2/5/2014 – Every chess player probably has his favourite game: Byrne-Fischer from the Rosenwald Tournament 1956, Kasparov-Topalov, in Wijk aan Zee 1999, or for chess romantics the Immortal Game Anderssen-Kieseritzky from 1851. In his book The Joys of Chess Professor Christian Hesse has selected a lesser know game, but one dominated by a series of incredible sacrifices. Let him show us this game.

12/13/2013 – Did you know that until the 17th century castling in chess was two separate moves? Or that today there is a chess magazine devoted entirely to castling? Professor Christian Hesse has devoted a section of his book The Joys of Chess to spectacular instances of castling, including rare positions in which the castling move deserves two or even three exclamation marks.

11/4/2013 – In a previous article earlier this week Christian Hesse showed us one of the most beautiful, profound, quiet moves in all of chess composition history. In conclusion he asked: "Has anything as fantastic as Mitrofanov’s deflection ever been successfully employed in over-the-board chess, at least in rudimentary fashion?" It has, as Prof. Hesse shows, in two tournament games. Enjoy.

10/30/2013 – "6.Qg5!!! What an idea!! A move not yet seen by humanity." These are the comments of Christian Hesse, Professor of Mathematics and an avid chess fan who has written many an article for our news page. In his book The Joys of Chess he continues: "A move from another world. A beautiful, profound, quiet move, a gentle and subtle nuance." Read about Mitrofanov's immortal deflection study.

9/13/2013 – Christian Hesse, PhD from Harvard and Professor of Mathematics, is an avid chess fan and has written many an article for our news page. As a book author he has been successful with entertaining works on chess. Here's an interesting chapter he wrote on one of the most famous moves of chess history: Marshall's 23...Qg3!!! in 1912. Does it really deserve three exclams? Prof. Hesse thinks not.

5/16/2013 – Christian Hesse is a PhD from Harvard and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Stuttgart. He is also an avid chess fan and has written a number of articles for our news page. As a book author he has been successful with instructive and entertaining works on chess. Now one of his best is available in English. We bring you an interesting chapter on refutations and counter-refutations. Enjoy.

12/21/2011 – Christian Hesse is a PhD from Harvard and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Stuttgart. He is also an avid chess fan and has written a number of articles for our news page. As a book author he has been successful with instructive and entertaining works on chess. Now one of his best is available in English. We bring you an interesting chapter to study and enjoy.

11/18/2011 – Two books, one new and one a classic, bring us a compilation of chess stories, biographical sketches, games and fragments with references to art and science. One, The Joys of Chess, is by a professor of mathematics, the other, Chess Curiosities, by a writer and cyclist. In this week's Huffington Post column GM Lubomir Kavalek gives us samples from both.

3/28/2011 – On Saturday the Schachgesellschaft Zürich celebrated the anniversary of someone who had done more for chess in Switzerland than any other player. Viktor Korchnoi, born on March 23 1931, kicked things off with a clock simul and then attended a gala dinner in his honour. Guests included Mark Taimanov and Garry Kasparov. We bring you a big pictorial report by Frederic Friedel.

7/4/2009 – The city of Dortmund has been struck by a heatwave. Problem is you do not have much air-conditioning – in Germany you need it for just a couple of weeks per year. All of the players in the Sparkassen GM tournament seemed fazed by the temperature and all three games ended in more or less rapid draws. Meanwhile Sofi Leko, wife of Peter, discussed literature with a German professor. Pictorial report.

3/24/2009 – In Germany 2008 was the “Year of Mathematics”, and at the same time there was a Chess World Championship and a Chess Olympiade in the country. Reason enough to take a look at an interesting problem at the interface of these two intellectual activities. It is a fascinating paradox which seems to prove that 64 is equal to 65 simply by cutting up a chessboard. Prof. Christian Hesse explains.

12/5/2008 – Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh is imaginative, innovative, eccentric. In other words: our kind of person. Once a year he approaches us with a radical idea – last year it was video cameras and intelligent object recognition software tracking games and replacing sensor boards. This year at the Olympiad in Dresden he had a proposal to change how a chess game ends. Judge for yourself.

11/17/2008 – Talk about home advantage: the German Olympiad team is in the lead, a few tiebreak points ahead of Russia, both teams having won all their matches so far. Israel beat Egypt in a somewhat charged political match. In the women's section China and Poland have won all their matches and lead with 8/8. We bring you results, games and once again a giant pictorial report.

10/23/2008 – Did you miss the commentary of game six by IM Malcolm Pein? He was on his way back from Bonn to London and could only send us the notes today. Together with them we bring you a pictorial report of some of the many interesting personalities we keep running into at the World Championship, including a wealthy grandmaster, an actor-singer and a quantum physicist. Enjoy.

9/28/2008 – July 15, 1972. Reykjavik, Iceland. After threatening to abandon the World Championship match and leave Iceland, Challenger Bobby Fischer appears for game three, in a back room of the theatre. There he discovers a closed-circuit television camera for the audience in the main hall. “No cameras!” he roars. Prof. Christian Hesse recounts the harrowing events surrounding the match.

4/17/2008 – July 13, 1972. Reykjavik, Iceland. Challenger Bobby Fischer attributes the loss, two days earlier, of the first game of his match against World Champion Boris Spassky to disturbances by the TV cameras in the playing hall. He wants them removed. But there is a deal with an American producer that cannot be broken. Will Fischer appear for the game or default? Prof. Christian Hesse narrates.

1/15/2008 – Reykjavik, July 11, 1972. Of the 3000 spectators at the "Match of the Century" 500 have already left, since the position on the board has no winning chances for either side. But then Bobby Fischer plays 29...Bxh2. Gudmundur Thorarinsson, President of the Icelandic Chess Federation, says: "One move and we hit every front page everywhere in the world." Prof. Christian Hesse narrates.

11/27/2007 – It’s 7 minutes past 5 o’clock in the afternoon on July 17th, 1972. The place is a small backstage room of Laugardalsholl in Reykjavik, Iceland, the venue for the Fischer versus Spassky World Championship Match. It’s Game 3 of their titanic struggle which has been called the Match of the Century. Fischer, playing black, had just made his first move. Prof. Christian Hesse narrates.