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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.
Finally, it comes down to this. GM Magnus Carlsen and GM Hikaru Nakamura, the two biggest names in chess, go head-to-head with the top players of 2023 as Chess.com’s $2 million Champions Chess Tour reaches its grand finale this weekend.
For the first time, the eight-player Tour Finals — the last act of the greatest season-long tournament in chess — will be held fully in person and over the board from December 9 to 16. It is the event chess fans have been waiting for.
Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3
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.
The winner will be crowned Tour Champion 2023 and pick up the $200,000 first prize in addition to winnings already earned. In total, $500,000 is on offer at the Tour Finals. Toronto, Canada, has been named as the host city.
Carlsen, the world number-one and reigning Tour champion, and Nakamura, the world’s top chess streamer, have dominated the 2023 season so far and their rivalry has been a joy to watch. But they face stiff competition from a world-class field.
Nakamura is joined by two more American stars: the current world number-two and new U.S. champion Fabiano Caruana and three-time U.S. champion GM Wesley So. Uzbek sensation GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the rising star who won this year’s ChessKid Cup and finished second on the overall Tour leaderboard, takes his place at the top table.
This year’s surprise package, the “tricky Frenchman” GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, will be aiming to continue his stunning return to form after he beat Carlsen twice to win the last event, the AI Cup.
Master Class Vol.8 - Magnus Carlsen 2nd Edition
Let our authors show you how Carlsen tailored his openings to be able to outplay his opponents strategically in the middlegame or to obtain an enduring advantage into the endgame.
He is joined by Iranian-born GM Alireza Firouzja, who also represents France, and the youngest in the field at 17, this year’s breakout star GM Denis Lazavik. The youngster had a strong finish to the regular Tour season to book his place in the Tour finale.
Carlsen qualifies for the Finals having won three of the six events on Tour: the Airthings Masters, the Aimchess Rapid, and the Julius Baer Generation Cup. So far, he has taken $125,000 in prize money. The 32-year-old Norwegian is going for a hat-trick of Tour wins, having won in 2021 and 2022.
Nakamura, meanwhile, finished runner-up to Carlsen in the Airthings Masters before beating Caruana in April to win the Chessable Masters, an event in which Carlsen finished third. He is widely considered as Carlsen’s main threat.
The Finals start on December 9 with an eight-player round-robin lasting three days. Matches will be played over a best of three sets format, with each set consisting of four games, with Armageddon if needed.
All games except Armageddon games will be played using the 15+3 rapid chess time control and will be FIDE-rated. Following the conclusion of the round-robin, the top two players will advance to the knockout stage, while the bottom two will be eliminated.
The remaining six placed 3 to 6 will battle it out for the two remaining spots in the semis in a double-elimination “Survival Stage” on December 12. The single-elimination knockout played over a best-of-three sets format begins with the semis scheduled for December 13 and 14.
The winners will face each other in the two-day grand final starting on December 15.
Opening package: 1.b3 and Black Secrets in the Modern Italian
Wesley So published two new opening DVDs: 1.b3, the so called Nimzo-Larsen-Attack, for White and his black secrets in the modern Italian. Get them in a package and save money!
