3/23/2020 – Ian Nepomniachtchi goes into the second rest day of the Candidates Tournament leading by a full point after beating Ding Liren with White on Monday. The only other player with a plus score is Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who held Wang Hao to a draw. Anish Giri defeated Kirill Alekseenko in a game that lasted over seven hours, while Alexander Grischuk had to be precise to split the point with Fabiano Caruana. Expert analysis by GM SAM SHANKLAND and IM LAWRENCE TRENT. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE
ChessBase is a personal, stand-alone chess database that has become the standard throughout the world. Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it.
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
Mastering piece setups in various pawn structures and transitioning to a dominant middlegame, this course equips you with the insight and flexibility to outmanoeuvre your opponents in the Closed Catalan.
€39.90
Giri wins marathon
The eight-player Candidates tournament is one of the most prestigious global chess events, held every two years. The event will determine who will challenge the defender Magnus Carlsen for the title of the World Chess Champion. This year’s event has a prize fund of 500,000 Euros, which is the highest ever in the history of the Candidates tournaments.
The tournament is approaching its half-way point, and a player has emerged as the clear leader in Yekaterinburg. Ian Nepomniachtchi scored his second straight win to get a full-point lead over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The Russian grandmaster beat Ding Liren, who entered a strategically risky position in the middlegame and soon found himself on the ropes against an in-form opponent. Ding threw in the towel on move 40.
The remaining three games saw one of the players trying to squeeze a slight advantage after the time control. Alexander Grischuk survived time trouble and managed to find plenty of only moves to hold Fabiano Caruana to a draw, while Vachier-Lagrave survived an endgame a pawn down against Wang Hao.
The one that got to score a win from what seemed to be a holdable position for his opponent was Anish Giri. Playing Black against Kirill Alekseenko, he was pressing in a queen and knight endgame. Alekseenko strangely rejected capturing a pawn on move 38 and later found himself defending a 3 v 2 knight ending. Giri continued to tighten the screw until his opponent failed to play a simple forcing line that secured a draw — moreover, the move blundered away the game. Thus, Giri scored his first win after 98 moves and over seven hours of play.
Behind the scenes | Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE
Nepomniachtchi 1:0 Ding Liren
Few would have predicted — especially before the Coronavirus outbreak — that after six rounds Ding Liren would be sharing last place with only two points to his name. After his unexpected losses in rounds one and two, the Chinese seemed to have recovered his usual steadiness, but on Monday he ended up overestimating his chances with Black and lost for a third time. Needless to say, he was facing the man of the hour.
Nepomniachtchi played White for a second day in a row and once again demonstrated strong preparation. Out of a Ruy Lopez, Ding repeated the 13...♛d7 line he had used to draw Vachier-Lagrave in London last year. The first one to show an improvement, however, was 'Nepo', who prompted his opponent to take the first long think of the game after 16.♖b2. A few moves later, the Chinese made a couple of risky decisions, which left him with a couple of doubled pawns in the centre and gave White a strong passer on the queenside:
Pavel Eljanov explains in depth what Gyula Breyer already saw in 1911 and what became an opening choice of the likes of Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand or Carlsen. The Breyer Variation, which is characterised by the knight retreat to b8.
Nepomniachtchi vs. Ding Liren
Position after 26...h5
Ding started pushing his h-pawn, which reached the third rank in the next two moves, while Nepomniachtchi advanced his passer on the b-file all the way down to b6. The Russian needed to be careful to avoid falling for some traps with his king stuck on the corner with a black pawn on h3, but he was certainly the one in the driver's seat otherwise.
As the game progressed, White's advantage increased. On move 33, Ding could have used an unusual yet strong tactical trick to save a half point, which he failed to find. In all fairness, the sequence was hard for a human to detect over the board, as 'Nepo' emphasized later on. After this miss, White went on to get a valuable full point.
During the press conference, the sole leader and "solid favourite to win the Candidates at this moment" (Sam Shankland, see his annotations below) was frequently coughing. When asked about his health, he replied:
I'm definitely feeling not okay, and actually I wanted to make some kind of quick draw today.
The Russian clarified that he had been tested twice for Corona and that both times he had tested negative, but also added:
The whole atmosphere does not help you to feel healthy.
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
Replay and check the LiveBook here
Please, wait...
1.e4The most important game of round six was definitely Ian Nepomniatchi
against Ding Liren. Nepo had showed excellent form in the first five rounds
and was leading the tournament by half a point, while Ding, who many
(including myself) considered the pretournament favorite had struggled thus
far. A decisive result would change a lot. A win for Ding would have put him
back on 50% and dragged the early leader down to +1, blasting the tournament
wide open. But the opposite turned out to be the final result, and
Nepomniatchi now has a full-point lead after the first six rounds while
relegating Ding to the bottom of the crosstable.e52.Nf3Nc63.Bb5a64.Ba4Nf65.0-0Be7Given Ding's disaster against MVL and that he faced some
problems against Grischuk, I was a little surprised he stuck with the same
repertoire for a third time. I thought he would try to pivot and find
something a little feistier and less vulnerable to targeted preparation.6.d3The first notable move of the game.6.Re1This was the choice of both MVL
and Grischuk, and Ding got into some trouble in the opening in both games. I
guess Nepo expected him to have solved his problems here.6...b57.Bb3d68.a30-09.Nc3Na510.Ba2Be611.b4Bxa212.Rxa2Nc613.Bg5This
position has been reasonably common as of late. I never understood these
Spanish structures so well, but I always thought Black should avoid allowing
the bishop for knight exchange on f6.Qd713...Ng4and13...Nd7
are very valid alternatives.14.Bxf6Bxf615.Nd5a516.Rb2Both sides
were blitzing up to here, and only now Ding started to think.axb417.axb4Bd818.c4Nd419.Nxd4exd420.Qc2Re821.g3Nepomniatchi has prepared
very well and was still in his analysis at this point, and Ding's position
looks a little fragile. The pawn on d4 can fall at any moment.bxc422.Qxc4c623.Nf4Bg524.Ne2!±Black is under serious pressure. The pawn on d4
is ripe for plucking next move and he doesn't seem to have any notable
counterplay.24.Qxd4??Of course White should not be so quick to take on
d4.Bf6-+24...d525.exd5cxd526.Qb3!
The doubled pawns on d5 and d4 are causing two serious problems to Black's
position. First off, they are weak and hard to defend, but secondly, they have
allowed White a dangerous passed pawn on b4 that is well supported by the
queen and rook on the b-file, and a serious danger to run straight down the
board. At this point, Ding started to defend very well.h5!Active
counterplay. Black is looking to launch the h-pawn deep into White's position
to compromise his king safety, much like Nepo did himself against Wang Hao
yesterday.27.b5h428.b6h328...Rab8Black could have considered
taking a moment to get the rook in front of the b-pawn.29.Kh1!A very
strong move. White is planning Ng1, which will cover the f3-square, making it
impossible for Black to find a way to get the queen to g2, and also pressuring
the h3-pawn, which could drop off at any moment.Reb830.Rfb1Bd8?!
This feels like the wrong plan to me. Somehow I don't like the combination of
spending three tempi on h5-h4-h3 to try to make White's king uncomfortable, and
then promptly shifting all the pieces to the queenside. It seems inconsistent.30...Rb7I would have preferred blocking the pawn, and hoping to follow up
with Rab8 next. The bishop on g5 may end up being useful some day.31.Qb5!Qg4?31...Qf5The machine prefers this move, but Black's position is hardly a
bed of roses after32.Nxd4±32.Qxd5+-White is a clean pawn up, and
a very dangerous one on b6 at that, and has secured the long diagonal. But he
still has to be careful. Nepo had barely used 10 minutes on the whole game at
this point, and he could have done himself a favor by slowing down, given that
he had a ton of time to make not very many moves.Ra533.Qc6?Nepo played
this move almost immediately, and was lucky it went unpunished.33.f3!+-White should win pretty routinely.33...Rc5?And Ding repays the favor,
perhaps having already mentally given up. Black had a strong tactical resource
that could have saved the game.33...Rxb6!34.Rxb6Qxe235.Rb8It's
easy to see this far and expect Black to resign, as White has won material and
covered both the back rank and the long diagonal. But afterRe5!36.Rxd8+Kh7It turns out White has a real problem defending e1, and he has no checks
to try to mate Black first with his extra material. For instance, after37.Rg1Qxf2!The twin threats of Re2 and Re1 are hard to meet, and White
should think about how to equalize. This variation is not obvious by any
stretch, but it's not crazy difficult either. If Ding had been on better form,
Nepo may well have ended up regretting playing so fast.34.Qe8+Kh735.Ng1+-Now its all over.Rxb636.Qxd8Rxb237.Rxb2Rc138.Qh4+Qxh439.gxh4Rd140.f3Although there was a hiccup, this was still a very convincing win
by Nepomniatchi, and given his current lead, I think he is a solid favorite to
win the Candidates at this moment.1–0
The next World Championship challenger? | Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE
Alekseenko 0:1 Giri
Most of Giri's games in this event have followed a familiar trend: he gets a good position out of the opening and then either lets his opponent turn the tables or is unable to take advantage of his superior preparation. Against Alekseenko, he once again got a comfortable position (with Black), as he was the only one with realistic chances to fight for more in a symmetrical setup with queens and knights on the board:
Rules of thumb are the key to everything when you are having to set the correct course in a complex endgame. In this final DVD of his series on the endgame, our endgame specialist introduces you to the most important of these rules of thumb.
Alekseenko vs. Giri
Position after 37...Qxb2
By this point, however, it seemed like the draw was inevitable. It is White's turn, and he can restore material equality with 38.♕xb7 — apparently, Alekseenko was looking for a more forcing way to end the game peacefully, though, and opted for 38.♕d7. Giri later commented that perhaps his opponent wanted to trick him, but that he was focused enough to find 38...b6 in order to continue pressing.
Eventually the queens left the board, and the players entered a pure knight ending with 3 v 2 on the kingside. Giri's fans were hopeful, as a similar setup was reached in a Carlsen v Anand game from the 2019 Tata Steel Tournament — which Carlsen won. Alekseenko was showing resilience, though, until he fell at the last hurdle:
Position after 88...Kg3
White can force a draw immediately with 89.♘h1+, as the black king can only prevent Black's monarch from reaching the key f4-square with 89...♚g4, which would be responded with 90.♘f2+. But once again Alekseenko made a baffling decision by going 89.♘d3, and Black got an easy-to-convert position.
Giri later declared that he did not understand why his opponent had missed the 'very easy' check on h1, and did not hide his joy after having won his first game of the event:
I almost had a heart attack because I realized that it's going to be my first ever win at the Candidates — I think I never had such a high heartbeat. I think today we need a good doctor check after this game.
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
Replay and check the LiveBook here
Please, wait...
1.e4The other decisive game of the round featured two of the guys at the
bottom of the crosstable. Giri managed to reach a pawn-up knight endgame that
must be a draw objectively, but there are always practical chances as such
positions are very difficult for a human to defend, even a very strong one.e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.0-0Nf65.d3d66.c30-07.Re1a58.Nbd2Be69.Bb5Ba7!?The first surprise. Almost everyone has been playing Qb8 in this
position, and Alekseenko has played this position multiple times with White.
Giri therefore could not have been surprised and must have decided to play Ba7
before the game, but I'm not sure the move is equalizing.9...Qb8This
position is probably the most critical one in the entire Italian, and has been
contested a lot in the last couple years, including several games from
Alekseenko on the white side.10.Nf1Ne711.Ng3c612.Ba4Ng613.h3?!
This is complacent and slow.13.d4White should have tried this, taking
space in the center and preventing Black from playing d5. I would assume Black
would try to make use of the h3-omission by goingBg4But I am not convinced
he will equalize. Further tests are of course needed.13...d5!In
general in the Italian, if Black can safely play d5 before White can go d4, he
ends up fine. This position is no exception.14.exd5Nxd515.Bc215.Nxe5?The pawn is immune due to a well-known tactic.Nxe516.Rxe5Bxf2+!17.Kxf2Qf6+And Black wins.15...Qc716.d4exd417.Nxd4Rae8!Not
fearing the capture on e6 due to the weakness on f2. Black is a bit more
comfortable already, and White will have to be careful to hang on. I think
Alekseenko defended well, to a point.18.Bg518.Nxe6?Bxf2+!19.Kxf2fxe6+-+Black will take back his piece on g3, and remain a pawn up with a
more active position.18...Ndf419.Qd2Bd520.Rxe8?!This feels a
little bit desperate, and possibly based on a miscalculation.20.Bxg6Nxg621.Ndf5=The computer suggests this is a convincing route to equality,
with Bg5-e3 coming next to challenge Black's bishop pair. I won't argue with
the machine.20...Rxe821.Re1?Re5?!21...Rxe1+!22.Qxe1Kf8!
Would have left White with a lot of problems to solve. It's possible both
players missed that23.Bxg6could be met with Nxg2, but even the simple
hxg6 is quite good for Black as well.22.Bxf4Rxe1+23.Qxe1Qxf4Black
missed the best chance but is still pleasantly better due to the excellent
unopposed bishop on a7. White tried to halve the bishop pair, but it did not
solve his problems.24.Qe8+24.Ndf5The machine prefers this move. It may
be right but White still faces a tough defense afterKf824...Nf825.Bb3Bxd426.cxd4Bxb327.axb3Qf628.Qe4One look at White's structure is
enough to know he has a long defense ahead of him. Around this point, I think
Alekseenko started defending very well and made the good decision to try to
liquidate the queenside.g629.Ne2Ne630.h4h531.g3Qd832.Qe5Black
may have had better choices in the preceding moves, but he still has a nice
position after something simple like Qc7 or Kf8. The next move is hard to
understand. I imagine Giri must have missed something concrete, but I can't
figure out what it might have been. It's hard to believe he would just let
White liquidate the d4-weakness due to a lack of understanding.Qb6?!33.d5!White takes his chance to exchange off one of his weak pawns. I think Giri
must have thought Nc5 or Qc5 or something worked well for him here and
miscalculated.cxd534.Qxd5Kf835.Nc3Qc736.Ne4=White should be
fine here, but somehow he lost control.Qc1+37.Kg2Qxb238.Qd7?38.Qxb7=I don't know what White could have missed. This seems to be an immediate
draw.38...b639.Nd6Qf640.Qe8+Kg7Time control has been reached and
White is a pawn down. It should still be a draw due to his activity, but care
must be taken.41.Qd7Kg842.Qe8+Nf843.Qc6!A good decision. Black
turtled up on the kingside to avoid a perpetual and now has trouble defending
b6.Qd844.Nc4?!White misses a nice tactical resource.44.Nb7The
machine finds this move and equalizes afterQd445.Nd6!when Black's
queen is locked away from the kingside and Ne6 will always be impossible due
to Qe8+. Black is out of tricks to try as Qc7 is on the way.44...Ne644...Qd7!45.Qxb6Qd5+!46.Kh2a4!Surprisingly, White has real trouble
keeping everything protected. It may still be holdable, but he is almost in
zugzwang and the machine is recommending bxa4, going a piece down.45.Nxb6Nd446.Qc5?46.Qb7!This would have saved the day afterNxb347.Nd7!when Ne5 will come next and White has enough counterplay to hang on.46...Nxb347.Qb5Nd2!Alekseenko may have underestimated this idea. He
gets the a5-pawn back but suddenly faces mating threats.48.Qxa5Qd349.Qa1Qe4+50.Kg1Nf3+51.Kf1Nxh4Black has taken a pawn and the knight is
immune due to the skewer. Alekseenko made the right choice to go into the
knight endgame, but although it is probably a draw objectively, it was hard to
hold and he eventually faltered.52.Qa8+Qxa853.Nxa8Nf354.Kg2Ne555.f4Ng456.Nb6Kf857.Nd5Ke858.Nc3Ke759.Ne4Ne3+60.Kf3Nc461.Ng5Kf662.Ne4+Kf563.Nf2Nd2+64.Ke3Nf1+65.Kf3Nh2+66.Kg2Ng467.Nh3f668.Kf3Ke669.Ke4Kd670.Ng1Kc571.Kd3Nh672.Ke3Nf5+73.Kf3Kc474.Nh3Nd4+75.Ke3Nf5+76.Kf3Kd477.Nf2Nd678.Nh3Ne479.Ng1Kd380.Kg2Nd281.Kf2Ke482.Ne2Nb183.Ng1h484.Nh3Kf585.gxh4Kg486.f5gxf587.Ke3Nc388.Nf2+Kg3Finally, after a long game with lots of mistakes made and
opportunities missed, Alekseenko was the last one to err.89.Nd3?89.h5!Sending the pawn would have saved the game. It's possible Alekseenko missed
Nd5+90.Kd4!90.Ke2?Nf4+-+89...Nd5+!90.Kd4Nf4!Now
Black ends up with two extra pawns, and even though they are doubled, they are
decisive. This game contained a lot of errors, but despite the simple-looking
nature of the queen and knight endgame, it actually was a very tough position
to play and I find it unsurprising even two very strong combatants made so
many oversights. Although it looked like the evaluation bounced around a lot,
it was always between equal and in Black's favor. It is exhausting to be on
the worse side of the game for so long, and finally on move 90, Alekseenko
reached a position that could no longer be saved. This game reminded me a lot
of a loss I had to Wesley So, also as White in an Italian, where a simple-looking position was very hard to play well; we both made lots of errors, the
evaluation bounced around a lot between equal and much better for Black, and
ultimately the game was decided by a very simple blunder at the end when I
finally had the draw within reach, mostly due to fatigue from such a long
defense. So, I can empathize with Alekseenko here.91.Nc5Kxh492.Ke3Kg393.Nb3Ne694.Nd2f4+95.Ke2Ng596.Kf1f397.Kg1f2+98.Kf1f50–1
It took a while, but it was worth it — Anish Giri | Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE
Grischuk ½:½ Caruana
Caruana repeated the line he had used against Vachier-Lagrave's 1.e4 in the first round, later playing the very rare 12...♜e8, a move that had not been used in over ten years. Grischuk did not expect this quasi-novelty and spent over forty minutes finding a way to respond. After repeating the position with 13.♘g5 ♜f8 14.♘f3 ♜e8 he went for 15.♖e1, a line that sacrifices a pawn for White:
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.
Grischuk vs. Caruana
Position after 15.Re1
The game continued 15...exd4 16.cxd4 ♞xe4 17.d5 ♝xe3 18.♖xe3 ♞a7. Caruana confessed that he "wasn't too happy" when his rival entered this variation, as he thought it was dangerous for Black. However, he had managed to gain a huge advantage on the clock after having blitzed out his first 22 moves.
According to Grischuk, even though he probably had compensation, he still felt under pressure being a pawn down with little time on the clock. At some point, in fact, the evaluation was favouring Black, but the Russian managed to find some only moves that kept things under control. He later confessed:
When you play half of the game against a computer — against preparation — it's hard to have too big ambitious.
Caruana said he had started to feel optimistic at some point, but a couple of inaccuracies prevented him from winning. When asked about whether he will start playing more aggressively given Nepomniachtchi's big lead, the American responded:
Well, I don't know which is a more risky opening than this 6...♝c5 I've been playing, so if that's my problem then I'm kind of screwed (smiles).
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
Replay and check the LiveBook here
Please, wait...
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bb5a64.Ba4Nf65.0-0b56.Bb3Bc57.a4Rb88.c3d69.d4Bb610.a5C78: Ruy Lopez: Archangelsk and Möller Defences.Ba7!11.h30-012.Be3Re8
13.Ng5NPredecessor:13.dxe5Bxe314.exf6Bh615.fxg7Qf616.Nh2Ne517.Qh5Nc418.Bc2Qxg719.Ng4Bxg420.hxg4b421.b3Rb51/2-1/2 (21) Libiszewski,F (2458)-Guadalpi,D (2281) Aix
les Bains 200313...Rf814.Nf314.Re1=14...Re8±The modern
move.15.Re115.dxe5±dxe516.Qxd8Rxd817.Bxa7Nxa718.Nxe515...exd4=But not15...Nxe4?!16.d5±16.cxd4Nxe417.d5Bxe318.Rxe3Na7!19.Qd4Bf520.Nbd2Nc521.Rxe8+Qxe822.Re1Qf823.Bd1aiming for Nh4.b4!24.Be2Qd825.Bf1h626.Re3b326...c6=27.Qf4 White has
compensation.Bd728.Nd4Rb429.Rg3Qe730.Bc4Avoid the trap30.Qxh6?Qe5-+30...Nb531.N4xb3Nxb332.Rxb3Qe1+33.Kh2!Rxb334.Nxb3Qb435.Qe4c536.Qd3Don't blunder36.dxc6?Be6-+36...g637.g4Kg738.Kg2Nc738...Bc839.Qc3+The position is equal.Qxc340.bxc3
Endgame KBN-KBNf541.Nd2Kf642.Kg3Bb543.Bb3Be244.gxf5gxf545.f4Nb546.c4Nc347.Bc2Bd148.Bd3Na249.Kf2Nb450.Ke3Bc251.Be2Na252.Nf1Nc153.Kd2
And now Bh5 would win.53...Nxe254.Kxe2Ba4
Accuracy: White = 86%, Black = 94%.½–½
Grischuk and Caruana discussing their game | Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE
Wang Hao ½:½ Vachier-Lagrave
So far, Vachier-Lagrave has stuck to his guns in Yekaterinburg, playing his pet openings against 1.e4 and 1.d4 when marshalling the black pieces. Round six was no exception, as he played the Grünfeld against Wang Hao. After both players showcased their deep preparation, White emerged with a superior position. When the queens left the board, Wang made a decision that he would later regret:
The Grunfeld Defence is a very dynamic opening with an excellent reputation and the list of players ready to defend it reads like a who's who in chess. It is rather remarkable, that one variation still retains the position of 'main line' and that after hundreds of games played with it some questions still remain open. GM Lubomir Ftacnik explains.
Wang Hao vs. Vachier-Lagrave
Position after 32...Bc8
Instead of going for a pawn with 33.♘b5, Wang thought 33.g4 was a better try. Even though he did manage to get a material advantage after 33...a6 34.♘c7 ♚d6 35.♘xa6, Black had enough resources to create a fortress in this setup. Nonetheless, Wang continued trying until move 83, when the draw was finally agreed. 'MVL' was not satisfied with his performance:
Too many things were blundered, but it turned out okay because my position was so solid at some point. [...] I really cannot be happy about this game, especially when you compare to every other game I've played so far.
A hypothetical question was posed to both contenders — if they could go back in time, what would they change in their general chess preparation? Wang gave a surprising answer:
In this case, I'd probably not start a chess career. I think I would do something related with the financial market.
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
Replay and check the LiveBook here
Please, wait...
1.d4Nf62.c4g63.Nc3d54.cxd5Nxd55.e4Nxc36.bxc3Bg77.Bc4c58.Ne20-09.0-0Nc610.Be3b6Nowadays more popular than 10...Qc7.11.h4D87: Exchange
Grünfeld: Classical Line: Variations without ...cxd4.e612.h5Qh413.hxg6hxg614.f3Bb715.Qd2cxd416.cxd4Rfd817.Rac1
17...Qe7N
Predecessor:17...Be518.f4Bg719.Rf3Rac820.Rh3Qg421.Qe1Nxd422.Nxd4Bxd423.Bxd4Rxd41/2-1/2 (44) Dubov,D (2676)-Svidler,P (2719) Hamburg
201918.Rfd1Rac819.Bg5Bf620.Bxf6Qxf621.Qe3Kg722.Kf2Rh823.Rh1 Black is under pressure.Rxh124.Rxh1Rh825.Rxh8Kxh826.Qc3Kg827.d5Qxc328.Nxc3= Endgame KBN-KBNNa529.Bd3exd529...Kg730.exd5±Kf830...Bc8±31.Ke3+-Ke732.Kd4Bc8
33.Nb5!a634.Nc7Kd635.Nxa6Nb736.g436.Nb436...g5±37.Nb4Black must now prevent Ba6.Bd738.Nc2Ke739.Ne3Nd640.Nd1Ba441.Nf2f642.Be2Be843.Nd1Ba444.Nb2Be845.Bd145.Bd3±45...Nb5+=46.Kc4Nc7!47.Bb3Kd648.Kd4
aiming for Nc4+.48...Nb5+49.Kd3Nc750.Nc4+Kc5!51.Nd2Hoping for Ne4+.Bb5+52.Ke4Kf5 is the strong
threat.Bd7!53.Nf1Nb554.Ng3Nd6+55.Ke3f556.gxf5Bxf557.Nxf5Nxf5+KB-KN58.Ke4Nh4!59.Ba4Kd660.Be8Ng261.Bf7Ne162.a4Nc263.Be8Ne164.Bb5Ng265.Bc4Nh466.Bf1Kc567.Bh3Kd668.Be668.Bg468...Ng6Black should play68...Ng2!=69.Bf7Better is69.Kd4!69...Nh469...Ne7!=70.Be6Ng670.Be8Ng271.Bb5Nh472.Bd3Kc573.Bf1Kd674.Bh3Ng675.Be6Nh476.Bf7Ke777.Bh5Strongly
threatening Ke5.Kd678.Bg4!Ng279.Kf5Kxd580.Kxg5Ke581.Kg681.Bf5±81...Nf4+=82.Kf7Nd383.Ke7Black escapes into a draw. Accuracy:
White = 85%, Black = 83%.½–½
1.e4c52.Nf3d63.d4cxd44.Nxd4Nf65.Nc3a66.Bg5e67.f4Qb68.Qd2Qxb29.Rb1Qa310.e5h611.Bh4dxe5B97: Sicilian Najdorf: Poisoned Pawn.12.fxe5Nfd7is currently scoring better than 12...g5.13.Ne4!Qxa2The position is equal.14.Rd1Qd515.Qe3Qxe5Avoid the trap15...Nxe5?16.Nb3+-16.c3Bc5White must now prevent ...f5.17.Bg3Qd5
Threatens to win with Bxc5.19...Nf6!20.Nxc5Nd521.Qe5
21...Rg822.Ndxe6!fxe623.Nxe6Qxc3+24.Qxc3Nxc325.Nc7+ Double AttackKf726.Rd3Ne4And now ...Ra7 would win.27.0-0+Kg6Strongly threatening ...Ra7.28.Nxa8Nc628...Rd8=remains equal.29.Nb6Bf529.Nb6±Rd830.Nxc8Rxc831.Ba3Rc732.Rf4Nf633.Bb2Ne734.Bxf6gxf6 Endgame KRR-KRN35.h4h536.Rg3+ White has strong compensation.Kf737.Rg5Rc1+38.Kh2Ng639.Rf2Nxh439...Kg740.Rxh5Ne540.Rxh5Ng641.Rh7+Ke642.Rxb7Rb6+ is the strong threat.Ne5Threatening ...Ng4+.43.Rb6+Rc644.Rxc6+Nxc6+-KR-KN45.Kg3Kf746.Rc2Nb447.Rd2Nc648.Kf4Kg649.Rd6Ne550.Rxa6Nf751.Ke4Nh652.Ra5Nf753.Ra3aiming for Rg3+.Nd6+54.Kf4Nf555.Rd3Nh6?55...Ne756.Ra3Nc657.Rg3+Kf756.Rg3+Kf757.Ke4Ng858.Kf5?58.Rb3Ne759.Ra358...Ne7+59.Kf4Nd5+60.Kg4Kg661.Kf3+Kf762.Ke4Ne7?62...Nc763.Rc3Ne863.Kf4?63.Rc3+-has better winning chances.Ke664.Ra363...Nd5+!±64.Kf5Ne7+65.Ke4?65.Kg465...Ng8!+-66.Rh3?66.Ra3Ne767.Ra766...Kg667.Ra3Kf7?67...Ne768.Rd3Nc668.Kf4Nh669.Rg3Ng8
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.
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.
Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
This interactive video course of over 8 hours, provides an in-depth exploration of the Pirc Defence, a favoured opening for people looking to play for the win with the black pieces.
Pirc Defence Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 10027 games from Mega 2025 or the Correspondence Database 2024; of these 874 are annotated.
The Pirc Defence Powerbook 2025 consists for a greater part of engine games (168 000), to which has been added high value material from Mega and the Correspondence Database (115 000).
The free app from ChessBase! ChessBase Mobile has everything you need as a chess player on the go:
access your chess data in cloud databases - and 13 million games.
€0.00
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.