In-person but not over-the-board
At the recent World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships in Astana, WR Chess, with Magnus Carlsen on the top board, and GMHans.com, with Hans Niemann on the top board, were paired up against each other in both sections. Carlsen sat out the matches, as Ian Nepomniachtchi took his spot and faced Niemann.
A huge controversy grabbed the world's attention once Carlsen withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup in 2022 after losing a classical game against Niemann. Public statements, lawsuits, investigations and settlements followed. The contenders did not play a single over-the-board game since then. But now they cannot escape it, and according to the interviews they gave to chess.com, it seems like we will finally get to see the much-anticipated confrontation.
In this video course, GM Surya Ganguly joins IM Sagar Shah and drawing from his colossal experience, shares some uncommon endgame wisdom. The material mostly features positions with rook against rook and a pawn, and starts by covering the fundamentals.
The players will face off in the semifinals of the Speed Chess Championship. This year's series will see the final stages (semis, final and match for third place) taking place at Espot in Paris on 6-8 September.
Niemann stunned Wesley So in the quarterfinals, while Carlsen got the better of Arjun Erigaisi. The other semifinal will see Alireza Firouzja facing Hikaru Nakamura.
The event in Paris will feature the four qualified players competing on computers in a series of 5-minute, 3-minute and 1-minute games (all with 1-second increments):
- 90 minutes of 5+1 games
- 60 minutes of 3+1 games
- 30 minutes of 1+1 games

Carlsen 1 - 0 Arjun
3-minute game
All games - SCC quarterfinals
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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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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