On 19 February 2024 David Bronstein, one of the most creative players in the history of chess, who in 1951 missed the World Champion title by only a draw, would have celebrated his 100th birthday. Emil Sutovsky pays tribute to this outstanding grandmaster. | Photo: juegosdeajedrez.com
Well, stand your butt up then." "You stand your butt up, big guy." That actual exchange from an actual recent Senate hearing may have been less than edifying, but it did get us thinking about the stark decline in that ultimate in mano a mano chess, the challenge match between two consenting chessplayers.
The first rest day at the 2023 U.S. and U.S. Women’s Championships certainly allowed players to recharge, as round five marked the bloodiest round so far. There were a total of ten decisive games, with only one draw per section. Let's take a look at the most notable moments.
Control of the centre has been considered to be the heart of chess strategy from time immemorial. As José Raúl Capablanca pointed out, the fundamentals remain the same, though application may change in the course of time. The Cuban world champion wrote: “In chess the tactics may change but the strategic fundamental principles are always the same”. | GM Sundararajan Kidambi analyses three ‘hypermodern’ games.
In the seventh round of the World Junior Championship, decisive results were seen on the top three boards, with Marc’Andria Maurizzi, Gleb Dudin (pictured) and Santiago Avila winning to enter the next round as co-leaders. Carissa Yip, in the meantime, is now the sole leader in the women’s section. | Photo: David Llada