6 Moscow Metro
The coming months a ‘Chess Train’ will run on the Sokolnicheskaya line, the oldest in the metro of the Russian capital.
8 NIC’s Café
An ‘extremely rare’ chess photo taken in 1863 by Charles Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll) will be auctioned at Bonhams in New York.
11 Your Move
What is wrong with Chess960?, GM David Navara wonders.
12 Meltdown in Dubai
The World Championship match in Dubai ended in a shockingly easy victory for Magnus Carlsen. The defending champion only needed 11 games to trounce Ian Nepomniachtchi 7½-3½.
19 Celeb64: Tim Krabbé
24 Fair & Square
‘Chess gets a hold of some people, like a virus or a drug.’
32 Match infographic
36 Adult improvement
James Altucher writes about an aspect of the world title match that appeals to all of us: the blunders.
38 The Silicon Road
Matthew Sadler looks at the role engines played in ‘the first World Championship match in the era of neural networks’.
44 When Patti met Bobby
How many songs did Patti Smith, the godmother of punk, really sing together with Bobby Fischer when they met in Reykjavik in 2005?
48 Rapid World Championship
All eyes were on the usual suspects, but they all had to bow to Uzbek GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (17!) .
66 Magnus Carlsen teaches chess
Banter Blitz is fun and instructive, especially if you play the number one player on the planet.
68 MVL World Blitz Champion
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won his first Blitz world title, as he kept his cool in the tiebreak, dashing the hopes of local favourite Jan-Krzysztof Duda.
78 Maximize Your Tactics
Find the right moves.
80 Judit Polgar
Lessons in perseverance with two brilliant prize-winning studies.
85 What would you play?
Test your decision-making skills with Thomas ‘Toolbox’ Willemze.
89 They are the Champions
Haritomeni Markantonaki is the national women’s champion of Greece.
90 Sadler on Books
The second volume of Masterpieces and Dramas of the Soviet Championships (1938-1947) earns warm praise from our book reviewer Matthew Sadler (5 stars!).
96 Euwe to the Max
Jan Timman argues that Max Euwe not only held the world title but that at his peak he was also the strongest player in the world.
106 Just Checking
What is John Donaldson’s life motto?
