British Chess Magazine

The April issue of BCM explores the enduring challenge of promoting women’s chess, featuring a powerful editorial and an in-depth historical retrospective on how world champions from Vera Menchik to Ju Wenjun shaped the game. We also bring you an exclusive interview with super-coach GM Vladimir Potkin, a behind-the-scenes architect of modern elite chess. This edition includes tournament reports from the Wightlink International Masters, where fierce competition unfolded on the Isle of Wight, and coverage of the FIDE Social Chess Research Conference, which presents cutting-edge insights into the cognitive benefits of chess. Fiction fans will enjoy “Double Nelson” — a Faustian tale of a young prodigy’s bargain for chess mastery.

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

THE CHALLENGE OF GETTING MORE INTEREST IN WOMEN’S CHESS

HOW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONS SHAPED CHESS

THE COACH OF THE GREATS

THE FIDE SOCIAL CHESS RESEARCH CONFERENCE 2025: SCIENTIFIC INSIGHTS ON CHESS • IN ONE OF THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE GATHERINGS OF SCIENTISTS AND RESEARCHERS ON THE TOPIC OF CHESS, THE CONFERENCE ADDRESSED ISSUES SUCH AS THE ROLE OF CHESS IN EDUCATION AND MENTAL RECOVERY.

WIGHTLINK INTERNATIONAL MASTERS

WORLD SENIOR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS - PRAGUE ENGLAND RETAINS TITLE IN THE OVER-65 CATEGORY

Cambridge Revived

A NEW TYPE OF CHESS MUSEUM: FIDE PUTS ITS CHESS ARCHIVE ONLINE • Global governing body opens virtual archives, offering unprecedented access to rare collections and untold stories from chess history

Double Nelson • A young chess prodigy strikes a Faustian bargain for supreme mastery, but as victory looms, the price of his ambition becomes devastatingly clear

PROBLEM WORLD

THE MORRA GAMBIT

A SMART MOVE FOR YOUNG MINDS

BABSONS & BYWAYS