The mating game: Chess couples in love soar up the Cupid Index

GM Magnus Carlsen pulled off an unexpected pre-Valentine’s Day combination when the Norwegian great took himself off the market as the world’s most eligible former chess champion.

The new Mrs. Ella Victoria Carlsen (nee Malone) is by, all accounts, articulate, accomplished and attractive. What she is not, by her own admission, is very good at chess. “I have a Chess.com account, that’s pretty much it,” she told Norwegian journalist Tarjei J. Svensen shortly after she and Carlsen were married Jan. 4 in Oslo. “I am not good. My rating is 1000-1100.”

Here’s wishing the happy couple all the best, but we do note on this Valentine’s Day week that Carlsen passed up on a chance to compete on the list of top-rated chess love matches, romantic pairings that are popular in the often insular world of elite chess.

Russian former women’s world champ GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, who is married to Russian GM Pavel Tregubov, took the love angle to a new level in 2021, organizing a Valentine’s Day Cup online tournament pitting teams of chess professional husbands and wives against one another. Today’s first game paired Kosteniuk and Tregubov as Black against one of America’s premier chess couples, four-time U.S. women’s national champ WGM Anna Zatonskih and her husband, Latvian-German GM Daniel Fridman.

It’s just a five-minute blitz online game, but there’s some credible play from both couples in the Two Knights Defense, with the wives doing most of the talking and moving, while the husbands watch and chip in with occasional sardonic commentary in Russian.

When Black dallies a bit challenging the White build-up, Team Zatonskih/Fridman gets some real pressure on 14. Bb2 Bd6!? (c5 15. bxc5 Bxc5 16. Rxe8+ Qxe8 17. h3 Bd7 keeps the balance) 15. Na4 Nd7? (Black should again go with more active play with 15…Ne4! 16. Qe3 Qh4 17. g3 Qh5 18. Qd4 f6 19. Bxe4 dxe4, with good compensation for the pawn after 20. Rxe4?! Rxe4 21. Qxe4 Re8 22. Qc4+ Kh8 23. Nc3 Bf3 24. Qf1 c5) 16. Rxe8+ Qxe8 17. Re1 Qd8 18. h3 Be6 19. f4, when Black has to play carefully not to get swept off the board.

White even offers up a piece to keep the f-pawn battering ram on track: 20. f5 Bd7 21. f6!? (admirably daring, though 21. Nc5 was also very playable) Bxa4 22. fxg7. 

It’s not likely either side was going to pick their way through the tactical thickets here, but the fighting spirit is admirable from both couples: 22…Qh4 (Ng6 23. Bxg6 fxg6?? [Black can limit the damage here with 23…Qg5 24. Qxg5 hxg5 25. Bh5, with an edge for White] 24. Qxh6 Kf7 25. Qh7 Qg8 26. Qh4! Qd8 27. g8=Q+! Kxg8 [Qxg8 28. Qf6 mate] 28. Qh8+ Kf7 29. Qg7 mate) 23. gxf8=Q+ Rxf8 24. Qc3?! (the long diagonal battery looks imposing, but better was 24. Rf1! Qg5 25. Qxg5+ hxg5 26. Rf5, winning a pawn) d4 25. Qxd4? (this should lose; it’s still a game on 25. Qd2 Bf4 26. Re4 Bxd2 27. Rxh4 f5 28. Bxd4 Bg5 29. Rh5 Be8 30. Rxt5+ hxg5 31. Bc5) Qxe1+ 26. Bf1, and now just 26…f6! 27. Qg4+ Kh8 28. Qg6 Qe3+ 29. Kh1 Qg5 turns back the White attack.

Instead, the couples fight on after the game’s 26…Be5?! 27. Qxe5 Qxe5 28. Bxe5 Bxc2 29. Bxc7 Rc8. By 34. Bxh6 Rb3 35. Bd2 Kg7. White has wrestled the endgame back to a likely draw, only to lose the game on a time forfeit.

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With a combined marital rating of 5016, Dutch GM Erwin L’Ami and Romanian IM Alina L’Ami perennially rank near the top of the unofficial chess Cupid Index. The lovebirds are still going strong after more than a decade as a married couple, with Erwin just posting a fine third-place finish in the 2025 season-opening Tata Steel Challengers Tournament, just a point behind young Czech GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen.

One of Erwin L’Ami’s best games came against longtime Dutch No. 1 GM Loek van Wely at the 2017 national championship tournament. In a Scheveningen Sicilian, White uses pressure on the half-open file and a clamp on the d5-square in front of Black’s isolated pawn to build up steady pressure on Black’s castled king. Van Wely understandably tries to ease the pressure with exchanges, but gets rocked by a stunning idea from his opponent.

With an inspired queen sacrifice, White launches a pinwheel of knight checks that leaves the Black game in ruins: 19. Nf3 Bxd5 (Ng6 20. Qe3 a6 was tougher, though White holds all the positional chips) 20. Nxe5 Bg5? (see diagram; 20…Bxb3 21. axb3 f6 was indicated, though White again has all the play) 21. Qxf7+!! (tempting but far less convincing was 21. Nxf7?! Bxf4 22. Bxd5 [Nxd8 Bxb3 23. axb3 Rxe4 24. g3 Bxg3 25. Nxb7 Rxb7 also goes nowhere] Qf6 23. g3 g5 24. Nxg5+ Kg7 25. gxf4) Bxf7 22. Nxf7, hitting the Black queen while threatening multiple nasty discovered checks.

Black can only watch and suffer on 22…Qc7 23. Nxg5+ Kh8 24. Nf7+ Kg8 25. Nxd6+ Kh8 26. Nf7+ Kg8, and now L’Ami finds the clincher —27. Rd8! Qe7 (Rbxd8 [Rexd8 28. Nxd8+ Kh8 29. Rf8 mate] 28. Nxd8+ Kh8 29. Nf7+ Kg8 30. Nd6+ Kh8 31. Nxe8, with a boatload of booty for the lost queen) 28. Rxe8+ Rxe8 29. Nd6+ Kh8 30. Nxe8 Qxe8 31. e5! h5 (Qxe5?? allows a back-rank mate) 32. e6!.

Black has kept the material balance reasonable, but White’s protected, passed e-pawn will prove decisive, while L’Ami’s king is safely shielded from any annoying queen checks.

With his queen on permanent blockade duty keeping the e-pawn from advancing, Black is helpless against the advance of the White c-pawn as well. It’s over on 42. c6 Ke8 43. c7! Qxc7 44. e7 Qc6 45. Re4, and with no effective response to the deadly threat of 46. Ba4, Black resigned.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

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Zatonskih/Fridman — Kosteniuk/Tregubov, Valentine’s Cup Championship, February 2021

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. a3 a6 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 d5 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. exd5 cxd5 9. Bd3 Be7 10. O-O Bg4 11. Qd2 O-O 12. Re1 Re8 13. b4 h6 14. Bb2 Bd6 15. Na4 Nd7 16. Rxe8+ Qxe8 17. Re1 Qd8 18. h3 Be6 19. f4 Nf8 20. f5 Bd7 21. f6 Bxa4 22. fxg7 Qh4 23. gxf8=Q+ Rxf8 24. Qc3 d4 25. Qxd4 Qxe1+ 26. Bf1 Be5 27. Qxe5 Qxe5 28. Bxe5 Bxc2 29. Bxc7 Rc8 30. Bf4 Rc3 31. Bxa6 Rxa3 32. Bc4 Bd3 33. Bxd3 Rxd3 34. Bxh6 Rb3 35. Bd2 Kg7 36. Kf2 Kg6 37. g3 f5 White forfeits on time.

L’Ami — Van Wely, Dutch National Championship, Amsterdam, June 2017

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. f4 e5 8. Nf3 Ng4 9. Qd2 Nxe3 10. Qxe3 exf4 11. Qxf4 Be7 12. O-O-O O-O 13. Nd5 Re8 14. Kb1 Bf8 15. Bc4 Be6 16. Rhf1 Rb8 17. Ng5 Ne5 18. Bb3 Be7 19. Nf3 Bxd5 20. Nxe5 Bg5 21. Qxf7+  Bxf7 22. Nxf7 Qc7 23. Nxg5+ Kh8 24. Nf7+ Kg8 25. Nxd6+ Kh8 26. Nf7+ Kg8 27. Rd8 Qe7 28. Rxe8+ Rxe8 29. Nd6+ Kh8 30. Nxe8 Qxe8 31. e5 h5 32. e6 Kh7 33. a4 b5 34. axb5 Qxb5 35. Re1 Qb4 36. c3 Qe7 37. Bc2+ Kg8 38. c4 Kf8 39. Bg6 h4 40. c5 Kg8 41. Bc2 Kf8 42. c6 Ke8 43. c7 Qxc7 44. e7 Qc6 45. Re4 Black resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.