4/26/2021 – ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess and it also provides arsenal for the tournament player. With this bi-centennial issue it has reached a landmark. GM Rainer Knaak recalls the memorable journey with some nice videos. Then we are back to tournament preparation. This issue offers games from three major events, Tata Steel 2021, Skilling Open and 73rd Russian Championship Superfinal. 413 games, 3 opening videos, 11 opening surveys, demo. lectures and exercises for training. It also includes games annotated by Wesley So, Anish Giri, Van Foreest, Jan Duda, Vladimir Fedoseev, Nikita Vitiugov to mention a few. Prof. Nagesh Havanur takes a look.
Fritz has fascinated the chess world for 30 years. And the success story continues. In Vienna, the most popular chess program ever was once again able to underline its premier position: the newly developed neural engine with NNUE technology won the official Chess Software World Championship!
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I have an old rule, "Do not praise friends in public." This time I am making an exception. ChessBase Magazine has scored a ton and importantly it has survived the pandemic. Both call for a little celebration. Incidentally, I still remember the First Jubilee issue on scoring a 100. The videos were fun. A couple of them are back here with GM Rainer Knaak and Founder-Editor, Frederic Friedel going down the memory lane. Sit back and smile, though our Gen. Next may thumb their noses at the quality of the videos. Back in 1990s the digital revolution in technology had not taken place yet. So one has to make allowances.
Old timers would recall one encounter that had everyone amused. This was the decisive game between Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand at the end of the Credit Suisse Rapid Tournament, Geneva in 1996. Both players had finished with the same number of points. So a blitz match of two games was arranged between the two. In the first game Vishy played the King’s Indian Defence (!) to the chagrin of Garry. Annoyed by the impertinence of the young talent playing his "own" defence, Garry could only draw the game. In the second game he was determined to teach Vishy a "proper lesson". Here is what happened:
An entertaining game in which both players showed great fighting spirit.
A proud moment for Dutch fans
This brings me to the reports on the tournaments covered in this issue. As is known, the main event of the Tata Steel Tournament was won by Jorden van Foreest and Anish Giri ahead of Esipenko, Caruana, Firouzja and Carlsen with a score of 8.5/13. For the Dutch fans this was a proud moment as their players had won the tournament at Wijk aan Zee 36 years after Timman’s historic victory way back in 1985.
It was only in the Armageddon Match that Jorden van Foreest prevailed over his compatriot. I didn’t find the games from the mini-match in this issue. Probably they would find their way in the next issue. However, for the sake of completeness, I am offering those games here itself.
The organizers went all out to make this tournament. It’s a pity that it was held in an eerie atmosphere without spectators on account of Covid-19 restrictions. No celebration and fun this time. Hopefully, one would find that ambience in the tournament next year.
Nepomniachtchi scores
In creative and sporting terms the 73rd Russian Championship was even better. The race for the prestigious title was between three contenders, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Sergei Karjakin and Daniil Dubov. In the last round Nepo was paired with Maxim Chigaev and took a pragmatic decision to draw barely after 8 moves. Karjakin met his doom in the encounter with Dubov and his setback allowed Nepo to come ahead of him by half point and win the championship. In this issue you would find a video commentary, "Zug für Zug" ("Move by Move") by Martin Breutigam on his decisive encounter with Karjakin.
The game itself is familiar to readers of the News Page here. I am appending the score by way of reminder:
There are also other games from this championship games annotated by players, Vladimir Fedoseev, Nikita Vitiugov and Maxim Matlakov.
Dubov weaves magic
It was the Dubov-Karjakin encounter from this championship that made waves in the chess world. A number of grandmasters have offered detailed commentaries on the game. In his video in this issue Danny King offers a perspective on the opening of the game and a road map for both White and Black. As for the game itself, Daniil Dubov himself has annotated it in New in Chess Magazine and also the Russian periodical, 64 шахматное обозрение ("64 Chess Review").
Daniil Dubov | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
Anyone reading it would be captivated by the sheer exuberance of the young talent’s play and astonishing analysis. However, it’s also important to remain objective and see what you can find for yourself and how more qualified judges view the critical moments in the game.
It would not be amiss to mention that Dubov attributes the credit for his opening preparation in this game to his second, Sasha Riazantsev.
Wesley So prevails over Carlsen
The Skilling Open Tournament held online at the end of 2020 had quite a few surprises in store for both the players and fans. Main contenders like Aronian, Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi were all eliminated to pave way for a mini-match between grandmaster Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So. How the modest American grandmaster prevailed over the world champion is a story in itself. In this issue you would find their decisive encounter annotated by Wesley So himself.
Wesley So crossing swords with Carlsen in Fischerrandom World Championship 2019 | Photo:Lennart Ootes
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I wanted to annotate this victory which is the only win I had with the Black
pieces in the entire knockout portion of the Skilling Open. Needless to say,
it is difficult to win with the Black pieces these days against top opposition.
But after losing the previous game with the White pieces I needed to bounce
back somehow or the match would be over.1.d4Nf62.c4e63.Nf3d54.Nc3c55.cxd5cxd4This is the Tarrasch Endgame variation. I played it seven
times in the Skilling Open, and I had also tried it a few times in previous
tournaments. The reason I like this because it's simple to play and remember,
it is relatively unexplored, and you can play it as early as move four. I
admit I was tempted to play other openings against Magnus,but after playing 4..
.Bb4 in Game 3 and getting crushed, I realised that I should just stick to
this trusty endgame line. I'll most likely end up slightly worse anyway, even
if I change my opening as Black, so why not just stick to something that I
know?6.Qxd4The main recapture, to force Black to end up with an isolani.
In this tournament I also faced two other moves.6.Qa4+was played by
Hikaru Nakamura in our semi-final match.Bd77.Qxd4exd58.e38.e3 is not
the critical line. 8.Bg5 or8.Nxd5is more testing. AfterQa5+9.Nc3Nc610.Qd1Ne4Black has enough compensation for the pawn.11.Bd2Nxd212.Nxd2Bb413.Rc1Bxc314.Rxc3Qxa215.Nc4Be616.e4Rd817.Nd6+Kf818.Qc1Qa419.Nxb7Qxe4+20.Qe3Qxe3+21.fxe3Rb822.Nc5I've known this very
forcing line since 2017. Black makes an easy draw in the endgame.8...Nc69.Qd19.Qd3 looks slightly stronger, but Hikaru just wanted to get a game.Bb410.Be2Ne4Desperately forcing exchanges, but I see now it's unnecessary.
Simpler is10...0-011.0-0Bxc312.bxc3Na5when Black is completely fine,
since despite having the bishop pair his c1-bishop is passive.11.Bd2Bxc311...Be612.0-00-0=maybe this is easier.12.Bxc3Nxc313.bxc3Be6
Here at least White managed to get a fighting game that he was looking for (he
was behind one game in the match). He is slightly better now.14.Rb1Qc715.0-00-016.Ng5Rad8A good stable move. So far I've been defending very well.
In the game Hikaru was not able to make progress. Perhaps 17.c4 here should be
considered.17.Qc2g618.Nxe6fxe619.c4?!this merely leads to an equal
endgame, but it was not so easy to improve White's position anyway. You can
hardly find a target on Black's position.Ne520.c5b621.Rbc121.Rfc1bxc522.Qxc5Qxc523.Rxc5Rc8=21...bxc522.Qxc5Qxc523.Rxc5Rc8
Black has equalised out of the opening and should hold this endgame relatively
easily.24.Ra524.Rfc1Nc425.Rxc8Rxc826.Bxc4dxc4=24...Rc225.Bd1Rc726.Ra6Kf727.Bb3Maybe 27.e4 instead could pose Black minuscule
problems.Nd328.h4Nc529.Ra5Nxb3There was no need to trade the knight
right away, but it's the simplest.30.axb3Rb831.Rfa1Rxb332.Rxa7Rbc333.Kh2h534.Ra8Rc1White cannot avoid the trade of rooks.35.R1a4R1c436.g3Rxa437.Rxa4Rc438.Ra7+Kf639.Ra8d440.exd4Rxd441.Rf8+Kg742.Ra8Kf643.Rf8+Kg744.Ra8Kf6½-½ (44) Nakamura,H (2736)-So,W (2770) INT
2020In the quarterfinals Teimour tried6.Nxd4against me which keeps
more pieces on the board.Nxd57.Bd2Be78.e3A couple of months ago in
the Banter Blitz Magnus played against me8.e4Nxc39.Bxc30-0but didn't
get much after the opening.10.Be2Qb611.0-0Rd812.Qb3Na613.Qxb6axb6with ...Nc5 and ...Bd7 coming next move, Black has a comfortable ending.8...0-09.Be2Here 9...e5 makes sense, but in the game I just remembered
about this ...Bf6xd4 idea.Bf610.0-0Maybe 10.Nxd5 Bxd4 11.Nc3 was
stronger, in order to avoid the isolated pawn.Bxd411.exd4Nc612.Nxd5Qxd5In return for the bishop pair I force him to have an isolated pawn, and White
has no knights to make use of his initiative.13.Bf3Qxd414.Bc3Qxd115.Rfxd1e5½-½ (15) Radjabov,T (2765)-So,W (2770) INT 2020 [RR]. and here
Teimour offered a draw, which I felt would be offensive to refuse. Later we
both got a reminder from the arbiter that you cannot accept draw offers before
move 40 as per tournament rules.6...exd5Black should not play 6...Nxd5
because of 7.e4 followed by Bb5, with a strong initiative, but recapturing
with the pawn is good enough. Here White has a choice. He can play 7.e4 and
head into an ending, but it is not everyone's cup of tea to trade queens at
such an early stage of the game. Alternatively 7.Bg5 is possible, to play
against the isolated d-pawn.7.e4Teimour has also tried7.Bg5there
are quite a number of games with this move too.Be78.e30-09.Be2h610.Bh4Nc611.Qd3Qb612.0-0Maybe White has other tries between move 8 up to
here, but this is the main continuation so far.Rd813.Rfd1Be614.Qb5
White probably has more challenging tries here than this move, as this leads
to an even endgame.Qxb515.Nxb5g516.Bg3Ne4This ...g5, ...Ne4 plan is
a typical idea in this variation. It allows us to get counterplay after ...Bf6.
17.Rac1Bf618.Nfd4Nxd419.Nxd4Nxg3Getting rid of his bishop before
it can escape by Bc7.20.hxg3Rac821.Bd3Rxc122.Rxc1Rc823.Rd1Bxd424.exd4Kf8=½-½ (95) Radjabov,T (2765)-So,W (2770) INT 2020 [RR]. The
endgame is completely equal. We drew after 95 moves, but the game was always
going to end in a draw.7...dxe4I used to defend this variation with7...Nc6which actually has more games, but after the standard reply8.Bb5dxe49.Qxd8+Kxd810.Ng5Be611.Nxe6+fxe612.Bxc6bxc6Black has to
defend passively this endgame with a horrible pawn structure. Three isolated
pawns. Probably the defence could be successful, but it's certainly not
cheerful. I lost a playoff game in the Moscow Grand Prix last year against
Alexander Grischuk, and haven't ventured for this since. Seeing 7...dxe4
recently encouraged me to investigate this endgame line once again.8.Qxd8+The check8.Bb5+can be solidly parried withBd79.Nxe4Be710.Bxd7+Qxd7when White has nothing.8...Kxd89.Ng5Be6I have to defend
passively for the next few moves, as my king is quite vulnerable in the centre
for the time being. In return the extra pawn on e4 should not be
underestimated and I am planning to consolidate quickly with ...Bb4 and ...
Nbd7.10.Nxe6+fxe6Here my pawn structure is better compared to the 7...
Nc6 line.11.Bc4This has been Magnus' choice in our two games. The plan is
very logical. White quickly castles short and attacks the e4-pawn with Re1.
Alternatively he could also develop with Be3 and put his rooks on d1 and c1
with nice coordinated pieces. Meanwhile Black has some problems with his king
in the center.The main and most obvious move here is11.Bg5attacking
the e4-pawn and intending to castle queenside with check. I playedh6
trying to force White to give up the bishop pair.11...Nc6was played by
Le Quang Liem and is also very solid.12.0-0-0+Ke7The king looks very
ugly on e7, but is relatively safe covered by the e-pawns.13.Bxf6+
In the first game Teimour played13.Be3Nc614.g3when instead of my bad
move 14...Rc8Ng4is simpler. I won't show the rest of our game here as it
was pretty bad.13...gxf614.Nxe4Bg715.Ng3This is the best move. The
knight attacks the f5 and h5-squares. Perhaps 15...h5 or 15...Nd7 here is
worthy of consideration. In the game I playedf516.Bd3Nc617.Rhe1Be518.Nxf5+exf519.f4Rad820.fxe5Rhf8with a slightly worse position. I was
actually still in my preparation, but during the game I realised that Black is
walking a fine line towards equality.21.Re321.Bc2can be met byNd4
when Black should hold the resulting rook endgame, but still it looks quite
suspicious.21...Rd522.Rh322.e6Rfd8gives Black enough activity for
the pawn as compensation.22...Nxe523.Bc2Rxd1+24.Kxd1Rf6Perhaps 24..
.Rg8 is simpler, but to defend this endgame requires some accurate play for
Black.25.Ke2Rb626.b3Ra627.Bb1Here instead of defending correctly
with ...Rf6 followed by ...Ke6 with a tenable endgame I went for activity withf4?a blunder which could have cost me the match and the tournament!28.Rh5Re629.Bf5?!Instead29.Kf2!is probably just winning for White.
The pawn on f4 is vulnerable, his rook is active, and his bishop is stronger
than my knight. I was pinning my hopes onKd630.Be4Ng4+31.Kf3Rxe432.Kxg4Re233.Kf3Rxa234.Rxh6+but it turns out that this endgame is just
totally lost for Black according to the computer.29...Ra630.Bb1Re631.Bf5?Ra632.Bb1a relief to draw this endgame! ½-½ (32) Radjabov,T (2765)
-So,W (2770) INT 2020.11.Bd2was played a few days earlier by Giri in
the same tournament against Le Quang Liem, grinding him down in a nice two
bishops vs bishop and knight endgame. The idea is to keep the bishop pair and
lessen the strength of ...Bb4. We'll see in the future which line becomes most
critical against this endgame.11...Ke712.0-0Nbd7The typical place for
this knight in the endgame, as it can later be rerouted to c5 or e5. I'm
preparing ...Rc8 to attack his bishop. The computer recommends 12...Kf7, but I
went for 12...Nbd7 instead hopefully to avoid Magnus' preparation.13.Rd1
This came as a slight surprise as I was expecting more 13.Re1. But Magnus
shows that regaining the e-pawn is not his priority.In the first game of
the match Magnus played13.Be3which again shows that Magnus is playing for
compensation. His priority is to develop his minor pieces and rooks ASAP.Rc8Gaining a tempo on his bishop.14.Bb3Nc5?!After spending a couple of
minutes thought I decided on this second rate move. Stronger was14...Kf7
in order to be able to recapture on c5 with the bishop. Over the board you
have to calculate15.Bxa7After15.Rad1Nc516.Bc2Be7is completely equal as the knight on c5 is very well placed.15...b6followed by ...Bc5 Black has nothing to fear but over the board I was not
able to assess this properly.15.Bxc5+Rxc516.Rfe1It is more accurate
to use the other rook16.Rae1that way after an eventual f4 the rook is
already active on f1. The computer givesg617.Nxe4Nxe418.Rxe4e519.f4Bg720.fxe5White may try20.f5Rf8but I suspect that this should not
be too difficult to hold.20...Rf8with no problems, but it's not clear
how confident I would be to find this over the board.21.Rxf8Kxf822.Rf4+22.e6Ke7with only one pair of rooks on the board and counterplay with ...
b5-...a5 coming Black has little to fear here.22...Ke823.Rf7Bxe524.Rxh7Rc725.Rh6g5the computer gives easy draw here of course, but without
preparation this sequence is difficult to find.16...g617.Nxe4Nxe418.Rxe4e5I was quite pleased with myself after finding this variation that I
became too comfortable too early. The opposite colored bishops guarantee a
very drawish tendency, but of course Black still has to defend accurately due
to the worse pawn structure and the presence of four rooks.19.f4Bg720.Rae1Perhaps 20...Rhc8 followed by ...Rc1 to trade a pair of rooks, or 20...
b5 followed by ...a5 here are easier ways to make a draw. 20...Rd8 with the
idea of ...Rd2 also makes sense.Rf821.fxe5If White delays taking on e5
with 21.g3, then I can start queenside counterplay with ...b5-...a5.Rf522.e6Bxb2Here I thought this was an easy draw too since I am threatening ...
Rfe5 or ...Rc1 to trade.23.Rd1Rc7Here as the commentators pointed out I
still had eleven minutes on the clock and should have played 23...Rc1 instead.
I saw 23...Rc1 but I missed an important nuance in the end.23...Rc124.Ree1Bd4+25.Kh1Rxd126.Rxd1And here I thought that I have to move my
bishop away. But I missedRf8!which is a very nice little move. Black
prepares ...Rd8 and White cannot invade along the seventh rank. ...Rd8
followed by ...Be5 protects all the invasion squares.24.g4!This is a
very nice move. White gains space and hits my rook, at the same time he is in
no rush, but just improves his position slowly.Rf825.Kg2Just improving
his king's position. I must say I totally underestimated his chances here.b526.Re2Bc327.Re3Bb428.Red3a5If I could get in ...a4 my counterplay
would be on time to hold the game.29.Rd7+Rxd730.Rxd7+Kf631.Rb7
The best practical chance and Magnus finds it. He is very good at making use
of all his chances especially in the endgame.31.Rxh7is what I expected,
when aftera432.Bd5Ke533.Rd7g5Black should draw comfortably. ...Bd6
is coming next move. There is also nothing wrong with the immediate 33...Bd6.31...a4The computer suggests 31...h5 here to trade a pair of pawns and
activate my rook later along the g-file. 31...a4 is the most obvious move.32.g5+!A very powerful practical try.Kxg533.Rxb5+Rf5?This is what I
was hoping would work, as I did not actually see the refutation to it.33...Kf6is the only move. The problem was I thought the pawn ending is lost after34.Rxb4axb335.Rf4+Ke736.Rxf8Kxf837.axb3Ke7the computer will just
give 0.00 here but if you analyse it yourself you can't be 100% sure during
the game. To be honest I doubt anyone can defend this with little time on the
clock and only 10 seconds increment. For example after38.Kf3Kxe639.Kf4
we have to find the only moveKf6!And after39...h640.Ke4Kd641.Kd4loses for
Black.40.b4h6!41.b5Ke6!42.Ke4g5and here since 43.
h3 h5 or 43.b6 Kd6 is a draw, White cannot make progress. Crazy stuff.33...Kh6is possible, but it's close to lost after34.Bxa4my king is very
passive and White creates two passed pawns.34.Rxb4axb335.e7bxa2
35...Re5 loses to 36.Rb5 unfortunately.36.e8Qa1QI didn't see the win
for White here during the game as I thought my king is safe enough. But Magnus
finds the tactic effortlessly.37.Qe7+!37...Qf6 runs into 38.Qe3
followed by Qh3+.Kh638.Rh4+Cornering the Black king on h6.Rh539.Qf8+...Kg5 leads to a mate on f4.Qg740.Qf4+!g541.Qd6+Qg642.Qf8+Qg743.Rxh5+1-0 (43) Carlsen,M (2862)-So,W (2770) INT 2020.13...Rc8
Again gaining a tempo on his bishop. He could retreat it to f1 or to e2.14.Be2My main problem here is how to develop my kingside pieces comfortably. I
cannot play ...Kf7 due to Nxe4 and ...Nc5 always seems to run into some Nb5
ideas. ...g6 is also bad because of Bg5. After thinking for some five to six
minutes I finally hit upon the right idea.a6Controlling the b5-square
while at the same time putting my pawn on a safer square.15.Be3Rc6
Placing my rook on a solid, protected square. The immediate 15...Kd8 was even
more accurate, but hard to spot.16.Rac1After16.Rd4which I was
expecting, the only good move for Black isKd8!preparing ...Bc5, while
Nxe4 is met by ...e5 attacking his rook. It's a difficult move to find, but he
is completely alright if he does.16...Kd8!A nice move, found by method
of elimination. I needed to move my king, but ...Kf7 allows 17.Nxe4 and ...Ke8
is met by 17.Na4 when the c8-square needs protection later on. Then I suddenly
noticed this weird move.17.Bd4?A mistake, after spending almost three
minutes (from his twelve left) on the clock. Let me quote Magnus here on his
interview about this move: "I just made one very bad mistake, 17.Bd4?, and he
replied by 17…Bd6! For some reason I had been thinking of going either Bg5
or Bd4. I’m not going to go into too much detail there, but basically I
thought I had nothing so I would force a draw, and I thought these two moves
were equivalent... and they weren’t at all. So that was a bit of a shame!"-
Magnus Carlsen. Agreed. After 17.Bg5 I don't see how White could ever lose.Bd6Now the initiative has passed to Black. It is not easy for White to
regain the annoying pawn on e4, and playing 18.f3 does not look attractive at
all.18.Na4This trades a pair of rooks, but allows me to keep the pawn.
The best for White here is18.Bf1Ke719.Rc2followed by Re2, avoiding the
pin on the c-file and intending to eliminate my e4-pawn at all costs.18...Rxc119.Rxc1Ke7I achieve a dream position clearly from the opening. All my
pieces are well placed, my king is active and I have no real weaknesses. And
the pawn on e4 is still alive.20.g3Rd821.Be3?A big mistake. White's
last chance was to play 21.Nb6! and trade a pair of knights. There I think
White has very reasonable chances to hold the endgame.Nd522.Bg5+N7f6
My knights are well placed in the centre, meanwhile his bishops don't have a
stable place to land.23.Nc5Bxc524.Rxc5h6I didn't mind giving up the
bishop pair as remaining pieces are very active. Here 25.Bd2 runs into some
tricks after 25...e3 followed by ...Ne4. Therefore Magnus retreats his bishop
to c1.25.Bc1Nb4Taking advantage of his temporary inactivity to attack
some pawns. I also had a clock advantage at this point. I had around five
minutes compared to his two.26.Rc7+Not the most stubborn move. I must say
though that both Magnus and I played this endgame quite poorly. Both our
technique were quite subpar in this game.Stronger is26.Rc4since afterNxa227.Be3it is difficult to rescue my knight on a2.26...Rd727.Rxd7+Kxd7I was happy to trade rooks, as now I felt that my active knights coupled
with the king should guarantee the victory.28.Bd2Nfd529.a3My knights
are swarming all over the board, but there is no need to be fancy. Just the
simple 29...Nc6 here followed by ...Nd4 should be enough to convert.Nd3?
This move allows 30.f3! when the game becomes more messy. Fortunately Magnus
missed it.30.b3I guess he just played this move on instinct, but this
allows my king to approach.Kd631.f3Nc5Here again there was no need to
be fancy. My first intention, 31...Ke5 was much simpler. Once the king reaches
the e4 or d4-square it takes so much space away from White's position and
makes it difficult to defend.32.fxe4Nxe4My first plan was32...Nxb3
but I forgot that White has 35.e5+ after33.Be1Nf634.Bb4+Nc535.e5+
so time to go to plan B.33.Bc1e5Fortunately the endgame should still be
technically winning.34.b4Nec335.Bf1The point is that35.Bg4
is met byNf6when he cannot play Bc8 due to ...Ne2+. Therefore White's
counterplay is just too slow.35...e436.Kf2Ke537.Bh3b6Slowly
improving my position. White cannot really target my pawns as my forces are
too active and he has to keep an eye on my passer.38.Bb2Kd439.Bf1b540.Ke1Ke3This allows White some unnecessary counterplay with 41.Bh3. Much
simpler was 40...Ne3, when I always have the ...Nc4 option to harass his
bishop.41.Bc1+Kd442.Bb2Magnus repeats moves but this time I was able
to find an alternative. We both had a bit more than a minute left on the clock.
e3This keeps his king back, and prevents the idea Kd2-c2.43.Ba1g6
Removing the pawn away from the long diagonal. 43...Nb6 followed by ...Nc4 was
simpler.44.Bh3Kd345.Bc8Nb1A very nice move to make.46.Bb2Nd2
Threatening ...Nf3+ and forcing his bishop to move back.47.Bg4Nc348.Bxc3Kxc349.Ke2Nc4I only had a few seconds left on the clock here, coupled
with the ten seconds increment per move. But fortunately it's more than enough.
50.Bc8Nxa351.Bxa651.Kxe3Nc2+followed by ...Nxb4 defends my a-pawn.51...Kd4This is much simpler than 51...Kxb4, as I don't even have to
calculate. The plan of bringing the knight to c3 is easy and unstoppable.52.h4Nb153.Kd1Nc3+54.Kc2g555.hxg5hxg556.g4Kc457.Bc8Kxb458.Kd3e259.Kd2Ka360.Bf5b461.Bd3b3A very nice victory, and important to keep
me in the match. I can't even recall when was the last time Magnus lost with
the White pieces, so this game was special to me!0–1
If Magnus fans are disappointed by such occasional setbacks, they should think of the old adage, "Form is temporary and class is permanent!" They are otherwise in for a treat in this issue. There are as many as 22 games by young Magnus in this issue, all deeply annotated by grandmasters.
There are three opening videos and as many as eleven opening surveys ranging from the Alekhine’s Defence to the English Opening. For now I would like to single out the surveys on the French Winawer and QGD Exchange Variation 6.Bf4 for special mention.
Besides opening surveys, this issue has standard features on tactics, strategy and the endgame.
Endgame in depth
The last of them deserves a special mention. Thorsten Cmiel offers an instructive lesson on the ending of rook and bishop versus rook. Karsten Müller analyses endgames from Tata Steel and Skilling Open Tournaments.
Regular readers of ChessBase News Page are aware of his discussion on historic endgames in which a number of players participated. The astonishing results of these interactions are presented in the column, "Readers write" here.
The main database of the issue has 413 recent games of which 25 are deeply annotated.
Commentators include Anish Giri, Van Foreest, Jan Duda and Romain Edouard among others.
It may be noted that there are more annotated games in the sections on opening theory and training. Well, practice makes perfect
Nagesh HavanurProf. Nagesh Havanur (otherwise known as "chessbibliophile") is a senior academic and research scholar. He taught English in Mumbai for three decades and has now settled in Bangalore, India. His interests include chess history, biography and opening theory. He has been writing on the Royal Game for more than three decades. His articles and reviews have appeared on several web sites and magazines.
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Videos by Nico Zwirs: Nimzo-Indian with 4.e3 b6 and Robert Ris: French Advance Variation with 6.Na3. Alexander Donchenko analyses his winning game against Fabiano Caruana from the Saint Louis Masters 2024. “Lucky bag" with another 43 analyses by Edouard,
The Black Sniper is back – sharper and deadlier than ever! This dynamic system (1...g6, 2...Bg7, 3...c5 against 1.e4, 1.d4 and 1.c4) creates unpredictable, high-pressure positions, leaving opponents struggling to adapt.
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