Added on 09.12.2022
A fellow ICC admin posted on Facebook: "Alireza is the Alcaraz of Chess." And it's true. The young Frenchman won the Sinquefield Cup and the whole Grand Chess Tour, and the young Spaniard won his first Grand slam tournament in New York. Alireza is now 4th in the rating list, whereas his tennis player peer conquered the numero uno position in the ATP rank! (AP Photo/John Minchillo) Are we witnessing a generational change? Well, these two important achievements were slightly tainted by Magnus...Full StoryAdded on 09.09.2022
Let's face it: the chess world can be tedious. In the last ten years, there has been a dominator, one Norwegian man who plays at a different level. Magnus Carlsen is almost unbeatable in classic chess, and he has the numbers to show that: in 10 years, he's lost very few games, probably countable on the tips of your fingers. Recently, Magnus decided to renounce his World Champion Title, announcing that he won't defend it against Ian Nepomniachtchi, the winner of the 2022 Candidates...Full StoryAdded on 09.03.2022
1972 Fischer v. Spassky Anniversary It's been 50 years since the most famous match in chess history took place: The 1972 World Chess Championship between defending champion Boris Spassky and challenger Bobby Fischer. The match was to the best of 24 games, and Fischer won 12 ½-8 ½, becoming the 11th World Chess Champion and the first American-born player to do so. The match captured the imagination of millions as it embodied the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. It also...Full StoryAdded on 08.23.2022
The new generation, with its 16-17-18-year-old chess geniuses, is here and presses to break down the "old" guard. We're almost there, with the natural generational change happening. It's a cycle. It happened when Kasparov retired, for instance. New talents emerged, and a group of younger champions started dominating the international chess scene. Praggnanandhaa, Firouzja, Erigaisi Arjun, Deac, Gukesh, and many others are climbing the ladder quickly, showing their enormous potential. It's always...Full StoryAdded on 08.10.2022
Uzbekistan and Ukraine win the 44th Chess Olympiad! Rating didn't count much in these Olympiad games in Chennai, India! The USA was the first seeded by rating, but they had a relatively poor tournament, with their stronger player having a terrible experience in India. Fabiano Caruana could not go over 50% with three wins and three losses. In the end, the USA placed fifth, which is not a good result considering the group of champions they listed, with Caruana, Aronian, So, Dominguez, and...Full StoryAdded on 07.05.2022
The most-awaited tournament of the year took place in Madrid, Spain. Check our ARTICLE to learn more about the participants and the background of the tournament. During the rest days, ICC will have GM Illescas and GM Yermolinsky recap the rounds. The Tournament is over and the winner is Ian Nepomniachtchi, for the second time in a row. Ian won with one round to spare, drawing Richard Rapport and securing his leadership. In the last round, all eyes were pointed to the game Ding vs. Nakamura....Full StoryAdded on 07.02.2022
The most-awaited tournament of the year is taking place in Madrid, Spain. Check our ARTICLE to learn more about the participants and the background of the tournament. During the rest days, ICC will have GM Illescas and GM Yermolinsky recap the rounds. Two rounds to go, and Ian Nepomniachtchi is two points ahead, in the sole and strong leadership of this super-important event. All Ian needs is a draw in one of the remaining two rounds, to clinch the second Candidates tournament in a row, and be...Full StoryAdded on 06.28.2022
The most-awaited tournament of the year is taking place in Madrid, Spain. Check our ARTICLE to learn more about the participants and the background of the tournament. During the rest days, ICC will have GM Illescas and GM Yermolinsky recap the rounds. Three more rounds and the super-strong Ian Nepomniachtchi is still up there, on top of the list, more alone than ever. The last three rounds have shown Ian as the stronger player in the lot. He's been able to defend strenuously and attack...Full StoryAdded on 06.24.2022
The most-awaited tournament of the year is taking place in Madrid, Spain. Check our ARTICLE to learn more about the participants and the background of the tournament. During the rest days, ICC will have GM Illescas and GM Yermolinsky recap the rounds. After six rounds, there is a sole leader at +3, an amazing feat in this first part of the tournament. Ian Nepomniachtchi, the latest challenger, is at it again, playing brilliant chess and leading the group of eight with half a point advantage...Full StoryAdded on 06.20.2022
The most-awaited tournament of the year is taking place in Madrid, Spain. Check our ARTICLE to learn more about the participants and the background of the tournament. During the rest days, ICC will have GM Illescas and GM Yermolinsky recap the rounds. After three rounds, Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi lead the tournament, with 2 points (+1). Nakamura, after losing round 1, bounced back immediately, and now is part of the numerous group that follows the leaders, with Firouzja, Rapport,...Full StoryAdded on 06.14.2022
In 2020, the Candidates' had to be stopped because of the pandemic breaking out in Russia, as in the rest of the world. Radjabov had renounced participating in the 2020 tournament after he asked for it to be postponed due to Covid-19, and when FIDE had to send the eight players home, Radjabov asked to be reinstated into the event when it would have been resumed. FIDE decided that the best thing to do was to give Radjabov a seat to the following Candidates, the tournament that is going to start...Full StoryAdded on 04.29.2022
The St. Louis Chess Club organized a very interesting tournament, with a rare format: a double-elimination. The format allows a player to lose a KO match but then play in the Elimination bracket with chances to get back in the main bracket. Here are the brackets: As you can see, the best American players participated in the $300,000 event! Nakamura was the only absent, as he is preparing for the Candidates' tournament. Caruana didn't lose any match and arrived in the finals with an...Full StoryAdded on 04.04.2022
The FIDE Grand Prix series of tournaments are over. The third one just finished in Berlin, Germany, and the two finalists, Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura, had to play an extra day after the first two classical games of their match couldn't decide the winner. The second classical game even raised a wave of polemics over the socials! GM Benjamin talks about this particular fact in the video. But today it was an exciting day, with games keeping the watchers nailed to their chairs. When it comes to...Full StoryAdded on 04.03.2022
30 minutes, 14 moves. The infamous draw line of the Berlin (Qe4-Qe6) hit once again, and we're here with nothing to say about today's game. Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So deliberately chose to go to the rapid/blitz tiebreaks to decide who's the winner of the 3rd and last leg for the FIDE Grand Prix. Both players are extremely strong at rapid, though it's undeniable that Nakamura is the strongest in the world, at least at the moment. As for the Blitz, Nakamura is known for being the strongest...Full StoryAdded on 04.02.2022
As you surely know, Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura are the two finalists of the 3rd FIDE Grand Prix 2022. GM Joel Benjamin's video recap shows how the two talents got there, disputing the final win of the tournament. Photo credit: Niki Riga The first game was not exciting, as the two players decided not to risk anything, and it ended in a peaceful draw after just 70 minutes of play....Full StoryAdded on 04.01.2022
The 3rd leg of the FIDE Grand Prix is at its final stage! The semifinals saw four players emerge victorious from the pools: Nakamura, Mamedyarov, Wesley So, and Tabatabaei. Nakamura lost his first game of the pools with Levon Aronian, and he needed to get revenge the second time around of the double round-robin. Then he defeated Oparin and Esipenko to win his group with 4.0/6. Wesley So went to the tiebreaks and defeated his fellow American Sam Shankland. Mamedyarov also had to play the...Full StoryAdded on 03.31.2022
The surprises never end in this 3rd leg of the FIDE Grand Prix. While we all expected a draw between Mameryarov and Nakamura, which punctually happened, nobody expected Wesley So to lose to the young Iranian talent Tabatabaei! Mame and Naka didn't risk anything, after the draw they had yesterday. The game flowed without any bumps, and the two agreed on a draw at move 51, with three pawns and a knight each on the board....Full StoryAdded on 03.30.2022
With Nakamura and Rapport already qualified for the Candidates, the tournament has lost most of the thrill, but there is money at stake, and obviously prestige. Today the four musketeers played the first game of the semifinals. Nakamura had White against Mamedyarov, and Welsey So had White against Tabatabaei. Nakamura and Mamedyarov played a Petrov, exchanging queens very early in the game. the exchanges continued and by move 22 the players were already into a drawish endgame. It was clear...Full StoryAdded on 03.29.2022
Today the other two semifinalists were decided, in the tiebreaks. Wesley So needed two rapid games to advance. Wesley won the first game and was actually losing the second one when Sam Shankland agreed to a draw. It's Rapid play, then it's easy for us sitting with an engine and scream "c'mon Sam, you were winning!". But the position didn't look so easy, and the clock was running down. Pool B Tiebreaks R1 R2 PTS Wesley...Full StoryAdded on 03.28.2022
The pools are over, and we know two of the four players who will play in the semifinals. In Pool A, the unthinkable happened. We all were ready to witness tiebreaks between Aronian and Nakamura. The standings indicated that a couple of short and uneventful draws would have led to a rematch of the 1st leg finals. But Oparin, who even with ups and downs played a great event, wasn't to allow the happy ending. Aronian went for an aggressive variant of the Catalan, extending his pawn formation on...Full Story
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