England’s top grandmaster, Michael Adams, exerts a powerful influence over the elite player David Navara. In rating terms Navara and…

I have never met David Smerdon, the Australian grandmaster and author of Smerdon’s Scandinavian (Everyman Chess). Last week I gave…

The Australian grandmaster David Smerdon has written a truly exciting book about some of the byways in the Centre Counter…

Jonathan Hawkins has emerged as the winner of this year’s British Championship, which finished last week at the University of…

David Howell is on a roll. At the halfway stage of the British Championship he looks set to retain his…

Alexander Petroff (1794-1867) is often remembered as the first great Russian chess master. He became the strongest player in Russia…

Sadly, Michael Adams, for many years Britain’s leading grandmaster, will not be playing in the British Championship, which starts next…

Fabiano Caruana notched the result of his life at the Sinquefield Trophy in St Louis last year. Since then he…

I have a particular affection for Chinese involvement in mind sports. In 1981 I was invited as the first western…

Last week, world champion Magnus Carlsen suffered a devastating defeat in the first round of the Stavanger super tournament when…

In serious competitive chess the play is regulated by time limits for completion of the moves. In the mid-19th century,…

A new book, Opening Repertoire: The Nimzo-Indian and Bogo-Indian by Christof Seilecki (Everyman Chess), focuses on the ever popular Nimzo-Indian…

This week I conclude my coverage of the Fidé (World Chess Federation) Grand Prix which finished last month in Khanty-Mansiysk.…