(Newcastle Chronicle, 28 March 2025)

The new BBC2 show “Chess Masters: The Endgame” has been attracting attention for the nicknames given to the contestants.

Floppy-haired actor Cai from London was dubbed “The Unruly Knight”, while Glasgow postgrad Caitlin Reid was “The Smiling Assassin”.

Another incongruous nickname was given to Welsh schoolteacher Claire, described as the “Killer Queen”, given that she chatted amiably with her opponents.

Nick, from South London, told us proudly why he was known as “The Swashbuckler”, just before he unwisely grabbed a couple of pawns in the opening and was checkmated in 15 moves.

Of course, it’s all a bit of fun and is clearly borrowed from darts, snooker and boxing. Hopefully “Chess Masters” can come up with more imaginative nicknames for future series.

Top chess players throughout history have often acquired quirky nicknames – some flattering, others less so.

Mikhail Tal, the eighth world champion renowned for his tactical wizardry, was known as the “Magician from Riga”, while current world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen has been described grandly as “The Mozart of Chess”.

Garry Kasparov was dubbed the “Beast from Baku” by his terrorised opponents, while 19th century American prodigy Paul Morphy was known as “The Pride and Sorrow of Chess”, as he stopped playing at the peak of his fame.

Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch was called “Praeceptor Germaniae” (The Teacher of Germany) by his admirers, but “The Housewife” for his homely practical tips by rival Aron Nimzowitsch.

Over-the-board habits sometimes result in unflattering monikers. “The Piece Twirler” is a nickname given to Israeli grandmaster Boris Gelfand for his tendency to constantly play with a captured piece in his hand during games, while Yugoslavia’s Milan Matulovich was christened “J’adoubovich” ever since he said “J’adoube” (“I adjust”) after taking a move back in a tournament and moving another piece.

English players have had colourful nicknames, too. Joseph Blackburne, a 19th century master, was known affectionately as “The Black Death”, due to the colour of his bushy black beard, while mathematician John Nunn, at 15 the youngest undergraduate at Oxford since Cardinal Wolsey, was dubbed “The Doctor” by his England teammates.

Sometimes what people are called in print sticks. Nigel Short, Lancashire’s world championship challenger, was dubbed “Nosher” after Kingpin, a satirical chess magazine, published a rude anagram of his name, while onetime world No. 5 Jon Speelman has always been known as “Spess” since The Times misspelled his surname as “Specimen”.

These days, it’s YouTube personalities who have popular nicknames. Levy Rozman is “Gotham Chess”, while England’s Simon Williams is “The Ginger GM” due to his flaming red hair.

The North East’s most famous chess player, grandmaster Danny Gormally from Alnwick, has various nicknames, ranging from “The Quizmaster” to “The Gormaliser”.

PUZZLES

Puzzle A: Gormally-Zeidler, 1999. White to move.

Puzzle B: Steinkuehler-Blackburne, 1863. Black to move.

Puzzle C: Short-Miles, 1984 (variation). White to move.

Puzzle D: Visser-Speelman, 2006. Black to move.

ANSWERS:

A: 1 Rf1! 1-0. If 1…Qxh4 2 Rf8 mate.
B: 1…Qg1+! 2 Rxg1 Nf2+ 3 Kg2 Bh3 mate.
C: 1 Qf8+! wins. If 1…Kxf8 2 Nxd7+, or 1…Rxf8 2 Nxd7.
D: 1…Qg1+! 2 Rxg1 Nf2 mate.

(Newcastle Chronicle, 14 March 2025)

This Monday, a new half-hour TV show called “Chess Masters: The Endgame” aired on BBC2 with Sue Perkins, and it’s getting a wide range of reactions.

The format is a light-hearted mix between “Bake Off,” “Only Connect” and a knockout chess tournament, and is designed to draw in viewers who don’t know much about the game. Twelve participants are assigned to two qualifying groups of six players each, and a mix of rapidplay games and visualisation puzzles are used to eliminate one competitor every week. The top two players from each group then go through to the semi-finals stage.

Despite the title, the competition does not include any masters. In this, it differs from “The Master Game”, a popular BBC show in the 1970s and 80s, which featured strong grandmasters, giving their thoughts on their moves in voiceovers. In the new show, players of average club strength have been chosen to reflect diverse demographics, with most young adults (there are no senior citizens or child prodigies in sight).

Players are given nicknames such as “The Killer Queen” and “The Unruly Knight”. Three-time British champion David Howell and Anthony Maturin, a chess coach who appeared recently on “The Traitors,” are on hand to explain the chess and offer encouragement.

The commentary is also different to what chess players are used to viewing on Twitch, YouTube and Chess.com. Mixed in with relatively advanced concepts such as back-rank checkmate and controlling the centre are the mechanics of how the knight moves, checkmate and castling.

TV reviewers so far have ranged from very enthusiastic to somewhat disappointed. “Could the BBC succeed in making chess sexy? Not quite but they did make it pretty darned exciting,” wrote Michael Hogan in The Telegraph, describing the show as “quietly compelling and full of chequered charm.”

Carol Midgeley in The Times said it was inevitable that chess “had to wear reality TV clothing, with the old ‘one of you will leave the competition today’ shtick in place to create tension”. But she added it had “a wholesome nerdy charm that is seductive.”

The most negative review came from Lucy Mangan in The Guardian, who described the programme as “thin, tired and scared.” She wrote: “[It] could have been gentle and charming if somebody involved had had some faith in the game, in the potential for people to be interested in explanations of its finer points or allowed Sue Perkins off the leash a bit to make more jokes”.

“Chess Masters: The Endgame” can be viewed at 8:00 pm on Mondays on BBC2 or watched on the iPlayer.

PUZZLES

Puzzle A: King-Conquest, 1985. White to move.

Puzzle B: Gara-Wall, 2025. Black to move.

Puzzle C: Pert-Ganguly, 2001. White to move.

Puzzle D: Keene-Miles, 1975. White to move.

ANSWERS:

A: 1 Nf6+! Qxf6 2 Qxf6 wins. (If 1…Kh8 2 Qxh5+ leads to mate)
B: 1…Bc2! 2 Qxc2 Ne5 3 Bc4 Nxf3+ 4 gxf3 Qh2+ 5 Kf1 dxe3 6 Nc3 e2+! 7 Nxe2 Qxh3+ 8 Kg1 Bh2+ 0-1. If 9 Kh1 Bg3+ 10 Kg1 Qh2+ 11 Kf1 Qxf2 mate.
C: 1 Ng5+! Rxg5 2 Qf7+ Kh6 3 Qxf6+ Kh7 4 Qf6+ Kh7 5 Qf7+ Kh6 6 Rxe6+ wins.
D: 1 Qb1! Ne5 2 dxe5 Ne4 3 Nxe4 Kh7 4 Nf6+! Bxf6 5 Qxg6+ Kh8 6 Bg7+1-0.