The 6th of October brings us National Badger Day, so we join our friends at Scottish Badgers in designating the whole month to Brocktober. We are celebrating the crucial role badgers play in nature.

Im Teatro Politeama in Buenos Aires versammelten sich am Abend des 18. September 1939 hunderte Menschen zur Siegerehrung. Politiker waren gekommen, Diplomaten, dazu der Schachtross und das Publikum…

I left you last time at the end of 1925, with Mrs Arthur Rawson proposing to run a tournament for girls under the age of 21. The reasons for promoting chess for girls were, in one sense, not a lot …

The final two Chess Heroes books will be published soon. Here’s a position from Chess Heroes Puzzles Book 2. Zukertort – Weiss (Vienna 1882) White, to play, has a bunch of passed pawns …

Good afternoon everyone. O.K. I am making this up as I go along with what comes out of my head!! Yes, I really m! I see lots of blogs these days which are planned out to the last comma. Back in the da...

A major report has found that 12.5 trillion tons of ice from Greenland and Antarctica have melted since 1979.

The first major international tournament after the end of the Second World War took place in Groningen in August and September. It was the anniversary tournament of the Staunton Chess Club, founded in...

Afternoon everyone - or morning, depending where you are! Well it struck me that my last few blogs have had some pretty serious stuff floating around in them. So whilst I am having a break from hours ...

Remembering Elijah Williams (07-x-1809 08-ix-1854)

Den soeben von einem Gegenspieler stibitzten Ball vor sich hertreibend, prescht Artur Jussupow nach vorn. Eigentlich ist der Großmeister, der schon in jungen Jahren (auch) am Schachbrett für seine…

Fans would have preferred them to contest the world crown, but 20-minute Rapid games are a competitive substitute

I posted last year about a 1930 chess match on a liner, featuring a team from the Imperial Chess Club, promising to return at some point in the future. It’s about time I wrote more about the …

Mike Healey has annotated his game from our London League match against Streatham last May. If you’re familiar with Mike’s play you’ll know what to expect. As he says, an interest…

Good afternoon everyone. The chain of thought in my last blog sprung a couple of side branches when I came to the Alekhine - Keres game given there. I remembered that at one time I had intended to do ...

A test of your rook ending skills this week. Adam A Taylor – Sanjit Kumar (Kingston 2026 Round 3). White to play. How would you continue, and why. As always, I need more than just your first …

Robert Kocharyan, Armenia's president from 1998 until 2008, leads the Armenia Alliance, one of the main Moscow-friendly political forces opposing Armenia's pro-EU Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Explore this huge Elizabethan tapestry map of Oxfordshire and the surrounding counties on permanent display

YouTube video by Richard J Murphy

YouTube video by BBC Archive