Connected rooks on the 7th or 2nd rank are called pigs. This is because they gobble up everything in their path. With this hint in mind, please try to find whites best move.

Whites f2 pawn and square is a pressure point. Blacks pieces target that square and pawn, while whites rook, queen and king defend that square. Black indirectly exploits that pressure by having its queen capture whites g3 pawn with check.

If the whites f2 pawn takes the queen, blacks rook checks from g2 (see next diagram).

This forces the white king to h1. Blacks rook then checks again from h2. The white king steps back to g1, as blacks other rook on c2 mates from g2.

Hence, after the black queen checks from g3, whites king flees to h1. Now blacks queen does a little maneuvering. First, the queen snatches whites h3 pawn with check. The king moves back to g1. The queen checks again from g3, forcing the king to h1 (see next diagram).

The queen next checks from f3. If the king goes back to g1, one of blacks rooks moves to the 4th rank so as to slide over to the g and h files and mate white with blacks queen and rook. If the king retreats to h2, black has simple option of bursting through on the f2 square and winning an overwhelming amount of material. Better, but not as simple it is for black to move its c2 rook to c3. The rook and queen form a mating battery on the 3rd rank, which does allow white to do a spite check with its queen.

The lesson this week is that connected rooks on the 7th or 2nd rank have a bite that is worse than their oink.

Reach Eric Morrow atericmorrowlaw@gmail.comor(505) 327-7121.

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Chess Corner: A bite worse than their oink - Enid News & Eagle

This article originally appeared on VICE Netherlands.

Iepe Rubingh does a final check of the venue to make sure everything is ready. There's a small table inside a boxing ring, with a stool either side of it. The audience has their eyes glued to the doors, waiting for the athletes to emerge. Tonight, they're hoping to witness either a checkmate, a knockout or both we are, after all, at a chess boxing match.

Like korfball and ball shooting (the Dutch word, "klootschieten", is more fun), chess boxing is another unique sport born in the Netherlands. Former performance artist Iepe Rubingh came up with the intriguing combination of brain and fist-fighting, before stepping into the ring himself for the world's very first match, in 2003.

Sixteen years on, Ignition Festival is hosting another match in the same venue, Amsterdam's iconic church-turned-concert hall, Paradiso.

Out in the hallway, Olegs Petrovsky from Latvia is almost ready, rinsing his mouth guard. He'll play a round of chess, followed by a round of boxing. If five rounds of both don't result in either a knockout or a checkmate, a panel of judges will decide on the winner.

"That first time was incredibly nerve-wracking," says Rubingh. "We had no idea how a match would actually play out. Aside from a year of extensive prep work through training, we didn't have much experience with either chess or boxing. The guys fighting today are a thousand times better."

That's probably because the sport has grown by about a thousandfold since that first match. About 3,500 people participate worldwide, with matches organised in Finland, India, Russia and Germany.

Petrovsky pulls up the hood of his robe and steps into the room. Daniil Soloviev, his Russian opponent, also enters the ring, taking his place on one of the stools. According to the announcer, the men will begin by flexing their chess muscles. The athletes wear noise-canceling headphones to increase their focus. They won't hear the announcer's scream of surprise at Solovievs risky moves.

The audience watches the game on a big screen, while the guys smack their pieces onto the board and hit the timer as soon as theyve made their move. The crowd is going wild, but neither player hears a thing.

Kick-boxing legend Rem Bonjasky is seated next to the announcer, waiting to commentate on the boxing segment. "He's super smart," says Rubingh. "If he were an actual chess boxer, he might have been world champion."

The first round of boxing gets underway. You'd think most chess players eschew violence, but in chess boxing it's an essential element of the game players punch each other in the gut and in the jaw. To compete in chess boxing, you need to have at least rudimentary knowledge of both, says Rubingh. "Otherwise, youll be on the ground in 12 seconds flat or checkmated in the first round."

Petrovsky resumes his chess game with a fresh cut to the head. Rubingh explains that he would be feeling exhilarated. "All of your blood flows to your muscles, so you dont have a lot of oxygen in your head. Youre thinking under a lot of pressure it's like being an astronaut or a soldier." With ringing ears and a heart-rate of 160 beats per minute, the guys try to focus on the board in front of them.

The match goes five rounds without a knockout or checkmate. But Solovievs timer goes off during the final chess round the Russian has run out of time, and so Petrovsky wins. The evenings second match is between Denis Gurba (Russia) and Sakari Lhderinne (Finland). The Russian player is out for revenge, after the Finn won their most recent battle.

Chess pieces fly off the board, punches are thrown even faster. Then, toward the end of round three, Gurba has his opponent all but cornered on the chessboard. Just before he can seal the deal, the bell rings, signalling them to step back into the boxing ring.

After a well-placed hit to the jaw, Gurba slumps. He gets a standing eight count, and the roles suddenly seem reversed. But despite wobbling, Gurba somehow stays upright. He makes it to the end of the round and back onto his stool, where he checkmates Lhderinne.

Chess boxing might sound like a joke, but the atmosphere is electric and the athletes are impressive. The punches are also very real my camera got whacked, and I left with a bloody eyebrow to rival Petrovskys.

Scroll down for more pictures of the event at Paradiso, organised by Ignition.

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Chess Boxing Is Equal Parts Brains and Brawn - VICE UK

WGM Swati Ghate became the second victim in five days of the strict anti-watch rule at the Indian Team Championship. Like Baskaran Adhiban, she forfeited her game for wearing an analog watch, despite attempts by her opponentIM Tania Sachdev to continue the game.

Only a few days after GM Baskaran Adhiban forfeited his third-round game in the National Team Open in India for wearing an analog wristwatch, the same happened to another player. As reported by Chessbase India, Swati forfeited her game in the last round after a deputy arbiter had noticed a watch on her wrist.

Unlike Adhiban's opponent, who claimed the win himself, Sachdev wanted to continue the game.

"I had noticed the watch a couple of moves into the game," Sachdev told Chess.com. "I had no intention of informing the arbiter so I continued playing without giving it any thought. A few moves later the section arbiter spotted the watch and declared a loss. I requested the section arbiter, and on being refused, the chief arbiter, to let us continue but it wasn't possible due to rules."

The game was played in the last round of the championship, which took place in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. The incident with Adhiban occurred in the third round, last Saturday.

Swati, a seasoned player with three IM norms who played for India at four Olympiads (1998, 2002, 2006 and 2008),was unavailable for comments.

In most FIDE events, electronic devices are banned. However, inMarch 2018, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) banned the use of all wristwatches to simplify matters for arbiters.

Two players lost their games in less than a weekand a third in total. GM Martyn Kravtsiv was the first victim at the 2018the KIIT Open in Orissa. The call for changing the rule is getting stronger.

Sachdev: "Its unfortunate and no one should win or lose like this. I am not sure whats the solution. I get the rule of no electronics. The idea of allowing analog is also not as easy as in big tournaments its difficult for arbiters to check each watch to ensure if its analog or not. I am going to leave it to the experts to figure out a way forward so such incidents dont happen and the players need to do their bit and follow rules."

It was already after the incident with Adhiban that AICF secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan suggested that the rule might be changed."[I]f there are enough player voices who come up to us and say they want it changed, we will look into it," he said.

Update Feb. 14: Mr Chaugan gave a further comment to Chess.com:

"The rule was made just to ease out the task. We run a tournament with over 2500 players playing at the same time so to keep a vigil on smartwatches was never too easy.

However, in the face of what has transpired in the cases of Adhiban and Swati, it looks like we need to address this again. We will seek the advice of our Arbiters Commission on the matter."

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Another Watch Incident At Indian Team Championship - Chess.com

By: Ahmed Ali, Peak Associate

Imagine, if you will, a sport that simultaneously pushed its athletes to their physical and intellectual limits a sport that requires an extreme amount of focus, restraint, and raw power. Well, imagine no longer, as the odd, but nevertheless impressive, new sport known as chess boxing has burst onto the scene.

Chess boxing is a sport in which two athletes alternate between six rounds of chess and five rounds of boxing, lasting three minutes each. In chess boxing, the winner is whoever gets a checkmate or a knockout first. Athletes can also be disqualified for trying to stall for time and, in the event of a draw, the winner is determined by points scored in the boxing ring. If the two athletes are still tied after their five boxing rounds have been assessed by the judges, the athlete playing the black side in chess is determined to be the winner.

This sport of two extremes was created by Dutch performance artist Iepe Rubingh in the early 2000s. Rubinghs idea was to create performance art to make people think by ushering in a new sport that was based on the 1992 comic Froid quateur. In the comic, there is a chess boxing championship in which two athletes spend an entire day in a boxing match (with a ring painted like a giant chessboard) and the next day in a round of chess. Rubingh likely found this set up to be unwieldy, so he refined the rules to make a match of chess boxing more manageable in terms of time. In 2003, Rubingh started the first official chess boxing competition and, somewhat unsurprisingly, became the first champion.

What was surprising was that this new sport ended up becoming wildly popular. Since then, in collaboration with the Dutch Boxing Association and the Dutch Chess Federation, the World Chess Boxing Organization was formed with the goal of legitimizing chess boxing worldwide. Rubingh himself has set aside his career as an artist to focus on promoting and expanding the sport, which is particularly popular in Germany, the UK, India, and Russia.

One of the most difficult aspects of the sport is the mental fortitude it requires. It can be extremely taxing to amp yourself up for a fight, only to have to quickly calm down for a tough mental exercise, and then have to repeat the process up to six times. The official Chess Boxing Global website describes this unique challenge, noting that chess boxing is a rare blend of contrasting skills that requires athletes to combine a powerful body with a sharp mind. While there are many quirky elements to the sport, its this transition between physical and intellectual extremes that creators and proponents of the sport describe as its most intriguing feature. As the official website notes, In the ring, the fighter is fueled by testosterone, adrenaline, and skill. Three minutes later, he [or she] changes battlegrounds. The contender has only seconds to restrain his fighting instinct and move into the silent logic of his mind. It is the only sport in which the heart, mind and body perform in total harmony.

Personally, I think one of the coolest things about this sport is the fact that its entirely possible that someone with no boxing experience could beat Floyd Mayweather in what is technically, at least partially, a boxing match. All this could be done without having to actually fight him, as long as the checkmate was secured in the first round of chess. If not, well, that might be the last game of chess one ever played.

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Chess boxing: a sport of two extremes - The Peak

About 34 people signed up for a local chess tournament on Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday. The tournament included all-ages and was organized by Ciara Dykstra and her father, Marvin Dykstra.

We dont want chess to leave the community, Ciara Dykstra said. I also have a niece and nephew and a son that I am hoping will start playing soon, in a couple of years.

Dykstra said chess is a good game because its good for the brain and anybody can play.

I think it brings kids together, she said. Dykstra and her father have been running the tournament since 2015.

Her father is a health teacher at Klamath Union, and both of them coach elementary players at Triad School, and at after-school programs at Conger, Roosevelt, Pelican and Mills elementary schools.

Several kids sat in Klamath Union, arriving early in the morning on their day off from school to play chess.

Two 9-year-olds, Tristan Gomez and Hannah Larsen, were playing with intense concentration as their parents stood nearby.

He was good at video games and I said, Well, why dont we try this? Its kind of like a video game, you use strategy, you try to get the king, and he really picked it up quickly, said Garcias father, Anthony Garcia.

Garcia said Gomez has been playing chess for a couple of years, and this was his first tournament.

Larsens mother, Kassandra Larsen Cowart, said her daughter has been playing chess for a long time, but recently became more interested in it after receiving a new chessboard.

She just gravitated towards it. And then you know, I also got her a board for Christmas and thats all we do is eat, breathe, sleep chess at our house. Shes very dedicated to this game, she said.

Gomez and Larsens parents all said they were impressed with the turnout at the tournament.

I love seeing how many people come out for it. I wasnt expecting it because you know, when I was growing up, chess was not a cool thing to do, Larsen Cowart said.

There were five rounds of games in each age category and three age categories. The adult and high school category won a cash prize, while the other two won trophies.

The winners from the kindergarten through fifth-grade categories were Travyn Ruano in third place, Elsie Bawmann in second place and Alex Smith in first place.

From the sixth through eighth-grade category, Third place went to Luke Smith and Donovan Jones, second place went to Isaac Smith, and first place was a three-way tie between Jack Jensen, Wyatt Jensen and Nathan Ferns.

In the adult and high school category, third place went to Tyller Jones and James Stredwick, second place went to Dave Kurfman and Michael John, and first place went to Daniel Warner and Bob Rea.

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Annual chess tournament brings chess lovers together - Herald and News

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Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis University

Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis University

Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis University

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The SLU chess team finished 2019 with a string of high finishes in recent tournaments. They now look forward to the Presidents Cup, or Final Four, the collegiate national championship of chess in early April.

After taking the Midwest Collegiate Chess and Blitz Championships in October, the team travelled to China in November and took third place at the World Prestigious University Chess Invitational, placing ahead of prestigious universities such as Harvard and Oxford. The team also defeated its host, Nankai University.

SLU chess team coach and grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez, the first grandmaster from Central America, stated that this was the teams first time competing internationally as a team, although most of the teams members have competed extensively as individuals in the past.

Then, SLU finished again in third place at the competitive Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Tournament, which determines which teams compete in the Presidents Cup in New York. The Pan-American Tournament is different from most collegiate chess tournaments in its structure.

Ramirez explained, Its a very unforgiving tournament, simply because its a very short event. Tournaments of this strength are usually nine rounds long, which gives a little more wiggle room for mistakes In this case we had it really rough. We got defeated by Texas Tech, which is one of the best universities in the country, and the fact that we got matched in the last round with number one by rating, which is Webster University.

SLU went on to defeat Webster, which has won five of the last seven national championships, in the last round of the Pan-American Tournament. SLU Chess Team grandmaster Alex Ipatov, currently ranked 142nd amongst active players in the world by the International Chess Federation, defeated Aleksander Lenderman, ranked 131st, of Webster, which Ramirez said was the highlight of the tournament. Ipatov commented, [Beating Webster] felt very good. They are our arch-rivals and the highest ranked collegiate team in the nation. We are second.

In 2018, SLU placed fourth at the Presidents Cup. Fellow St. Louisian Webster University also qualified, whose team has won the Presidents Cup five times in the last seven years. SLU will again face off against Webster and Texas Tech, as well as the University of Texas at Dallas in New York this April. In contrast to other tournaments, the Presidents Cup features only classical chess, in which matches can last for hours as opposed to minutes in blitz or other formats. In addition, teams aggregate scores are as important to winning the tournament as victory in individual matches.

Founded in 2015, the team has expanded from five to thirteen members, which allows them to field multiple sets of players within a single tournament. The SLU Chess Team features six male and two female grandmasters. Ramirez commented that the team has also grown closer and developed more chemistry in a relative short period of time since its founding.

Another factor conducive to the teams success and in attracting new talent is St. Louiss chess environment. Ramirez said, Theres no other city that has the current chess ambiance in the U.S. or maybe in the world. I think for chess players its kind of a mecca. Theres always top level chess, lectures, opportunities we have the resources to be one of the best.

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SLU Chess Looks Ahead to Final Four - The University News

1/21/2020 The 18th Gibraltar International Chess Festival starts today at the Caleta Hotel on the east side of the Rock of Gibraltar. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov tops the starting ranking list, joined by fellow "2700 club" members Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Wang Hao, Veselin Topalov, David Navara, Le Quang Liem and Kirill Alekseenko. Anatoly Karpov opened the festival with a simultaneous exhibition. Live games and commentary with GM David Howell and Fiona Steil-Antoni from 14:00 UTC (15:00 CET, 9:00 EST). | Pictured: Mayor of Gibraltar John Gonalves, made the first move on the top board at the start of the 2020 Gibraltar Masters with top seed GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan. Currently No.8 in the world he played his first round game against 12-year-old Candidate Master Raahil Mullick from India. Photo: Niki Riga

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The Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2020 starts today and runs over nine rounds through January 30th. It is the 18th edition of the tournament, which takes place, as usual, at the Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar and is directed by GM Stuart Conquest.

In the Masters tournament, 240 players are in attendance, including almost 100 grandmasters. The top seeds areShakhriyar Mamedyarov and Maxim Vachier-Lagrave, but also five other grandmasters rated over 2700. In addition, many other grandmasters with well-known names play along, including Vassily Ivanchuk and Michael Adams. Notably absent this year is the U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura who has been a Gibraltar regular in the past. The top-ratedwoman in the field is Anna Muzychuk 59th onthe overall list.

Official teaser video

Players receive 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes until the end of the game plus 30 seconds per move startingfrom move one.

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With 17 players each, England and Spain unsurprisingly have strong contingents, but they are surpassed by the Indian delegation, which comprises 29 players,led by Adhiban Baskaran, and featuring future starsPraggnanandhaa and Gukesh.

The Fashionable Caro-Kann Vol.1 and 2

The Caro Kann is a very tricky opening. Blacks play is based on controlling and fighting for key light squares. It is a line which was very fashionable in late 90s and early 2000s due to the successes of greats like Karpov, Anand, Dreev etc. Recently due to strong engines lot of key developments have been made and some new lines have been introduced, while others have been refuted altogether. I have analyzed the new trends carefully and found some new ideas for Black.

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...240 Players

Gibraltar is known in part for its high prize fund specifically for women, with the top scorer taking home GBP 20,000,ensuring once again that many women take part in the Chess Festival. Notable namesincludeAlexandra Kosteniuk, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, Lei Tingje,Tan Zhongyi and many more.

Continuing a trend, the Tehran Times recently reported that Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, the strongestwoman from Iran and eighth best player in the country overall, as well as number 13 in the women's world rankings, had announced her withdrawal from the country's national team on her Instagram account.

For many years, the Gibraltar Open was one of the best attended open tournaments in the world, a successor to the long-running Aeroflot Open. In recent years theIsle of Man has outstripped Gibraltar in this respect, particularly last year when the tournament was upgraded to a qualifying event for the FIDE candidates tournament. But the Gibraltar Chess Festival remains a first-class destination and its Masters group one of the absolute top opens. It is popular among players not only because of the high prize money, but also because of its friendly and fun-filledatmosphere.

In addition to the Masters, amateur and challenge tournaments are offered, as well as a blitz tournament and a number of other side events.

Master Class Vol.6: Anatoly Karpov

On this DVD a team of experts looks closely at the secrets of Karpov's games. In more than 7 hours of video, the authors examine four essential aspects of Karpov's superb play.

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The 12thworld champion in simultaneous action

Former World Champion Anatoly Karpov opened the festival with a simultaneous performance on 29 boards, which Karpov won with 27-2 (+25, = 4).

Translation from German and additional reporting: Macauley Peterson

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Start of the Gibraltar Chess Festival 2020 - Chessbase News

The 82nd edition of the chess festival in Wijk aan Zee takes place from January 11th to 26th. The Masters and the Challengers are both 14-player single round robins.Rounds start at 12:30 UTC, except January 16th in Eindhoven,when it starts 30 minutes later.

A lot has been said about Alireza Firouzja's performance at his first appearance in the traditional tournament of Wijk aan Zee. After eight roundshe was sharing the lead, having beaten the likes of Vladislav Artemiev and Anish Giri. But the toughest challenge was yet to come, as he was paired up against world champion Magnus Carlsen in round nine. It was their first classical encounter. Would the youngster continue to amaze by breaking the champ's streak? Or would Carlsen show who's boss when it mattered the most?

In the end, the Norwegian prevailed, outplaying his opponent from a complex middlegame position. The loss does not discredit Firouzja's performance, however, as this is literally the first time he finds himself facing a line-up made up mostly of 2700+ players. Moreover, the youngster will get a chance to show what he is made of in round ten, when he will have the black pieces against sole leader Fabiano Caruana. Perhaps the fact that he lost the lead against the strongest player in the world will alleviate the pressure, allowing him to show his best chess against the world number two.

We will see these two facing each other multiple times in the future Alireza Firouzja and Magnus Carlsen| Photo: Alina l'Ami

Carlsen's strategy in the opening worked to perfection, as he later explained that he was striving to keep most pieces on the board. Slowly but surely, the world champion showed his class by executingaccurate plans while his opponent had trouble finding his way in the midst of a highly strategic battle. Much like in his previous win over Nikita Vitiugov, it was not a one-movetactical oversight what provoked Carlsen's opponent to collapse:

Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3

The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.

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As Constantin Lupulescu mentions (see full annotations below), Firouzja's plan to take the knight to e3 after 20.f1 is not really effective, as the piecewould defend more effectively from a3 after 20.b1. By this point, White's position was quite uncomfortable nonetheless, but the plan suggested by Lupulescu seems to give him better chances.

After the text, Carlsen continued to put pressure on his young rival, until pragmatically finishing him off with a series of exchanges:

Firouzja resigned after 38...xf2+ 39.xf2 xf1, as40.xf1 xd2 41.xe5 can be responded with 41...c3, and Black wins. Coming from a slow start, in which he drew seven games in a row mostly from inferior positions Carlsen was visibly happy after this victory. He quipped:

I'm very happy, obviously. As happy as you can be beating a 16-year-old and moving to 'plus two' in round nine.

The seven-time winner of the elite tournament in Wijk aan Zee also pointed out that he is still in contention for first place:

Now I'm only half a point behind with four rounds to go, so the math suggests that I'm a candidate [to win the event].

The Norwegian will face an out-of-form Vladislav Kovalev with White in round ten.Will a third win in a row leave him tied for first before the final sprint? We'll have to wait and see. For now, we can enjoy Lupulescu's annotations of what in factwas the onlydecisive game of the day:

Master Class Vol.8: Magnus Carlsen

Scarcely any world champion has managed to captivate chess lovers to the extent Carlsen has. The enormously talented Norwegian hasn't been systematically trained within the structures of a major chess-playing nation such as Russia, the Ukraine or China.

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More videos at the official YouTube channel

We just mentioned the fact that Kovalev has not shown his best form in Wijk this year. He was alone in the cellar of the standings table before taking advantage of Jeffery Xiong's strange handling of a clearly better position, and on Tuesday he found himself defending an inferior position with the white pieces from as early as move 10. Jorden van Foreest approached the opening creatively, going for a line that gave up his queen from the get go. Oddly enough, however, Kovalev chose a differentpath:

In the post-game interview, Van Foreest explained that his rival was only prepared to face 9...a5 and not the Dutchman's 9...dxe5 (see diagram). Given the unorthodox nature of the position, Kovalev spent almost half an hour here, and instead of opting for 10.e6 xe6 11.xd8 xd8 he played the incorrect 10.f3, allowing 10...bd7, when Black is already in the driver's seat.

Van Foreest had a strong initiative and seemed to be en route to get a win that would leave him tied with Caruana atop the standings, but he failed to correctly assess the potential endgames that might arise. Credit must be given to Kovalev for his stubborn defence, which led to the game ending in a draw, as there was no way for Black to break his opponent's fortress:

Chess Endgames 7 - Endgame Principles Weaknesses & Fortresses

The 7th volume of this endgame series deals with many different aspects of endgame play: the art of pawn play, weaknesses, converting an advantage, stalemate, fortresses, the art of defence and typical mistakes. Learn how to convert an extra piece or an exchange or how to exploit space advantage and better mobility. The themes the art or defence, fortress and stalemate are also intertwined. If your position has a solid fundament then you may surprisingly reach a fortress which might even be based on a stalemate.

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Black captured White's last queenside pawnbefore the time control was reached and tried to break this fortress position for over 30 moves. But to no avail. Kovalev saved the half point and Van Foreest missed his chance to go into the final four rounds sharing the lead.

A game to keep an eye on Vladislav Kovalev v Jorden van Foreest| Photo: Alina l'Ami

Vladislav Artemiev and Jan-Krzysztof Duda also failed to make the most of superior positions, as they ended up drawing their games with Yu Yangyi and Jeffery Xiong respectively. Constantin Lupulescuanalysed these games, praising in both cases the resilience shown by the players defending with the black pieces. The remaining three draws finished after 31 moves or fewer, with Vishy Anand the first one calling it a day an understandable decision, given how disappointed he might have been after having misseda huge chance to take down Caruana in the previous round.

All games of the Masters available at Live.Chessbase.com

Vladislav Artemiev chatting with starorganizer Jeroen van den Berg| Photo: Alina l'Ami

In the Challengers, the fight to get a spot in next year's Masters continues to heat up. Top seed David Anton and local favourite Erwin l'Ami won key match-ups to catch Pavel Eljanov in the lead on 6 out of 9 points. L'Ami defeated Rauf Mamedov, while Anton got the better of Nils Grandelius. Much like Carlsen, Anton started slowly and is now rising through the ranks with two consecutive wins in rounds eight and nine. The Spaniardwill be facing co-leader Eljanov on Wednesday in what will surely be the highlight of the day in "Group B".

All games of the Challengers available at Live.Chessbase.com

A Dutch meeting Erwin l'Ami might face Anish Giri in next year's Masters section | Photo: Alina l'Ami

A Classical Guide to the French Defence

This DVD gives you the key to start out with the French Defence. GM Yannick Pelletier is a specialist of this opening, and believes that the most efficient way to understand its ideas, plans, and typical structures is to study classical lines.

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GM Yannick Pelletier reviews the action of the day

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Tata Steel Chess: Carlsen puts the brakes on Firouzja - Chessbase News

012120-blm-loc-1chess

Mack Lee, 10, a member of the Thomas Metcalf School chess team, studies the move of his opponent, Kelsey Jaynes, 9, a member of the Northpoint Elementary School chess team, in the Martin Luther King Scholastic Chess TournamentonMonday, Jan. 20, 2020, at Illinois State University's Bone Ballroom. Lee won the game.

TaiLynn Jiardina, 7, a member of the St. Mary's Elementary School chess team, considers options in her game with Shourya Jain, 8, of the Benjamin Elementary School chess team during the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Chess Tournament Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, at Illinois State University's Bone Ballroom. Jain won the game.

Proctor Mike Schulte of Kalamazoo, Mich., right, listens to Weber Sweeney, 7, of the Prairieland Elementary chess team explain how he and his opponent, Braxton Iliff, 6, of the Thomas Metcalf School chess team, came to a draw inMartin Luther King Scholastic Chess TournamentonMonday, Jan. 20, 2020, at Illinois State University's Bone Ballroom in Normal.

Eliot Ash, 9, a member of the Thomas Metcalf School chess team, watches a nearby contest as he played John Austin, 11, an independent competitor, as they competed in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Chess TournamentMonday, Jan. 20, 2020, at Illinois State University's Bone Ballroom. Austin won their game.

Proctor Jacob Davis of Normal made a ruling during the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Chess TournamentMonday, Jan. 20, 2020, at Illinois State University's Bone Ballroom.

Max Palacios, 13, a student at Germantown Middle School, stacked chess pieces during a timeout in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Chess TournamentMonday, Jan. 20, 2020, at Illinois State University's Old Main Room.

Fallen chessmen were lined up along the table at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Chess TournamentMonday, Jan. 20, 2020, at Illinois State University's Bone Ballroom.

Chess competitors hung out together in groups between matches at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Chess TournamentMonday, Jan. 20, 2020, at Illinois State University's Circus Room.

Prairieland Elementary School players Nikita Kolekar, 11, Mariah Walter, 11, and Nimita Kolekar, 11, practiced between games at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Chess TournamentMonday, Jan. 20, 2020, at Illinois State University's Circus Room.

Thomas Liu, 9, Dunlap, thought hard about his next move as he played Rajeeth Ganesan, 11, of the Benjamin Elementary School chess team during the Martin Luther King, Jr. Chess Tournament Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, at Illinois State University's Bone Ballroom.

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'Logic and strategy': Annual MLK chess tournament brings Bloomington-Normal students together with fun, sportsmanship - The Pantagraph

Iranian exile Alireza Firouzja, 16, shares the lead at tournament in the Netherlands after an impressive win against Anish Giri

Stefano Tatai v Sergio Mariotti, Rome 1972. Queen and four pawns each, so seemingly anybodys game, but can you find a winning move for Black (to play)?

Magnus Carlsens streak of 113 games without defeat is a new landmark in the 29-year-old Norwegians career but its climax has been six lacklustre draws at Wijk aan Zee which threaten to derail his impressive record there.

Carlsens halved games in the first four rounds completed an unbeaten sequence which broke Sergei Tiviakovs 2004-05 record of 110 against weaker opposition. Arguably the champions splendid run at the elite Tata Steel Wijk tournament of seven victories and a second place in eight attempts is a still more outstanding achievement.

Carlsen has been struggling and his Wijk record is in serious danger. His fifth draw, scored on Thursday against his former aide Daniil Dubov, followed a similar pattern to his four previous halves. Dubov stood better for most of the game, despite playing Black against Carlsens favourite 3 Bb5 Sicilian. After his fourth draw, against Jorden van Foreest, 20, Carlsen quipped Im saving bad positions every game. Whats not to like?

In Fridays sixth round Carlsen halved as White in only 28 moves and less than two hours play with his old rival Fabiano Caruana, Americas world No 2 and Carlsens 2018 title challenger.

Nine points from 13 games is the normal winning score at Wijk, a total which Carlsen achieved in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. To reach it in 2020 he now needs five wins and two draws.

Meanwhile Alireza Firouzja, 16, who recently quit Iran due to its policy of banning games against Israeli opponents and is widely tipped as a future world champion, scored another important win when he outplayed the Netherlands draw specialist, Anish Giri, in a delicately skilled endgame.

After five of the 13 rounds Firouzja (stateless) and Wesley So (US) led with 3.5/5, followed by three players on 3/5 and another five, including Carlsen, on 2.5/5. Firouzja v Carlsen, eagerly awaited following their controversial game at the World Blitz, will be in round nine on Tuesday.

Even now, with Carlsens record seemingly done and dusted, there is a rival grandmaster claimant. GM Bogdan Lalic, who represents Croatia but is a longtime English resident, played 175 games unbeaten between September 2010 and October 2011, including 151 against opponents with official Fide ratings.

The quality of Lalics opponents was lower even than Tiviakovs, and he agreed many short draws with weaker rivals. Once the player sitting on the adjacent board had difficulty writing down the long name of his own opponent on the score sheet, and by the time he had done so Lalic had agreed his draw and departed.

At the end of the 13-month period Lalics Fide rating was lower than when it started. His performance is not in the same league as Carlsen, nor with Ding Lirens earlier 100-game streak, but Lalic is a solid GM, currently unbeaten after seven rounds of the Prague Open, and there is no official requirement of the parameters for an unbeaten record.

Almost everyone attributes the longest winning streak of 19 or 20 games to Bobby Fischer at the 1970 interzonal and his 1971 candidates matches against Mark Taimanov, Bent Larsen and Tigran Petrosian (one opponent, Oscar Panno, resigned on move one as a schedule protest).

The longest top level winning streak is actually 25 games by the first official world champion Wilhelm Steinitz. It took him nine years, Steinitz won his final 16 games at Vienna 1873, crushed Joseph Blackburne 7-0 in their 1876 match, then won his first two games at Vienna 1882.

A record of a different kind was created this week when Quique Setin became the new Barcelona manager. The 61-year-old has played chess at a sufficiently high level, although more than 20 years ago, to have an official Fide international rating of 2055, expert standard.

His game in a 2002 simultaneous display by the then world champion Vlad Kramnik has been preserved and shows that Setin knew theory well and kept the Russian legend at bay until he was eventually overrun by a crushing attack.

Setin very likely ranks as the all-time chess No 1 among football managers, with his only rival Ossie Ardiles of Tottenham and Argentina. The competition is much stronger among professional GMs and IM players, where Carlsens former coach Simen Agdestein, Bela Soos of Romania, and Vlastimil Jansa of the former Czechoslovakia all played soccer internationally.

In 1992 when Agdestein competed at Hastings after drawing a match 2-2 against Anatoly Karpov, he stated in an interview with the Guardian that he had found it harder to play against the ex-world champion than against the legendary Italian defender Franco Baresi, who had been Agdesteins direct opponent on his international debut.

3654 1...g4+! 2 Qxg4 (if 3 Kxg4 Qf5 mate) Qf5! and Black won the pawn ending after 3 h5 c4! 4 h6 Qxg4+ 5 Kxg4 Kf6 6 h7 Kg7 and Blacks b pawn queens.

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Chess: Carlsen secures record but draws threaten chances of victory at Wijk - The Guardian