To get active play and fresh positions against the Catalan, you have to come up with something. GM Yago Santiago succeeded in doing just that in his search for his own Black repertoire. Already with the fourth move – 4…Nc6!? – Black steers the game into largely unexplored territory, and after 5.Bg2 Bde6!? 6.0-0 0-0 […]
Monthly Archives: February 2024
The Northwest Cup took place for the first time in Oldenburg and then moved to Bad Zwischenahn. This year it celebrated its 25th anniversary. The railway strike in Germany made it difficult for participants to travel to the event, but well over 380 chess enthusiasts made it to the tournament hall, including Bettina Trabert. | […]
In the final round of the Tata Steel Masters, five players started first equal and four of them won. Big pile ups do occur quite often at the end of open Swiss tournaments, but I don’t think that I’ve ever seen this before at the end of a top-class all-play-all. The last round was a […]
Denis Lazavik and Magnus Carlsen advanced to the winners’ bracket final in Division I of the Chessable Masters. Lazavik defeated Jose Martinez, while Carlsen got the better of Vladimir Fedoseev. In the losers’ bracket, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Vladimir Fedoseev remain in contention, as they knocked out Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So respectively. | Photo: chess.com […]
The Saint Louis Chess Club, the leading private chess institution in the United States, has announced that no invitations will be extended to Hans Niemann to participate in invitational events organized by the club throughout 2024. The club cites Niemann’s inappropriate behaviour — including damaging private property and rude comments — as justification for their […]
Three out of four quarter-finals favoured the lower-rated contender in Division I of the Chessable Masters. Denis Lazavik beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Jose Martinez beat Ian Nepomniachtchi and Vladimir Fedoseev beat Alireza Firouzja. The one match that ended with the rating favourite remaining in the winners’ bracket was Magnus Carlsen v. Wesley So, as Carlsen obtained […]
Good news for chess fans all over the world, and especially for those in Germany. The largest chess tournament in Europe, the Grenke Open, and the elite Grenke Classic are back. Magnus Carlsen, Ding Liren, Vincent Keymer, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Richard Rapport and Daniel Fridman will play in the Classic. | Photo: Grenke Chess
The pairings of the knockout phase in all three divisions of the Chessable Masters were set up after an exciting day of online-chess action. Most notably, 17-year-old Denis Lazavik defeated Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri to reach Division I, while knocking his elite opponents down to Division II. Lazavik will face Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on Friday, […]
The history of the Candidates Tournaments and Candidates Matches dates back to 1950. In its anniversary year, FIDE is looking forward to the Candidates Tournaments in Toronto in April 2024 and provides an overview of the history of these competitions. | Photos: Via FIDE
ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. The latest issue, CBM 217, is out. Our columnist Nagesh Havanur takes a look. 1582 games (35 annotated), with decisive encounters from the FIDE Grand Swiss deeply annotated. 12 opening surveys, 3 opening videos, 6 demo lectures and several exercises for training. Annotators include […]