The Chess Pit

Jon & Phil are joined by FM Tim Wall, who not only plugs this weekend's ChessFest but also reveals his prowess, or otherwise, at sheep rituals.

Fresh from football almost coming home, the guys are here for a twilight recording. Phil gets boisterous, Jon gets sleepy, and Chris celebrates underwhelming headlines.

England are doing well at football, so the boys decide to bring chess home instead. They also set up a Lonely Hearts Chess Agency and celebrate Ulf Andersson.

This week Phil gets sociable, Jon invokes 55 years of hurt, and Chris resorts to verse.

This week the special treat comes right at the end. But along the way Phil, Chris and Jon give an impassioned introduction to chess tournament play. Many people who learned during lockdown will soon be playing their first serious games and the boys would like to help!

In 2015, at age 21, Rhys Cumming was rated 2115 but gained only 40 points over the next three years. He has since reached 2360, gained the FM title and his first IM norm. Rhys's approach to chess improvement is very much his own but is equally applicable to anyone looking to make serious strides.

A late night recording sees the guys go full rabbit hole as topics as diverse as clay court tennis players, chess pieces eating themselves, and the logistics of hybrid chess tournaments get attacked.

The boys are back with their latest witterings, including but not limited to the 1978 World Chess Championship, distracting one's opponent, and centrist dads.

This week we ponder how successful a 3-1-0 scoring system would be in chess tournaments, celebrate Cuban footballers not being recognised, and wonder how much room there is in the chess world for commercial interests.

This week we wonder which items of clothing should be thrown at professional chess players, consider how England's ageing Olympiad team can regenerate, and evoke 80s TV shows in the quiz.

This week we celebrate chess variants, chess-themed burgers, and ask whether the pandemic will undermine the integrity of the FIDE rating system.

This week the guys round up the Candidates, discuss Nepo’s chances in the title match, and wonder what the Candidates field will look like in 2023.

It's been a big day for chess in Yekaterinburg so Jon and Phil recap Rounds 10-12 of the Candidates and preview what's left to come.

The Candidates has resumed, so we give our initial impressions on Rounds 8-10. We also mark the brief distraction of the European Super League by discussing the Professional Chess Assocation and the twin World Chess Championships from 1993-2006.

The Candidates resumes on Monday so naturally the boys ask which of the chess elite would be favourite in a cage match. May also include sofa fury.