1/29/2025 – Gukesh Dommaraju has taken sole lead at the Tata Steel Masters after the ninth round, marking a strong performance in his first tournament as world champion. While former co-leaders Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Nodirbek Abdusattorov both dropped points, Gukesh secured a win against Leon Luke Mendonca. Meanwhile, Vladimir Fedoseev moved into shared second place with a victory over Pentala Harikrishna. In the Challengers, Thai Dai Van Nguyen continues to be the sole leader. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit
new: Fritz 20
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
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.
€21.90
Gukesh leads, Fedoseev joins chasing pack
In his first tournament after winning the World Championship, Gukesh Dommaraju has taken the sole lead after the ninth round of the Tata Steel Masters tournament. While the other two former co-leaders, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, both dropped points - Abdusattorov drawing with black against Fabiano Caruana and Praggnanandhaa suffering a defeat against Anish Giri - the world champion secured a full point against Leon Luke Mendonca. Out of a Spanish Opening, Mendonca held his own with black for a long time, but shortly before the time control, Gukesh gained the upper hand.
In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.
Leon Luke Mendonca v. Gukesh Dommaraju | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu was taken down by Anish Giri | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit
Giri's victory against Praggnanandhaa was the result of a fine positional game out of a Catalan Opening. In the endgame, Giri converted a small but lasting advantage into a win.
From Mating with a queen; a rook; two bishops; a knight and a bishop; to the basics of pawn endgames – here you will gain the necessary know-how to turn your endgame advantages into victories!
Vladimir Fedoseev is now sharing second place | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit
The in-form Vladimir Fedoseev also secured another full point. He had opened with the London System, was gifted an exchange by Harikrishna, but had to keep his king in the centre. The white king survived, and Fedoseev was able to capitalise on his material advantage with attacking play.
The Dutch duel between Jorden van Foreest and his occasional second Max Warmerdam ended in a draw. The same result was seen in the game between Serbian GM Alexey Sarana and German star Vincent Keymer.
The game between Wei Yi and Arjun Erigaisi also ended drawn.
Doesn’t every chess game get decided by mistakes? Absolutely. But most players never truly comprehend that they are making the same kind of mistakes over and over again.
This course will enhance your understanding of the King’s Indian Defence. Perfect for anyone looking to improve their opening strategy, reduce mistakes, and develop a winning game plan.
In the Challengers, Thai Dai Van Nguyen defended his lead with a draw against Kazybek Nogebek, as his closest pursuer, Erwin l'Ami, was also unable to secure more than half a point against Nodirbek Yakubboev.
Frederik Svane also drew against Arthur Pijpers. The game featured the Dragon Variation, where Pijpers, facing the 9.Bc4 line, managed to find a safe equalising path.
Further draws occurred in the games between Lu Miaoyi and Aydin Suleymanli, as well as Vaishali Rameshbabu against Divya Deshmuk.
Additionally, the ninth round of the Challengers saw two victories with the black pieces. Ediz Gürel defeated Faustino Oro, while Benjamin Bok overcame Irina Bulmaga.
In this course, you’ll learn how to take the initiative against the London and prevent White from comfortably playing their usual system by playing 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 Nh5.
London System Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.
The London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Opening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.
YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.
The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.
€9.90
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