6 Ladies playing chess

A stunning piece of street art in Kaunas, Lithuania, shows two ladies from famous Leonardo da Vinci paintings engaged in a game of chess.

8 NIC’s Café

While we eagerly await Bollywood’s Vishy Anand, The Movie, US Marines prepare for battle playing chess.

11 Your Move

Now that the Candidates tournament is suspended, did you ever wonder which players were the most successful Candidates in history?

12 Teimour Radjabov redux

The Airthings Masters took an unpredictable course as one favourite after the other (including Magnus Carlsen) fell by the wayside. The big winner was 33-year-old Teimour Radjabov.

15 Celeb64: Ringo Starr

29 Fair & Square

How did Dennis Hassabis pitch his business idea to billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel?

30 Finding Beth Harmon

Larry Kaufman is confident he knows who served as inspiration for Beth Harmon in The Queen’s Gambit. And he believes he recognizes Harry Beltik too.

35 What would you play?

Test your decision-making skills with Thomas ‘Toolbox’ Willemze.

40 Tight race in Moscow

In the Russian Super Final a tense neck-and-neck race between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Sergey Karjakin was only decided on the final day. By Daniil Dubov’s ‘Game of the Year’.

64 NIC Swindle Award

Expert par excellence David Smerdon, author of The Complete Chess Swindler, selected the most baffling entry.

70 Secret matches with Tal

For the first time, Oleg Romanishin writes about his secret training matches with ‘the Magician from Riga’, reliving a dear memory from which he emerged with a positive score.

80 The Blitz Whisperer

Maxim Dlugy provides useful tips and tricks how to play Armageddon games.

88 Maximize Your Tactics

Find the right moves.

90 Aronian’s lessons

Judit Polgar looks at the qualities that make the Armenian number one special.

94 Sadler on Books

If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to work on your openings, Matthew Sadler is happy to be your guide. No matter if you’re looking for safe and solid or unusual and adventurous.

99 They Are the Champions

Sehyun Kwon is the national champion of South Korea.

100 Brilliant studies

The study database of Harold van der Heijden is an inexhaustible goldmine. Jan Timman presents highlights from the past five years.

106 Just Checking

Does Jennifer Yu have any superstitions concerning chess?