With four opening draws, the first week of the 2018 world chess championship was about to be labeled the "calm b4 the storm" after an early thunderclap today. But even wing gambits can't seem give either player separation.
In today's round five, Magnus Carlsen went back to the Sicilian, and again Fabiano Caruana repeated the Rossolimo. But just when it seemed some small nuance would differentiate the action from rounds one and three, the challenger hit the board with the spike 6. b4!?
"It's really...
The semifinals of the women's world championship will be played between Ju Wenjun, Lagno, Kosteniuk, Mariya Muzychuk.
There is no denying it: quarterfinals are a big deal. Everything is magnified, from the tension and suspense to the thrill that something really momentous is happening. For three of the four winners, there would be places into the semifinals and spots in the new women's candidates' tournament. For the losers, the bittersweet feeling of being so near and yet so far,...
In March 2017, I looked to see who made the most official brilliancy prizes. This led to three articles. Mikhail Tal was number one with 15 brilliancy prizes:
Tal's brilliancy prizes
Anatoly Karpov and Rashid Nezhmetdinov both had 10, putting them in a tie for second-third:
Karpov's brilliancy prizes
Nezhmetdinov's brilliancy prizes
I had intended to write an article about Kasparov, who came in second with 12, but for some reason (old age?) I completely forgot to do it. Now it’s...
GM Fabiano Caruana is feeling feisty in game five of the world chess championship. He gambits a pawn with 6.b4!? against Magnus Carlsen! GM Alex Yermolinsky brings you instant analysis of this exciting and instructive game!
The World Chess Championship 2018 has been quite exciting so far, with some really interesting moments. The current scoreline is 2.5-2.5, and we are yet to see a decisive result.
A seperate news report will be written on round 5 and the game analysis. This post focuses on 5 Conclusions from the WCC as it closes in on the halfway mark.
5 Conclusions from World Championship 2018 as it approaches the halfway mark
1. Fabiano has handled World Championship pressure quite well
After the opening...
Viswanathan Anand won the Tata Steel Chess India blitz tournament in Kolkata. "It was just the most magical day," said the Indian superstar, who tied for first with Hikaru Nakamura with 12.5/18 and then defeated the American grandmaster in the playoff.
"I'm really, really happy. There's something about winning an event that's just extra special."
Eleven months after winning the world rapid title in Saudi-Arabia, Anand, now 48 years old, won yet another strong event. His victory in the...
Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen drew their fifth game of their 2018 world chess championship. Again the champion answered 1. e4 with the Sicilian but this time Caruana tried a hybrid of the Rossolimo and Wing Gambit with 6. b4!?
It wasn't enough to rattle Carlsen and the game ended drawn after 34 moves.
The score is now 2.5-2.5 after five games. Carlsen will get White the next two games.
The world championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano...
Two Russians topped Chess.com's November Titled Tuesday with performances of 8.5/10 each. GM Evgeny Tomashevsky (@EvgenyT), known as "The Professor" for his solidity, glasses, and demeanor, and Grigory Oparin (@OparinGrigoriy), one of Russia's rising talents. Each reached a score of 8.5/10, enough lift them above the rest of the field. This was Tomashevsky's first Titled Tuesday win and Oparin's second.
A field of 313 titled players participated in the event, making it the third-largest Titled Tuesday...
It's the biggest chess event of the year as World Champion Magnus Carlsen will try to defend his title against the American challenger Fabiano Caruana.
The 2018 world chess championship will run November 9-28, and you can follow it all on Chess.com.
Game six will start Friday, November 16 at 7 a.m. Pacific time (10 a.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. London/GMT. Your local time: ).
Caruana will play Black ans Carlsen will play White in game six. The match is scheduled for 12 games plus tiebreaks...
