6 Giuoco piano

Chess and the beach, a perfect mix.

8 NIC’s Café

At 86, Indian chess legend Manuel Aaron still teaches a class every day.

10 Your Move

The great lessons of coach RB Ramesh vs. the ‘opportunity cost’ of dedicating one’s youth to the full-time study of chess.

12 The Chess Story of All Time

To mark the 50th anniversary of ‘the Match of the Century’, Gudmundur Thorarinsson, the match organizer, has written down his inside story.

18 MVL finishes with a bang

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave saw an encouraging return to form in the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour in Bucharest.

30 Duda has the last laugh

The Oslo Esports Cup was a frantic race between 16-year-old Praggnanandhaa and World Champion Magnus Carlsen – until both collapsed in the final round.

44 Niemann fears no one

Last year, Hans Niemann made a stunning 150-point leap in the world rankings. The self-assured American also delivered in Malmö.

54 Endgame takeaways from Cuba

Surya Ganguly pays tribute to ‘Capa’ as he looks at crucial endgame moments from the Capablanca Memorial.

60 Adult improvement

James Altucher feels that Magnus Carlsen’s immortal game starting with 1.a4 changed his life.

64 Caruana and Krush strike

Adopting an Esport inspired format, the inaugural edition of the American Cup in St. Louis saw a lot of action and excitement.

69 Celeb64: Steve Davis

79 Fair & Square

Igor Stravinsky thought that Sergey Prokofiev was a better chess player than a composer.

80 Maximize Your Tactics

Find the right moves.

82 Jan-Krzysztof Duda

Judit Polgar wonders how the Polish ace will fare against his rivals in the Candidates in Madrid.

87 What would you play?

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

92 Sadler on Books

The memoirs of a legendary American hustler, who calls himself ‘the last gamesman’, and of an inveterate English chess lover, who sees himself as a ‘chess crusader’.

98 Showtime in April

Jan Timman looks at the qualifying streak in back-to-back competitions that got Ding Liren a spot in the Candidates tournament.

105 They are The Champions

Chinedu Enemchukwu is the national champion of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

106 Just Checking

When was Christof Sielecki happiest?