6/13/2020 – The victory of Mikhail Botvinnik (photo) over José Raúl Capablanca in the eleventh round of the AVRO tournament will be enjoyed by many generations of chess players to come. At the outset of the game, the 27-year-old single-mindedly implemented a crystal-clear strategy against the former world champion, based on a central advance; then, he launched the final attack on the king with two brilliant piece sacrifices. In the shadow of this brilliant game, the most important development was almost ignored: Paul Keres secured the sole lead after Reuben Fine conceded yet another defeat.

6/13/2020 – Anish Giri is the best chess player in the Netherlands and is currently ranked number 10 in the world. To show appreciation for Giri, this article has a recipe for a dish that he might like to eat. And, also, an analysis of one of his wins. WIM Alexey Root tells why Giri is the first Grandmaster Chef honoree. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

6/13/2020 – The semifinals of the Clutch Chess International came to an end on Friday. Magnus Carlsen cruised to victory and comfortably knocked out Levon Aronian, while Fabiano Caruana pulled out a remarkable comeback against Wesley So. Thus, the two highest-rated players in the world will face each other in the final, starting Saturday. | Photo: Austin Fuller

6/12/2020 – In this Power Play Show Grandmaster Daniel King makes an excursion into the world of problem chess but the main focus of the session will be a spectacular game by the 2018 World Senior Champion, Vlastimil Jansa. | Power Play is on air most Fridays at 17:00 UK (18:00 CEST, 11:00 EST) on playchess.com. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

6/12/2020 – Take a look at this position. Can White (on the move) win? And if so what must he play? The position looks deceptively simple, but if you are able to solve it in your head, congratulations! Today's challenge is mainly to humans, and we bring you simple-looking positions from which there is a lot to learn. Have fun.

6/12/2020 – In the diagram position White's last move was 14.Qh3 which creates a classical threat ... which Black happily ignored! Can you imagine what happened?

6/12/2020 – Four draws, no win - that was the outcome of the tenth round of the AVRO Tournament 1938, which was played in the Dutch city of Breda. But despite the four draws the spectators in Breda got their money's worth as they could watch two fascinating tactical duels: Samuel Reshevsky (pictured) used hidden tactics to attack Mikhail Botvinnik, Reuben Fine used hidden tactics to defend against José Raúl Capablanca. Of course, nothing has changed in the standings. After 10 of 14 rounds Fine and Keres share the lead with 6½/10, Botvinnik follows with 5½/10. | Photo: Samuel Reshevsky (Archive)

6/12/2020 – Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So have both taken four-point leads going into day two of the semifinals in the Clutch Chess International Tournament. Levon Aronian missed a big chance to beat Carlsen in game 1 and could never quite recover as the world champion had better positions in almost all the remaining encounters, while Fabiano Caruana's strategy of using offbeat systems backfired against So. Nothing is yet decided though, as Friday's games 11 and 12 each grant three points! | Photo: Lennart Ootes

6/11/2020 – Stuart Rachels is not only a former chess prodigy and great writer, he also made some beautiful chess puzzles. We are happy to showcase four self-mate riddles which are worth looking at. They are creative in a way, that the white king has to be check-mated in as little moves as possible, on a certain square.

6/11/2020 – Round 9 of AVRO tournament 1938 was played in Arnhem, in the south of the Netherlands, and saw a clash of old rivals: for the first time in his career Alexander Alekhine won a tournament game against José Raúl Capablanca, while Reuben Fine lost in a strange way against Samuel Reshevsky. Mikhail Botvinnik and Paul Keres drew after an exciting fight, Salo Flohr and Max Euwe drew without much excitement. After nine of 14 rounds, Keres and Fine share first with 6.0/9 each. | Photo: Alexander Alekhine and José Raúl Capablanca

6/11/2020 – José Raúl Capablanca was world chess champion between 1921 and 1927, when he lost the title to Alexander Alekhine in Buenos Aires. A clear favourite in that match, Capablanca strived to get a rematch against his Russian rival. Despite his efforts, he never managed to fight for the world championship again. In this interview from 1932, he talks about Alekhine's alleged unwillingness to face him, the best players in the world, money in chess, and the importance of learning the game as a child. | Pictured: Alekhine and Capablanca in 1914

6/10/2020 – After the 2nd World War the Soviet Union largely dominated world chess. Mikhail Botvinnik won the World Championship tournament in The Hague and Moscow in 1948. In 1951 Botvinnik was the clear favourite in the World Championship match against David Bronstein which was played in Moscow's Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. After 22 games Bronstein was leading 11½-10½, and needed just one win (or two draws) to become World Champion. Did he miss a chance in game 23?