Meet legendary chess players and relive historic events. A podcast in the style of The Rest is History about chess-related topics from the past.
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. More info: 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. newinchess.com/the-center-game
The Short But Sensational Chess Career of Asia's First Grandmaster: Sultan Khan
He came to Europe in 1929 and left in 1933. In just four years time, Sultan Khan, from the Punjab (current-day Pakistan), ended up winning three British Championships and beat top players such as Capablanca, Flohr, Marshall, Rubinstein and Tartakower in international tournaments and matches. These were absolute remarkable results from a player who was not chess-educated the traditional way. In fact, Khan initially learned Indian chess, with its distinct rules that were very different from how...
30 Jun 2026
The Strongest Chess Tournament of All Time? AVRO 1938
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 ...
12 May 2026
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 m...
17 Apr 2026
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. Que...
27 Mar 2026
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 Wo...
9 Mar 2026
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 th...
16 Feb 2026
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...
2 Feb 2026
Bobby Fischer, The Writer
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-...
10 Jan 2026
The History of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in 10 Stories
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...
17 Dec 2025
When Vladimir Kramnik was on the other side of cheating allegations: Toiletgate
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...
20 Nov 2025
Why chess was so popular in the Soviet Union: Moscow 1925
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...
30 Oct 2025
The final match between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov: Valencia 2009
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...
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