Three interesting battles

All five games ended drawn in the first round of the Super Chess Classic Romania, the first of two classical tournaments to take place in this year's Grand Chess Tour, alongside the Sinquefield Cup. The absence of decisive results did not mean a lack of chances, as Alireza Firouzja came particularly close to scoring a win with the black pieces against defending champion Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu.

Firouzja's missed opportunity was the clearest example of a round in which several games contained enough imbalance to produce practical difficulties.

Jorden van Foreest v. Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So v. Vincent Keymer were among the tougher fights of the day. While Caruana failed to make the most of an extra pawn against Van Foreest, Keymer and So battled in a double-edged position.

Bogdan-Daniel Deac v. Javokhir Sindarov ended quickly after Deac chose not to enter a theoretical battle in the King's Indian Defence. The Romanian grandmaster played 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8 Qxd8, exchanging queens early and steering the game towards a draw against Sindarov, who recently obtained a spectacular tournament victory at the Candidates.

Understanding Middlegame Strategy Vol.14 Reversed Colour Systems – Benoni, Blumenfeld and Benko Gambit

You will learn how Black's dynamic piece activity and structural counterplay more than compensate for White's extra tempo in the colour-reversed setups.
The Benoni family of openings has toppled world champions, decided match games under the highest pressure, and rewarded those brave enough to play them with some of the most electrifying chess imaginable. In this Fritztrainer, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov -  continuing his successful series "Understanding Middlegame Structures" - takes you deep inside the complexities of the Colour-Reversed Benoni, the Colour-Reversed Benko Gambit, and the Colour-Reversed Blumenfeld Gambit.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Colour Reversed Banoni - Game 1

Javokhir Sindarov | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave v. Anish Giri also finished rather quickly, though only after Giri missed a critical line that would have given him a structural advantage and the chance to keep his opponent under pressure in what would likely have become a long struggle.

The precise line was 26...Rxd1+ 27.Rxd1 Rb8, getting long-term chances with the queenside majority. Instead, Giri chose 26...Rac8?!, allowing MVL to trade rooks in more favourable circumstance and invite a draw by threefold repetition.

The splendid playing hall | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Praggnanandhaa ½-½ Firouzja

Master Class Vol.20 - Bent Larsen

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!
Bent Larsen (1935–2010) was the greatest chess player in Danish history, and for a time, the second-strongest player in the Western world behind Bobby Fischer. Between 1954 and 1971, he won the Danish Championship six times, and achieved numerous international tournament victories throughout his career. 
Free video sample: Introduction to Bent Larsen by Peter Heine Nielsen
Free video sample: Introduction to the Opening Section

Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Lennart Ootes

So ½-½ Keymer

How to attack - principles of training

Most players prefer to attack rather than defend. But what is the correct way to do it? GM Dr Karsten Müller has compiled many rules and motifs to guide you, along with sharpening your intuition for the exceptions.

Vincent Keymer | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 1

All games

Links

• Grand Chess Tour website
• Javokhir Sindarov: "The quarantine changed my life"