The 2024 FIDE World Chess Championship match between Gukesh D and Ding Liren has been named Best Sports Event of the Year (Exhibition/Competition) at the 2025 Singapore Sports Awards. Held in Singapore, the match crowned the youngest undisputed World Champion in history and captivated global audiences. The award recognises not only the thrilling contest but […]
Monthly Archives: June 2025
In this episode, Svitlana offers a comprehensive guide on how to play against the King’s Gambit, an aggressive and historic opening that begins with 1.e4 e5 2.f4. While it’s less common in high-level chess today, it still appears in club-level play and can lead to sharp tactical battles. Svitlana walks through multiple lines, including sideline […]
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu won the second edition of the UzChess Cup after defeating Nodirbek Abdusattorov on demand in the final round of classical chess and prevailing in a three-player blitz tiebreaker. The 19-year-old Indian grandmaster, who also beat Arjun Erigaisi in round eight, secured the title ahead of Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov. This marks Pragg’s third […]
In this episode of The Underdog with Robert Ris, we witness 13-year-old IM Kagan Ahmad from Azerbaijan defeating world blitz legend Hikaru Nakamura in a dramatic 112-move battle during the World Blitz Team Championship. Despite Hikaru’s deep experience and early initiative in a quiet Anti-Sicilian, he blunders with 21.h4, falling into a tactical shot Nxe5, […]
They are absolutely vital. Gukesh won the World Championship with one – or we could say Ding Liren lost his title because he misplayed it. So can you understand and play pawn endings proficiently? Take a look at this position: White has six legal move, all with his king. But only one of them ensures […]
European Championship 2025: Analyses by Bluebaum, F. Svane, Abasov, Alonso Rosell, Cheparinov, Grandelius, Lagarde, Navara, Ponomariov, Rodshtein, Sargissian, Suleymanli, Tari, Velten, Vogel, Volokitin, Wojtaszek and Yuffa – Raid in the Sveshnikov: Lars Schandorff shows that Black has to be extremely careful after 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Nb8 9.Qf3!? – ‘Queen sacrifice with dividend’: Oliver Reeh’s tactical […]
From 2 to 10 August, the focus in Dortmund will not be on football, but on chess. As part of the 52nd Dortmund Chess Days in the Alte Schmiede, the Sparkassen Chess Trophy will be held, featuring European champion Matthias Blübaum, among others, and an international women’s tournament. | Photo: Dinara Wagner (left) and Elisabeth […]
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu reignited his chances at the UzChess Cup by defeating Arjun Erigaisi in round eight, bouncing back from recent setbacks to move within one point of the lead. With sole leader Nodirbek Abdusattorov drawing his game, the stage is now set for a decisive final-round clash between Abdusattorov and Praggnanandhaa — if the Indian […]
From July 16 to 20, 16 of the world’s best chess players will compete in Freestyle Chess in Las Vegas. But before that, on July 13, Magnus Carlsen and his colleagues will face top athletes from a different discipline at the “Chesstival”: players from the NBA who want to show the grandmasters how good they […]
In this entertaining and instructive video, WIM Svitlana Demchenko faced the “Bobby Fischer” engine from Fritz 20 in a dynamic training match. She played the Scotch Gambit and managed to gain a clear advantage through sharp tactical play, sacrificing material for initiative and space. Despite a midgame slip that dropped her evaluation and confidence, she […]