Although chess is a total-information game in which everything is laid bare on the board, in practice we can see only part of the picture. Feelings do play a crucial role, at least in games between humans. One necessary evil is the ability, when the need arises, to bluff — or at the very least […]
Monthly Archives: June 2022
After six and a half hours of play, Teimour Radjabov resigned against Hikaru Nakamura in the one decisive game of round 2 at the Candidates Tournament. Fighting draws were seen on all three remaining boards, with Richard Rapport missing winning chances against Alireza Firouzja and Fabiano Caruana surprising Ian Nepomniachtchi in the confrontation between co-leaders. […]
Pentala Harikrishna beat David Anton in the final round of the Prague Masters to clinch clear first place with 6½ out of 9 points. In the Challengers, two of the former co-leaders, Hans Niemann and Vincent Keymer won in round 9 and finished tied for first place. Curiously, they were also tied in all the […]
An exciting first round in the Candidates Tournament left Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana — the winners of the event’s two previous editions — in the shared lead. Nepomniachtchi beat rating favourite Ding Liren with the black pieces, while Caruana got the better of compatriot Hikaru Nakamura. At some point, it seemed likely that all […]
In the June issue of the venerable British Chess Magazine, Macedonian GM Aleksandar Colovic (President and General Secretary of the Association of Chess Professionals) takes a deeper look at the strengths and weaknesses of the eight players fighting for a chance to be the next world champion. In agreement with BCM, ChessBase will publish BCM’s […]
The Candidates Tournament is the ultimate qualifier for the FIDE World Championship. Eight prominent grandmasters compete for the right to face reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen in a match for the crown. The event is a double round-robin held in Madrid, Spain, from 16 June to 5 July 2022. Rounds kick off at 15.00 CEST […]
Today, the most important tournament of the year starts – the Candidates Tournament. The winner will challenge Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship and can become new World Champion. But who will win? We will know in three weeks but we still dare a prediction now, based on the games the eight candidates have recently […]
The first round of the Candidates will start today at 15.00 CEST (09.00 ET, 18.30 IST) in Madrid, Spain. At the press conference that started the Candidates officially, Fabiano Caruana, who has already played in three Candidates Tournaments, and who was the only player participating in the press conference, explained which tournament strategy promises success. […]
Pentala Harikrishna beat Saleh Salem in the penultimate round of the Masters tournament in Prague, thus climbing to the shared lead going into the final day of action. Similarly, in the Challengers, Hans Niemann collected a second win in a row to catch Vincent Keymer and Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the lead. Friday’s final round kicks […]
The French Defence is an opening with a marked strategic character, but it also offers rich tactical possibilities to both sides. This video course is aimed as a tactical guide for Black, featuring the most typical combinations for the French structures. The reader is also invited to find combinations delivered by White, in order to […]