Hello chess friends! This month’s column was inspired by a reader! Matthew Brodhead sent in his game against John Cissik, and analyzing his game gave me the idea for this month’s column. GM Savielly Tartakower (whom I love to quote!) once said that any opening is good enough to play if its reputation is bad enough. What he meant was that once a line gets a reputation as a loser, it becomes fodder for those who are willing to work to find improvements and use them to gain points in competition.
The strong line-up of the Masters and the Challengers tournaments, a large Open, an interesting supporting programme and, last but not least, the city itself make the Prague Chess Festival 2024 an attractive event. The 6th edition of the festival will take place from 26 February to 7 March 2024 and will continue Prague's long chess tradition. A tradition whose traces can be found even when you only take a short sightseeing walk through the city. As Johannes Fischer discovered during a visit to the 5th Prague Chess Festival. | Photo: View of Hradcany with the castle, Prague | Photo: <a href="https://www.ferras-agency.com/">Stefan Bauer</a>, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hradschin Prag.jpg">Wikipedia</a>
Soon after Carl Schlechter's early death the wish arose to organise a memorial tournament in his honour. In 1923 several important chess masters met at the Café Universale and played such a tournament that ended on 4 December with a victory of Savielly Tartakower. Michael Ehn invites you to travel back in time to Vienna in the early 1920s. | Photo: The building with the former Café Universale | Photos: Archive Michael Ehn
Like Henry Ernest Atkins, whom Eugene Manlapao featured in September, William Ewart Napier was an exceptional master, but is now almost forgotten. In this article, Eugene explores the life of Napier, who burned brightly in his short career as a chess player.
If the title of British Champion is to go by, England’s most naturally talented player ever may happen to be an amateur. Henry Ernest Atkins was a school teacher by profession, yet won the British Championships in nine out of eleven participations. On the recent 151st anniversary of his birth, it is worth remembering this extremely gifted chess player. | Pictured: Rufus Stevenson and Henry Atkins at Malvern (The Sphere, 20 August 1921), <a href="https://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/pgn/192108bcf-viewer.html">via BritBase</a>