6 Capture
A drone image of the Mwiki school in Nairobi, Kenya, by Stev Bonhage.

8 NIC’s Café
The Oscar goes to Sean Ono Lennon for the animation War is Over!

12 Cheating
Cheating was put centre-stage when Magnus Carlsen lost to Hans Niemann in September 2022 and then tweeted about it. What is being debated, what is known, and what is only a feeling?

25 Fair & Square
‘I still get nervous during games.’

26 Interview
With his win in the Prague Masters, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (19) shot up to 4th place in the world rankings. A good moment for a frank interview with the star from Uzbekistan.

32 Prague Masters
A superb Nodirbek Abdusattorov swept the field in the Prague Masters with a powerful 2873 performance. In the Challengers, Turkish sensation Ediz Gurel (15) took first place.

35 Celeb 64
Martin Amis.

50 Chess as a business
The chess community includes quite a few entrepreneurs who try to provide chess players with interesting products. A short series about chess as a business starts with a profile of the Dutch company DGT, known for its clocks and electronic sets.

55 Maximize Your Tactics
Nine puzzles, selected by Maxim Notkin.

56 Freestyle Chess
Magnus Carlsen won the inaugural Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge, the first 960 tournament with a classical time control.

64 Problem Solved
Six years after the launch of AlphaZero, scientists at DeepMind are still using chess as a tool for their research.

70 Rock Solid Chess
A Strategy Lesson from Sergei Tiviakov.

74 Jacob Aagaard
A guest essay by Jacob Aagaard about the World Chess Championship - and how to improve the cycle.

78 James Altucher
Should you steal drugs to play better chess?

80 The Scoresheet
Bronstein-Kallisto, The Hague 1995.

82 The Model Game
The Najdorf is the most popular variation of the Sicilian Defence, on all levels of play. The top players appreciate its theoretical soundness, while amateurs enjoy the sharp battles.

86 Sadler on Books
Matthew Sadler awards five stars to four books. He enjoyed monographs on Reshevsky and Korchnoi. He gained insights into 1.e4 opening structures from Ivan Sokolov. And he was fascinated by the history of the Dragon.

92 Timman, Fischer and Niemann
Hans Niemann happily draws parallels between his own chess adventures and those of Bobby Fischer: ‘Two lone Americans against the world’. The comparison may be a bit of a stretch, but there is a remarkable interconnection between two endgames they played at the age of nineteen, writes Jan Timman.

98 Just Checking
Natasha Regan: chess & mindgames.