A 9-3 win in blitz

Hans Niemann played 3 multi-format matches throughout August. True to his nature, the intrepid 21-year-old dubbed his series of matches "Hans Niemann against the world". Remarkably, the US grandmaster obtained clear victories in all 3 matches. He started with the strongest opponent, Anish Giri, in Utrecht before facing Nikita Vitiugov and Etienne Bacrot in London and Paris respectively.

After losing his match in Utrecht, the ever-witty Giri shared on X:

A Supergrandmaster's Guide to Openings Vol.1 & 2

This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.

Particularly remarkable was Niemann's performance in classical chess, where he scored 11½ points in 18 games, with only 1 loss (in his first game against Giri). The performance in slow games gained Niemann 22 rating points, allowing him to climb to the 17^th spot in the live ratings list - surpassing the likes of Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Levon Aronian and Richard Rapport.

After beating Bacrot by a 9-3 score in the blitz section of their match, Niemann hinted on X that there might be more matches to come.

Amid the multitudinous online events organised lately - at times with complicated formats - the head-to-head, over-the-board format in stylised venues adds variety to the elite chess ecosystem. It was a nice change of pace after the (much welcomed) online chess boom which emerged after the 2020 pandemic.

A crowd of chess fans followed the games closely at the Blitz Society Bar in the French capital | Photo: Frans Peeters

Master Class Vol.11: Vladimir Kramnik

This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) how to successfully organise your games strategically, consequently how to keep y

Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik watching the games from a comfy spot | Photo: Frans Peeters  

All games

Games 1-6 classical; games 7-12 rapid; games 13-24 blitz

Master Class Vol.17 - Boris Spassky

In this video course, experts including Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh, examine the games of Boris Spassky. Let them show you which openings Spassky chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were and much more.

Links

• Official website
• Chess-Results page