Phone Calls from Heaven

In an article of his for ChessBase.com, titled “Quo vadis, Fischer Random Chess? (1)”, Frederic Friedel recounts his phone conversations about Fischerandom chess with its inventor, 11th World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer. The content is particularly interesting, as it confirms that, even shortly before his death, Fischer dreamed to play a Fischerandom chess match with Viswanathan Anand sponsored by ChessBase — but the German company was not willing to fulfil Fischer’s financial requests.
Friedel put forward various proposals to make Fischerandom chess more suitable to the average woodpusher’s understanding, including Garry Kimovich Kasparov’s suggestion to downsize the number of opening positions from 960 to 10. At first, Fischer was receptive, probably out of etiquette, but as soon as he knew who the idea came from, receptivity immediately turned into hostility: “No, there’s a trick. He has preparation for special positions or something”.
A must read!

Fischer featuring the worldwide launch of his trademark Fischerandom chess at Pasaje Dardo Rocha in the city of La Plata, Argentina, on July 11, 1996. Photo: Juan Sebastián Morgado.

Playtime

After all, the most important thing one can do to prepare for the week ahead — the last week of school before graduation — is to play Saturday afternoon at Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”.

Round the Moon

Leone, Niccolò, and Riccardo play chess at Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna” almost every Saturday afternoon.

A Train to Catch

When the Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna” students miss a chess class it is usually because they are otherwise engaged in important duties, and indeed they always have a very confiderable justification for their absences. The picture on the side, taken at sunset of Saturday, May 9, 2026, was of Niccolò (standing, in red shirt), Riccardo (seated, in blue shirt), and their teammates of the Liceo scientifico statale Antonio Gramsci waiting for the train home at Cesenatico station, on their way back from the 30th Olympiads of Mathematics National Finals, where they reached the semifinals.
They said they are quite content with what they got, which might have been even greater if they had only been just a little more lucky. But more importantly they will keep in their heart forever their Olympic adventure and the youthful feeling of causeless joy and pride in “passing through the crowd with the crowd that was passing through”. Photo courtesy of Niccolò.

Saturdays in May

While ⅔ of the Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna” chess students were in Cesenatico, Italy, to defend the colours of the Liceo scientifico statale Antonio Gramsci in the 30th edition of the Olympiads of Mathematics National Finals, Leone, a young prodigy violinist who astonished audiences everywhere by his wonderful playing, seemed glad that he did not miss his class today.

X – Y
Florence, May 9, 2026
r2q1k1r/ppp3p1/5b1p/3N3B/4P3/4B3/PPP3PP/R4QK1 b - - 0 16

Position after 16. ... c7-c6

In the position of diagram, White intended 17. Bc5+ Kg8 18. Nf4, which would undoubtedly win the day, but Leone was as proud as happy to “spot” a most delightful finish:
17. Bc5+ Kg8 18. Ne7+! 1–0. Black must choose between losing his Queen (18. ... Qxe7 19. Bxe7) or getting mated or both: 18. ... Kf8 (18. ... Bxe7 19. Qf7+ Kh7 20. Bg6#) 19. Qc4! g6 20. Qe6! with mate in a few moves to follow.

Another Spring

Spent Sunday at the Spring Festival flower market in Calenzano, Metropolitan City of Florence, in tow of my friend Mado Flynn, and even this year I took the chance to meet and play chess with Giacomo in memory of happy times spent at Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”.

Roll Over Beethoven

No one can deny that the Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna” enjoys the undivided honour of being the chess school par excellence of the most Beautiful Minds in town! First and foremost Leone, a violinist prodigy who — at sixteen years old — has already played as soloist to auditoriums crowded with ecstatic audiences, and then, second but equally important, Niccolò and Riccardo who, on behalf and in representation of the Liceo scientifico statale Antonio Gramsci, will participate in the 30th edition of the Olympiads of Mathematics National Finals, scheduled in Cesenatico, Italy, on May 7–10, 2026.

ICE Breaker

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The Fischerandom Ordering

Viswanathan Anand – Garry Kimovich Kasparov

Clutch Chess: The Legends; match game 3; time control: 5 minutes plus 3 seconds per move; Saint Louis, October 8, 2025

rnkqbrnb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNKQBRNB w FAfa - 0 1

Position #635

1. e4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. f4 dxe4 4. Bxe4 g6 5. Nc3 Bc6 6. Bf3 Ne7 7. Bf2 Nf5 8. Qe2 Nd4 9. Bxd4 Qxd4 10. 0-0-0 0-0. Classically speaking, an anomalous position with heterogeneous castling has arisen in some particular way (how did the White dark-squared Bishop come out?), but of course that’s another story entirely!
11. Bxc6 Nxc6 12. Nf3 Qb6 13. Ne5 Rad8 14. Qe4? It doesn’t serve White’s cause.
14. ... f5 15. Qe2 Nxe5 16. fxe5 Rd4 17. Rf4 Rfd8 18. Rxd4 Qxd4 19. Re1 c6 20. Qe3 Bg7 21. Qxd4 Rxd4 22. d3 g5 23. a3 Kf7? An inaccuracy which allows White to reorganise and consolidate his army. 23. ... Rd7! 24. b4 Kf7 would have maintained Black’s advantage.
24. Ne2 Rd7 25. d4 c5 26. c3 cxd4 27. cxd4 h5 28. Kc2 Bh6 29. Kd3 g4 30. a4 Bg5 31. a5 h4 32. b4 a6 33. Rb1 Bd8 34. Nc3 Kg6 35. Na4 Be7 36. Nc5 Bxc5 37. bxc5

37. ... f4! 38. gxf4 Kf5 39. Ke3 Rg7 40. Rg1 Rg8 41. Rb1 Rg7 42. d5! exd5 43. Rb6. Threatening mate at f6.
43. ... g3 44. Kf3 Rg6!

45. Rxg6?? A catastrophic blunder in real no time. White could hope for salvation only by not exchanging Rooks: 45. hxg3! (or 45. Kg2! d4 46. hxg3 Rxg3+ with similar lines) 45. ... Rxg3+ (both 45. ... h3?? 46. g4+! Rxg4 47. Rf6# and 45. ... Rxb6?? 46. axb6 h3 47. c6 would be ruinous to Black) 46. Kf2 Kxf4 47. e6 (or 47. Rxb7 Kxe5) 47. ... Rg7 48. c6 bxc6 49. Rxc6 h3 50. Rc3 Rh7 51. e7! Rxe7 52. Rxh3 with a tablebase draw.
45. ... Kxg6 46. hxg3. 46. Kg2 gxh2 47. Kxh2 d4 is the same ending as in the game.
46. ...h3 47. g4 d4 48. f5+ Kg7 49. e6 h2 50. Kg2 d3 0–1.

“I expected him to be much quicker in the time trouble, and I think when we reached the critical moment of the game, there was basically a minute left, I did a better job”, Kasparov eventually said. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

The Ninth Gate

Magnus Carlsen – Vincent Keymer

9th GRENKE Chess Festival; Freestyle Open; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Karlsruhe, April 21, 2025

nbrqnkbr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NBRQNKBR w HChc - 0 1

Position #140

1. d4 d5 2. Nb3 f6 3. Nc5 Nd6 4. h4 a5 5. Bh2 b6 6. Ncd3 c5 7. c3 c4 8. Nf4 b5 9. f3 e5 10. dxe5 fxe5 11. Nxd5 Qxh4 12. g4 Ba7

Mutatis mutandis, Black is threatening scholar’s mate.
13. e3! Qh6! 14. Kg2 Qe6 15. e4 Nc7 16. Nc2 0-0-0 17. Nce3

With his last move Carlsen has offered a Queen sacrifice, but it is best for Keymer to decline it: 17. ... Bxe3 18. Nxe3 Nxe4? 19. Bxe4! Rxd1 20. Rcxd1 g6 21. Nf5! eventually followed by the Rook’s invasion at d6.
17. ... Qe8 18. Qe2 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 h5 20. Bg3 Be6 21. g5 Rd7 22. Rcd1

22. ... h4!? With almost no time left Black opts for a brilliant active defence — implying a Pawn sacrifice — which, in practical terms, cannot but be doomed to failure.
23. Bxh4 Qd8. The corollary of his previous move. Now the threat is ... Rh8xh4.
24. Qe1 Rh5 25. Qg3 Nf5?? Inevitably, with a few seconds on the clock, here comes the blunder of blunders.
26. exf5 Rxd5 27. Rxd5 Bxd5 28. Qg4 Bf7 29. g6 Qd2+ 30. Kh3 Rxh4+ 31. Qxh4 Bd5 32. Be4 Bxe4 33. Qxe4 Qh6+ 34. Kg2 Qg5+ 35. Qg4 Qd2+ 36. Kg3 Kc7 37. f6 Bf2+ 38. Kh3 Bc5 39. fxg7 Qh6+ 40. Kg2 Qd2+ 41. Kg3 1–0.

In the Cage

Étienne Bacrot – Magnus Carlsen

9th GRENKE Chess Festival; Freestyle Open; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Karlsruhe, April 19, 2025

qnrkrbbn/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/QNRKRBBN w ECec - 0 1

Position #302

1. d4 d5 2. Ng3 0-0-0 3. 0-0-0 f6 4. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Ng6 6. Nbc3 e5 7. dxe5 Rxd1+ 8. Rxd1 Nxe5 9. f4 Nc4. More prudent was to retreat to d7.

10. a4. Much stronger appears to be 10. Be2! (threatening the check at g4), for after 10. ... f5 11. Bc5! fxe4 12. Bxf8 Black cannot safely retake on account of the Bishop checking at g4.
10. ... b6 11. g3 f5 12. Bh3 Rxe4 13. Bxf5+ Re6 14. Qa2 Qc6 15. Nb5 Kb7 16. Nd4 Qd5 17. Bxe6 Bxe6

18. b3?? A sucidal move, which literally buries the White Queen behind its own Pawns. Simply 18. Nxe6 Qxe6 20. Qb3 would leave White with a not too comfortable but sufficiently tenable position.
18. ... Ba3+! 19. Kb1 Qh5! 20. Rd3

20. ... Qh3! 21. Rd1 Nd2+ 22. Ka1 Bb4 23. Qb2 Bg4 24. Rc1 Nf3 25. Nxf3 Bxf3 26. Qxg7 Nc6 27. Kb2 Bd2 28. Ra1 Qg2 29. Bd4 Be4 30. Bc3 Be3 0–1.

The End of the Beginning

Magnus Carlsen – Hikaru Nakamura

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; second leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Final match game 1; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Paris, April 13, 2025

qnbrnkrb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/QNBRNKRB w GDgd - 0 1

Position #103

1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 e5 4. b4!? Contemporary Romanticism.

4. ... Nxb4 (4. ... cxb4 5. Nd5 d6 6. d4!↑)
5. Nxe5 g6 6. d4 0-0. On 6. ... cxd4 7. Bh6+ would be annoying.
7. Ng4! Bg7. Black has not an easy time as White’s initiative can easily take the lead after either 7. ... h5 8. Nh6+ Kh7 9. g4! or 7. ... cxd4 8. Nh6+ Kg7 9. Nb5 or 7. ... Bxd4 8. Rxd4! cxd4 9. Nb5 (9. Nd5).
8. dxc5 d5! 9. Nh6+ Kh8 10. g4 Be6 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Bxd5 Bxd5 13. Bb2 Be6 14. g5 Rxd1+ 15. Qxd1 Qc8 16. Rg3 Qxc5 17. Ne4 Qd5 18. Qxd5 Bxd5 19. Nf6 (19. Nc3!? Bxa2 20. Ba3)
19. ... Bxa2 20. Ra3 Be6 21. Rxa7 Nd6 22. f3 Rc8 23. Be5 Nf5 24. Nxf5 Bxf5 25. Rxb7 Be6 26. Rb4 Bxf6 27. Bxf6+ Kg8 28. Kf2 Rc5 29. Kg3 h6 30. gxh6 Kh7 31. Bg7 g5

32. e4? Carlsen has kept all power in his own hands so far, but his last move was a bit too impulsive and could cost him dearly. More consistent was 32. Re4! Rc4 33. Re5 Kg6 34. e4 with a crushing advantage.
32. ... f5! 33. Rb7 f4+ 34. Kf2 Rc2+ 35. Ke1

35. ... Ba2?? A tragic oversight that loses at once. Simply 35. ... Rxh2! 37. Bf8+ Kg8 would leave White empty-handed.
36. Bf8+ 1–0. What a difference can one tempo make! Idem to say: 36. ... Kg8 37. h7+ Kh8 38. Bd6 or 36. ... Kg6 37. Rg7+ Kf6 38. h4! or 36. ... Kh8 37. Be7 Rxh2 38. Bxg5 winning in all cases.

The Last First Time

Magnus Carlsen – Fabiano Caruana

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; second leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Semifinal match game 2; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Paris, April 12, 2025

qbbnnrkr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/QBBNNRKR w HFhf - 0 1

Position #4

1. c4 c5 2. b3 b6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Ne6 5. Qd2 Nf6 6. Ne3 Re8 7. Bb2 Bb7 8. f3 Bf4?! The Black dark-squared Bishop goes from the a-side to the h-side looking for something to target, but the whole journey takes a little too much time. 8. ... d5! seems a more direct way to equilibrium.
9. g3 Bh6 10. N1g2 g6. Finally, fianchettoing the Bishop.

11. h4! Qb8 12. g4 Bg7 13. h5 Bh6. Otherwise there follows h5-h6.
14. 0-0-0 Bg5 15. Bc2 Nf4 16. Nxf4 Qxf4 17. Nf1 Qxd2+ 18. Nxd2 e5 19. Kb1 Re6

20. h6! Keeping Black bottled up.
20. ... 0-0 21. e4 d6 22. b4 Nd7 23. Ka1 Rc8 24. Bb3 Rf6

It’s finally time to break through:
25. c5! Ba6. Both 26. ... bxc5 and 26. ... dxc5 would be met by 27. Nc4 with prompt invasion by the Knight.
26. Bc4 Nb8? Black was already very short of time, and inevitably committed mistakes. Here 26. ... Bb7! was called for, so as to reply to 27. Bb3 with 27. ... Ba6, offering to repeat moves.
27. b5! Rxc5 28. bxa6 Bxd2 29. Rxd2 Rxc4 30. Bxe5! Re6. The Bishop is obviously taboo because of the back rank mate at d8.
31. Bxd6 Nxa6

32. Bb8!? The simple doubling of the Rooks, with 32. Rhd1, should suffice, but Carlsen is irresistibly tempted by the tricky text move, which fell like a thundernbolt on Caruana.
32. ... Re8? The cool 32. ... Kf8!! would hold everything together, for if 33. Bxa7 Black can reply with 33. ... Rc7 without fear of being checkmated.
33. Bxa7 b5 34. Bd4 Nc7 35. Bf6 Ne6 36. Rhd1 Ra4 37. Rd3 g5 38. R1d2 b4 39. Kb1 Rea8 40. Be7 Re8 41. Bf6 Rea8 42. Rb2 R4a6 43. Rdb3 Nf8 44. Bxg5 1–0.

Channel Tunnel

Fabiano Caruana – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; second leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Quarterfinal match game 2; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Paris, April 10, 2025

nnrbbkqr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NNRBBKQR w HChc - 0 1

Position #73

1. c4 c5 2. f4 d6 3. d3 f5 4. Nc3 e6 5. Nc2 Qf7 6. Qf2 0-0 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. e3 Nc7 9. d4

9. ... g5!? A hasty, wild advance, lacking the background of a sound development. It brings to mind an evocative hologram of the ghost of Morphy in Paris: 1. a3 e5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 Be6 6. Nf3 Bd6 7. Be2 0-0 8. d4 Nxc3 9. bxc3 e4 10. Nd2 f5 11. f4 g5!? (Anderssen – P. C. Morphy, Paris 1858, match game 6).
10. Bd2 Qg7 11. Nb5 Nxb5 12. cxb5 Ne7 13. dxc5 dxc5 14. Bc3 Qg6 15. a4 Nd5 16. Be5 a6 17. bxa6 bxa6 18. Na3

18. ... Nf6? Finally, Black gets wrapped up in his own developmental scheme. Here 18. ... Bc6 19. Nc4 Be7 was to be preferred, although 20. b3!⩲ would have given Black reason enough to regret his 9th move.
19. Nc4 Be7 20. Bf3 gxf4. 20. ... g4 21. Bb7 Rd8 22. Bc7 would be a triumph of White’s Bishop pair.
21. exf4 Rd8 22. b3 Ne4 23. Qe2 Bc6 24. Bc7

24. ... Bf6. A desperate Exchange sacrifice, trying to delay the inevitable. If 24. ... Rd4 then 25. Ne5 Qe8 26. Nxc6 Qxc6 27. Be5 Rb4 28. Rc4! Rxc4 (28. ... Rxb3? 29. Rxe4!+−) 29. bxc4 with an imposing position for White.
25. Bxe4 Bxe4 26. Bxd8 Rxd8 27. Ne5 Bxe5 28. fxe5 Kh8 29. Rxc5 Qg5 30. Rc3 Qg7 31. Rfc1 Qb7 32. Qf2 1–0. An iron fist in a velvet glove.

Caruana showed a deep understanding of how Fischerandom chess works. Photo: Stev Bonhage/Freestyle Chess.

The Raft of the Medusa

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa – Fabiano Caruana

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; second leg; Stage 1: Rapid Round Robin; time control: 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; Paris, April 8, 2025

rnkrbnqb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNKRBNQB w DAda - 0 1

Position #667

1. f4 d5 2. g4 g5 3. f5 d4 4. a4 a5 5. Na3 Bc6. If 5. ... Bxa4 then 6. Nc4 recovering the Pawn with a good game.
6. Bg3 Nfd7 7. Nb5 Be5! 8. Ra3 Qg7 9. c3

9. ... d3! Enterprising play. If, instead, 9. ... dxc3 then White can play 10. Rxc3! offering the Exchange for the initiative.
10. exd3 Bxh1 11. Qxh1 c6 12. d4! An interesting positional sacrifice. The alternative was 12. Nd4 Bxd4 13. cxd4 Qxd4 14. Qe4 Qxe4 15. dxe4 Nf6 with at least equality for Black.
12. ... Bxg3 13. Nxg3 cxb5 14. axb5 Nf6 15. Re1 Nbd7

16. Qf3. After 16. c4 a picturesque variation would be 16. ... Nxg4 17. Rxe7 Qxd4 18. Re4 Qh8 19. Rxg4 Nf6 20. Rxg5 h6 (the White Rook is trapped, but...) 21. Qg1! hxg5 22. Qc5+ Kb8 23. Qe5+ with a draw by perpetual check.
16. ... 0-0 17. Rxe7 b6 18. Qc6 Rac8 19. Qd6 Rcd8

20. Kc2? (20. Nh5! Nxh5 21. Rxd7⩲)
20. ... Rfe8 21. Rxe8+ Nxe8 22. Qc6 (22. Qe7 Qf6)
22. ... Nef6 23. Ra4 (23. h3 Qf8)
23. ... Qf8 24. Rc4 Qe7 (24. ... Nxg4! 25. Ne4 Qe7∓)
25. Qf3? White’s last chance was 25. Nh5! Nxh5 (25. ... Nxg4 26. Qg2!) 26. gxh5 h6 with a near balanced situation.
25. ... Qd6 26. Rc6? 26. h3 Qf4 wasn’t pleasant at all, but better than the text.
26. ... Qf4 27. Qd3?! The attempt to complicate matters by not exchanging Queens ends in disaster for White, but also after 27. Qxf4 gxf4 28. Nf1 Nxg4 Black should not have too much trouble converting.
27. ... Qxg4 28. Qc4 h5 29. Kb3 h4 30. Nf1 Qf4 31. Qe2 Re8 32. Ne3 g4 33. Qc4 g3 34. hxg3 hxg3 35. Rc7 Nc5+ 36. dxc5 Qxc7 37. Qh4 Qe5 38. Qg5+ Kf8 39. Qh6+ Ke7 40. d4 Qe4 41. c6 g2 42. Nxg2 Qxg2 43. Qf4 Kf8 44. c4 Qe4 45. Qxe4 Nxe4 46. c5 bxc5 47. dxc5 Nxc5+ 48. Kc4 Na4 49. b3 Ke7 50. bxa4 Kd6 0–1.

Unfinished

Magnus Carlsen – Fabiano Caruana

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; second leg; Stage 1: Rapid Round Robin; time control: 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; Paris, April 7, 2025

rknnqrbb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RKNNQRBB w FAfa - 0 1

Position #751

1. f4 f5 2. g3 g6 3. a4 a5 4. Nc3 Nd6 5. d4 Nc6 6. e3 Bc4 7. Rf2 Nb4 8. b3 Be6 9. Rd2 Qf7. The opening turned out well for Caruana, who is going to castle a-side with fine play.
10. Nd3 Nxd3 11. Rxd3 c6 12. e4 fxe4 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 0-0! 15. 0-0-0! Of course, the heterogeneous castling is strategically sound and tactically challenging!
15. ... Bg4 16. R1d2 e6 17. Rc3 Qe7 18. Kb2 Rab8 19. Bg2 Bf5 20. h3

20. ... g5!? Black does not hesitate to give up a Pawn in order to keep the Bishop in the diagonal.
21. g4 Bg6 22. fxg5? A very hot Pawn. Within a couple of moves, Black’s attack unleashes all its potential. 22. f5! was called for.
22. ... b5! 23. Bh2

23. ... bxa4!! 24. Bxb8 Rxb8 25. h4? And Carlsen continues to play with fire. 25. Rc4! axb3 26. c3! was now the only way to survive.
25. ... Qb4! With the manifest threat of ... a4-a3+.
26. Qg3

26. ... c5? A spontaneous mistake! The right break was 26. ... e5! (27. dxe5 Re8), in fact preventing White’s next move.
27. Rc4! Qb6. Not 27. ... Qxd2 by reason of 28. Qxb8+ Kg7 29. Qe5+ Kg8 30. Qxc5 with overwhelming advantage.
28. h5 axb3 29. cxb3 Bf7? And, finally, Caruana comes to his cupio dissolvi. Correct was 29. ... Be8! 30. Rxc5 Bxd4+ 31. Rxd4 Qxc5 still holding everything together.
30. Rxc5 e5. Now the line as above does not work because of Black’s Rook en prise with check.
31. Bd5 Bxd5 32. Rxd5 exd4 33. Qd3 a4 34. b4 Qxb4+ 35. Ka2 Bg7 36. Rxd7 Qb3+ 37. Qxb3+ axb3+ 38. Kb1 Re8 39. Kb2 Re5 40. Rf2 d3 41. Kxb3 1–0.

However, it wasn’t the chance that brought together two archrivals in a highly creative chess challenge. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess.