Added on 12.08.2021
GM Joel Benjamin reviews games 9 & 10 Should we be afraid now? Five games into the World Championship we have not seen a decisive game, after the two games since the break, games four and five, ended in fairly short draws. CHECK IT OUT Sergey Karjakin, sporting a pair of dark shades and a yellow hoodie, was interviewed at the beginning of the game. The strong Russian GM, second to Ian, said, “It’s not about chess,” and went on explaining that Magnus has an immense experience being...Full StoryAdded on 12.07.2021
GM Joel Benjamin reviews games 9 & 10 Should we be afraid now? Five games into the World Championship we have not seen a decisive game, after the two games since the break, games four and five, ended in fairly short draws. CHECK IT OUT The great Vishy Anand was interviewed before the game, and to the question "Can Ian do this?" "He HAS to do it! It's, of course, a gamble, but Ian needs to try something" --Vishy Anand And this is the feeling that more or less everyone had with...Full StoryAdded on 12.06.2021
GM Joel Benjamin Fans, be careful what you wish for. After five games we worried about a repeat of 2018, where all the regulation games between Carlsen and Caruana were drawn. Three games later our blood lust has been satisfied, but now the drama of the ultimate outcome has been largely drained from the match. GAME 6 1-0 MAGNUS WINS Carlsen grabbed the lead in the longest game in World Championship history, 136 moves. There is a lot to unpack here, with quite a number of critical...Full StoryAdded on 12.05.2021
GM Joel Benjamin reviews games 6, 7 & 8 Should we be afraid now? Five games into the World Championship we have not seen a decisive game, after the two games since the break, games four and five, ended in fairly short draws. CHECK IT OUT All the commentators were asking themselves: will Ian take a risk today and try to equalize the match? Yesterday Ian did the right thing, according to the Russian school of thought: after a loss, draw the next game; do not try to bounce back...Full StoryAdded on 12.04.2021
GM Joel Benjamin reviews games 6, 7 & 8 Should we be afraid now? Five games into the World Championship we have not seen a decisive game, after the two games since the break, games four and five, ended in fairly short draws. CHECK IT OUT It is not easy to understand the players' mindset after an epic battle. The chess world still resonates with those almost eight hours of Game 6, which made historical records. Magnus emerged victorious, as we all know. It often happens that after a...Full StoryAdded on 12.03.2021
GM Joel Benjamin reviews games 6, 7 & 8 Should we be afraid now? Five games into the World Championship we have not seen a decisive game, after the two games since the break, games four and five, ended in fairly short draws. CHECK IT OUT What a rollercoaster! We finally saw the human side of these two chess monsters. Ian and Magnus reached a complicated position with second on their clocks to play ten moves, and blunders finally happened. The game had been incredible until that point,...Full StoryAdded on 12.02.2021
GM Joel Benjamin Should we be afraid now? Five games into the World Championship we have not seen a decisive game, after the two games since the break, games four and five, ended in fairly short draws. GAME 4 1/2-1/2 DRAW I’ve always felt it was bad luck to play chess on your birthday. My personal experience has been grim. My last birthday game didn’t end in disaster—a draw with Felix Levin in a winning match for the U.S. Seniors—but Donald Trump ordered me to come home and the...Full StoryAdded on 12.01.2021
GM Joel Benjamin reviews games 4 & 5 Should we be afraid now? Five games into the World Championship we have not seen a decisive game, after the two games since the break, games four and five, ended in fairly short draws. CHECK IT OUT Game 5, and the Ruy Lopez is still Ian's opening in his games with white. And again, an anti-Marshall system with 8.a4. At move 8, Magnus played Rb8, deviating from the previous games. When Magnus is playing black, he always tries to do something to...Full StoryAdded on 11.30.2021
GM Joel Benjamin reviews games 4 & 5 Should we be afraid now? Five games into the World Championship we have not seen a decisive game, after the two games since the break, games four and five, ended in fairly short draws. CHECK IT OUT It's Magnus's Birthday. The Champion is 31 today, and most people are expecting (who knows why) him to push hard and get the first win in the match. Sunday, during her live commentary, Judit Polgar said that she happened to play important games on her...Full StoryAdded on 11.29.2021
GM Joel Benjamin Welcome to GMJoel’s World Championship recaps. I’ll be presenting these reports on the off days, summarizing the developments of the last two or three games. I’ll look for key moments in the games and trends I think the games are showing us. No one can be sure what to expect from the outset at a World Championship match. The fans all hoped, at the very least, that we would not see the type of draw-fest that has been common in recent years. While the most cynical will say...Full StoryAdded on 11.28.2021
GM Joel Benjamin reviews games 1, 2 & 3 Should we be afraid now? Five games into the World Championship we have not seen a decisive game, after the two games since the break, games four and five, ended in fairly short draws. CHECK IT OUT Nepo with white again today. Will it be 1.e4 e5? That's the question. Everyone on Twitter was asking for a prediction. Some seem to be sure Nepo will face the Marshall Attack in the Ruy Lopez again. And it was a Ruy Lopez indeed. But this time, the...Full StoryAdded on 11.27.2021
GM Joel Benjamin reviews games 1, 2 & 3 Should we be afraid now? Five games into the World Championship we have not seen a decisive game, after the two games since the break, games four and five, ended in fairly short draws. CHECK IT OUT And again, Magnus concedes a pawn for the initiative and a better pawn structure. If it were not the very beginning of the match, one could think it's a strategy. One thing is sure: Magnus' preparation is incredibly deep and strong. He deliberately...Full StoryAdded on 11.26.2021
GM Joel Benjamin reviews games 1, 2 & 3 Should we be afraid now? Five games into the World Championship we have not seen a decisive game, after the two games since the break, games four and five, ended in fairly short draws. CHECK IT OUT Ready, set... Ruy Lopez! The first game is over, and it's a draw. Nepo, with White, opened e4, and the players went into a Closed Ruy Lopez. The game has never been "owned" by one of the players, who played (guess how?) very well, without making...Full StoryAdded on 10.18.2021
INFO DONATE PGN download Tournament report 2nd Annual Susan Kantor Memorial Tourney Swiss Standard 15 5 rated manager Played on chessclub.com 51 players, 7 rounds Sun Oct 17 21 11:29 - Sun Oct 17 21 18:39 uscf3 tournament #2710 2nd Susan Kantor Memorial # Place Name Handle Rating Total Prize Description 1 1-2 Sina Movahed challenger2010 2064 6.0 $205 1st Place/1st U2200 (tie) 2 GORAN...Full StoryAdded on 10.07.2021
.btn-info-spacing { margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px !important; } All proceeds of your donation/entry fee will be gifted to the US Chess at-risk children's fund, in Susan's memory. US CHESS Rated Tournament with $1,500 in prizes guaranteed! The Internet Chess Club (ICC) announces the 2nd Annual Susan E. Kantor Memorial Online Chess Tournament to be held on Sunday, October 17, 2021. The event will be an online quick-rated, seven-round event (full details at the end of the article)...Full StoryAdded on 09.24.2021
Photo by http://chess-news.ru/ Russian-Latvian Grandmaster Evgeny Sveshnikov passed away at the age of 71. He was born in Chelyabinsk, east of the Ural mountains in Russia, in 1950. Sveshnikov, although being a talented youngster, wasn't able to properly focus on chess until he was over 20. He graduated in 1972 and worked as a research engineer in the Department of Internal Combustion Engines. When he started to compete in important tournaments, his talent was immediately on display: he...Full StoryAdded on 06.17.2021
GM Misa Pap just concluded his interesting series about the best World Championship Matches, and now he's on with a new feat. Misa, in this brand new video series, tackles one of the most thorny aspects of the game: developing a plan starting from typical positions in the middle game. How many times do we find ourselves trying to think about a plan when our knowledge of the opening has already led us into the middle game? It's the most challenging part of the game, and how the plan our next...Full StoryAdded on 06.10.2021
Here we come to the latest match for the title of the world champion in chess. It was a very close contest and also a powerful encounter. Champion Carlsen was first on the FIDE rating list with a stellar rating of 2835, and Caruana was 2nd with 2832! It was a very close match, and it was the first time in history that 2 players rated above 2800 played for the world title! Again, it was a 12 games match; it was played from 9th till 28th of November 2018, in London. Caruana won the Candidates...Full StoryAdded on 06.03.2021
After he edged out Gelfand in a very close affair in 2012, Anand didn't have too much time to rest on his laurels – he had to face a new challenger already next year in 2013. And whom? Carlsen himself! Of course, at the time, back in 2013, we didn't know yet what kind of big champion will Carlsen be, but he was always an immense talent and a big hope for the chess world. Carlsen managed to win the famous Candidates Tournament (best 8 players) earlier that year. But it was not a...Full Story