There are sacs, and there are sacs. This turn of phrase that suggests not all are the same could not be more true of piece sacs in chess. Some are just flat out blitzkrieg tactics to gain material or reach for the jugular, but this one was a long-term attacking sac by Fat Fritz 2 […]
Monthly Archives: June 2021
In the last round of the Superbet Chess Classic, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov safely drew Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with the black to secure tournament victory. Wesley So, Levon Aronian and Alexander Grischuk shared second place a full point behind the Azerbaijani. The second event of the tour, the Paris Rapid & Blitz Tournament, kicks off on Friday. | […]
In the winter of 1921/22, Ernst Grünfeld developed a revolutionary chess opening. Almost a hundred years later, the Viennese, who became a professional player out of necessity and joined the NSDAP because of his Jewish-sounding name, is the unlikely star of an exhibition in his hometown. Stefan Löffler visited it. | Photos, if not otherwise […]
On Sunday, the last four of the 19 rounds of the “Gelfand Challenge” were played. After 15 rounds Vincent Keymer from Germany had led the tournament but he only scored 1.5/4 on the final day. This was the chance for the 15-year old Indian Gukesh D., who had started the day two points behind Keymer, […]
The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) has confirmed the field for the Croatia Grand Chess Tour leg that will include four full tour participants and seven wildcards. With legendary World Champions Garry Kasparov and Vishy Anand as well as the World Championship title challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi from Russia the Croatia Grand Chess Tour promises to be […]
After the rest day some of the players in the Superbet Chess Classic came back swinging. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated Levon Aronian while Alexander Grischuk got the better of Constantin Lupulescu. Fabiano Caruana missed a good opportunity against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The results left Grischuk and Mamedyarov atop the standings on 4/6 points. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Over the last several weeks zonal and continental qualifiers were taking place around the globe in anticipation of the World Cup scheduled for 10 July – 6 August, 2021 in Sochi, Russia. Among the latest qualifier tournaments was the American Continental Championship that took place 22 – 30 May and was played as a hybrid […]
The 2021 Superbet Chess Classic is the first event of this year’s Grand Chess Tour and it takes place in Bucharest, Romania from June 5 to June 14. Canadian FM Joshua Doknjas had a look at four interesting games from the first five rounds of the tournament, all of which contain important opening ideas and […]
Surprising news from FIDE: in a press release the FIDE announced that World Champion Magnus Carlsen will play in the next World Cup, which will take place in Sochi, Russia, from July 10 to August 6. It’s a knock-out event with 206 players, in which the two finalists will qualify for the Candidates 2022. However, […]
Yermo is back! Once the restrictions allowed it, he made it down to Mexico City with travelling pal Alexander Shabalov to try his hand in a 10-player round robin. In a thorough report, including plenty of pictures and annotations, he tells us all about his time in CDMX — chapulines, positive COVID tests and good […]