In the following diagrams you are able to move the pieces, retract moves and try alternate lines. At the bottom of the page you find the solutions, presented on our game viewer, where you can analyse with engine support (mainly to understand why alternatives do not work). Note that there are twice as many puzzles in CHESS Magazine — 24 as opposed to our selection of 12.
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White to play |
Black to play |
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Black to play and draw |
White to play |
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White to play |
White to play |
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Black to play and draw |
White to play |
The last four positions are fairly difficult to solve, so we give you an opportunity to work things out with engine support. In our game viewer you can move pieces around, and start an engine by clicking the fan button. You can maximize the viewer, auto-play, flip the board, etc. Hovering the mouse over any button will show you its function. The little tab to the bottom right of the board tells you which side to move.
The above article was reproduced from Chess Magazine August/2017, with kind permission.
CHESS Magazine was established in 1935 by B.H. Wood who ran it for over fifty years. It is published each month by the London Chess Centre and is edited by IM Richard Palliser and Matt Read. The Executive Editor is Malcolm Pein, who organises the London Chess Classic.
CHESS is mailed to subscribers in over 50 countries. You can subscribe from Europe and Asia at a specially discounted rate for first timers or from North America.
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Reti: A Repertoire for White 1 Nf3 followed by 2 c4 is, of course, by no means a new development, but it has been quite topical of late and might just surprise many opponents at club level. Bologan is certainly keen on emphasising the typical plans and motifs for White, as he takes the viewer through some 30 mini video lectures. The Symmetrical English lines after 1 Nf3 c5 2 c4 Nf6 3 Nc3 can certainly become quite theoretical, but here and with 1 Nf3 d5 2 c4 c6 3 g3 there should be sufficient coverage for most viewers. Bologan admits that he has not covered quite every black defence, which is honest and shouldn’t be too big a deterent to getting the viewer up and running with 1 Nf3, but quite possibly not all will want to meet the King’s Indian, 1...Nf6 2 c4 g6, with 3 b4!?. Order online from |
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Rocket Repertoire: The Four Knights The popular English Grandmaster isn’t a man one associates with dull positions, so that he considers 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 N f6 to be quite a viable position as White makes one sit up and take notice. Williams covers both 4 Bb5 and 4 d4 exd4 5 Nxd4, two sensible options where he does his best to avoid excessive theory and to inject an attacking bent where possible. Unsurprisingly, though, some of the recommendations are still quite positional, something which one couldn’t describe the concluding Belgrade Gambit (4 d4 exd4 5 Nd5!?) coverage as. Order online from |
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The Blumenfeld Gambit: This is quite a detailed DVD on that sharp counter to 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3, namely 3...c5 4 d5 b5!?. Martin presents some classic Blumenfeld games, as well as a fair bit of cutting-edge theory and, of course, in his usual style does a very good job of explaining all the key ideas for both sides. If you like to fight for the initiative as Black from the word go and revel in unbalanced, sometimes fairly irrational positions, the Blumenfeld might just be a good fit. Order online from |
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