Try our Christmas Chess Quiz!

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(Chronicle Chess 22nd December 2023)

Try our Christmas Chess Quiz:

1) Christmas Tree: White to play & mate in 3:

2) Silent Knight: Black to play & mate in 5:

3) Christmas Castle: White to play & mate in 3:

4) Santa’s Chimney: White to play and win:

5) How many moves does it take a knight to go from a1 to h8?
a) 4
b) 5
c) 6
d) 7

6) Where did the rook get its name?
a) The New Castle
b) Rooks in the Tower of London
c) Rukh the Arabic word for chariot
d) The Eiffel Tower

7) Who scored the best female performance at the 2023 European Blitz Championship?
a) Judit Polgar
b) Beth Harmon
c) Jovanka Houska
d) Bodhana Sivanandan

8) Who won these tournaments in 2023: World Over 50s, London Classic, British Championship & English Championship?
a) John Nunn
b) Michael Adams
c) Nigel Short
d) Howard Staunton

9) Which world champion appeared as himself in the Russian film ‘Chess Fever’?
a) Jose Capablanca
b) Mikhail Tal
c) Boris Spassky
d) Bobby Fischer

10) Which chess club, formed in 1842, now meets at the Tyneside Irish Centre?
a) Jesmond
b) King’s
c) Gosforth
d) Newcastle

11) Which politician officially opened the 2023 Northumbria Masters Chess Congress?
a) Chi Onwurah
b) Jamie Driscoll
c) T Dan Smith
d) Tony Blair

12) Who played 40 games simultaneously in Newcastle in 1919?
a) Emanuel Lasker
b) Jose Capablanca
c) Alexander Alekhine
d) Max Euwe

13) Which opening was invented by a Newcastle-born chess player?
a) Ruy Lopez
b) St. George’s Defence
c) Caro-Kann
d) The Sniper

14) Which North East player won the British Championship in 2014 & 2015?
a) Charlie Storey
b) Jonathan Hawkins
c) Danny Gormally
d) David Eggleston

15) Who has won the most Northumberland Chess Championships?
a) Peter Oakley
b) David Mooney
c) Louis Zollner
d) Tim Wall

16) Which form of chess gives each player 60 seconds for all their moves?
a) Rapidplay
b) Lightning
c) Armageddon
d) Bullet

17) Where was a chess tournament held in the 1970s & 80s?
a) Baltic Art Gallery
b) Vindolanda Roman Fort
c) Alnwick Castle
d) St James’ Park

18) Which death metal band was named after a world chess champion?
a) Morphy’s Addiction
b) Alekhine’s Gun
c) Oh Capablanca
d) Kasparov’s Kalashnikov

19) Where is the UK government installing chess tables?
a) Prisons
b) School playgrounds
c) Trafalgar Square
d) Parks

20) Which North East musician played against Garry Kasparov?
a) Sting
b) Eric Burdon
c) Sam Fender
d) Chris Rea

Answers:
1. 1 Re3! fxe3 2 g3 e2 3 f4 checkmate, or 1…dxe3 2 c3 e2 3 d4 checkmate
2. 1…Qh4+ 2 Kd1 Nf2+ 3 Ke1 Nd3+ 4 Kd1 Qe1+! 5 Rxe1 Nf2 checkmate
3. 1 Rf4 Kxg3 2 0-0! Kh3 3 R1f3 checkmate
4. 1 Qg4! Qb5 2 Qc4! Qd7 3 Qc7! Qb5 4 a4! Qxa4 5 Re4! Qb5 6 Qxb7! 1-0
5. C
6. C
7. D
8. B
9. A
10. D
11. B
12. B
13. C
14. B
15. A
16. D
17. C
18. B
19. D
20. A.