6 NIC’s Café 

Warning: Thinking too hard really does tire out your brain!

9 Your Move

Peter Heine Nielsen insists that Nepo had access to a ‘super computer’.

10 Understandable or incredible?

Five experts shine their light on Magnus Carlsen’s decision not to defend his world title.

14 A Bridge to Chess

As Chennai welcomed the Olympiad, the Napier Bridge got a spectacular chess-themed makeover.

16 Dvorkovich re-elected

FIDE President Dvorkovich defeated his only opponent, Ukrainian GM Andrii Baryshpolets, with 157 votes against 16.

19 Fair & Square

Pop-diva Cher is too lazy to play chess.

20 Infographic

Olympiad results have become more and more unpredictable.

22 Chess is coming home

Some 1500 years after the game mysteriously originated there, chess returned to India on an epic scale. Teams from 186 countries gathered in Chennai for the 44th Olympiad. Seeded only 14th, the youngsters of Uzbekistan took gold, ahead of Armenia and the hosts’ ‘junior’ team, India 2.

31 Celeb64: Andrea Bocelli

52 Interview: Gukesh

The Indian star speaks freely about his self-confidence, his ambitions and his role model, ‘Anand sir’.

58 Glory to Ukraine’s women

Ukraine’s victory on the chess board offered a symbolic glimmer of hope for the millions that continue to suffer under the brutal Russian invasion.

74 Magnus wins in Miami

The FTX Crypto Cup saw Magnus Carlsen extend his lead in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.

78 Maximize Your Tactics

Find the right moves.

80 Adult improvement

The learning difference between doing (and then analysing what you did) and simply studying (without doing) is enormous, James Altucher argues.

83 What would you play?

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

88 Chances for everyone

At the Olympiad, Judit Polgar had particular pleasure watching lower-rated players upsetting favourites.

92 Sadler on Books

Matthew Sadler read and digested a stack of opening books.

97 They are The Champions

Pekka Köykkä is the national champion of Finland.

98 Stars of the Olympiad

Youngsters from India and Uzbekistan and a 38-year-old Olympiad ‘veteran’ from Armenia. Jan Timman looks at players that called the tune in Chennai.

106 Just Checking

What is Anna Cramling’s earliest chess memory?