In issue 2018#2 you will find 108 pages of the best in chess with Carlsen, Kasparov, Aronian, Kramnik, Fischer and many others Carlsen sets record with 6th win The 80th Tata Steel Chess ­Tournament in Wijk aan Zee ended with a blitz playoff between Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri. The World Champion tends to win playoffs. Always. And this one was no exception. Levon Aronian wins Gibraltar In his first appearance in an Open in more than a decade, Levon Aronian won the play-offs of the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess. The traditionally generous prize for the best female player, £ 15,000, was pocketed by Pia Cramling. Kasparov's musical favourites Garry Kasparov chose his musical favourites - from Mozart to Lloyd Webber - for a BBC radio program Letters How fair was the AlphaZero-Stockfish match? Fischer Facts Ten years after his death the 11th World Champion continues to fascinate. Fair & Square What did John Maynard Keynes see as one of the benefits of chess? Nigel Short's column ‘If ever an activity should long ago have expired and been buried with dignity, it is surely correspondence chess’, Nigel Short suggests. Interview: Vidit Gujrathi He may well be India’s brightest hope for the coming years. Veni, Vidit, Vici In a personal account, the winner of the Tata Steel Challengers reveals how he transformed into a Master. Judit Polgar It’s not easy to play after a loss, Judit Polgar argues. Or a win! Maximize Your Tactics Find the right moves. Fischer Random anyone? Maxim Dlugy followed the Carlsen-Nakamura match and looks at the merits of Fischer Random. Secrets of Opening Surprises An aggressive weapon against the English Opening on move 2! NIC’s Café An Armenian banknote honouring Tigran Petrosian and a Russian plane named after Mikhail Botvinnik. Chess Pattern Recognition Impossible break moves that are a feast to the eye. Sadler on Books Matthew Sadler gets into raptures about a superb account of the match in New York with fascinating insights by former champ Vladimir Kramnik. Living in bad times Hans Ree read the biography of Paul Felix Schmidt (1916-1984), a prominent player in his time, but now almost forgotten. Jan Timman shows how top-level games often inspire chess study composers. And the other way around! Just Checking: What is Pia Cramling’s all-time favourite movie? Celeb64: Hugh Laurie