When you play 1.d4, one of the most common openings that you will encounter is the King’s Indian Defence. After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 how do continue? GM Jan Werle of the Netherlands suggests 5.f3 – the Saemisch Variation. Guess what: you can also use the same antidote against the Benoni! […]
Often times during a chess game you have to make a choice between waiting and initiating concrete action. Star columnist Jon Speelman notes that “this eerie silence before battle is perhaps the most difficult moment psychologically”, and goes on to show how even world champion Magnus Carlsen can take a wrong turn from time to […]
The first two decisive results of the Superbet Chess Classic were seen in Sunday’s second round, as the top seed and the bottom seed won their games and are now sharing the lead. Fabiano Caruana defeated Constantin Lupulescu, while Bogdan-Daniel Deac stunned Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Both co-leaders won their games with the white pieces. | Full […]
Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 30th instalment of his ChessBase show “Understanding before Moving”, Herman continues to talk about the right exchange. | Photo: Tommy Grooten
A rather quiet round on opening day saw all five games finishing drawn at the Superbet Classic in Bucharest. The one exciting encounter of the round saw Anish Giri going for complications at every turn against late replacement Bogdan-Daniel Deac. In the end, it was the Dutchman who needed to tread lightly to save a […]
The 2021 Grand Chess Tour features two classical and three rapid & blitz events, picking up after the cancellation of the 2020 season. Following the success of the 2019 Superbet Rapid and Blitz tournament in Bucharest, the Romanian capital is hosting the first classical event of the season on June 5-14. | Follow the games […]
The 2021 African Continental Championships were held on May 17-28 at the Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. The top players from the continent fought to get one of the fours spots granted to participate in the upcoming World Cup. Egyptian grandmasters Ahmed Adly, Amin Bassem, Fawzy Adham and Hesham Abdelrahman finished atop […]
The European Qualifier to the World Cup was played as a hybrid tournament last week, with participants playing from approved venues monitored by foreign arbiters. A total of 36 players obtained spots in the World Cup, scheduled to take place from July 10 to August 6 in Sochi. Highlights from the massive event include a […]
The final of the FTX Crypto Cup, which ended on Monday, could hardly have been more exciting, as Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So fought a thrilling duel that Carlsen only won with a victory in the eleventh and final encounter, the Armageddon game. The stakes were high for both sides and Carlsen and So made […]
In December, on the 14th to be specific, Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman turns seventy. He was one of the world’s leading players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. He is also a prolific study composer. So it is appropriate that a Study Composition Tourney is being staged in his honour. Awards will be […]