5 he couldn’t understand how and Blitz Championship in 2012. After
has the Grunfeld become such a horrible suffering from bad form and failing to
opening, losing a pawn on move four! find a way out of the rut he decided to
open and finish a bottle of vodka from the
Even in the 90s there have been cases minibar in his hotel room. Going to the
when very strong players abused alcohol playing hall in high spirits and smiling all
on different occasions. However, in the time he started crushing the opposition
the 21 st century the approach changed. and eventually he finished second.
The new generation led by the World
Champion Magnus Carlsen puts This is still an exception. With the sporting
maximum emphasis on good physical element in chess becoming the dominant
condition and alcohol is a definite no. one, it is no surprise that the approach is
also one of intense training and doing no
(It was actually Alekhine himself who harm to one’s body and brain cells. At
first understood the importance of mens least on elite level, the once popular brain-
sana in corpore sano. After losing his damaging substance is consigned to history.
title against Euwe he quit alcohol, bought
a cow and switched to milk. He won the DRUGS
return match convincingly.)
Generally speaking, drugs are intended
to enhance performance. When it comes
to chess, this means to make the brain
After losing his title against Euwe, Alekhine
quit alcohol, bought a cow and switched to work better.
milk. He won the return match convincingly!
The consensus is that no effective drug
exists that can help chess players perform
better. While this was probably true in
the past, nowadays, in view of the major
advances in the pharmaceutical industry,
I think that this is an unexplored (at least
officially) area for chess.
What most likely still holds true is that the

well-known heavy narcotics like heroin
cannot help a chess player. Stimulants
like cocaine have been tried and there is a
rumour of a former World Championship
challenger using it during games. The
question of its effectiveness remains open.
The most popular stimulant in chess circles

has always been coffee. Botvinnik noticed
that after he started drinking it his stamina
improved. Caffeine can improve sustained
attention, alertness and working memory
and chess players are free to drink coffee
as much as they want during the games.
This definitely won’t help chess become

December 2020
an Olympic sport, as caffeine in large CONCLUSION

quantities is prohibited by WADA, but
chances of that are not very high anyway. Humans will always seek ways to gain
the edge over others. In this respect chess
Another stimulant, nicotine, has been is no different than any other competitive
a trusted companion to chess players sport or area. What is different though,
since time immemorial. There have been is that in chess there are no real anti−
stories about Lasker and his cigars and doping controls (the ones performed are
Nimzowitsch discovering the principle merely formalities).
of the threat being stronger than its
execution when he feared his opponent The fact is that the most effective doping
will light a cigar while holding it in his in chess, which guarantees success, has
fingers. When smoking in playing halls nothing to do with the player’s mind or
was banned in the 1980s chess players body - it is the external aid of the chess
didn’t abandon nicotine, they only moved engines. How the chess world will deal
to the designated smoking areas. Does it with this threat will determine whether
help play better chess? Most chess players chess has a future or not. This type of
smoke during the games to calm their doping is by far the most dangerous one
nerves. Whether it’s a placebo or not it and if left to spread it will eventually kill
needs to be determined. competitive chess.
Smoking cannabis is no less popular After centuries of existence our beloved

nowadays, especially as it has become game may be facing a grim end, but not
increasingly easy to obtain - in some because computers will solve it, as it
countries it is also perfectly legal. The has been feared in the past, but because
point is again “to relax,” though the price humans will abuse computers to beat each
for this relaxation is paid in damaged other. In the end, it is all in our hands.
brain cells.
The Netflix series “The Queen’s

Gambit” saw the main protagonist use
tranquilizers to enhance her chess−
learning abilities. Putting art to the side,
I sincerely doubt a chess player would
suggest that as a way to reaching the
chess Acropolis!
All of the above−mentioned substances

have been known through history, but in
the last decade or so the so−called smart
drugs have been developed and they can
easily be found on the market.
This is already a completely new

category of brain enhancers, scientifically
researched and effective. There is little
talk about them in chess circles, as if
being a taboo, but these smart pills are
widely used by professionals in positions
like CEOs, stock−exchange brokers, and
Silicon Valley’s elite.

12/140
Chess Kaleidoscope - article from the

1960 September issue of
Chess Life
Chess behind the

Iron curtain
what American chessplayers saw
when they went to Russia in 1960?
In his interview for this edition of BCM, Bruce Pandolfini mentions

how Garry Kasparov helped the producers of ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ in
portraying the atmosphere and the status of chess in Russia in the 1960s.
Interestingly, in 1960 a US student chess team visited Russia, which at the
time – or even if applied to today’s circumstances, given the new cold war
attitude between Moscow and the West – seemed tantamount to crossing
the Rubicon and venturing into a parallel universe. The celebrity status
chess had in Russia then, which is also portrayed in ‘The Queen’s Gambit’
mini-series, is something which captivated the American student team,
but not just that.
Eliot Hearst, one of the strongest US players in the 1950s who was also a
member of the team, wrote the following article which was published in
the September issue of Chess Life.
BCM Editor
December 2020
U.S. Student Team Captain Jerry Spann

may have pulled a boner when he assigned
me the task of reporting the U.S. team’s
upset victory over the Russians on their
home grounds. For I hardly know where
to begin or what to emphasize about our
trip to Leningrad shall it be games and
match reports or the status and mechanics
of chess in the USSR, or just an American
tourist’s impressions of Russia and its
people? I’ve decided to focus on the latter
alternatives and leave game scores anti
tournament statistics for other columns in
CHESS LIFE.
Leningrad in the early 1960s
Captain Spann, Bill Lombardy and Ray
Weinstein arrived in Moscow via jet from who knew more jazz talk and Dixieland
Amsterdam a few days before the rest of tunes than anyone on the U.S. team. All
the team set foot in Russia. spoke English well and described the
beauties of the USSR as we travelled from
In Moscow, our advance contingent had the airport along Moskovsky Boulevard and
a chance to “politick" a bit and Captain eventually onto famed Nevsky Prospect,
Spann left the USSR capital with a major where our hotel and the tournament rooms
feather in his cap: the definite scheduling at the Palace of the Pioneers were both
of a USA·USSR match in New York next located, within a few blocks of each other.
May, with Tal, Botvinnik and eight other
grandmasters comprising the Russian team. The hospitality of our hosts persevered
throughout the tournament. Our official
Student team players Lombardy and interpreter Svetlana, a newlywed who
Weinstein recall with pleasure their drive was majoring in English literature at the
around Moscow with chess organizer and University of Leningrad (though the only
grandmaster Kotov and a few five minute "recent" American authors available to
games at the Moscow Central Chess Club
with David Bronstein. We were ta hear We were impressed
from many others in Russia that Bronstein and even overwhelmed at times
seems to have lost his touch in chess and by the curiosity and warm
that his recent lack of success has made
him moody and introverted. at times even feelings of all our acquaintances.
very eccentric. Many were surprisingly critical:
"we know that most of what
Mednis, Kalmc and I arrived directly in
Leningrad, the site of the tourney, via we read in the papers is just
Amsterdam and Helsinki. The reception propaganda"; ·'we have at least
committee at the airport could hardly have as many spies as you do"; "we're
been friendlier-from engineering student
Natasha, a brilliant and attractive girl who
not so sure that Khrushchev
was soon adopted as one of the U.S. team’s wasn't responsible for the
official mascots, to Raia, a USSR woman summit failure" these are some
candidate master who was to referee (very
efficiently) most of our matches in the
comments I recorded from
tourney, to Volya, a USSR medical student chance conversations

12/140
read in English were Jack London and television (none of the TV sets in our Hotel
Mark Twain!), was in charge of arranging Baltiskaya rooms worked!).
for all our side trips, shopping excursions
and meal tickets. One of the team’s Absent from the streets of Leningrad were
greatest achievements, we thought, was the large billboards and advertisements so
teaching Svetlana to play chess; amidst characteristic of a USA metropolis. The
all the Russian chess enthusiasts it was most provocative sign in Leningrad might
the Americans who first introduced her to be one advising readers to "Buy Soap!" or
checks and checkmate. "Use Taxis!", slogans which hardly meet the
criteria set up by American advertising men.
Svetlana never appeared to be keeping
an eye on us. So far as we were able to The city of Leningrad itself was quite
determine, we were completely free to come beautiful (a constant question from our
and go as we pleased and our team members hosts was whether we thought Moscow or
often look unescorted walks all over the city. Lenningrad was more beautiful; there appears
to be kind or a Minneapolis-St. Paul feud
We were impressed and even overwhelmed between these two cities). The old Czarist
at times by the curiosity and warm palaces, statues, cathedrals and art galleries
feelings of all our acquaintances. Many the broad boulevards, the numerous bridges
were surprisingly critical: "we know that and canals, the intermingling or Greek,
most of what we read in the papers is just Roman, Byzantine and eclectic architecture
propaganda"; ·’we have at least as many all make Leningrad as historic and interesting
spies as you do"; "we’re not so sure that a city to visit as Paris or Rome. However, the
Khrushchev wasn’t responsible for the more recent apartment buildings and other
summit failure" these are some comments structures, except for the new and luxurious
I recorded from chance conversations. subway system, do not impress the American
The English speakers commented often visitor. These new buildings are drab and
on how much they enjoyed the Voice monotonous, and appeal’ to have been built
of America, whose English language solely for more living space, with little
broadcasts arc apparently not often imagination going into their planning.
jammed, though the Russian language
broadcasts frequently are. All of us The same quality of drabness could be used
in the U.S. team became embroiled in to describe the inside of most stores, the
political discussions on one occasion or dress of the people and the food served at the
another, but the lack of hostility with dining hall frequented by the chessplayers.
which our beliefs were received was For Americans used to that extra added
quite unexpected. Most of us had more or something, these characteristics of Russian
less decided beforehand to steer clear of life were very hard to adjust to.
political topics and just play chess.
More than a lew Soviet acquaintances
Russian curiosity about the United Stales commented to us on how they never
and its customs, salaries, and habits was would have the courage to associate with
insatiable. A typical conversation would Americans four or five years ago. Despite
include a comparison of the price of this apparent gain in personal freedom, they
automobiles in the USSR and USA (Russian often complained about the impossibility
cars cost approximately S4000, without of their traveling abroad (without leaving
the possibility of paying in instalments so a relative behind in Russia) and the lack
that no "average" citizens even entertain of non-communist books and periodicals
the dream of owning one), questions about in Russia… [A line here is unreadable –
the availability of higher education in both note, BCM] Most of us Americans returned
countries, and a debate on the merits of to the US with a list of American books

December 2020
requested by the Russians, which range from

murder mysteries and science−fiction to
dictionaries and scientific and legal treatises.
In exchange we were promised the latest in
Russian chess books, an attractive offer for
our chessplayers even though most Russian
chess literature now is available in West.
Of course, comments critical of the current

Soviet regime were not characteristic of
the majority of our Russian contacts, but
rather were much more prevalent among
chessplayers and the better educated people
who were most likely to frequent the chess
William Lombardy’s iconic 1960 victory over
tournament rooms. Boris Spassky
The maids in the hotel, the elevator men, the Vukchevieh of Yugoslavia for top score on
taxi−drivers, while still treating us personally second board ought to be mentioned. Both
with great hospitality and warmth, echoed the combatants entered the final round tied for
familiar theme that there are only a few people the lead with 11−1 (Kalme’s only loss was to
in the U.S. who have political power and these Vukchevich), but the American player took
tyrants are interested only in wars and money. an early draw against Bulgaria in a very
It was common for us to discover that the only promising position in order to help clinch
English words a Soviet citizen might know the title for the USA. When Vukchevic
were "Wall Street" and "Pentagon". We didn’t heard about this draw, he himself offer ed
try very hard, but it was obvious that no amount a draw to his East German opponent, even
of counterargument on our part could change though the Yugoslav had a strong position.
their well−conditioned beliefs of these matters.
Vukchevich didn’t want to win the board
A few words about the chess tournament prize on the basis of Kalme’s title−clinching
might now be in order! draw. So, both the Yugoslav and the
American shared the prize.
Boris Spassky, the Russian grandmaster,
No. 1 chessplayer−student, and recently Playing in a tourney in the USSR is an
a father for the first time, has mastered exciting experience. The organization of
the English language since we last met the tournament was virtually perfect. Each
in Iceland in 1957. A true gentleman and match of four games had its own referee,
a fine sportsman, he and Bill Lombardy most of whom were of master or candidate−
have developed a strong friendship over master strength. Among these referees
the course of competing together in several were several women, the best−known being
student tournaments. Mm. Larissa Volpert, a charming lady who
is Leningrad’s best female master and
It must have been quite a blow for Spassky probably one of the top five lady players in
to lose so rapidly to Bill in bis own borne the world. She is soon to obtain an advanced
town and in such an important match, degree in French from the University of
but his gracious resignation and objective Leningrad and in her spare moments could
post−mortem analysis set an example most usually be observed perusing some classic
American masters could not approach. French novel.
While on the subject of sportsmanship, Because the referee to game ratio was no
the battle between Kalme of the USA and higher than 1:4 (compare this to U.S. tourneys

12/140
where the ratio may even be over 1:100), Playing in a tourney in the
time pressure disputes were very efficiently
handled. The referee or his deputies kept USSR is an exciting experience.
score themselves when fierce time pressure The organization of the
prevented the players from maintaining an tournament was virtually perfect.
accurate record of their moves.
Each match of four games had
The leading match of each round was its own referee, most of whom
scheduled for the stage of the auditorium in were of master or candidate-
the Palace of the Pioneers (the "Pioneers" are
analogous to our Boy Scouts). Wallboards master strength
in the auditorium followed the progress of
these four games and spectators were quick the tourney Captain Spann cautioned us not to
to boo affectionately if one of the young give away any more to casual acquaintances.
chessplayers responsible for managing the The mutual exchange of pins was the first
boards happened to drop a piece or make order of business as the clocks in each match
an illegal move. The other matches were were started, and we only had enough left for
held in four or five rooms adjacent to the the opponents s till remaining in the tourney.
auditorium and another room was left free
for kibitzers and post mortems. Though obviously saddening some of the
Russian chess bigwigs and politicians, our
Russian kibitzers arc, incidentally, much more victory was well received by the rest of the
vociferous than their American counterparts players in the tournament. We almost had
(is This possible?): not only will they scream the feeling throughout the contest that many
out suggestions but very often they’ll adroitly of the Russian satellite countries’ players
maneuver a hand through a crowd of spectators were rooting for us to win over their Soviet
and actually make the move they feel deserves hosts. The Star Spangled Banner was un
attention. No adverse reactions from the crowd expectedly played as our team gathered on
or analysts were noted on an occasion like the stage to receive the first prize, and this
this, especially since there was an excellent was a moment those on the U.S. team will
probability that the move was a reasonable - not soon forget.
the level of chess in the USSR being what it is.
Next year the World Students’ Tournament
The generosity of our hosts and fellow will be held in Helsinki, which we visited
chessplayers was almost embarrassing at for two days after our trip to Leningrad.
times. We were bombarded with presents of
chess books, souvenirs, even sputnik pins. I Captain Spann has asked your reporter to be
happened to give a ball-point pen to one of responsible for raising money for the trip.
the referees when she misplaced her pencil. So when the time comes I hope all USCF
On each of the next three days I was brought members will reach into· their pockets and give
a different gift (chess score books, theoretical generously to enable the U.S. team to defend
volumes by Keres), supposedly to match my its title next July. The Russians will really be
great generosity. out to get us, and therefore a victory next year
could mean even more than that of 1960.
Fortunately I was able to retaliate with gifts
of chewing gum, a much sought after prize Note, BCM: For the record, in the 1961
even among adults in Russia. event in Helsinki, the Soviet team dominated.
Interestingly, whilst the US team was exactly
The exchange of lapel pins was a constant the same as in Leningrad in 1960, not a single
practice and the USCF pin a very popular member from that year’s event was in the
one, so much so that at the halfway mark in 1961 Soviet team.

December 2020
SIX TIMES PER YEAR

SUBSCRIBE TODAY
6 Issues for
$ 119.99
100 PAGES PER ISSUE
UNITED KINGDOM:
DELIVERY BY ROYAL MAIL
A MAGAZINE THAT HAS TAKEN

THE CHESS WORLD BY STORM!
It’s like getting a book of instruction, news,
and close-ups every second month – one
you would be proud to casually lay out on
your coffee table.
Treat yourself to quality.
| BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

577 BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 743
12/140
Problem
World
by Christopher Jones
[email protected]
Grandmaster of Chess Composition
Solutions are given on page 766
1
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+N+-+QmK0
9+pmkN+-tRp0
9-tRq+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-+-+0
9vL-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-+-+0
2 XIIIIIIIIY
9-vL-+Q+-+0
9+-+-sN-zp-0
9-+P+l+-+0
9+Nzp-+p+L0
9-+p+kzP-+0
9+-+-+R+K0
9r+-vl-+-+0
9+-+-+-tr-0 9+-+R+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy
3 4
Kabe Moen (USA) David Shire (Canterbury)
Mate in 2 Mate in 2
Original ORIGINAL
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
9kvL-+-+-tR0 9-+-+-+-+0
9+p+-+-+-0 9+L+-+-+-0
9LzPN+-zp-+0 9-mK-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0 9+-+-+-+-0
9-mK-wQ-+-+0 9-+-+-+l+0
9+P+-+-sn-0 9+-+-+-+k0
9-+-+-+-+0 9-+-zp-zp-+0
9+-+-+-+r0 9+-+-+-+-0
Michael Lipton (Brighton) Steven B. Dowd and Rolf Wiehagen
(USA / Germany)
Mate in 2 Helpmate in 5.5
Original Original, after G. Neukomm

December 2020
Openings
for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro, [email protected]
THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED

and the real chess teenage prodigy from the 1950s
12/140
Larry Melvyn Evans - 4...¤bd7 5.e3 I have wondered in print

Haakon Opsahl [D36] if young players would know how to
play White in a classical Queen’s
Dubrovnik Olympiad, 1950 Gambit because they study so much
about how to play against the King’s
There was a young teenager in the 1950s Indian, Gruenfeld, Slav, etc. The
who won the Marshall CC championship old trap for the unwary: 5.cxd5 exd5
at 15, was US Junior champion by 17, 6.¤xd5 ¤xd5 7.¥xd8 ¥b4+ 8.£d2
at 18 New York state champ and gold ¥xd2+ 9.¢xd2 ¢xd8.
medallist at Dubrovnik and, at 19, became
the youngest US champion to that point. 5...¥e7 6.£c2 The queen is ideally posted
He would win it three more times and because of its usefulness on the c-file and
come in second to Fischer two more times. its being a partner to the Q+B battery
Is there a movie in his story? He did have attack on h7.
an “interesting” mom. He DID play the
Queen’s Gambit! 6...0–0 7.cxd5 Evans opts for the
Exchange Variation, which means he’s
His teenage game at Dubrovnik is one of heading for the Minority Attack on the
the greatest games ever played, but doesn’t queenside. Black has to get active on the
seem to end up in games collections because kingside, and, to Opsahl’s credit, that’s
of the not too unusual bias against 80+- exactly what he does.
move games and the bias against showing
a positional struggle that required patience 7...exd5 8.¤f3
and accuracy. For White, one false move XIIIIIIIIY
and it’s a draw. For Black, one second- best
move and it’s a loss. 9r+lwq-trk+0
9zppzpnvlpzpp0
This game is one of the best teaching games
you can use for the Minority Attack for your 9-+-+-sn-+0
advanced students because the opening 9+-+p+-vL-0
decisions are right there, still staring at you, 9-+-zP-+-+0
on move 81 when Black resigns.
9+-sN-zPN+-0
1.d4 ¤f6 Yes, the QGD usually starts 9PzPQ+-zPPzP0
this way: 1...d5 2.c4 , but a double
Queen’s Gambit is dubious as Portisch 9tR-+-mKL+R0
proved to Bronstein at Monaco in 1969: xiiiiiiiiy
2...c5 3.cxd5 ¤f6 4.e4 (4.dxc5 £xd5 Botvinnik, years later, would opt for
5.£xd5 ¤xd5 6.e4 ¤b4 7.¤a3²) 8.¤ge2 to keep the option of f3 to keep the
4...¤xe4 5.dxc5 ¤xc5 6.¤f3 e6 7.¤c3 black knight out of e4.
exd5 8.£xd5 £e7+ 9.¥e3 ¤c6
10.¥b5 ¥d7 11.0–0 ¤e6 12.¤e5 ¤xe5 8...c6 9.¥d3 ¦e8 10.0–0 ¤f8 For
13.£xe5 ¥xb5 14.¤xb5 a6 15.¦ad1! kingside defence. I recall Purdy once
¦d8 16.¥b6 ¦xd1 17.¦xd1 f6 18.£f5 writing about the possibility of playing
g6 19.¤c7+ ¢f7 20.£d5 1–0. The b5 and Nb6 and ¤c4 to defend the c6
knight’s lost. Wow. Bronstein goes pawn. Active white play can prevent
down in 20 moves! it, but it’s a concept worth filing away
should White get sloppy.
2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 d5 4.¥g5 A good many
4.¥f4 fans are out there today. 11.¦ab1

December 2020
XIIIIIIIIY head for e6 to challenge a white knight

going to c5, but White will double rooks
9r+lwqrsnk+0 on the c-file to keep the pressure on.
9zpp+-vlpzpp0 White may even rearrange things to
triple on the file with a rook being in
9-+p+-sn-+0 front instead of the queen.
9+-+p+-vL-0
9-+-zP-+-+0 14.a4 ¤xc3 15.£xc3 ¥g4 16.¤d2 £g5
As mentioned above, Black has to be active
9+-sNLzPN+-0 on the kingside. Unfortunately, the attack
9PzPQ+-zPPzP0 is fairly easily dealt with. At this point,
Black starts thinking about where he left
9+R+-+RmK-0 his King’s Indian or Nimzoindian book.
xiiiiiiiiy
Here we go. b4 and a4 and b5 will attack 17.¦fc1 ¦e6 18.b5 If you are curious as
the black majority pawn structure with the to why Black even bothered with a6 since
rook backing the b5 thrust. it doesn’t really prevent b5, it’s because
at least it gets him an open a-file for
11...¤e4 Marovic, in Play the Queen’s counterplay - and that becomes important
Gambit (Cadogan, 1990), suggested later in the game.
Nezhmetdinov’s move of 11...a5 as best.
It certainly slows down the Minority 18...axb5 19.axb5
Attack plan, but it’s no antidote to the XIIIIIIIIY
constricted position. White can, with
¤e5, switch over to a kingside attacking 9r+-+-snk+0
formation with either e4 or f4 in mind, or 9+p+-+pzpp0
he can operate on the weak dark squares 9-+p+r+-+0
with his queen’s knight and c6 with the
king’s knight. 9+P+p+-wq-0
9-+-zP-+l+0
12.¥xe7 £xe7 13.b4 a6
XIIIIIIIIY 9+-wQLzP-+-0
9r+l+rsnk+0 9-+-sN-zPPzP0
9+p+-wqpzpp0 9+RtR-+-mK-0
9p+p+-+-+0 xiiiiiiiiy
The ideal Minority Attack position. Black
9+-+p+-+-0 can’t take on b5 because all the queenside
9-zP-zPn+-+0 pawns would be isolated and two even
doubled as well.
9+-sNLzPN+-0
9P+Q+-zPPzP0 19...¥h3 Well, at least you get to threaten
mate. The white king just takes another sip
9+R+-+RmK-0 of tea, yawns and advances his pawn.
xiiiiiiiiy
Black could pursue the simplification 20.g3 ¦ae8 It’s strange, but I thought of
idea started earlier with 13...¤xc3 , but the Marshall Attack in this position. It just
after 14.£xc3 ¥g4 15.¤d2 ¦ac8 16.h3 shows you what a difference a dissimilar
¥h5 17.¦fc1 it’s still a long and tedious pawn structure makes.
defence. The bishops will get exchanged
on g6 or d3 and the black knight will 21.bxc6 bxc6

12/140
XIIIIIIIIY You have to give Opsahl credit. He’s now

threatening h4, ¦h6, and even ¦h8 if he
9-+-+rsnk+0 can get his king out of the way with g6
9+-+-+pzpp0 and ¢g7; however, Evans chooses an
interesting solution.
9-+p+r+-+0
9+-+p+-wq-0 26.¦b8 ¦xb8 27.£xb8+ ¢h7 28.£f4
9-+-zP-+-+0 This demonstrates the remarkable faith
Evans has in his winning chances with that
9+-wQLzP-zPl0 c6 pawn still sitting there. Now, he doesn’t
9-+-sN-zP-zP0 have to worry about any kingside attack.
Yet, it is reasonable to think, “How is he
9+RtR-+-mK-0 going to squeeze a win out of this?”. Watch.
xiiiiiiiiy
OK, the opening plan has completed its 28...£xf4 29.gxf4 g6 30.¤d2 ¦d6
strategic goal. The middle game plan is now 31.¢f1 ¢g7 32.¦a1 ¦d7 33.¤b3 ¦b7
to take advantage of the pawn by: 1.Making I.A. Horowitz suggested 33...¦c7 but then
sure it doesn’t advance; 2.Occupying c5 noted that White could have two plans: Ra8
with the knight; 3.By threatening to win the with Kb4 or f3 and e4.
pawn, force Black into putting his pieces
in awkward spots; and4.Keeping an eye on 34.¤c5 ¦b2 This is Black’s best chance to
Black’s trying something on the kingside. get counterplay and restrict the king.
22.¥f1 In case you thought point 4 above was 35.¦a7 ¢f6 36.¦a6 ¦b1+ 37.¢g2 ¦b2
superfluous, trying to win the pawn too early 38.¦a7 ¦b1 39.¦c7 ¦a1 40.¤d3 ¢e6
can lead to this: 22.¦b6 ¦xe3 23.fxe3 £xe3+ The game was adjourned here, so Evans
24.¢h1 £f2 25.¦g1 ¦e1 26.¥f1 ¥xf1 used the time well as his now legendary
27.£f3! (otherwise mate) 27...£xd4 28.¦b7 knight tour starts on its path.
¥g2+ 29.£xg2 ¦xg1+ 30.£xg1 £xd2.
41.¤c5+ ¢f6 42.¤d7+ ¢e6 43.¤f8+
22...¥xf1 23.¤xf1 With the knight ¢f6 43...¢d6?? 44.¦d7#.
protecting h2 and a rook being able to
defend f2 easily, it is clear that there are 44.¤h7+ ¢e6 45.¤g5+ ¢d6
problems for Black in drumming up
something serious.
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+-+0
23...¤g6 24.¦b6 ¤e7 25.£b4 h5! 9+-tR-snp+-0
XIIIIIIIIY 9-+pmk-+p+0
9-+-+r+k+0 9+-+p+-sNp0
9+-+-snpzp-0 9-+-zP-zP-+0
9-tRp+r+-+0 9+-+-zP-+-0
9+-+p+-wqp0 9-+-+-zPKzP0
9-wQ-zP-+-+0 9tr-+-+-+-0
9+-+-zP-zP-0 xiiiiiiiiy
9-+-+-zP-zP0 And now we come to an interesting point.
Both Horowitz and Evans dismiss 45...¢f6
9+-tR-+NmK-0 because of f3 followed by e4, but don’t
xiiiiiiiiy mention the check:

December 2020
46.f3 ¦a2+ 47.¢g3 ¦a3= 63...¢g5 64.¢f3 ¦h6 65.¦h1 ¢f5 66.¢g3
¢g5 67.¦h4 ¢f5 68.¦f4+ ¢g5 69.¦g4+
Maybe White’s plan can be saved with ¢f5 70.¢h4 ¦h8 71.¦g7 ¦a8 72.h6 ¦a1
46.¢g3 ¦a2 47.¢f3 ¦a1 48.h4. 73.¦g3 ¦h1+ 74.¦h3 ¦g1 75.¦f3+ ¢g6
76.¦g3+ The final liquidation and the point
A1) 48...¦a2 49.¦d7 ¦b2 (49...¦c2 of all the manoeuvring.
50.e4 dxe4+ 51.¤xe4+ ¢e6 52.¦d6+
¢f5 53.¦f6#) 50.e4 ¦b3+ 51.¢g2 dxe4 76...¦xg3 77.¢xg3 ¢xh6 78.¢g4 Please
52.¤xe4+ ¢e6 53.¤c5++–; note the start of a triangulation sequence.
A2) 48...¦h1 49.¢e2 ¦a1 50.f3 ¦a2+ 78...¢g6 79.¢f4 ¢g7 80.¢f5 ¢f7 81.f3
51.¢d3 ¦a3+ 52.¢d2 ¦a2+ 53.¢c1; XIIIIIIIIY
46.¦b7 f6 47.¤h7 ¢e6 47...f5?? 48.¤f8+– 9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+k+-0
48.¤f8+ ¢f7 49.¤xg6 ¢xg6 50.¦xe7
A pawn is won. Evans calls it a matter of 9-+p+-zp-+0
technique, but it’s a technique primarily 9+-+p+K+-0
owned by grandmasters. Amateurs would 9-+-zP-+-+0
do well to study these next 30 moves. Get
a board out! 9+-+-zPP+-0
9-+-+-+-+0
50...¢f5 51.¦c7 ¦c1 A never-ending
annoyance for Black. 9+-+-+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy
52.¦c8 ¢g6 53.¢g3 ¦c2 54.h4 ¢f5 Black resigns. It’s hopeless:
55.¦h8 ¢g6 56.f5+! Create a passed pawn!
81...¢e7 82.¢g6 ¢e6 83.f4 f5 84.¢g5
56...¢xf5 57.¦xh5+ ¢g6 58.¦h8
XIIIIIIIIY 1–0
9-+-+-+-tR0
9+-+-+-+-0 Systems like the Exchange Variation of
the Queen’s Gambit Declined led many
9-+p+-zpk+0 players to flee to the Indian systems. It’s
9+-+p+-+-0 a credit to Evans’ teenage abilities to have
9-+-zP-+-zP0 orchestrated a mature win like this.
9+-+-zP-mK-0
9-+r+-zP-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy
How Evans manipulates the g- and h-file
tactics to convert to an easier king and
pawn ending is instructive.
58...¢f5 59.¦g8 ¦c1 60.¢g2 ¦a1 61.h5 ¦a7

62.¦g3 ¦h7 63.¦h3 Perhaps on move 58 he
heard some spectator whisper, “Shouldn’t the
rook be behind the passed pawn?”

12/140
Tournament report: The US 2020 Championship
A soulless online affair

By GM Aleksandar Colovic/www.alexcolovic.com; Photo: David Llada
The situation in the world caused by Wesley So - Jeffery Xiong

coronavirus forced many national
federations to move their championships ch-USA 2020 lichess.org INT (9.2)
online. The US Federation was no
exception. From 26-29 October the US 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6
Championship was held on the Lichess 5.¤c3 e5 Xiong also plays other openings,
platform with the time control of 25 the Najdorf in particular, but here he goes
minutes + 5-second increment. With the for the other principled Sicilian choice, the
hefty (for online events) prize fund and Sveshnikov Variation.
a first prize of $40,000, the tournament
only lacked World No 2 Fabiano 6.¤db5 d6 7.¥g5 So doesn’t want to
Caruana to be an exact copy of what follow Caruana’s path from the match with
the over-the-board championship would Carlsen with 7.¤d5.
have looked like.
7...a6 8.¤a3 b5 9.¤d5 The more positional
As it turned out, the tournament lacked choice. The capture on f6 is sharper as it
intrigue. Starting with 5/5, Wesley So set the forces Black to double the f-pawns.
pace early on. Eventually he finished with
9/11, equalling the score of Bobby Fischer 9...¥e7 10.¥xf6 ¥xf6 11.c3 The traditional
in his 1959/60 and 1960/61 championship main move, although 11.c4 is at least
victories. However, he wasn’t without equally popular because it has the benefit
competition. The only player to keep the of stabilising the centre, thus preventing
same high tempo was Jeffery Xiong, Black’s counterplay on both wings.
who eventually scored half a point less, a
performance that firmly puts the 20-year 11...¥g5 12.¤c2 ¦b8 This set-up, with
old among the country’s top players. ...¥g5 and ...¦b8, was made popular after
Carlsen used it on more than one occasion.
The decisive game for the title was the
direct duel between So and Xiong. It took 13.a3 The big main line starts after 13.a4.
place in Round 9 when both players had the With the text move White aims to stabilise
impressive score of 7 out of 8. the queenside instead of opening it.

December 2020
Starting with 5/5, Wesley So

set the pace early on.
Eventually, he finished with 9/11,
equalling the score of Bobby Fischer
in his 1959/60 and 1960/61
championship victories
13...0–0 14.h4 ¥h6 15.g4 coming next, Black opens up the game, which
XIIIIIIIIY should make the white king uncomfortable.
9-trlwq-trk+0 17.g5?! There is no attack on the kingside, so
9+-+-+pzpp0 White should have used his move to stabilise
the centre by either 17.¥d3 or 17.¥g2, both of
9p+nzp-+-vl0 which allow the king to escape to either wing.
9+p+Nzp-+-0
9-+-+P+PzP0 17...¦e8?!
9zP-zP-+-+-0 XIIIIIIIIY
9-zPN+-zP-+0 9-tr-wqr+k+0
9tR-+QmKL+R0 9+l+-+pzpp0
xiiiiiiiiy 9p+nzp-+-+0
An aggressive approach. It’s worth noting 9+p+Nzp-zP-0
that this line was brought to the limelight 9-+-+Pvl-zP0
by computers, as before them humans
considered this type of kingside advance 9zP-zP-+Q+-0
too risky and generally in Black’s favour. 9-zPN+-zP-+0
15...¥f4 16.£f3 Black doesn’t mind the 9tR-+-mKL+R0
pawn sacrifice after ¤xf4 exf4, £xf4 xiiiiiiiiy
because he normally gets sufficient Black anticipates the opening of the e-file,
counterplay against White’s king, who but it was more important to challenge the
doesn’t have a safe spot to hide. But White knight on d5.
is in no rush to take on f4.
17...¤a5! gives Black excellent counterplay.
16...¥b7?! It is better to take aim at the The knight targets the weakened light squares
centralised knight immediately with 16...¥e6 on White’s queenside. 18.¤xf4 exf4 19.0–0–0
17.¤xf4 exf4 18.£xf4 a5 and, with ...b4 White needs to evacuate the king as soon as

12/140
possible. (19.£xf4? ¥xe4 is great for Black the piece; for example, 22...£c7 23.¥d3
as 20.£xe4? ¦e8 wins the queen.) 19...f5! ¥xh1 24.¦xh1 and White’s light pieces are
A very nice, Grunfeldesque move to make. stronger than the rook while White’s king is
20.£xf4 fxe4 21.£g3 (21.£xd6? £xd6 relatively safe.
22.¦xd6 e3 shows the dangers White faces
when the position opens abruptly. White is lost 21...¥xe4 22.£xf4?
after 23.¦h2 ¤b3+ 24.¢d1 exf2 as the pawn XIIIIIIIIY
on f2 is too strong.) 21...e3 22.¥g2 e2 leads
to a messy position with mutual chances. 9-tr-wqr+k+0
9+-+-+pzpp0
18.¤xf4 exf4 19.0–0–0 White managed to
evacuate the king and we can observe that 9p+-zp-+-+0
Black’s pieces are not optimally placed: the 9+-+-+-zP-0
bishop is blocking the b-file and the knight 9-sN-+lwQ-zP0
on c6 blocks the long diagonal and doesn’t
threaten to come to b3 or c4. 9+-zP-+-+-0
9-zP-+-zP-+0
19...b4?! Xiong is a very aggressive player
and manages to confuse So. Objectively 9+-mKR+L+R0
this shouldn’t have sufficed. xiiiiiiiiy
It appears that So couldn’t handle the
19...¤a5 was a case of better late than pressure. This is not the first time this has
never. 20.£xf4 ¦xe4 21.£g3 Still leaves happened to Xiong’s opponents - just check
White better, though after 21...f5 Black can Xiong’s match with Giri at the World Cup
hope for some counterplay. in 2019, analysed in last year’s November
issue of BCM.
20.axb4 ¤xb4 21.¤xb4? So trusts his
opponent. 22.£h3 Is still fine for White. 22...¦xb4
23.cxb4 £c8+ 24.£c3 ¥xh1 25.¦xd6
21.cxb4 ¥xe4 22.£h3 should have won for £g4 Is rather unclear, though objectively
White, as Black doesn’t have enough for White should be better after 26.¥c4.
The only player to keep the

same high tempo was Jeffery Xiong,
who eventually scored half a point less,
a performance that firmly puts
the 20-year old among the
country’s top players

December 2020
22...¦xb4? This is fine for equality, but takes on a6, but it was better to start with
Black was winning! the check on e1 first.
22...£a5! would have given Black a 25...¦e1+ 26.¢c2 g6 27.¥xa6 d5 was a

tremendous attack. The point is seen in more precise implementation of Black’s
the line: 23.¥d3 ¥xh1 And now White idea. After 28.¥d3, preventing ...¥e4.
cannot take the bishop on h1 24.¦xh1? (24. 28...£e8, Black’s counterplay more than
f3 Is better, but after 24...¥g2 White is an suffices for the pawn deficit.
exchange down.) 24...£a1+ 25.¥b1 ¦e2,
when White cannot defend the pawn on b2. 26.¥xa6?! Premature.
26.¤d3 ¦exb2 wins for Black.
26.£f4! With this precise move White
23.¥d3 The position is approximately forces the bishop to h5 from where it
equal now. is much less effective. 26...¥h5 27.b4!
White should keep control and play
23...¥xh1?! The exchange of rooks positionally. 27...¥g6 28.¢b2 White
favours White as he has the less secure has an advantage here (the engine even
king. Consequently, Black should have kept claims he’s winning) because his king is
the rooks and exchanged the bishops. secure and he can play against the weak
pawns on a6 and d5.
23...¦a4 activates the rook along the a-file.
24.¦he1 (24.¥xe4 ¦axe4 25.£xd6 £a5 26...h6 Black sharpens the game even more.
Black has good compensation as White’s
king will never be completely safe with all 26...¦e1+ 27.¢c2 g6 was an alternative,
the heavy pieces on the board.) 24...¦a1+ transposing to the comment to Black’s
25.¢d2 ¦xd1+ 26.¦xd1 ¥g6 The position 25th move.
remains unclear because White cannot
establish the type of control he managed in 27.gxh6 ¦e4 28.£c5 ¦xh4? 28...¦e1+!
the game. 29.¢c2 £xh4 Black had to include the
queen in the game. The immediate threat is
24.£xb4 ...£a4. 30.£d4 £xh6, with equal material
XIIIIIIIIY and an unclear position.
9-+-wqr+k+0 29.£c8 The engine wants to take on
9+-+-+pzpp0 g7, but the human safety-first choice
is fully understandable even though it
9p+-zp-+-+0 loses the advantage.
9+-+-+-zP-0
9-wQ-+-+-zP0 29...£xc8 30.¥xc8 ¦xh6? Natural,
but this allows White to start pushing
9+-zPL+-+-0 his b-pawn.
9-zP-+-zP-+0
30...¦h1+! 31.¢c2 ¥e4+ 32.¢b3 ¦xh6
9+-mKR+-+l0 With the checks, Black forces the white
xiiiiiiiiy king in front of his pawns and prevents
Now with the presence of White’s pieces ¥b7 in view of ...¦b6+ which would win
on the queenside White’s king feels the bishop on b7.
much safer.
31.¥b7!
24...¥f3 25.¦d2 d5?! It’s natural to secure
the e4–square for the bishop in case White

12/140
9-+-+-+k+0 9-+-+-+-+0
9+L+-+pzp-0 9+L+-+p+-0
9-+-+-+-tr0 9-zP-+-+-+0
9+-+p+-+-0 9+-mkP+-zp-0
9-+-+-+-+0 9-tr-+-+-+0
9+-zP-+l+-0 9+-mKR+l+-0
9-zP-tR-zP-+0 9-+-+-zP-+0
9+-mK-+-+-0 9+-+-+-+-0
A precise move, pinning Black down to the 44...¦xb6? This allows White a chance
defence of the d5–pawn. to play for a win. But in reality Black did
make things complicated for himself as the
31...¦h5 32.b4 White’s b-pawn starts drawing lines are not that simple any more.
marching forward while Black doesn’t even
have a passed pawn on the kingside. 44...¥e2 was one of the ways to draw.
Still, it is not easy to see that, after 45.d6!
32...¢f8 33.¢b2 ¦f5 A move that Black ¥xd3 46.d7 ¦d4 47.¥d5!! ¦xd5 48.b7,
could have done without. It made more one of White’s pawns promotes, but Black
sense to bring the king to the centre (and manages to set up a fortress: 48...¥g6
the queenside) as soon as possible. 49.b8£ ¦xd7 50.£e5+ ¢c6 51.£xg5
¦d3+ And the white king can never cross
33...¢e7 34.¢b3 ¢e6 35.¢a4 ¦h4 The king the d-file.; 44...¦a4 Black threatens to
on e6 took over the defence of the d5–pawn exchange rooks when he can control the
and liberated the rook, which now prevents passed pawns more easily. 45.d6 ¦a3+
b5. Black is also ready to start advancing his 46.¢d2 ¦xd3+ 47.¢xd3 ¥c6! The only
pawns, giving him equal chances. way to draw and one of the pawns is lost.
34.¢b3 ¢e7 35.¢a4 g5 36.b5 ¦f4+ Both 45.d6! ¦xb7 46.d7 ¦xd7 47.¦xd7 f5?
sides push their pawns but the difference is that This is too loose - it exposes the pawns and
White’s b-pawn is a passed one. Still, Black’s doesn’t do anything to bring the king closer
activity and the fact that the rook on d2 is to the kingside. Now White wins.
somewhat limited should suffice for a draw.
47...¥d5, with the idea of ...¥e6, still gave
37.¢a5 ¢d6 38.b6 ¦c4 39.¦d3 ¦c5+ Black good drawing chances.
39...g4 was also fine for Black. 40.¥a6
¦c5+ 41.¢b4 ¦c6 42.b7 ¢c7 and the 48.¢d3 ¥e4+ 49.¢e3 g4 50.¢f4 With the
king controls the b7–pawn. black king cut off White simply returns the
exchange by taking on f5 and transposing
40.¢b4 ¦c4+ 41.¢b3 ¦f4 Here 41...g4?? to a winning pawn endgame.
Loses on the spot to 42.¥xd5! ¥xd5 43.¦xd5+
¢xd5 44.b7, and the pawn promotes. 50...¢c6 51.¦f7 ¢d6 52.¦xf5
42.c4 ¢c5 43.cxd5 ¦b4+ 43...¢xb6 also 1–0

suffices. 44.d6 ¥g4 45.d7 ¥xd7 46.¦xd7
¦xf2, with a drawn endgame.
After this victory So cruised to the title
44.¢c3 with two draws in the last two rounds.

December 2020
The Women's Championship
The surprise of the

women’s championship –
Dorsa Derakhshani
The Women’s Championship was won by White has the initiative but the position is
Irina Krush (her 8th title) with 8.5/11 ahead complex. Now natural would be 17.¤e5,
of Carissa Yip, half a point behind. However, but White comes up with the ingenious
the star of the tournament was Dorsa
Derakhshani, who played simply amazing 17.g3!! Sacrificing a full rook! The point
chess. She finished 3rd, with 7.5 points, but is that after
the quality of her games was exceptionally
high. To give you an illustration, take a look 17...£xh1 18.¥b5 the black queen is
at the following gem. rather short of squares.
Dorsa Derakhshani - 18...£e4 19.¤e5+ ¢e7 20.¦e1 The

Tatev Abrahamyan queen is trapped so the game is over.
ch-USA Women 2020 lichess.org INT (11.6) 20...¤c3 21.¥c6!! Simply amazing.
XIIIIIIIIY White is not taking the queen, which
9r+l+k+-tr0 is both natural and good, but plays a
spectacular move that is even stronger!
9zp-+-+p+p0
9-+Nvlp+-+0 21...£xe1+ 22.£xe1 ¦b8 23.¤xc3
bxc3 24.£xc3 and White won
9+-+n+p+-0 without problems.
9Nzp-zPqzP-+0
9+P+-+-+-0 1–0
9P+PwQ-+PzP0
9+-mKR+L+R0
xiiiiiiiiy

12/140
The biggest disappointment of the event was 15.¦fd1 £e7 16.¦ac1 ¦fc8 17.cxb4 cxb4
Nakamura’s result. Arguably the world’s 18.¥c4
2nd online rapid player, Nakamura failed to XIIIIIIIIY
show his usual level and finished on under 9r+r+-+k+0
50%, with 5/11. 9+l+nwqpvlp0
Xiong scored a crushing positional win 9-+-+-snp+0
against Nakamura. Perhaps it was sweet 9zp-+-zp-+-0
revenge for Nakamura’s Bongcloud (see
the previous issue of BCM for the details). 9PzpL+P+-+0
9+-+-vLNsNP0
Jeffery Xiong – Hikaru Nakamura 9-zP-wQ-zPP+0
ch-USA 2020 lichess.org INT (7.1) 9+-tRR+-mK-0
1.e4 g6 Nakamura’s usual reply to 1.e4 xiiiiiiiiy
is the Berlin, but he does revert to ...g6 White dominates the position thanks to his
systems when he feels he must win. Being strong centralisation.
at 50% at this point he must have thought
this game was the last chance to turn the 18...¤f8 19.£d6! The exchange of queens
tournament around. will allow White to penetrate with his rooks.
2.d4 d6 3.¤f3 ¤f6 4.¤c3 ¥g7 5.¥e3 19...£xd6 20.¦xd6 ¦c7?!

c6 6.£d2 b5 7.¥d3 ¤bd7 8.h3 This is XIIIIIIIIY
possible, though 8.¥h6 is the main move.
9r+-+-snk+0
8...e5 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.a4 White’s plan is 9+ltr-+pvlp0
easy in these structures - he attacks Black’s
exposed queenside. 9-+-tR-snp+0
9zp-+-zp-+-0
10...b4 11.¤e2 a5 12.c3 Undermining the 9PzpL+P+-+0
b4–pawn and forcing further weakening of
the light squares. 9+-+-vLNsNP0
9-zP-+-zPP+0
12...c5 Now the b5 and d5–squares are
available to White’s pieces. 9+-tR-+-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
13.0–0 0–0 14.¤g3 The knight safely 20...¤8d7 This offered better chances.
defends the e4–pawn and White can turn Black covers the b6–square. 21.¦dd1!
his attention to the queenside. Unpinning the bishop on c4 by defending
the rook on c1. Now the bishop can go to
14...¥b7 14...¥a6 This is the engine’s b5. 21...¥f8 22.¥b5 White keeps a large
suggestion, but it looks very anti-positional advantage, but Black can defend.
to a human: Black exchanges his good
bishop, so who will guard the light-squares 21.¦b6 The rook is very annoying on b6 as
on the queenside? However, as the game it cannot be chased away: 21...¤d7 is met
will show, the bishop on b7 will be a source by 22.¥xf7, winning the undefended rook
of major headache to Black, so perhaps it on c7. White is already objectively winning:
was worth getting rid of it? 15.¥xa6 ¦xa6 it is rare for Nakamura to be convincingly
16.¦fc1 £a8 17.£e2 White is clearly outplayed in a mere 20 moves!
better, but this is probably better for Black
than what he got in the game. 21...¦e8?

December 2020
9-+-+rsnk+0 9R+-vlr+k+0
9+ltr-+pvlp0 9+-+-+-+-0
9-tR-+-snp+0 9-+-+n+pzp0
9zp-+-zp-+-0 9+-+-zp-+-0
9PzpL+P+-+0 9Pzp-+N+-+0
9+-+-vLNsNP0 9+-+-vL-+P0
9-zP-+-zPP+0 9-zP-+-zPP+0
9+-tR-+-mK-0 9+-+-+-mK-0
21...¥c8 This was more resilient, but after White can take on h6 or push the a-pawn.
the unobvious 22.¤e2! White is technically Nakamura decided to resign without
winning. The idea is to exchange the rooks waiting for his opponent’s move.
on c1 and then recapture with the knight
- from c1 the knight will go to b3! Note 1–0
that 22...¤xe4? loses to 23.¥d5, with the
double attack on the rook on a8 and the We can only speculate about the reasons for
knight on e4. Nakamura’s “minus” score. Still, winning only
two games out of 11 shows that Nakamura
22.¤g5! The rest is a powerful conversion played without his usual energy and focus.
by Xiong. Now White threatens to take on
f7 as the rook on c7 cannot defend both the Over-the-board chess is unlikely to return
pawn on f7 and the bishop on b7. any time soon, so having this type of high-
level tournaments is more than welcome.
22...¥a8 The hapless bishop underlines the With Carlsen’s Champions Chess Tour
hopelessness of Black’s position. starting in November, with 10 tournaments
planned in the space of 10 months, we only
23.¦a6 ¥b7 24.¦xa5 White has won a need to sit back, relax and enjoy.
pawn and keeps the complete domination. US CHAMPIONSHIP - Final Standings
24...¥a8 This is really sad, to-ing and fro- Player Score
ing with the bishop. Nakamura probably 1 Wesley So 9.0
didn’t want to resign this early.
2 Jeffery Xiong 8.5
25.¥b3 ¦d7 26.¦a6 h6 27.¤xf7 A small 3 Ray Robson 7.5
combination to wrap things up. 4 Leinier Dominguez 6.0
27...¦xf7 28.¥xf7+ ¢xf7 29.¦c7+ T-5 Sam Shankland 5.5
¢g8 30.¦ca7 The bishop on a8 is lost T-5 Awonder Liang 5.5
because after
T-7 Hikaru Nakamura 5.0
30...¥xe4 31.¦xf6! ¥xf6 32.¤xe4 White T-7 Sam Sevian 5.0
regained the material and remained a pawn
with an easily winning position because 9 Alex Lenderman 4.5
of the strong passed pawn on the a-file, 10 Dariusz Swiercz 3.5
Black’s bad pieces and many weaknesses. T-11 Alejandro Ramirez 3.0
32...¥d8 33.¦a8 ¤e6 T-11 Elshan Moradiabad 3.0

12/140
You may no longer be able to read Ray Keene

in The Times and The Spectator, but you can
now follow his writing weekly in The Article
(thearticle.com) and in The BCM
DOUBLE
FIANCHETTO
By GM Ray Keene OBE
A significant enjoyment dimension for chess is playing over well-annotated games from
a book, such as Harry Golombek’s exquisite notes to the best games of that quintessential
Hypermodern pioneer Richard Reti or Peter Clarke’s exceptionally insightful explanations
of the best games of Tigran Petrosian.
As a junior player in the mid 1960s, when I first came into contact with these masterpieces,
I found, for example, while armed with a glass of vintage port and a recording of
some Schubert, Die Forelle, say, that playing over a Reti or Petrosian victory, furnished
with Golombek’s or Clarke’s annotations, was one of life’s inestimable pleasures.
In particular I found that games with double fianchetto bishop development were of
particular aesthetic attraction. Here is my first win against ten times British champion,
Dr Jonathan Penrose.
Raymond Keene - Jonathan Penrose [E60]

London, England, 1967
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 ¥g7 4.¥g2 0–0 White’s double fianchetto has been
5.¤f3 d6 6.0–0 ¤bd7 7.£c2 c6 8.¤c3 satisfactorily completed , while Black,
£c7 Black could return to more normal oddly enough, has opted for the same.
paths with 8...e5. With the text move he XIIIIIIIIY
employs a plan of an early queenside
advance akin to that adopted by Botvinnik 9-wqrtr-+k+0
against me at the recently concluded 9+l+n+pvlp0
Hastings tournament.
9p+pzppsnp+0
9.b3 White ignores the forthcoming wing 9+p+-+-+-0
demonstration and concentrates simply 9-+PzP-+-+0
on building up a solid central formation.
9 a4? (as in the Botvinnik game) would 9+PsN-zP-zP-0
invite 9...a5! with an unshakeable grip on 9PvL-sN-zPLzP0
the b4 square.
9+QtRR+-mK-0
9...b5 10.¤d2 ¥b7 11.¥b2 ¦ac8 12.¦ac1 xiiiiiiiiy
a6 13.e3 £b8 14.¦fd1 ¦fd8 15.£b1 e6

December 2020
White now initiates a knight manoeuvre

designed to tempt forward Black’s
pawns and stabilise the central situation.
16.¤ce4 !
16...¤xe4 17.¤xe4 ¤f6 18.¤g5 h6

19.¤h3 ¤d7 Black must beware of the
latent pressure along the a1-h8 diagonal.
For example, if 19...e5 then 20.dxe5
dxe5 21.£a1 ¤d7 (or 21...¦e8) 22 ¤f4!
threatening ¤d3 and ¥h3.
20.¤f4 e5 21.¤d3 c5 22.d5 Black’s

queen’s bishop is a poor piece. White
therefore refrains from exchanging it before
closing the centre.
22...¦f8
XIIIIIIIIY
9-wqr+-trk+0
9+l+n+pvl-0
9p+-zp-+pzp0
9+pzpPzp-+-0
9-+P+-+-+0
9+P+NzP-zP-0 XIIIIIIIIY
9PvL-+-zPLzP0 9-+-wqrtrk+0
9+QtRR+-mK-0 9+l+n+pvl-0
xiiiiiiiiy 9p+-zp-+pzp0
As Botvinnik did , in the aforementioned
game against me, Black prepares the 9+-zPPzp-+-0
thematic advance ...f7-f5. 9-+p+P+-+0
23.e4 ¦ce8 24.¥h3 £d8? Admittedly, 9+-+N+-zPL0
Black cannot yet risk 24...f5? on account 9PvL-+-zP-zP0
of 25.¤e1! ¤f6 26.exf5 ¥c8 27.¤g2!
followed by 28 ¤e3; yet this preparatory 9+QtRR+-mK-0
move, 24...£d8, is Black’s first serious xiiiiiiiiy
mistake, and should have been rejected A combinative point overlooked by my
in favour of 24...¥c8. opponent. 26.¦xc4 ¤b6 is quite adequate
for Black.
25.b4 25.bxc4 Or 25...cxb4 26.¤xb4
followed by 27.¤c6. 26...cxd3 27.¥xd7 £xd7 28.c6 Had Black
played 24...¥c8, this thrust would not have
26.bxc5 been possible. Black is now saddled with
weak pawns on a6 and d6 and loses control
of the c-file.

12/140
28...£e7 29.cxb7 ¦b8 30.£xd3 £xb7 33...£b5 The most active defence, since
31.¥a3 ¦fd8 32.¦c6 ¥f8 White is now threatening to win the
XIIIIIIIIY a-pawn with impunity. 33...a5 allows
34.¦c7 £b5 35.£xb5 ¦xb5 36.¦a7
9-tr-tr-vlk+0 followed by doubling rooks on the
9+q+-+p+-0 seventh rank.
9p+Rzp-+pzp0 34.£xb5 axb5 35.¥b4 ¥e7 36.¦1c2 ¢f8
9+-+Pzp-+-0 XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+P+-+0 9-tr-tr-mk-+0
9vL-+Q+-zP-0 9+-+-vlp+-0
9P+-+-zP-zP0 9-+Rzp-+pzp0
9+-+R+-mK-0 9+p+Pzp-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy 9-vL-+P+-+0
As an indication of the way things have
changed, the game was now adjourned in 9+-+-+-zP-0
this position and White sealed ... 9P+R+-zP-zP0
33.¦dc1 Capturing the a-pawn at once 9+-+-+-mK-0
allows Black counterplay based on ...¦a8. xiiiiiiiiy
White prefers to increase the pressure. 37.¥a5 White can no longer resist the
temptation of material gain. It might
have been more accurate to infiltrate
further with the rooks and centralise the
king, since Black is in no position to
offer active resistance.
37...¦e8 Or 37...¦d7 38.¦c8+ ¦xc8

39.¦xc8+ followed by ¦b8.
38.¥c7 ¦b7 39.¥xd6 ¥xd6 40.¦xd6

¦a8 41.¦dc6 ¦a4 42.f3 ¦a3 43.¦6c3
¦ba7 44.¦xa3 ¦xa3 45.¢f2
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-mk-+0
9+-+-+p+-0
9-+-+-+pzp0
9+p+Pzp-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9tr-+-+PzP-0
9P+R+-mK-zP0
9+-+-+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy
45...¢e7? Black goes passive, when he
should stay active.

December 2020
Even at this stage Black could still have put A most satisfying double fianchetto
up resistance with 45...h5! restricting the win to play over, preferably accompanied
mobility of White’s kingside pawns. White by a glass of Dow’s Port 1977,
probably does best to play 46.h4 followed Schubert’s “Trout Quintet” and possibly
by ¦e2, ¢g2 and g3-g4, attempting to a large wedge of Colston Bassett
create a potential passed pawn on the Stilton. I like to compare this game with
kingside. Even in this case, however, it is another fianchetto fest to be found in
not at all clear that White can make positive Peter Clarke’s book, Petrosian’s first
progress. After the text move White round win against Tal from the 1962
succeeds in fixing Black’s pawns and the Candidates Tournament. Possibly the
winning process becomes a matter of not topic of a future column.
over-complex technique. It is worth noting
that the computer recommendation 45...f5
might also hold.
46.g4!
46...g5 47.¢g3 ¢d7 48.¦c5 ¦a5

49.a4! Finally clearing up the position
on the queenside.
49...¦xa4 50.¦xb5 ¦a6 51.¦b7+ ¢e8

52.¦c7 ¦f6 53.¦a7 ¢f8 54.h3 ¢e8
55.¦a3 ¢e7 56.h4 gxh4+
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-mkp+-0
9-+-+-tr-zp0
9+-+Pzp-+-0
9-+-+P+Pzp0
9tR-+-+PmK-0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy
Black cannot allow 57.hxg5 followed
by 58.¦a8 and 59.¦e8 or 59.¦g8
depending on which square the black
king occupies.
57.¢xh4 ¢d7 58.¦a7+ ¢e8 59.¢g3

¢d8 60.¦b7 ¢e8 61.¦c7 ! Black is in
zugzwang and has no defence against
62.¦c6, e.g. 61...¢d8 62.¦c6 ¦xc6
63.dxc6 ¢c7 64.¢h4 ¢xc6 65.¢h5+–.
1–0

12/140
Endgame Studies
by Ian Watson
[email protected]
1 XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-wQ-+-+0
9+-+-+q+k0
9-+-+pzpp+0
9+-mKp+N+L0
9RtR-+-+-+0
9+-+P+r+-0
2 XIIIIIIIIY
9-+n+QsN-+0
9+-sNp+pmk-0
9-vl-zp-zp-+0
9+Kzp-vL-zp-0
9-tR-+-zp-+0
9+-zP-tr-+-0
9-+-+nzP-vl0 9-tr-snPtRl+0
9+-+l+-+-0 9+L+-+-+q0
K Bayer J van Gool
3 4
The Era 1856 Le Journal de Geneve 1979
Mate in 9 Mate in 12, or Win, or both? (see text)
9r+-+-+-+0 9-mk-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-zP-0 9zpP+Q+R+-0
9-+-+-wQ-+0 9P+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+L+k0 9vL-+-+LzP-0
9-+-+-vLp+0 9r+R+-+p+0
9+-+RtR-zP-0 9wq-+-+-+P0
9-+-sNN+P+0 9-+NsN-zPPmK0
9wq-+-vl-mK-0 9+-+-tr-+-0
V Tarasiuk (after Roche) J Polasek & E Vlasak
EG 2020 EG 2020
Black to move, White to Win Black to move, White to Win

December 2020
Gifts Galore!
Christmas is the season for giving gifts. Maybe this lockdown year, we’ll be giving more
presents than ever before? So here are four positions with a (ridiculous) number of gifts.
We begin with a problem, not a study. Sacrilege in this column? I offer two excuses: it’s
Christmas, and also it’s the origin of the theme that the other three develop. It was named
‘The Immortal Problem’, that name being based on ‘The Immortal Game’ which was
played between Anderssen and Kieseritzky five years earlier. In that game, Anderssen
gave up both his rooks and a bishop and his queen, to force mate. Bayer went better; in his
problem, White gives up both his rooks and a bishop and a knight and his queen, plus one
of his two remaining pawns, forcing mate with his last lump, a solitary pawn. Knowing
that, The Immortal Problem should be solvable even though it’s a nine-mover.
Of course, modern composers like to improve on the classics, and one problem composer
had the idea that White should gift away every one of the seven pieces that aren’t pawns.
Van Gool’s problem was composed 123 years after Bayer’s, and achieved that feat of
making White sacrifice his queen, both rooks, both bishops and both knights. Again,
knowing that, it’s solvable even though it takes 12 moves to mate. After you’ve solved it, I
have another question for you about the van Gool position. It was composed as a problem
rather than a study, but some positions are both – they are, say, mate in 6 but are also White
to play and win. In this position, Black is threatening nasties such as 1…¥c6+ 2.¢a6
Bb7+ 3.¢b5 £c6 mate, so White has to act quickly and forcingly and it’s possible that
the line that mates in 12 is the only way for White to win. So your extra puzzle is to decide
whether this position could also be presented as ‘White to play and win’ – if it can’t, then
White must have an alternative way to win. If you find that there is another winning line,
perhaps you can find a way to amend the initial position to eliminate that line, and so make
the position both a problem and a study.
Why that extra puzzle? Well, if problemists can give away all their pieces, study composers
can too. And they have. Indeed, Alekseev beat van Gool by nine years, when he published
a ‘sac ‘em all’ study in 1970. New studies on this theme continue to appear, building on
earlier works, and the two here appeared in print this autumn. So, go for it, give, give, give.
The solutions are given on page 767.

12/140
QUOTES AND QUERIES

From castling long to
double-edged positions By Alan Smith
6188 Castling long is mainly the prerogative
of the player of the white pieces. Even so Hafe - Sergey von Freymann
there is at least one variation of each of
the semi open games where Black does Cologne, 1911
best to castle long. This is more perilous
in the queen’s pawn games, yet there are 1.d4 d5 2.¤f3 ¤f6 3.c4 c6 4.e3 e6
exceptions. Here is an example from the 5.¤c3 ¤bd7 6.¥d3 dxc4 7.¥xc4 b5
Queen’s Gambit Slav. 8.¥d3 Fairhurst and Reshevsky were both
fond of 8.¥b3.
Two years later the loser made a plus score
in the British Championship. 8...b4 This is the stem game of what later
became known as the Lundin Variation.
Arthur West - Thomas King Parks
9.¤e4 9.¤a4 c5 10.dxc5 ¤xc5 was Tylor-
Correspondence, 1909 Alekhine Hastings 1936-37.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 c6 4.¤f3 4.e4 is sharper. 9...c5 10.£a4 cxd4 11.¤xd4 11.¤e5! is
tougher to meet, but 11...¤d5! should hold.
4...dxc4 5.e3 b5 6.a4 ¥b4 7.¥d2 £b6 7...
a5 was a subsequent improvement. 11...¥b7 12.¤xf6+ gxf6 13.¥d2 £b6
14.¥b5 0-0-0 15.¦c1+ ¤c5 16.¥xb4 ¢b8
8.¤e4 White has better, as demonstrated in 17.¥xc5 ¥xc5 18.¤c6+ ¥xc6 19.¥xc6
the game Merkel - Purdy New South Wales ¥xe3! A couple of databases stop here,
Ch 1928 8.axb5 cxb5 9.¤e5! ¥b7 10.b3. saying White resigned. He held on for a few
more moves.
8...¥e7 9.¥e2 ¤d7 10.0-0 ¤gf6 11.¤g3
a6 12.¤e5 ¤xe5 13.dxe5 ¤d7 14.f4 ¥b7 20.¦c4 20.¦c2! was a much better try.
15.¢h1 g6 16.e4 h5 17.f5 0-0-0! The loss
of the exchange is a minor inconvenience. 20...¥xf2+ 21.¢f1 ¦d4 22.¦xd4 ¥xd4
23.b4 ¦c8 24.b5 ¦d8 25.¢e2 £c5
18.axb5 cxb5 19.¥a5 £a7 20.¥xd8 ¦xd8 26.¥f3 £e5+ 27.¢f1 27.¢d1 ¥a1+!
21.fxg6 fxg6 22.£c2 h4 23.¦f7 To make 28.¢c1 £b2#
an escape square for his knight.
27...£e3 28.£c2 ¥b6 29.£e2 ¦d1+
23...hxg3! 24.¦xe7 ¦h8 25.h3 ¦xh3+! 30.£xd1 £f2#
26.gxh3 £f2! 27.¥d3 g2+ 28.¢h2 g1=£#.
0-1
0-1
Liverpool Weekly Courier, 26th August 1911
Morning Post, 19th April 1909

December 2020
6189 The Anti-Meran gambit leads to 11...£a5 12.exf6 b4 13.¤e4 ¥a6

double edged games. Just as in the French 14.¥g2? 14.£f3! 0-0-0 15.¥g2 is more
Winawer Poisoned Pawn Black’s king’s searching as in a game Timman-Ribli
side pawns are demolished and the black Zagreb 1985.
king must seek cover on c8.
14... c3 15.b3 0-0-0 16.£c2 c5 17.0-0-0
Jacobo Bolbochan - Gideon Stahlberg cxd4 18.¦xd4 ¥c5 This is equal according
to MCO 9. White went wrong and lost
Mar del Plata, 1948 very quickly.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 c6 4.¤f3 ¤f6 19.¦d6? ¥xd6 20.¤xd6+ ¢c7 21.¤xf7
5.¥g5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.¥h4 £a3+ 22.¢d1 22.¢b1 ¥d3!
g5 9.¤xg5 hxg5 10.¥xg5 ¤bd7 11.g3
White can come unstuck quite quickly in 22...¤e5+ 23.¤xd8 ¦xd8+ 24.¢e1 £b2
this sharp line, eg 11.exf6 qa5 12.¥e2? 25.£xb2 cxb2 26.¥e4 ¤f3+.
¥b7 13.¥f3 0-0-0 14.0-0 ¤e5 15.¥e2
¤d3 16.¥e3 c5 17.¥xd3 cxd3 18.dxc5 0-1
£c7 19.h3 ¥xc5 20.£d2 ¦dg8 21.f3
¦xh3 22.¦fd1 ¥xe3+ 0-1, B.H.Wood Het Dagblad, 15th July 1948
- V.W.Knox Warwickshire - Greater
Manchester 1978.

12/140
Solutions to Problems
This month’s originals
We start with three mate−in−2 problems. I think that you will enjoy teasing out the solutions
(or, indeed, just reading on and seeing the solutions!). After that, we are pleased to welcome
Steven and Rolf to this column. Their problem has some similarities with (but also many
differences from) one by Gyula Neukomm that appeared in BCM a little while back -
1954, to be precise. As you may know, in a helpmate Black is doing all he can to facilitate
White’s objective of mating him. In this case, the “5.5 moves” means that we start with a
white move, then Black and White alternate in the usual way, with White delivering mate
on his 6th move. The puzzle element of long helpmates is one of the main things that got
me into solving (and, later, composing) chess problems many moons ago, but they can be
very difficult (especially when you are a newcomer to helpmates) and so there is definitely
no indignity at all in reading on to see the solution and allay your puzzlement!
Which piece goes to the Look for a spectacular move…

key square?
…and the spectacular move in Michael’s
In Kabe’s 2−mover, we note the set play attractive problem is 1.£a1!. The threat
1…£xd7 2.¥d6. We need to set up a threat, (which would follow say 1…f5) is 2.¥f1. The
and after 1.¥e7, threatening 2.£d8, we do still h1−rook can forestall this by heading west. Not
have 1…£xd7 2.¥d6, while if Black exploits all the way to a1 (capturing the white queen)
the flight square we’ve given him by 1…¢xd7 because then the b8−bishop can discover the
then 2.¥g5 is mate. However, we have no other battery against the black king (from the
mate after 1…£xb6!. So try playing the knight h8−rook). But shorter westward trips force
instead to e7. This threatens 2.£c8. There is a White to choose a discovery move that also
new mate after 1…£xd7 - 2.¤d5. And there is interferes with the black rook - so we have
also a different mate after 1…¢xd7 - 2.¤g6. 1…¦d1 2.¥d6 and 1…¦e1 2.¥e5. We see
(Like 2.¥g5, this intercepts the line g1−g7.) As similar motifs when the black rook defends
this time 1…£xb6 doesn’t defend against the on the h−file. Now, 2.¥f1 won’t interfere with
threat, 1.¤e7! is indeed the key. the black rook but after 1…¦h2 2.¥e2 and
after 1…¦h5 2.¥b5 will. 1…¦h4 doesn’t
Knightly manoeuvres defend the 4th rank but it does give check,
so we then mate with 2.¥c4. Note also the
In David’s 2−mover, we again start by noting neat defence 1…¤e2, which closes the line
set play - 1…¥xf4 2.¤c3. It will turn out a6−f1 but at the same time opens the line b8−
that the moves of this knight to c3 and d6 h2 and so allows a mating motif analogous
are thematic in the rich play introduced to the threatened 2.¥f1, viz., 2.¥h2. In this
by a try and the key. The try is 1.¥e5. By rich mix, there are also defences by the b7−
guarding d4 this threatens 2.¤d6; but we pawn - 1…bxc6 prepares a flight by the black
no longer have the set mate after 1…¥xf4, king to b7, but permits a mate on that square:
which accordingly is the refutation. The key 2.b7. Against 1…bxa6 that move doesn’t
is 1.¤xf5!. The threat is 2.£xe6, to which work but 2.£xa6 does. Lavish content! With
there are quite a few defences, which fail the exception of the ‘technical’ white b3−
in diverse ways. If 1…¢xf5 then 2.£g6. If pawn (preventing 1…¦b1+) and black f6−
1…¢d5 then it’s that move 2.¤c3 again. If pawn (without which the problem would be
1…¥c3 we get the chance to play 2.¤bd6 cooked by moves of the b8−bishop, leading
again. And finally a nice touch - if 1…¥xf4 to 1…¦xh8 2.£xh8) every unit on the board
it’s no longer 2.¤c3 but instead 2.¦xf4. has its significance in the play.

December 2020
(See(See
pagepage)
000)
744)
Back to helpmates! possible flights. There is pleasure in the
clockwork precision of the mechanism, and
In our helpmate, the two black pawns, in the mate position, an ‘ideal mate’, i.e.,
unsurprisingly, promote. But congratulations every unit on the board is engaged in essential
if you spotted the pieces to which they square−guarding or essential square−blocking
promote, and where they go thereafter. In the duties. The solution (in which, in keeping with
play, the white king, which needs to crowd convention, the positions of black and white
its counterpart, moves eastwards. The timing moves are reversed from their order in game
of the black promotions is critical, as Black scores) runs 1…¢c5 2.f1=¤ ¢d4 3.¤g3
needs to avoid impeding the progress of the ¢e3 4.d1£ ¢f2 5.£d8 ¢g1 6.£h4 ¥g2.
white king. The ‘promotees’ then take their The unique, long−distance route of the black
places adjacent to the black king, blocking queen from d1 to h4 is an attractive feature.
Solutions to Endgames (See page 762)

9.¢xh1 ¦a1+ 10.¥b1 ¦xb1+ 11.¥c1
Bayer
¦xc1+ 12.£f1 ¦xf1+ 13.¢h2 and wins.
1.¦b7 £xb7 2.¥xg6+ ¢xg6 3.£g8+ ¢xf5 White tries include: 2.¢xf2? £e1+ 3.¢xe1
4.£g4+ ¢e5 5.£h5+ ¦f5 6.f4+ ¥xf4 ¦a1+ 4.¤b1 ¦xb1+ 5.¢d2 ¦d1+ and
7.£xe2+ ¥xe2 8.¦e4+ dxe4 9.d4 mate. perpetual check;
van Gool 3.¤xg1? £xg1+ 4.¢xg1 ¦a1+ draws;
and 4.£xa1? ¦xa1+ 5.¤b1 ¦xb1+ 6.¤c1
1.¤fe6+ dxe6 2.¤xe6+ fxe6 3.¥xf6+ ¢xf6 ¦xc1+ 7.¦d1 ¦xd1+ 8.¦e1 ¦xe1+
4.¦fxf4+ gxf4 5.£f8+ ¢e5 6.£xf4+ ¢d5 9.¢xh2 ¦h1+ 10.¢xh1 stalemate.
7.£g5+ ¦e5 8.e4+ ¥xe4 9.£xd2+ ¦xd2
10.¥a2+ ¦xa2 11.¦d4+ cxd4 12.c4 mate. Polasek & Vlasak
I originally thought this was probably also a 1…g3+ 2.fxg3 ¦h1+ 3.¢xh1 £c1+ 4.¤e1
study, but my computer found an alternative £xe1+ 5.¤f1 £xf1+ 6.¢h2 £h1+ 7.¢xh1
way for White to win: 1.Bxf6+ ¢h6 2.¥xg5+ ¦a1+ 8.¥b1 ¦xb1+ 9.¦c1 ¦xc1+ 10.£d1
¢xg5 3.¤h7+ £xh7 4.¦xg2+ wins. The ¦xd1+ 11.¥e1 ¦xe1+ 12.¦f1 ¦xf1+
silicon didn’t find another White first move that 13.¢h2 ¦a1 14.h4 ¦xa6 15.¢h3 ¦g6
wins apart from 1.¤fe6+ and 1.¥xf6+, and if 16.¢g4 a5 17.h5 ¦g8 18.h6 ¦h8 19.¢h5 a4
an additional black pawn is added to the initial 20.g6 a3 21.g7 ¦d8 22.h7 and wins - by one
position, on e6, then perhaps we eliminate the tempo. Twelve moves of ludicrous largesse,
second solution? Maybe, but thatwould be an then ten moves of miserly manoeuvring −
illegal position, not reachable by a legal game! Father Christmas and Scrooge combined.
(Check out how the eight black pawns got to
where they are.) Maybe you can find a version The sidelines include: 2…£xg3+ 3.¢xg3
which would be legal? That additional poser ¦a3+ 4.¥d3 ¦xd3+ 5.¤f3 winning;
can be my Christmas present to you… 14.g4? ¦xa6 15.h4 ¦g6 and Black will win;
19.¢f5? ¦f8+ 20.¢g4 ¦h8 and repetition.
Tarasiuk
You can find several more studies on this
1…¥f2+ 2.¢h2 ¥g1+ 3.¢h1 ¥h2+ theme, including the Alekseev 1970 study, in
4.¤b1 £xb1+ 5.¤c1 £xc1+ 6.¦d1 the October 2020 issue of EG, the endgame
£xd1+ 7.¦e1 £xe1+ 8.¢xh2 £h1+ study magazine (visit www.arves.org).

12/140
NEW: CHESSBASE 16
YOUR KEY TO FRESH IDEAS, PRECISE ANALYSES
AND TARGETED TRAINING!
New in ChessBase 16
• repertoire recommendations for every move with a
INKLUSIVE PREMIUM ACCOUNT
single click. With a choice of focus: Main Variations,

NEW! Fashion, Side Lines, attacking, gambits, endgame
3 Monate Online-Zugang
• Better overview when playing through deeply

zur Chessbase Welt
analyzed games thanks to dynamic folding of

the notation
M A T T
• urgent news about recently played innovations

I S T
with direct access to the database

W I S S E N
• Preparation for opponents with recognition of their

weaknesses taking into account your own repertoire
• innovations and trends as annotations in tactical
E
CHESSBAS analysis
CHESSBASE
• update service for MegaDatabase with a single click

• after an update to Megadatabase, overview of
important recent innovations and theoretical trends
• Search for characteristic tactical positions in an
opening variation
• Slimmed down search booster: required hard disk
space halved
The new ChessBase 16 program packages 2021 edition

Starter Package & 199.90 Mega Package & 299.90 PreMiuM Package & 469.90
NEW: ChessBase 16 program NEW: ChessBase 16 program NEW: ChessBase 16 program

NEW: Big Database 2021 NEW: Mega Database 2021 NEW: Mega Database 2021
Update Service through 31.12.2021 Update Service through 31.12.2021 Update Service through 31.12.2021
Access to ChessBase Access to ChessBase Corr Database 2020
Online Database Online Database
(over 9 million games) (over 9 million games) Endgame Turbo 5
USB Stick (128 GB)
Subscription to ChessBase Subscription to ChessBase
Access to ChessBase
Magazine for half a year (3 issues) Magazine for a full year (6 issues)
Online Database
ChessBase Premium ChessBase Premium (over 9 million games)
membership (6 months) membership (12 months)
Subscription to ChessBase
NEW: 250 ChessBase Ducats Magazine for a full year (6 issues)
ChessBase Premium
membership (12 months)
CHESSBASE 16 UPDATE FROM CHESSBASE 15 & 99.90 NEW: 500 ChessBase Ducats
Online
768Shop: shop.chessbase.com
| BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE · ChessBase GmbH · Osterbekstr. 90a · 22083 Hamburg · Germany · [email protected]

British Chess Magazine - December 2020

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

British Chess Magazine - December 2020

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

British Chess Magazine - December 2020

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Volume 140

HOW HAS THE

BCM EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Chairman Shaun Taulbut

Prepress Specialist 710 BCM Exclusive interview: Anya Taylor-Joy

It´s now even easier to subscribe

An exclusive chess magazine!

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 707

708 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

Milan Dinic, Editor

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 709

BCM exclusive interview with Anya Taylor-Joy,

710 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

Chess is a lot like acting,

BCM: What’s the connection?

712 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

A mad and awesome form of chess

714 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

The Queen’s Gambit isn’t really about chess

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 715

Chess to me is like learning a

BCM: A well-known American chess

AYT: Wonderful. He was gracious

BCM: As you’re someone coming from

AYT: I was very surprised when

I think chess could be interesting to watch

BCM: Finally, will there be a second season?

AYT: Never say never in this world, but I

716 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

A REVIEW OF THE NETFLIX SERIES

FROM BLACK TO WHITE?!

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 717

People are themselves and their circumstances, In “The Queen’s Gambit”,

718 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

720 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

I suggested the title for Walter Tevis’ book

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 721

What makes it difficult to portray chess accurately in movies?

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 723

their pieces, making sure they didn’t knock

724 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

The iconic scene

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 725

Humphrey Bogart in the 1942 Hollywood classic Casablanca

In Independence Day (1996), Co−writer and director Roland Emmerich needs to

726 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

accomplished chess enthusiasts) plays

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 727

dealers explains to two underlings the importance of knowing your strengths in

DESIRE AND DEATH

728 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

By contrast, Ingmar Bergman’s celebrated medieval drama is no laughing matter. The

THE PERFECT GAME IMPERFECTLY PLAYED

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 729

Ian Haydn Smith is a writer and broadcaster. He is editor of

730 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

JUDIT POLGAR SPEAKS about ‘The Queen’s Gambit’

THE REAL LIFE OF A

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 731