Masters and Matches: A History of Chess

The AVRO 1938 tournament was one of the strongest in history, with the top eight players in the world participating: Alexander Alekhine, Mikhail Botvinnik, José Capablanca, Max Euwe, Reuben Fine, Salo Flohr, Paul Keres and Samuel Reshevsky. It was intended to function as a Candidates Tournament, with Alekhine playing the next world championship match against the winner (although he did not agree to this without setting some conditions). Hosts Peter Doggers and Arne Moll discuss the situation ...

Anthony Miles (1955-2001) was not only the first UK-born grandmaster but also one of the most interesting characters that ever appeared in the English chess scene. His win against Anatoly Karpov as Black in 1980 using the move 1...a6 is legendary, but in fact he successfully played offbeat openings throughout his career. Hosts Peter Doggers and Arne Moll discuss Miles the chess player, but also Miles as the outstanding writer that he was, and in particular his book reviews in which he never m...

It was Anatoly Karpov's biggest triumph and probably still the best ever tournament performance in chess: Linares 1994. The 12th world champion won the 12th edition of the original "Wimbledon of Chess" with four draws and nine wins, scoring a tremendous 11/13. He finished 2.5 points ahead of Garry Kasparov and Alexei Shirov. Hosts Peter Doggers and Arne Moll discuss the tournament, including the famous touch-move incident that occurred in the game Polgar-Kasparov in the fifth round. Que...

On the occasion of the upcoming FIDE Candidates Tournament in Cyprus, Peter Doggers and Arne Moll discuss what is surely the most famous Candidates Tournament of all: Zurich 1953. The tournament was won by Vasily Smyslov, who scored his first international tournament victory and who qualified for his first world championship. (He would eventually play 12-12 vs. Mikhail Botvinnik in a match in 1954, but in 1957 Smyslov managed to win another match against the same opponent to become the 7th Wo...

Jan Timman, a former world number-two, multiple world championship candidate, nine-time Dutch national champion, prolific author, honorary editor of New in Chess magazine, and endgame studies specialist, passed away on February 18, 2026, after battling a serious illness. He was 74. Peter Doggers and Arne Moll, the two Dutch co-hosts of this podcast, obviously dedicated the next episode of this podcast to this legendary player from The Netherlands. Peter's Timman obituary on Chess.com forms th...

In this sixth episode of Masters and Matches, Peter Doggers and Arne Moll discuss the 1988 Chess Olympiad held in Thessaloniki, Greece. This was one of the most fascinating Olympiads in history, with many stories and anecdotes connected to it. In the Open section, the Soviet team included the "two Ks" Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. Despite internal struggles between these two giants of the game, the team won the tournament convincingly, once again. The big struggle for silver was fought...

There's so much to say about Bobby Fischer and so we might spend more than one episode on this fascinating figure from chess history. The 11th world champion was one of the best players to ever play the game, but he is also famous for his writings – the topic of this fifth episode of Masters and Matches. Peter Doggers and Arne Moll interview IM John Donaldson, whose new book "Inside the Mind of Bobby Fischer" deals with this topic extensively. https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Mind-Bobby-Fischer-...

Say "January" to chess players, and they say: "Wijk aan Zee." In this fourth episode of Masters and Matches, Peter Doggers and Arne Moll dive into the long history of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, which will have its 88th edition starting in a week from now. The "Wimbledon of Chess" has a special place in the heart of both amateur chess fans and top players. Bent Larsen famously said: "Normal people have to see Naples before they die... but a chess grandmaster has to win Wijk aan Zee first...

In this third episode of Masters and Matches, Peter Doggers and Arne Moll discuss the infamous Toiletgate scandal, when Vladimir Kramnik was accused of cheating during his world championship match with Veselin Topalov in Elista in 2006. The episode is not only a complete overview of how the match unfolded, what accusations were made and how the players reacted at the time, but also features all the events that happened both before this match and afterward. For starters, it was Topalov himself...

In this second episode of Masters and Matches, Peter Doggers and Arne Moll dive into the Moscow 1925 tournament which took place exactly a hundred years ago. Apart from discussing what was Efim Bogoljubov's biggest success, the podcast explains why chess was so popular in the Soviet Union and where it all started. 1925 turns out to be a fascinating year in both chess history and history in general. Aron Nimzowitsch's My System started to get published alongside Emanuel Lasker's Manual of Ches...

In this first episode of Masters and Matches, Peter Doggers and Arne Moll tell about the very last of the many matches that Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov played against each other: their rapid and blitz match in 2009 in Valencia, Spain. The event was part of a festival called 'Birthday of Modern' chess and included several lectures about the city of Valencia's importance to the way we play chess today. Arne and Peter travelled together to Valencia to attend the festival, and witnessed the...