9/15/2024 – Round 4 of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest brought two major upsets: Ukraine stunned the top-seeded United States, with Vasyl Ivanchuk's victory over Wesley So securing the crucial win, while Vietnam defeated defending champions Uzbekistan in a hard-fought match. As the dust settles, eight teams now share the lead with 8/8 match points. Among them, India have emerged as the most dominant force so far, cruising to a commanding 3½-½ win over Serbia on Saturday, reinforcing their status as one of the top contenders. | Photo: FIDE / MIchal Walusza
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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. ChessBase Magazine offers first-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their brilliant games and explain the ideas behind the moves. Opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in tactics, strategy and endgames show you the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a direct download (incl. booklet as pdf file) or booklet with download key by post. Included in delivery: ChessBase Magazine #225 as “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.!
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Ukraine take down the top seeds
Find below videos from the venue by Arne Kaehler and expert analysis by GM Daniel King and IM Robert Ris.
Round 4 of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest produced decisive outcomes across the top nine matches, with eight teams now tied for first place, all holding perfect 8/8 match points. Two of the most surprising results came from Ukraine and Vietnam, who each secured significant victories. Ukraine stunned the top-seeded United States, while Vietnam handed a defeat to defending champions Uzbekistan, who are seeded fourth this year. These unexpected wins have shaken up the standings and added intensity to the competition.
Ukraine's victory over the United States came courtesy of strong performances from Anton Korobov and Vasyl Ivanchuk. Korobov defeated Ray Robson on board 4, while Ivanchuk, on board 2, managed to profit from a blunder by Wesley So. Fabiano Caruana continued his excellent form, winning his third game in as many rounds by beating Andrei Volokitin, but his efforts were not enough to salvage the match for the US. Ivanchuk's win was particularly noteworthy, as the 55-year-old had previously announced his retirement from chess after losing to a 16-year-old So at the 2009 World Cup.
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.
Vasyl Ivanchuk | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova
Vietnam's 3-1 triumph over Uzbekistan was equally impressive. Le Quang Liem, playing on board 1, controlled his game against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, while Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and Le Tuan Minh delivered wins over higher-rated opponents on boards 3 and 4. This well-rounded performance propelled the Vietnamese team to face Poland, the 11th seeds, in Sunday’s fifth round.
In addition to Ukraine and Vietnam, six other teams are sharing the lead with 8/8 match points: India, China, Hungary, Poland, Azerbaijan and Spain. India has been particularly dominant, scoring 15/16 points on individual boards so far. Their standout player, Arjun Erigaisi, has maintained a perfect 4/4 record on board 3, consistently delivering crucial victories for his team.
Just 1 match point behind the leaders, four teams remain in close contention, including Norway, led by Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen secured a comfortable win over Slovakia's Viktor Gazik in round 4. Among the most surprising teams in this group is Türkiye, the 22nd seeds. Their youthful squad, featuring 15-year-old Ediz Gurel and 13-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus on boards 2 and 3, has been performing exceptionally well, with both teenagers holding perfect 4/4 scores.
Dommaraju Gukesh facing Serbia's Alexandr Predke | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Ukraine v. USA
In an endgame with two rooks, a pawn and a knight against two rooks and four pawns, So faltered on move 44.
Black should focus on dealing with his opponent's threat of attacking the f7-pawn - grabbing that pawn would also defend a potential doubling of the rooks along the third rank. Thus, the correct way to continue is with 44.Kg7 Rd7 45.Kf6 Rbb7 46.e5, and the battle goes on.
Instead, So's 44.Re2 allowed 44...Rb7 (not 44...Rd7 45.e5 Rxf7 46.e4), and after 45.Re5 Rxf7 46.g5 Ivanchuk found 46...h5, when Black would need to make major concessions to prevent White from giving checkmate.
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.
Anton Korobov | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Vietnam v. Uzbekistan
Tuan got to play a good-looking final move in his game with white against Javokhir Sindarov on the third board.
33.Nef5+ prompted the Uzbek GM's resignation, since after 33...gxf5 34.Rg3+ Kh6 35.Nxf5+ Kh5 there is checkmate with 36.Bf7#
Having seen this game, Nodirbek Yakubboev over-pushed in his game with white against Nguyen, and ended up losing the encounter.
In this video course, kings will play a role of strong and active pieces. We will explore how Kings can be helpful in defence and prophylaxis, or even in attack!
Vietnam defeated Uzbekistan | Photo: FIDE / Mark Livshitz
In this video course, experts including Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh, examine the games of Boris Spassky. Let them show you which openings Spassky chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were and much more.
Cristian Chirila - "Mad Men is the best series EVER!"
In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Judit Polgar. Let them show you which openings Polgar chose to play, where her strength in middlegames were, or how she outplayed her opponents in the endgame.
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.
Opening videos: Sipke Ernst brings the Ulvestad Variation up to date + Part II of ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’. Special: Jan Werle shows highlights from the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 in the video. ‘Lucky bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
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