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BBC Two’s new eight-episode series Chess Masters: The Endgame, aired on Monday evening at 8pm between Mastermind and University Challenge, has provoked strong but sharply divided reactions, both among television critics and seasoned chess experts and amateurs.
The Guardian’s Lucy Mangan called it “so dull it’s almost unwatchable”. Although when she says “the flurry of interest in chess was five years ago”, it seems that she missed the publicity bursts for the Magnus Carlsen v Hans Niemann 2022 feud and for Jeansgate 2024, as well as the tens of millions of daily internet games for the world’s fastest growing sport.
Other national newspaper TV critics have been kinder. The Telegraph calls it “quietly compelling “and gives it 4/5, while the Times, with 3/5, says it has “a wholesome nerdy charm”.
The viewing figures were 890,000 against a 1.7m average for the Monday 8pm slot, so the show missed out on the top 10. Mastermind, which preceded it, had 1.6m. Next Monday’s second episode will be the real test.
There is now an entire 10-page thread on the English Chess Forum about the programme, with its detractors complaining about excessive hype by Sue Perkins and the difficulty of following the chess content, while its advocates claim that a soft approach is what is needed to bring new players to the game.
What do Guardian readers think? Tell us in the comments section. Meanwhile, for those inspired by the programme to take up chess across the board, this interactive map shows the location of your nearest chess club. There is also How to Win at Chess on BBC4 at 9pm on Monday, an hour-long programme with practical tips by GMs Ray Keene and Dan King.
Aravindh Chithambaram’s first prize in Prague last week further strengthened India’s growing status as the No 1 chess nation ahead of the United States. The 25-year-old is a late developer with a lower profile than his younger colleagues Gukesh Dommaraju, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Arjun Erigaisi, let alone the former world champion Vishy Anand, but he has now joined the quartet near the pinnacle of the rankings, jumping to world No 14 with a 2741 rating.
After his win in Prague, where his 6/9 was the only unbeaten score, Aravindh said that he aims for a 2800 rating within two years. That would be world No 3, and sounds a fanciful target, except that India’s top trainer, Ramachandran Ramesh, has called Aravindh “the most talented Indian after Anand. Self-doubt was his stumbling block, but now he is believing in himself.”
Aravindh won the Prague brilliancy prize with two amazing moves (24....Ng5!! and 25....d4!) against Anish Giri, which blasted open the Dutch grandmaster’s king defences. It was one of the most imaginative games of the year so far.
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Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, is semi-retired from classical chess but turned out for his club, Offerspill, last week in the Norwegian League and won all three games, gaining 4.1 rating points.
Carlsen’s most interesting win was against his former coach Simen Agdestein, who in his youth was also an international football centre-forward. In 1992, Agdestein said that playing against Anatoly Karpov, with whom he drew a match 2-2, was a harder assignment than taking on the Italian defender Franco Baresi, who had been Agdestein’s direct opponent on his debut for Norway.
The European individual championship starts on Saturday in Eforie Nord, Romania. At stake is the title, a €100,000 prize fund, and 20 qualifying places in the Fide World Cup in India, which in turn will qualify three players for the 2026 Candidates and a potential challenge for the world crown.
The European Individual will be the very last event covered by the department for culture, media and sport £500,000 grant for elite chess before it is abolished on 31 March as part of government cuts. This is a huge blow for the English Chess Federation and its many rising young talents of both sexes.
England’s delegation in Romania will be led by GM Shreyas Royal, 16, fresh from his good result at the World Junior Championship. IMs Jonah Willow and Yang-Fan Zhou are targeting GM norms, FMs Sohum Lohia and Koby Kalavannan IM norms.
3963: 1 Nxf7+ Kg8 2 Nh6+ Kh8 3 Rf8+! Qxf8 4 Bxg7+! Qxg7 5 Qd8+ and mates.
