Memories of Fischer vs Petrosian 1971

A surprisingly large number of non-chessplayers consider pro-chessplayers to be gamblers, in the same category as card sharks and pool-hall hustlers. Regardless of whether you … Read the rest
Rook+NP vs Rook
Rook and Pawn endings are considered by the experts to be amongst the most subtle, tricky and difficult of all endings to … Read the rest
Boris Spassky’s exploits as an attacking player are legendary. Perhaps, amongst the World Champions, only Alekhine’s attacking games can compare in terms of elegance, originality … Read the rest
The Charismatic Miguel Quinteros
The first time I saw Miguel Angel Quinteros he resembled more a playboy than a chess player. Tall, debonair and with … Read the rest
Exactly 48 years ago today Fischer forfeited game #2
On July 13, 1972 Bobby Fischer failed to show up to play the second game. At … Read the rest
Bobby Fischer in South America (1960)
Yakov Estrin
Most young players today have probably never heard of Yakov Estrin or perhaps they might have accidentally seen an old opening monograph with … Read the rest
In Search of a new Main Line
While opening theory is changing all the time, there are some lines that change very little, if at … Read the rest
Grigory Ravinsky
Believe only half of what your are told and even less of what you read. Good advice not only for the uncertain times … Read the rest
Fischer – Tal 1960 Leipzig Ol
The legendary encounter between Bobby Fischer and Mikhail Tal at the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad, their first and only meeting … Read the rest
50 Years Ago
Memories. In the summer of 1969, though I was not yet a tournament player — I had discovered the chess world only … Read the rest
The Commonwealth’s 1st Grandmaster
(This article was originally published here on this blog on September 4th, 2010. Readers have asked me to update it and
KGB, Mind Control & Karpov-Korchnoi
1978
Was the 1978 World Chess Championship the proving ground of the KGB’s secret program on mind control? Was Korchnoi … Read the rest