Masters and Matches: A History of Chess

The Offbeat Englishman: Tony Miles

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 minced words. Karpov-Miles, his first win: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1068157 Karpov-Miles, his second win: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1067001 Miles-Vaisser: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1266657 Hope you enjoyed the show! Please subscribe and spread the word about this podcast. About the hosts: Peter Doggers has played chess for over 30 years and written about it for almost 20. He regularly writes for Chess.com and New in Chess. He is the author of The Chess Revolution and also hosts The Chess News Podcast. https://peterdoggers.com/ Arne Moll has played chess even longer than Peter and also loves to write about it. He contributed many thought-provoking articles to the website ChessVibes.com between 2007 and 2013 and recently published his first book as well, called The Center Game. https://www.newinchess.com/the-center-game

Karpov's Biggest Triumph & The Touch-Move Incident: Linares 1994

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. Queen of Chess (Netflix) https://www.netflix.com/watch/81749912 Hope you enjoyed the show! Please subscribe and spread the word about this podcast. About the hosts: Peter Doggers has played chess for over 30 years and written about it for almost 20. He regularly writes for Chess.com and New in Chess. He is the author of The Chess Revolution and also hosts The Chess News Podcast. https://peterdoggers.com/ Arne Moll has played chess even longer than Peter and also loves to write about it. He contributed many thought-provoking articles to the website ChessVibes.com between 2007 and 2013 and recently published his first book as well, called The Center Game. https://www.newinchess.com/the-center-game

The Most Famous Candidates Tournament Of All: Zurich 1953

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 World Champion of Chess.) The main reason why Zurich 1953 is so famous is because of David Bronstein's tournament book, which was praised by many trainers and players, including Garry Kasparov. As it turns out, three other participants also wrote books about the tournament – Max Euwe, Gideon Stahlberg, and Miguel Najdorf – and in this podcast, Arne argues that Najdorf's book might actually be better than Bronstein's. The hosts also discuss the rumors that the Soviet players were at some point working together to help Smyslov, forming a block against the other main contender, Samuel Reshevsky. Perpetual Chess Podcast episode on Zurich 1953: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2021/7/9/book-recap-17-discussing-zurich-1953-with-fm-nate-solon-featuring-gm-andy-soltis Secret Notes by Bronstein & Voronkov:  https://books.google.nl/books/about/Secret_Notes.html?id=raRqAQAACAAJ&redir_esc=y Hope you enjoyed the show! Please subscribe and spread the word about this podcast. About the hosts: Peter Doggers has played chess for over 30 years and written about it for almost 20. He regularly writes for Chess.com and New in Chess. He is the author of The Chess Revolution and also hosts The Chess News Podcast. https://peterdoggers.com/ Arne Moll has played chess even longer than Peter and also loves to write about it. He contributed many thought-provoking articles to the website ChessVibes.com between 2007 and 2013 and recently published his first book as well, called The Center Game. https://www.newinchess.com/the-center-game

Best of the West, Best of the Rest: Jan Timman

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 the basis of the episode while Arne and he regularly take the time to expand, add more anecdotes and share more (personal) memories. You can find the obituary, with lots of pictures, at https://www.chess.com/news/view/jan-timman-obituary Hope you enjoyed the show! Please subscribe and spread the word about this podcast. About the hosts: Peter Doggers has played chess for over 30 years and written about it for almost 20. He regularly writes for Chess.com and New in Chess. He is the author of The Chess Revolution and also hosts The Chess News Podcast. https://peterdoggers.com/ Arne Moll has played chess even longer than Peter and also loves to write about it. He contributed many thought-provoking articles to the website ChessVibes.com between 2007 and 2013 and recently published his first book as well, called The Center Game. https://www.newinchess.com/the-center-game

Soviets vs. the Rest & The Great Polgar Show: The 1988 Chess Olympiad

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 between England and, surprisingly,  the Netherlands, who were playing without their number one player Jan Timman. A key game was Nunn-Van der Sterren in the England-Holland match. Fourth came team USA, and one of the anecdotes is about Yasser Seirawan's game with Garry Kasparov. Of course we give a lot of attention to the Women's Olympiad as well, where Team Hungary, consisting of the three Polgar sisters and Ildiko Madl, surprised the chess world by claiming the gold medals ahead of the mighty Soviet Union, with a 12-year-old Judit Polgar scoring 12.5/13. SOURCES BBC documentary with Stephen Fry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zopb7VDSuN8 Queen of Chess: https://www.netflix.com/watch/81749912 Hope you enjoyed the show! Please subscribe and spread the word about this podcast. About the hosts: Peter Doggers has played chess for over 30 years and written about it for almost 20. He regularly writes for Chess.com and New in Chess. He is the author of The Chess Revolution and also hosts The Chess News Podcast. https://peterdoggers.com/ Arne Moll has played chess even longer than Peter and also loves to write about it. He contributed many thought-provoking articles to the website ChessVibes.com between 2007 and 2013 and recently published his first book as well, called The Center Game. https://www.newinchess.com/the-center-game