Chess news

Starting today and continuing at least until face-to-face chess is widely restarted in Dorset, puzzles will appear twice a week on this site, on Mondays and Thursdays. Black to move and win Solution

White to move How does white force a decisive gain of material? Once you have got the key idea for white there are a few ways to finish it off. Solution

White to move. What is white’s strongest continuation? Solution

White to move. How does white gain a decisive material advantage? Solution

As publicised elsewhere on this site, Martin Clancy of Ringwood Chess Club has organised regular online chess events for individual players. Now he has set up a team event for Thursday 4th June at 7:30 pm. As well as Ringwood, the following clubs have expressed an interest and their teams have been pre-entered by Martin […]

White to move and win This is a superb study with some pleasing symmetry. Solution

White to move and win This is quite a famous and pretty finish to a game played 100 years ago. However, even if you have seen if before and remember the theme can you work out all the details? You need 6 only moves in a row in the main line to force the win. […]

White to play. Mate in 2 moves. Solution

White to move Black is threatening mate by Qh4/5/6 and Qh2 etc which at first sight is not easy to stop. How does white force a draw? Solution

Today we feature another one of Ian Clark’s games, this one from the 1999 Jersey Open. Of that tournament Ian writes: “I won my first round and then played an up and coming IM in Simon Williams with black and I was whipped! I then lost to a German 2300 player in round 3. I […]

White to move and win Solution

White to move Magnus Carlsen, black, was trying to squeeze a win out of this endgame and had spent 4 minutes before playing Kh7. Can you see what the world champion had overlooked? Solution

White to move What is white’s best move here? And after black’s most obvious reply what is white’s strongest follow up? Solution

Black to move and win. There is only one move that wins for black in this position. Solution

Black to move and win. Another elegant study. Solution

Black to move. White is under attack but after something mundane like Bg4 or Qh4 he has good chances to survive and if he can reach an endgame his pawn structure could even be favourable. In the game Stephen Berry playing black found the strongest move which give him a fierce attack. Solution

White to move. How does win material in this position? Solution

White to move and mate in 2. Simple but elegant. Many thanks to Richard Quin for sending in this problem. Solution

Black to move. Black has two ways to win material in this position. Can you spot them both? (This is trickier than it looks at first sight!) Solution

Black to play and win. Solution

Black to move. Black has a big advantage. What is his strongest continuation? Solution

White to move. White has a good postion and has a strong forcing contiunation. Solution

White to move. On the board is a well known type of pawn structure that is often objectively about level but in practice can be easier to play as black as he has the potential for dropping a knight in on d4. However, in this exact position white has a powerful tactical sequence. Solution

Black to move. White is threatening c5 with an overwhelming position. But Botvinnik, black, was eagle eyed and turned the tables on white. What did he play? Solution

Black to move. Black is attacking white’s queen on b2 and his rook on f8 but in the meantime has to deal with an awkward check. How should black proceed? Solution

White to move and draw This puzzle is based upon a game between Martin Simons and GM Tony Miles. Martin managed to draw the game, a superb result as Miles was certainly a cut above the average GM. In this position black has a simple plan: play f5, move his K to e7, then play […]

White to play and draw White needs to pick the first right move and a strong follow up to hold this tricky position. Solution

White to move and win This is a superb and elegant study. It revolves around black trying to give up his rook for the e-pawn and white trying to prevent this. Enjoy! Solution

White to move Mate in 3 Solution

White to move Mate in 3 Solution

White to move What is white’s strongest and most direct continuation? Solution 

White to move and win With only one winning move this may look like a study but is in fact from one of Botvinnik’s games. He did not find the way to win. Can you? Solution

White to move and win This study packs a couple of good twists into a few moves. No prizes for the first couple of moves but can you see black’s cunning defence and white’s elegant riposte? Solution

White to move and win Solution

Ian Clark’s near miss game against IM Gary Lane