While face-to-face chess is disrupted in Dorset we are running a daily ‘Test Your Chess Knowledge’ quiz question (with 5 possible answers). For local quiz questions you may find the Bulletins and Chat articles helpful.
Martin Simons welcomes your feedback on the quiz and any submissions you have for questions.
Every day we will be publishing the Answers to the latest questions.
Older questions are still available: 1 to 50, 51 to 100, 101-150 and 151-200
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.250 – Bit & Pieces!
Which of these famous people is the strongest chess player?
A) Bill Gates (business)
B) Steve Davis (snooker)
C) Simen Agdestein (football)
D) Ivan Lendl (tennis)
E) Lennox Lewis (boxing)
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.249 – International Chess
How many World Championship matches have involved 30 games or more?
A) One
B) Two
C) Three
D) Four
E) Five
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.248 – National Chess
Mickey Adams is currently the highest rated English player in the FIDE rankings but what ranking is he, as at March 2021, on the FIDE World ranking list?
A) 10th
B) 15th
C) 20th
D) 25th
E) 30th
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.247 – Local Chess
Bournemouth hosted the 2016 British Chess Championships but which local player scored the most points in the Championship?
A) Oliver Gill (Ringwood)
B) Ian Clark (Wimborne)
C) Allan Pleasants (Weymouth)
D) Martin Simons (Southbourne)
E) Mike Waddington (Dorchester)
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.246 – Chess Laws / Trivia
How did Carlsen celebrate winning his first World Chess Championship after beating Anand in 2013?
A) By being thrown into a swimming pool.
B) By playing a game of football.
C) By drinking too much.
D) By going out for a slap up meal.
E) He did not celebrate.
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.245 – Bits & Pieces!
Mickey Adams will be 50 years old later this year. How many players in the current March 2021 FIDE top 50 are older than him?
A) 0
B) 1
C) 2
D) 3
E) 4
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.244 – International Chess
Which of these World Champions did not lose their title to their very first challenger?
A) José Capablanca
B) Vasily Smyslov
C) Mikhail Tal
D) Tigran Petrosian
E) Boris Spassky
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.243 – National Chess
Which English chess player was largely behind the invention of the ‘Creepy Crawly Opening’ which goes a3, h3 and c4?
A) Simon Williams
B) Danny Gormally
C) Tony Miles
D) Jonathan Levitt
E) Michael Basman
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.242 – Local Chess
Which 3 local clubs each won two league titles in 2018/19 across the B&DCL (Divisions 1 to 5) and DCCA (Divisions 1 to 3)?
A) Poole, Ringwood and Southbourne
B) Poole, Ringwood and Wimborne
C) Poole, Southbourne and Wimborne
D) Ringwood, Southbourne and Wimborne
E) Any other combination.
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.241 – Chess Laws / Trivia
In mid 2019 Chess.com did a poll on what players believed to be the best online time control. Excluding increments that were not included in the poll, which time limit below do you think came out on top?
A) 1 minute
B) 3 minutes
C) 5 minutes
D) 10 minutes
E) 30 minutes
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.240 – Bits & Pieces
What is the name of this opening? 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.d5 c4?!
A) The Bird Variation
B) The Pelikan
C) The Woozle
D) The Vulture
E) The Hawk
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.239 – International Chess
Who is the only person to have won both the USSR and US national chess championships and to have a positive score against Kasparov?
A) Kamsky
B) Shabalov
C) Yermolinsky
D) Gulko
E) Onishuk
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.238 – National Chess
Which English Grandmaster was criticised in 2015 for saying that men are biologically superior to women at chess, although he also stated that women are better in other areas?
A) Danny Gormally
B) Keith Arkell
C) Simon Williams
D) Jim Plaskett
E) Nigel Short
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.237 – Local Chess
At the point of the first Lockdown on 23rd March 2020, when face to face chess was formally suspended, which local chess club had most teams topping the 5 B&DCL and 3 DCCA leagues in the 2019/20 season?
A) Highcliffe
B) Poole
C) New Milton
D) Southbourne
E) Wimborne
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.236 – Chess Laws / Trivia
As at November 2017, which World Chess Champion had the lowest draw rate in competitive matches?
A) Wilhelm Steinitz
B) Alexander Alekhine
C) Mikhail Tal
D) Bobby Fischer
E) Garry Kasparov
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.235 – Bits & Pieces
As at the end of 2018, which first White move had the highest scoring percentage on Chessbase?
A) 1.e4
B) 1.d4
C) 1.c4
D) 1.Nf3
E) 1.g3
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.234 – International Chess
Who is the oldest official World Chess Champion (i.e. the day before he lost his title)? This includes all FIDE and Classical World Chess Champions.
A) Wilhelm Steinitz
B) Emanuel Lasker
C) Mikhail Botvnnik
D) Anatoly Karpov
E) Vishy Anand
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.233 – National Chess
In a 2010 interview, Magnus Carlsen explained that he thought extreme intelligence could actually be a hindrance to one’s chess career. As an example, he related this comment to a English Grandmaster’s failure to have ever won the World Chess Championship. He further said ‘He has so incredibly much in his head. Simply too much. His enormous powers of understanding and his constant thirst for knowledge distracted him from chess.’
But who is the English Grandmaster Carlsen was referring to?
A) Mickey Adams
B) Tony Miles
C) John Nunn
D) Nigel Short
E) Jon Speelman
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.232 – Local Chess
Which was the most recent disbanded Dorset chess club to have won either the B&DCL or Dorset League Division One Championship?
A) Bridport
B) Lymington
C) Merck
D) Oakdale
E) Kinson
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.231 – Chess Laws / Trivia
Which famous player provided this quote … ‘Chess is a war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent’s mind’?
A) Alexander Alekhine
B) Mikhail Tal
C) Bobby Fischer
D) Garry Kasparov
E) Magus Carlsen
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.230 – Bits & Pieces!
In the film, ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ who originally taught Beth Harmon to play chess?
A) Her mum
B) Herself
C) Mr Shaibel
D) Harry Beltik
E) Garry Kasparov (playing himself)
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.229 – International Chess
Which World Champion has won every national championship they have played in?
A) Max Euwe
B) Mikhail Botvinnik
C) Mikhail Tal
D) Bobby Fischer
E) Garry Kasparov
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.228 – National Chess
Which British player scored 9 consecutive wins from his first 9 games at the 1976 British Chess Championships, a record for any British Chess Championship?
A) Tony Miles
B) Murray Chandler
C) George Botterill
D) John Nunn
E) Jonathan Mestel
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.227 – Local Chess
Excluding defaults, and thinking back to our first Lockdown, when do you think was the last B&DCL league or cup match or Dorset league match played in 2020?
A) Monday 9th March 2020
B) Tuesday 10th March 2020
C) Thursday 12th March 2020
D) Friday 13th March 2020
E) Monday 16th March 2020
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.226 – Chess Laws / Trivia
Which famous chess player came out with this accurate quote? ‘Even a poor plan is better than no plan at all?’
A) Wilhelm Steinitz
B) Emanual Lasker
C) Mikhail Chigorin
D) Alexander Alekhine
E) Max Euwe
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.225 – You are the Arbiter!
In a mad time scramble, player A moves a pawn to the 8th rank but there are no queens in sight, so s/he picks up a rook and places it upside down on the board stating it is a queen. What should the arbiter do next?
A) The rook is allowed to move like a queen.
B) The clocks are stopped, no time penalties or additions and the rook must be replaced immediately by a queen.
C) Player A must find a queen to replace the rook in his or her time.
D) As the move is incomplete and illegal, the clocks are stopped, the position is reconstructed to the point where the illegal move was played and player B may be awarded extra time.
E) As the rook has already been placed on the square, it becomes a rook even though player A has stated it is a queen.
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.224 – International Chess
In Q219 we covered which official World Chess Champion passed away at the youngest age but which World Chess Champion has lived the longest?
A) Emanuel Lasker
B) Max Euwe
C) Mikhail Botvinnik
D) Vasily Smyslov
E) Boris Spassky
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.223 – National Chess
How many teams has Wessex entered in the current online 4NCL Season 3 tournament?
A) 4
B) 5
C) 6
D) 7
E) 8
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.222 – Local Chess
Dorset & Wilts have so far played two matches in the Western Counties Online Championship. How many match points does it currently have?
A) 0
B) 1
C) 2
D) 3
E) 4
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.221 – Chess Laws / Trivia
Which British chess player made this interesting quote? ‘Chess doesn’t drive people mad, it keeps mad people sane!’
A) Bill Hartston
B) John Nunn
C) Jonathan Speelman
D) Tony Miles
E) Jonathan Levitt
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.220 – Bits & Pieces!
What is the name of this chess opening? 1.e4 g6 2.Bc4 Bg7 3.Qf3 e6
A) Hedgehog!
B) Hippopotamus!
C) Monkey’s Bum!
D) Orangutan!
E) Rat!
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.219 – International Chess
Which Official World Chess Champion passed away at the youngest age?
A) Wilhelm Steinitz
B) José Raúl Capablanca
C) Alexander Alekhine
D) Mikhail Tal
E) Tigran Petrosian
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.218 – National Chess
Which well known English chess player do you think has his own show on Youtube which includes impressions of other well known English and international chess players?
A) Jim Plaskett
B) Nigel Short
C) Stuart Conquest
D) Simon Williams
E) Danny Gormally
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.217 – Local Chess
Who has been the Dorset Individual Chess Champion most times?
A) Joe Anderson
B) Michael Yeo
C) Richard Mann
D) Miles Cowling
E) Martin Simons
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.216 – Chess Laws / Trivia
Who provided this famous quote? ‘Chess makes man wiser and clear-sighted.’
A) Raymond Keene
B) Anatoly Karpov
C) Garry Kasparov
D) Barack Obama
E) Vladimir Putin
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.215 – Bits & Pieces!
Who co-wrote the excellent ‘Game Changer’ book with Matthew Sadler?
A) Jovanka Houska
B) Harriet Hunt
C) Natasha Regan
D) Cathy Forbes
E) Susan Lalic
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.214 – International Chess
As well as Bobby Fischer, which other 3 World Chess Champions have been imprisoned?
A) Steinitz, Alekhine & Botvinnik
B) Steinitz, Alekhine & Kasparov
C) Steinitz, Botvinnik & Kasparov
D) Alekhine, Botvinnik & Kasparov
E) Another combination of 3 World Champions
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.213 – National Chess
The British Rapidplay Chess Championship has been run since 1986? Who has won it most times?
A) Mark Hebden
B) Mickey Adams
C) Jon Speelman
D) Peter Wells
E) David Howell
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.212 – Local Chess
Which club has won the B&DCL Division One Championship most times?
A) Bournemouth
B) Knights
C) Parkstone
D) Southbourne
E) Wimborne
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.211 – Chess Laws / Trivia
Which Hollywood star went to the same school as Bobby Fischer, regularly had lunch with him and thought he was very attractive?
A) Lynda Carter
B) Faye Dunaway
C) Goldie Hawn
D) Meryl Streep
E) Barbra Streisand
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.210 – Bits & Pieces!
When was World Chess Day celebrated in 2020?
A) 20th July
B) 20th August
C) 20th September
D) 20th October
E) 20th November
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.209 – International Chess
Which World Chess Champion took on ‘The World’ at chess in 1999?
A) Anatoly Karpov
B) Garry Kasparov
C) Alexander Khalifman
D) Vladimir Kramnik
E) Vishy Anand
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.208 – National Chess
How much did GM James Plaskett win on the ‘Who wants to a be a Millionaire’ TV programme in 2006?
A) £32,000
B) £64,000
C) £125,000
D) £250,000
E) £500,000
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.207 – Local Chess
For the 2012/13 league season, there was a 3 way tie for the B&DCL 1st Division Championship but which were the 3 teams involved?
A) Southbourne A, Wimborne A & Wimborne B
B) Poole A, Southbourne A & Wimborne A
C) Poole A, Southbourne A & Wimborne B
D) Poole A, Wimborne A & Wimborne B
E) None of the above
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.206 – Chess Laws / Trivia
What is the name of the computer which defeated the former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov?
A) Deep Thought
B) Deep Purple
C) Deep Blue
D) Deep Fritz
E) Deep Junior
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.205 – Bits & Pieces!
How many times have Kirk and Spock played chess on the Star Trek TV show?
A) 0
B) 1
C) 2
D) 3
E) 4
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.204 – International Chess
Who was the FIDE World Chess Champion (not the classical World Chess Champion) 20 years ago in 2001?
A) Anatoly Karpov
B) Alexander Khalifman
C) Vishy Anand
D) Rusian Ponomariov
E) Vladimir Kramnik
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.203 – National Chess
Including unofficial World Championships in the 19th century, how many British World Chess Champions have there been?
A) 0
B) 1
C) 2
D) 3
E) 4
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.202 – Local Chess
Who was the Dorset County Individual Champion 8 times between 1983 and 1992?
A) Joe Anderson
B) Steve Shutler
C) Richard Mann
D) Miles Cowling
E) Martin Simons
Test Your Chess Knowledge No.201 – Chess Laws / Trivia
Which World Champion once prepared for a match against a smoker by having a training partner blow smoke in his face during practice games?
A) José Raúl Capablanca
B) Max Euwe
C) Mikhail Botvinnik
D) Vasily Smyslov
E) Tigran Petrosian
