GM Joel's Chess Week Recap

24th Abu Dhabi Masters and French Championship

After a busy August, and waiting for the World Cup to start at the beginning of September, this was a slow week in world chess, but GM Joel has some games from the Abu Dhabi Masters and the French Championship. Egyptian Grandmaster Bassem Amin won the Abu Dhabi masters with 7.5 out of 9. Amin, still only 28 is approaching 2700, and while that may mean less than it used to, it still is lofty heights for a player from the Arab world. In round six he defeated Georgian GM Luka Paichadze in good style. GM Benjamin analyzes the game for us. Two rounds later he scored a critical victory over young UAE grandmaster AR Salem. Peripatetic English GM Nigel Short made a run for the top spot, which could have been his if Amin did not hold him to a draw in the last round. It's always worth to check Nigel's games and GM Joel shows us one of his wins. Finally, we drop in on the French Championship, where Etienne Bacrot took his eighth title after a playoff with Lauren Fressinet. Bacrot scored a key victory in round nine over Christian Bauer. Check out the always amazing analysis that Joel provides us with!