6/13/2024 – Rounds 4 and 5 of the three events that make up the Madrid Chess Festival took place on Wednesday. The Closed A tournament has Levy Rozman, also known as Gotham Chess, topping the standings with 4/5 points. The famous streamer defeated Cuban GM Lelys Martínez with the white pieces in round 5. Meanwhile, three players are sharing the lead in the Closed B event, which has 10-year-old Faustino Oro in fifth place with a fifty-percent score. | Photo: Federico Marín’s X account
new: ChessBase Magazine 225
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more. ChessBase Magazine offers first-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their brilliant games and explain the ideas behind the moves. Opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in tactics, strategy and endgames show you the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a direct download (incl. booklet as pdf file) or booklet with download key by post. Included in delivery: ChessBase Magazine #225 as “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.!
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A very famous underdog
With more than 5 million subscribers on his YouTube Channel, Levy Rozman is the most successful chess streamer in the world. The 28-year-old International Master has a 2322 FIDE rating, and achieved his peak rating of 2421 back in 2018. Due to his success as a streamer and promoter of the game, Rozman rarely plays over-the-board official tournaments.
Rozman did agree to participate in the main event of the Madrid Chess Festival, though. After commentating on the controversial match between Vladimir Kramnik and José Martínez, he stayed in Madrid to play a 10-player single round robin in which he is the lowest-rated participant. Despite his underdog status, the New Yorker has grabbed the sole lead by scoring 4/5 points at the outset of the event.
In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.
In the first five rounds, Rozman has drawn twice, and has defeated Tomás Sosa (rated 2535), Diego Macías (2471) and Lelys Martínez (2453). The leader has a half-point lead over Julio Suárez (2477), whom he will face with the black pieces in the penultimate round.
Tres en raya en @AJEDREZCABEZA. Hay premio para quien supere el número de seguidores de estas tres estrellas del streaming en una sola tirada. No hay nada para el que conozca sus nombres. pic.twitter.com/KZv8Mbx3tD
While Gotham Chess impresses in the Closed A tournament, one of the main attractions in the Closed B event is the participation of 10-year-old Faustino Oro. The Argentine prodigy needs to end the single round robin with a 5½/9 score to become the youngest International Master in the history of the game.
The ‘Messi of chess’ signed draws in his first five encounters in Madrid, which means he needs to obtain 3 points in the final 4 rounds to grab his third and final IM norm. Now living near Barcelona, Oro receives huge support from his parents, Romina and Alejandro. In an interview conducted by Carlos Ilardo, Alejandro stated that they do not put pressure on their prodigious son to break records, focusing instead on promoting his independence and development:
In January [2023] he told us that he would like to become a FIDE Master this year, and two tournaments later he had already won the title. That’s why I talk to him a lot, that he doesn’t need to focus on records, that the goal is to improve his game.
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.
In Madrid, Oro stands a full point behind a 3-player leading group consisting of José Gascón, Pedro Martínez and Alex Garrido.
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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In this volume, we dive into core aspects of chess technique. Smyslov taught the principle of tactical hierarchy, “checks, double attacks, and unprotected pieces”, and Mikhalchishin demonstrates how this method of calculation is vital.
Videos: Nico Zwirs examines two Petroffs from the 2026 Candidates. Robert Ris has a tip against the Caro-Kann Advance Variation with 3…c5. Fiona Sieber reveals a surprise weapon against the Najdorf. ‘Lucky Bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, L'Ami et al.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
In this powerful new course, endgame expert Karsten Müller teams up with rising star Leon Mendonca to deliver what truly matters: 10 essential rules that every player must know.
In this video course experts examine the games of Bent Larsen. Let them show you which openings Larsen chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities!
From the 2026 Candidates Tournament, featuring a video review by Dorian Rogozenco, to Jan Werle’s opening video on the French Tarrasch Defence, and Oliver Reeh’s tactical column ‘Top Grandmasters at Work’. Analyses by Giri, So, Wei Yi and many others.
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