3/28/2020 – Sally Landau marries Misha Tal for love. Then she separates from him on account of his affairs with other women. While both marry again, they remain friends. For some time Sally brings up her son, Gera, alone. After a spell of estrangement a rare bonding develops between father and son. Gera becomes a doctor and saves his father in one emergency after another. He settles down in Israel and begs dad to come there and stay with him for good. Misha adores his son, but he does not want to be a burden to him. Importantly, he loves his freedom and wants to live as he pleases. Gera feels helpless as he cannot change his decision. So Misha plays hide-and-seek with Death as ever before, and Death mocks, “How long?” In this concluding part of the series on Sally Landau’s story, our columnist unveils the last secret of Misha’s life.

3/15/2020 – When Misha Tal was young, amatory conquest was as important to him as conquest over the chess board. Some liaisons were fleeting and others lasted longer. The affair with "Actress L." was perhaps the most “scandalous” of them all. Who was she? Our columnist makes some astonishing discoveries. | Photo: kino-teatr.ru

2/12/2020 – ChessBase offers a window to the world of professional chess. Our thoughtful columnist NAGESH HAVANUR reviews issue #193 which offers a bird’s eye view of three major events, the FIDE Grand Swiss / chess.com IOM Open, European Team championship and World Chess Grand Prix in Hamburg. 1618 games, 11 opening surveys, demo lectures and exercises for training. Games annotated by Fabiano Caruana, Wang Hao and Peter Heine Nielsen, to mention a few. | Photo: Nadja Wittmann

2/2/2020 – When Sally Landau published her reminiscences of her life with Misha Tal it created a controversy. Tal’s other wife, Angelina and daughter Zhanna slammed the work. One point that rankled them was the way in which Misha’s paternity was questioned in the book. This is a delicate issue and our columnist advises caution before drawing conclusions. | Photos: Svetlana Punte / Tal Family Apartment album / Original source(s) unknown

1/8/2020 – Sally Landau marries Misha Tal for love. Then she separates from him on account of his affairs with other women. Meanwhile, she has to make a living and bring up her son, Gera, so she takes up a job with a travelling orchestra. On one of these trips she leaves the little boy with Ida, her mother-in-law. Unfortunately, Ida falls seriously ill. So a friend who works in a sanatorium takes in Gera for the time being. | Photo: Svetlana Punte / "Sally Landau" Album

12/30/2019 – Sally Landau married Misha Tal for love. The marriage did not last, but love did. Each went their way till fate brought them together in an unexpected fashion. An incredible story of a wayward genius as seen by his first wife. | Photo extracted from "Checkmate", a book by Sally Landau

12/21/2019 – Sally Landau marries Misha Tal for love. Soon she discovers the downside of his character. He is a philanderer and enjoys amorous conquest. His affair with actress L becomes a scandal. Early in 1964, he is summoned to the Central Committee and is told that he has to choose between his wife and his mistress. He is reminded that he is a public figure and has to conduct himself as a responsible citizen. He tells them curtly it’s none of their business, and he will do as he pleases. “Well, you can make your own decision”, the officials tell him. He is soon to learn of their decision… | Photo: Svetlana Punte

12/8/2019 – ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. The current issue offers a bird’s eye view of three major events, the 7th Sinquefield Cup Tournament, the 72nd Russian Championship Superfinal and the FIDE World Cup. In a previous article, NAGESH HAVANUR analysed the performance of Ding Liren, who figured prominently in the magazine. Here he examines the performance of others. This issue includes 1949 games, 11 opening surveys, demo lectures and exercises for training; games annotated by Anand, Anish Giri and Peter Heine Nielsen, just to mention a few. | Photo: Austin Fuller / Grand Chess Tour

11/30/2019 – Grandmaster Ding Liren needs no introduction. The young, unassuming talent from China has fans all over the world. He particularly distinguishes himself in blitz games. In the just concluded Tata Steel India Tournament, he beat Carlsen twice and came third after Nakamura and the world champion in the blitz event. PROF NAGESH HAVANUR takes a closer look at some of his games. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

11/15/2019 – He was crazy and he drove everyone crazy. Misha Tal was the joy and despair of all who loved him. When it comes to the Wizard of Riga, truth is stranger than fiction. Last Saturday, November 9th, was his birth anniversary, which inspired PROF. NAGESH HAVANUR, to take a look at the reminiscences of Sally Landau, his first wife.

10/29/2019 – This previous edition of ChessBase Magazine offers games from Altibox Norway and GCT Zagreb (both won by Carlsen) and FIDE Candidates’ Tournament for Women’s World Championship (won by Goryachkina). 1324 OTB games in the Main Database and several others annotated in the DVD. Commentators include Fabiano Caruana, Boris Gelfand, Evgeny Postny and Mihail Marin. A review from NAGESH HAVANUR: "Not to be missed."

8/26/2019 – In his last review of ChessBase Magazine 190, Nagesh Havanur dealt with the report on the recent European Women’s Championship in our magazine. In this review he deals with the rest of the magazine: Nepomniachtchi's gains in the Grand Prix, Magnus versus Maxime, and more...

8/5/2019 – “She brings a whiff of romance to the magazine,” writes our columnist on the young player seen on our latest issue. Indeed, grace and elegance marked her performance in the recent European Women’s Championship that she won. But then her rivals were not far behind and as many as five players scored 8/11 before the result was determined by tie-break. This issue has 709 games from the championship with six fascinating encounters annotated by leading players. In the next part of the review our columnist would deal with the rest of the magazine. Among others it includes reports on FIDE Grand Prix, Grenke and Gashimov Memorial Tournaments (both won by Carlsen) plus 12 opening surveys and regular arsenal for the tournament player. Watch this space.

5/6/2019 – Last time our columnist wrote on the life and career of Oleg Pervakov. This week he offers a glimpse of the eminent composer’s work from a recently published collection of endgame studies. He also sets a challenge for readers to solve three of them. Your move! | Photo: ChessPro.ru

4/13/2019 – Vassily Smyslov adored him. Garry Kasparov admires him. Magnus Carlsen enjoys him. Who is he? Discerning readers would have guessed his name by now. Our columnist revisits the life and work of the eminent composer. Before you read on, try out the problem in the picture. It’s fun. | Photo: chessnews.ru

4/3/2019 – Two weeks ago our columnist offered a tribute to Spanish chess composer, Valentin Marin y Llovet (1872-1936) and followed it up with three problems for solving. At first sight each problem seemed to set an impossible task. However, if you listen to the pieces you can find the solution. Professor Nagesh Havanur helps you to do this.

3/18/2019 – He beat two legends — Capablanca and Alekhine in succession on their way to the world championship. In those days, 'Capa' was invincible and Alekhine irresistible. This son of Barcelona made his city proud even if it those victories came about “only” in simultaneous displays. But it is not on these chance victories that this player’s claim to fame rests. Valentin Marin y Llovet (1872-1936) was a composer with more than 250 problems to his credit. If the name rings a bell, we showed a challenge from Vladimir Kramnik and a solution with Vishy Anand last month. Here is a tribute to the great master. Don’t miss the problems in the end. They are for you.

2/2/2019 – The story of Tal can never be finished and his fans always want more. Only this series has to end for now. In the concluding installment here our columnist offers his final observations on Team Tal, the last testament of Valentin Kirillov. | Photo: chesspro.ru