Added on 02.17.2022
What a day of chess! The final stage of the 1st FIDE Grand Prix 2022 has proven to be exciting and entertaining. It took the winner two rapid games to clinch the victory. Aronian and Nakamura, after two draws in the classical mini-match, faced each other to play a rapid mini-match, with time control 15+10. Watch GM Burke's video and enjoy his comments and analysis! What a comeback to over-the-board chess! In an all-American final, Hikaru Nakamura defeated Levon Aronian to win the 1st...Full StoryAdded on 02.16.2022
Game 2 of the final starts - Photo by the official website Unexpectedly, today Aronian and Nakamura played an uneventful draw. The opening was Giuoco Pianissimo. The Italian here plays with a musical term: "Pianissimo," which means very quiet. And that was it. Neither player tried to do anything hazardous, and the game faded off quickly, to finish at move 29, with the engines indicating "0.00". var viewer = new CHESS.PgnViewer({ pgn_uri:...Full StoryAdded on 02.15.2022
Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian at the board - Photo from World Chess An exciting first game in the final of the 1st leg of the FIDE 2022 Grand Prix! Hikaru opened 1.e4, and Levon replied with 1.e5. The two went for a Closed Ruy Lopez, with 7...0-0. Levon is one of the leading experts of this opening, but Hikaru was well prepared, and the two landed on a highly complex middlegame. The feeling was that at around move 30, the players may have called it a day and agreed on a draw. Instead,...Full StoryAdded on 02.13.2022
GM Pia Cramling analyzes and comments on the two most important games of the semifinals. The 1st Grand Prix in Berlin has been an exciting event, and the two finalists are deserving their spot. The final will be played as a mini-match of two games with classical time control. Should the two players tie, there will be a mini-match of two rapid games, with time control 15+10. If still tied after the rapid, two Blitz games with time control 3+2. And, as usual, if the finalists are still tied,...Full StoryAdded on 02.12.2022
Levon Aronian today confirmed his status of grace, defeating Leinier Dominguez in 41 moves, playing brilliantly. Levon looks like he's the favorite at this point in the competition. Semifinals Game 1 Game 2 TB Levon Aronian 1 Leinier Dominguez 0 var viewer = new CHESS.PgnViewer({ pgn_uri: 'https://www.chessclub.com/assets/PGN/GP1_2022_Aronian_R9.pgn', piece_set:...Full StoryAdded on 02.11.2022
We are happy to welcome GM Pia Cramling to the team! Today GM Pia recaps for us the first phase of the FIDE Grand Prix being played in Berlin. It has been an exciting tournament so far, with some of the best players trying to win their pool to access the semifinals. After a double round-robin in each of the 4-player pools, only two grandmasters emerged in clear first. Today, two playoffs were played: two rapid games with time control 15+10. Join us tomorrow, Saturday to watch the first day...Full StoryAdded on 02.10.2022
We have a second semifinalist after Levon Aronian. Two of the four pools' winners will be decided tomorrow, in the tiebreaks. Pool A 1 2 3 4 PTS Grischuk aa 1/2-0 1/2-1/2 1/2-1 3.0 Nakamura 1/2-1 aa 1-1/2 1/2-1/2 4.0 Esipenko 1/2-1/2 0-1/2 aa 1-1 3.5 Bacrot 1/2-0 1/2-1/2 0-0 aa 1.5 Hikaru Nakamura needed a draw today to qualify for the semifinals. Esipenko, in the...Full StoryAdded on 02.09.2022
Levon Aronian secured his seat in the semifinals, defeating Keymer today. The now-American ace climbs to a stunning 4.0/5, and nobody in his group will be able to catch him. Nakamura defeated Grishuck to reach the fantastic score of 3.5/5. Only Esipenko can still catch the American, Esipenko today won with Bacrot, going 3.0/5. A curious note: Today Grischuk and Nakamura played a King's Indian semi-Averbakh. Yesterday, Yuri Averbakh celebrated his centennial! Was it a coincidence? Probably yes,...Full StoryAdded on 02.07.2022
Today's standing out facts in Berlin are that Wesley So won again, defeating Dominguez in Pool D, and Dubov won his first game in the competition, coming out of a negative streak. Pool A 1 2 3 4 PTS Grischuk aa 1/2 1/2-1/2 1/2-1/2 2.0 Nakamura 1/2 aa 1 1/2-1/2 2.5 Esipenko 1/2-1/2 0 aa 1 2.0 Bacrot 1/2-1/2 1/2 0 aa 1.5 In Pool A we had two draws, with Hikaru...Full StoryAdded on 02.06.2022
Today marks the first part of the double round-robin that will determine the four semifinalists. And we already have some indications, with four decisive games. Pool A 1 2 3 4 PTS Grischuk aa 1/2 1/2 1/2 1.5 Nakamura 1/2 aa 1 1/2 2.0 Esipenko 1/2 0 aa 1 1.5 Bacrot 1/2 1/2 0 aa 1.0 In Pool A the "Game Of the Day", Grischuk-Nakamura, ended in a draw, leaving the...Full StoryAdded on 02.05.2022
Lots of action today in Berlin! Pool A 1 2 3 4 PTS Grischuk aa 1/2 1/2 1.0 Nakamura aa 1 1/2 1.5 Esipenko 1/2 0 aa 0.5 Bacrot 1/2 1/2 aa 1.0 Nakamura won a great game against the young Russian GM Andrey Esipenko. Bacrot had the upper hand in his games versus Grischuk, but the Frenchman could not find a way to concretize his advantage and had to settle for a...Full StoryAdded on 02.04.2022
The race to conquer the two coveted spots to play in the Candidates later this year started today. Pool A 1 2 3 4 PTS Grischuk aa 1/2 0.5 Nakamura aa 1/2 0.5 Esipenko 1/2 aa 0.5 Bacrot 1/2 aa 0.5 In the first Pool (A), Esipenko drew vs. Grischuk, and Bacrot drew vs. Nakamura. A good result for Esipenko, who has been under the gun for some moves....Full StoryAdded on 02.03.2022
The FIDE Grand Prix 2022 is a series of three tournaments, to be played between 3 February and 4 April 2022 in Berlin, Germany, and Belgrade, Serbia. The Three tournaments have relevant importance not only because most of the best players in the world are participating. Indeed, the two top finishers will get a spot in the Candidates' Tournament, to be held in June this year. As for now, the players who qualified to play in the Candidates' are: Player Ian...Full StoryAdded on 02.02.2022
We're excited to announce that GM John Burke is a new ICC contributor! John became an IM at 14, in 2016, and a GM in 2018, at 16. In 2020, John won the US Junior Championship. That qualified him for the 2021 US Championship, where he was able to score 5/11 with a performance rating north of 2650, despite being the lowest-rated player. Currently, John is a junior at Webster University, where he's able to study chess with his teammates and his coach GM Liem Le. Here is John's article on...Full StoryAdded on 01.31.2022
GM Joel recaps the last three rounds of the Tata Steel Masters 2022. It's no surprise that Magnus won the event. With Dubov's forfeit due to testing positive to Covid, Magnus has a whole point assured in the last round. That's it; Magnus needed a draw in round 12 to be sure he would emerge victoriously. Carlsen played a fantastic game with Caruana and won round 12, getting his score to +4 and 8.5 points. With the last round point, Magnus reached 9.5/13, too much for everyone. Mamedyarov had...Full StoryAdded on 01.30.2022
Article by GM Ronen Har-Zvi Same same same – Magnus winning one other Tata tournament making it his 8th!! The title says it all – another tournament, another fantastic and straightforward performance by the world champ: 8.5/12 (not counting the technical win against Dubov in the last round – as Dubov had Covid and did not play round 7 and then left the tournament from rounds 11-13) - 5 wins and 7 draws not being worse pretty much at any moment during any of the games. Mamedyarov shared...Full StoryAdded on 01.29.2022
With a fantastic game - and an exchange sacrifice! - Magnus Carlsen defeated Fabiano Caruana in round 12 to secure the final victory of his 8th Tata Steel Masters! Photo credit Lennart Ootes tatasteelchess.com Magnus played a splendid game, giving his "old foe" no chance. Carlsen won't play the last round, as he is paired with Dubov, who, as we all know, had to leave the tournament. In the post-game interview, Magnus said: "I am very happy with the total result and today's as well. A...Full StoryAdded on 01.28.2022
COVID is again the protagonist in Wijk aan Zee. Daniil Dubov tested positive this morning and had to leave the tournament. While the results he had until now remain in place, he will forfeit the remaining three games. Of course, there won't be rating changes for these three games. The three players who are going to get a whole point without playing are Richard Rapport (today), Praggnanandhaa (tomorrow), and Magnus Carlsen (Sunday, last round). Here is the organizers' official...Full StoryAdded on 01.27.2022
In this video recap, GM Joel covers rounds 9 and 10 of the Tata Steel Masters 2022. It may sound like only two rounds, hence a short video, but there has been a lot of blood spilt in these two days. In fact, the Tatas 2022 has been a great tournament for the spectators because of a lot of decisive games. Round 9 was probably the most important one for the ultimate result of the tournament. Carlsen beat Mamedyarov to take the sole lead. Round 10 wasn't as critical for the standings at the...Full StoryAdded on 01.26.2022
Carlsen and Karjakin called it a day after 16 moves into a Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense. In the post-game interview, Magnus said: "It's always a pity to miss a chance to fight against a strong opponent, but tournament-wise this is OK." Magnus, in the interview, sounded very pragmatic, thinking about the standings and outlining that he still has two games with white to play. And we know how dangerous Magnus can be when playing white. Mamedyarov and Giri drew their games, confirming Magnus'...Full Story
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