In today's rapid and blitz games, Hikaru Nakamura and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave defeated their opponents—Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian respectively—to reach the final of the London Chess Classic.
It was a long and fun last day at Google headquarters (after this the tournament returns to Olympia in Kensington) with two games of rapid and four games of blitz. With both matches on an equal score after two classical games, everything would be decided in the faster time controls (25...
With two draws again on the second day of the London Chess Classic, both semifinals—Levon Aronian vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Hikaru Nakamura vs Fabiano Caruana—will be decided in the rapid and blitz segment on Thursday.
Last month's world championship saw 12 draws in the classical portion. It is generally believed that this scenario is typical of modern chess, where computers have not only boosted the preparation of players to enormous heights, but also made them stronger defenders.
The...
The Chess.com member kurniadigautama asked:
Something has been bothering me since I saw the game between GM Vidit Santosh and GM David Eggleston in The Chess.com Isle of Man international open tournament (round 1). In the game, we see that Vidit sacrificed a queen for two minor pieces claiming that the white pieces are not in sync and hence White’s king will be mated if Black can bring all his forces towards the king. The problem is, though we can understand the principle, calculations are...
GM Ben Finegold shows you the rest of the main line in the Philidor Defense in his comprehensive series, Learn what to do in this familiar opening from one of the world's top opening experts.
Trash talk is a rich part of chess culture. Born in the coffeehouses and parks where real chess is played, where real men (and women battle) and only cowards turn down a sacrifice, and no one pays a mite of attention to the elements.
Here are seven amusing, ridiculous, or even historic incidents of trash talk over the board, in print, and in media.
7. This Park Hustler
In one the most viral clips in chess history, GM Maurice Ashley and his park hustling opponent, Wilson, maintain a constant stream...
Both the games Caruana-Nakamura and MVL-Aronian were drawn on the first day of the London Chess Classic, the final leg of the 2018 Grand Chess Tour. Meanwhile, the British Knockout Championship is underway as well.
The Grand Chess Tour ends in London this year with two semifinals (Tuesday-Thursday) and two finals (Saturday-Monday) between Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian, the top four finishers of the earlier Grand Chess Tour events in Leuven, Paris and...
Maria Theresa and Frederick II play chess as Ares watches in an allegory for the Seven-Years War
In a kind of Cold War allegory, the Sept. 29, 1947 issue of "Time" featured the Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (who had been accusing the USA of warmongering) behind whom the artist, Ernest Hamlin Baker—who designed over 300 "Times" covers—used a position from a game between a youthful American and a older Russian in which the overconfident Russian...
Fabiano. London. Classical match. Then rapid.
Sound familiar?
No, it's not a continuation of the world championship, it's the new format of the 2018 London Chess Classic, which will take place December 11-17. This 10th edition will be split up between DeepMind's Google headquarters and the traditional venue of London Olympia.
Fabiano Caruana will travel back across the Atlantic and be joined by three other qualifiers—Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave—in...
[What is CAPS? Read the explanation here.]
All 12 classical games are in the books for the 2018 world chess championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana. Spectators are divided on their opinion of who deserves to be world champion. All draws, not many opportunities for victory, and a three rating point difference between the players... Should they be co-champions?
To continue our Chess.com Computer Aggregated Precision Score (CAPS) series, we will take a look at what CAPS...
