6 Italian Game
A painting by a follower of Caravaggio stirred up thoughts about the miraculous vitality of the Giuoco Piano.
8 NIC’s Café
Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen is another chess player having a political career, but being in politics doesn’t necessarily make you a good chess player, as Dominic Cummings proved.
10 Your Move
The President of the ECF has his say on the Argentine chess activities on the Falklands. And the Secretary General of the CCF adds a footnote to the recent Grand Chess Tour leg in Zagreb.
12 Radjabov Redux
In Khanty-Mansiysk, Teimour Radjabov reached an unexpected new peak in his long career as he beat top-seed Ding Liren in the final of the World Cup. Not only did he win the $110,000 first prize, the Azeri GM also qualified for the Candidates Tournament.
17 Celeb64: Edgar Davids
23 Fair & Square
36 All the right words
Sasha Chapin’s memoir All the Wrong Moves bristles with freshness, originality and beautifully crafted sentences.
46 Ding Liren’s finest hour
With a spectacular resurrection Magnus Carlsen had won his last two games in the Sinquefield Cup to draw level with the leader, Ding Liren. And now his specialty, a rapid and blitz tiebreaker, was to decide on the title. A rude awakening followed.
66 Secrets of Opening Surprises
Sounds like a perfect SOS: 1.b3 a5!?.
70 Maximize Your Tactics
Find the right moves.
72 Chess Pattern Recognition
If the queen strays too far from home, the king may feel lonely and insufficiently protected.
74 Humpy still got the moves
Koneru Humpy crowned her return to competitive chess with a sensational win at the Women’s GP in Skolkovo that rocketed her back to third place in the world rankings.
82 Judit Polgar
As if we didn’t know already, the Queen of Chess loves knights.
86 The Blitz Whisperer
Maxim Dlugy looks at common mistakes in blitz and how they can be prevented – and how that would help your classical game as well.
94 An old lion passes away
Jan Timman remembers Pal Benko (1928-2019), who died in Budapest at the age of 91.
100 Sadler on Books
Our reviewer on a book about the early years of the 13th World Champion. What a player, what a talent! And more, of course.
105 They are The champions
Belgium’s national champion is 13 years old!
106 Just Checking
What is the best game Almira Skripchenko ever played?
