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ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024
It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.
Bobby Fischer would surely be pleased to see that the chess variant he advocated for, now commonly known as chess960, is steadily gaining popularity in the chess world. Over two decades ago, Hans-Walter Schmitt held notable chess960 events in Mainz, demonstrating early support for this unique approach to the game. FIDE's official Fischer Random World Championships in 2019 and 2022 further legitimised this variant, while Jan-Henric Buettner and former world champion Magnus Carlsen have rebranded it as "Freestyle Chess", lending their own influence to promote it globally. This increased recognition reflects a new appreciation for Fischer’s vision, bringing creativity and fresh challenges to modern chess.
The Saint Louis Chess Club has also contributed significantly to the rise of chess960 by hosting the annual Chess 9LX event since 2019. This year's edition includes an exciting lineup, with legendary player Garry Kasparov once again joining top international competitors for nine rounds of rapid chess960, played at a 20+10 time control. Last year, Kasparov scored 3/9, achieving memorable victories against Wesley So and Ray Robson. In this year's opening rounds, he started with a varied result - a win, a draw, and a loss - claiming victory over the 2021 champion, Leinier Dominguez in the first round.
Between 2004 and 2007 the 13th World Champion Garry Kasparov recorded a large 3-volume Najdorf video course. ChessBase is publishing this great classic in a complete edition in the current ChessBase Media format. Look forward to this classic of chess!
Currently leading the standings is Fabiano Caruana, fresh from winning his fourth US Championship title. Caruana had an impeccable first day, achieving three consecutive victories against Grigoriy Oparin, Sam Shankland and fellow title contender Hikaru Nakamura. Nakamura is tied for second place with Sam Sevian - the defending champion - and Wesley So, with each scoring 2/3 and trailing Caruana by a full point.
On day two, Garry Kasparov, now 61 years old, faces a challenging set of opponents: Oparin, Shankland, and Nakamura. Fans are surely eager to see whether he can regain momentum and showcase his timeless skill against these younger talents.
The inimitable Garry Kasparov | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Starting position
Three out of five players who had the white pieces in the first round opened with 1.d4 and 2.f3, immediately attempting to gain central control. Nakamura, on his part, went for a double fianchetto approach with 1.b3 and 2.g4, while Sevian only fianchettoed on the queenside, but after choosing the more daring 1.b4.
Kasparov beat Dominguez with black after the Cuban-born GM focused all his efforts on keeping a strong battery along the dark-squared diagonal. Kasparov exchanged both of his bishops, but gained three strong central pawns in return.
Master Class Vol.7: Garry Kasparov
On this DVD a team of experts gets to the bottom of Kasparov's play. In over 8 hours of video running time the authors Rogozenko, Marin, Reeh and Müller cast light on four important aspects of Kasparov's play: opening, strategy, tactics and endgame.
Black is now clearly winning, and only needs to deal with a few threats before cementing his advantage. Seven moves later, Dominguez resigned.
Leinier Dominguez | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Starting position
All games ended decisively in round 2 after all boards saw the contenders quickly opening up the diagonals for their bishops on h1 and h8. Players with white chose either 1.f4 and 2.g3 or 1.g4 and 2.f4. Players with black, on their part, all went for 1...f5 and 2...g6 - or the same moves in inverted order.
After beating Dominguez, Kasparov quickly found himself in a positionally inferior position while playing black against Wesley So.
The former world champion resigned in this position after only 19 moves. After 19.Be1, there is no way to defend the pawn on a5, while Black's army will further lose coordination either by jumping backwards with his knight on b6 or by self-pinning that knight with ...Kc8-c7.
Wesley So | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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.
Starting position
The third position of the day made for more varied approaches, though three players opted for 1.f4 and either 2.c3 or 3.c3. Most players with black, except Robson, played ...f7-f5 and ...c7-c6 early on, opening up diagonals for their bishops.
In the all-important contest between Caruana and Nakamura, the former focused on gaining space in a closed position and got a clearly superior setup by move 20.
The game continued until move 44, when Nakamura resigned, but the lack of space to manoeuvre Black's pieces was the crucial factor throughout.
Hikaru Nakamura resigns the game | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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