Raymond Keene

London

Chess Columnist at British Chess Magazine

Chess columnist for online magazine The Article and The British Chess Magazine. Global President World Mind Sports Council. Champagne Tory.

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Articles

Adventures with the English

5 days ago | thearticle.com | Raymond Keene

Member ratings Well argued: 100% Interesting points: 100% Agree with arguments: 100% 1 rating - view all This week I celebrate the achievements of Howard Staunton, the only English player with a claim to have been world chess champion. In those days, best in Europe meant best in the world.
Bullion in Breslau

1 week ago | thearticle.com | Raymond Keene

One of the most celebrated legends of chess lore concerns a game won by the American champion and grandmaster Frank Marshall in 1912 at the tournament of Breslau, then in the German Empire (now Wroclaw in Poland). Marshall sacrificed his Queen in sparkling fashion and was allegedly rewarded with a shower of gold coins by the astonished and admiring throng of spectators.
Chess, Go and global diplomacy

2 weeks ago | thearticle.com | Raymond Keene

Of the major board games, Draughts relies primarily on material superiority to achieve victory. Meanwhile Go (known in China as Wei Chi) depends on control of territory. Only chess, where triumph is ultimately and solely confirmed by checkmate, transcends all elements of material, time or space. Although such factors may well contribute to an advantage, only checkmate, or its inevitability, can confer the final and decisive laurels.
Clear Blue water: Varsity Chess Match 2025

3 weeks ago | thearticle.com | Raymond Keene

Cambridge have narrowly won the 2025 Varsity match against Oxford, the world’s longest running chess competition, which began in 1873 and now spans three centuries. This result gives Cambridge a clear two-match lead in this venerable series. Here are the precise scores: 2025 Varsity Chess Match Oxford moved into an early lead, but late errors by Oxford allowed the light blues a sequence of victories which permitted Cambridge to sweep into the lead by just one point.
Stalemate: the art of the draw

1 month ago | thearticle.com | Raymond Keene |Sameer Hinduja |Ali M. Mahmoud

Rescuing oneself from a seemingly hopeless position forms part of the armoury of every strong chess player. The current political situation in Ukraine reminds me ineluctably of the chess player’s ability to salvage a draw from an inferior position. And of the various ways to achieve a draw, stalemate is by far the most emphatic.
Chess and poker: Stewart Reuben

1 month ago | thearticle.com | Raymond Keene |Ali M. Mahmoud |Sameer Hinduja

Member ratings Well argued: 100% Interesting points: 100% Agree with arguments: 100% 1 rating - view all I am sad to report the passing of one of the outstanding personalities of British chess: Stewart Reuben, who has diedin Jamaica on 4 February 2025 at the age of 85. Playing chess was not his principal claim to fame. Where Stewart made his mark was as tournament organiser, arbiter and, to a certain extent, chess author.
The oldest chess fixture

1 month ago | thearticle.com | Raymond Keene |Sameer Hinduja |Ali M. Mahmoud

Today, hosted by London’s Royal Automobile Club, the world’s longest established chess fixture will continue into its third century. Cambridge University now leads by the narrowest of margins (60 wins to 59) against Oxford, and if the latter triumph in today’s annual clash, then the scores will be equalised.
Requiem for Fischer and Spassky | TheArticle

1 month ago | thearticle.com | Raymond Keene |Sameer Hinduja

Member ratings This article has not been rated yet. Be the first person to rate this article. Last night I dreamt — not of Manderley, but of Bobby Fischer, whose 82nd birthday (had he lived) would have fallen next week (Sunday 9th March). The name of Bobby Fischer, like that of his American predecessor, Paul Morphy, still resonates with an iconic status among all chess enthusiasts. Fischer swept to the world chess crown by singlehandedly overthrowing the mighty Soviet chess imperium.
Freestyle chess: Bobby Fischer’s poisoned chalice

2 months ago | thearticle.com | Raymond Keene |Ali M. Mahmoud

What is now dignified by the hopeful euphemism of Freestyle chess was popularised by that quintessential demon, Heresiarch and obliterator of his fans’ expectations and desecrator of their loyalty, Bobby Fischer. In my opinion, players being permitted to arrange their pieces at random at the start of the game represents a feeble echo of the harmony, beauty and balance of the orthodox initial chess array.
Winning stratagems

2 months ago | thearticle.com | Raymond Keene |Ali M. Mahmoud

Member ratings Well argued: 100% Interesting points: 100% Agree with arguments: 100% 1 rating - view all I have, for over four decades, been advocating a method of improving your results, by adopting a hero or role model and using that player’s ideas to create your own repertoire and prepared strategies. One example is the concept of the rook sacrifice on f7, always a vulnerable square, defended only by the king.