6/30/2018 – It's rare to be able to smoothly segue from beer to endgame studies, but that's what our Study of the Month columnist SIEGFRIED HORNECKER manages to do in this month's investigation into the life and work of Henri Rinck. Born into a family of brewers, he would come to brew his own endgame studies while living near Barcelona. Here are five favourites. | Photo: HeritageEchecsFra.free.fr

5/26/2018 – As the column is always changing, reader feedback was received that April’s historical examination was too long and the column should concentrate on studies more, which of course has been the heart of this column. Therefore the next issue will be more condensed again. In May and probably July SIEGFRIED HORNECKER concentrates on selected non-fiction (May) and fiction (July) literature about chess. This month focuses on Josef Kling and Bernhard Horwitz.

4/28/2018 – Chess is a wide field with many interconnections, and while preparing this month’s article about pawn endgame composer Nikolay Grigoriev, study expert and historian SIEGFRIED HORNECKER learned about a nearly forgotten chess organizer from the early Soviet Union, Valerian Eremeev. But also Alekhine’s five queen game might have influenced Grigoriev.

3/24/2018 – Mate in 2 — It's not easy to see at first how White can checkmate in two moves. If White could give a check on g7, then 1.Bg7+ Ke7 2.Nc6 mate is reminiscent of a famous opening trap in the Russian (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4!? 4.Qe2 Nf6?? 5.Nc6+). Of course in the problem, the king just could take on g7. This is but one of nine problems you will encounter in this look at the life of the three Kubbel brothers, from study expert and historian Siegfried Hornecker.

2/17/2018 – At the World Congress for Chess Composition (WCCC) 2017 in Dresden it was decided to dedicate the second year of this “Study of the Month” series to the education about chess composition history. Following this, we look at the successors of Troitzky this time: The Platov brothers.

1/20/2018 – There is an old saying about dwarves on the shoulders of giants, traced back to Bernard of Chartres 1120, said most pointedly by Sir Isaac Newton in his letter to Robert Hooke on 5th February 1676: “If I have seen further it is by standing on [the] shoulders of giants.” A historical narrative from our study author Sigfried Hornecker, who reminds us (among other things) not to confuse Troitzky with "Trotzky"!

12/23/2017 – In the final episode of this year, we will have a look at a some great enthusiasts among the chess composition community who by their work directly or indirectly made this monthly column possible. The first two of them are the former and the current chief editor of the magazine "eg" (or: EG), short for "end-game".

11/4/2017 – As our readers will know, the Australian state Victoria was named for the British queen whose long-reign record was surpassed two years ago by Queen Elizabeth II. Being the most powerful person of the world, we can draw a parallel between her majesty and chess where queens also have great power — although not nearly such great one.

10/17/2017 – Our Study of the Month author Siegfried Hornecker has a mystery to solve, and he needs your help! Larissa Volpert, the professor for philology and chess master, died in New York City on October 1st, 2017, at the age of 91. A game fragment from a 1961 Soviet chess magazine provides a glimpse into one of her greatest triumphs — a pawn ending so elegant that it resembles a composed study. But was the rest of the game as equally awe inspiring?

10/4/2017 – While playing through the game Dennis Khismatullin vs Pavel Eljanov in 2015, our study expert saw a truly incredible king move. This inspired him to dig up some equally remarkable studies that feature king walks and astonishing manoeuvres. You will see how chess is not just about protecting your king — that piece can in fact be a powerful attacking force in deciding the outcome of a game. Siegfried Hornecker demonstrates in seven interesting and instructive examples. | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

9/2/2017 – The Ecclesiastes and the famous fictional rabbi Ben Akiba tell us, there is nothing new under the sun, everything has happened before. In a certain way this might hold true to chess — all the ideas might have been shown, but not in that particular setting or not in this particular combination. Looking at our first example, similarities to a previous selection are seen at the end, but the introduction is completely different.

8/5/2017 – There is a six-minute long crazy mix of music genres, recorded for fun by a musical idol, which became — against all warnings of the people working at the record labels — a megahit. It was “Bohemian Rhapsody”, the band was Queen. And then there is there is a fast-paced pop song about a 17-year-old girl, providing a great performance. So one has to “see that girl, watch that scene.” ABBA called her the Dancing Queen. Today we are going to watch her on the chessboard.