9/17/2024 – At the halfway mark of the Chess Olympiad, India, the second seeds in the open section, have emerged as the sole leaders, with 6 wins from 6 matches. Not only have they maintained a perfect match record, but they are also the only team to remain undefeated in both individual and team performances across either section of the tournament. Arjun Erigaisi has been the star performer for the Indian team, winning all 6 of his games, including a round-6 victory over Hungary's Sanan Sjugirov. Meanwhile, former co-leaders China and Vietnam drew their match, with Vietnam's Le Quang Liem defeating world champion Ding Liren on the top board. | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova
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Looking for a realistic way to play for a win with Black against 1.e4 without taking unnecessary risks? The Taimanov Sicilian is a reliable system, and hence one of the best options out there!
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Arjun wins again!
Find below videos from the venue by Arne Kaehler and expert analysis by GM Daniel King.
India have emerged as the favourites to claim the title at the 45th edition of the Chess Olympiad. This could be only their third medal in the event's history, excluding their shared gold with Russia at the 2020 Online Chess Olympiad. Their first Olympiad medal came in 2014, when they got bronze; then, in 2022, 'India 2' also secured bronze (that team included D. Gukesh and R. Praggnanandhaa, who are also playing in Budapest). In round 6, India defeated Hungary 3-1 to maintain their perfect match record and become the sole leaders at the tournament's halfway mark.
India's win over Hungary was secured by victories from Arjun Erigaisi and Vidit Gujrathi on boards 3 and 4, respectively. Arjun's triumph over Sanan Sjugirov kept his perfect score intact after playing in all 6 rounds so far. The 21-year-old has gained 13.3 rating points and is just 8.7 points away from the coveted 2800 rating. He has been backed by strong performances from his teammates, who have kept the team unbeaten on all individual boards, a feat no other squad has achieved in either section.
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.
India had entered round 6 tied for first place with Hungary, Vietnam, and China. In the other match between co-leaders, Vietnam drew against China after Le Quang Liem beat Ding Liren on the top board. China's Wang Yue levelled the match by defeating Tran Tuan Minh on board 4. Ding, after four consecutive draws, suffered his first defeat in Budapest, dropping 9.3 rating points overall and falling out of the world's top 20 in the live ratings.
Le Quang Liem (Vietnam) and Ding Liren (China) shake hands at the start of their round-6 encounter | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova
Joining Vietnam and China in second place, one match point behind India, is Iran. Led by Parham Maghsoodloo, the Iranian squad defeated Norway 2½-1½. Maghsoodloo drew against Magnus Carlsen in an 87-move battle, where Carlsen pushed hard in an objectively drawn rook endgame with an extra pawn. The decisive result came from Pouya Idani on board 4, as he beat Frode Urkedal with the black pieces, securing Iran's victory in this crucial match.
Iran's upset over Norway was one of several surprises in round 6. Romania (seeded 18th) drew with the top seeds from the United States after all four games were drawn. Austria also drew against Poland, with Valentin Dragnev producing a stunning queen sacrifice that outfoxed Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who had obtained a clear advantage in the middlegame. Lithuania (seeded 29th) and Georgia (32nd) added to the day's surprises with victories over Azerbaijan (12th) and Spain (13th) respectively.
After the rest day, all eyes will be on Wednesday's much anticipated India v. China clash, where a potential Gukesh v. Ding showdown could take place. This could be their last encounter before the World Championship match in November.
Magnus Carlsen (Norway) tried hard but could not make the most of his extra pawn against Parham Maghsoodloo (Iran) | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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.
Fabiano Caruana (United States), on his part, reached an endgame with rook and knight v. rook, which Bogdan-Daniel Deac (Romania) safely defended | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Mikheil Mchedlishvili (Georgia) defeated living legend Alexei Shirov (Spain) with the white pieces | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova
27...Bd628.Ra1Rxa129.Rxa1Rxb230.Rxa7g531.Ra8+Kf732.f4gxf433.gxf4Kg634.Rg8+34.f5+Kxf535.Rh8Rb436.Rxh7Rh437.Kf134...Kxh635.f5+Kh536.Rg7Rb537.Rxh7+Kg438.Kg2Rb239.Rh8Kxf540.Bc5Another step in the wrong direction. The resulting rook ending is still objectively a draw, but harder to hold than the position with the bishops on the board.Rb741.Bxd6exd642.Rd8Ke643.Re8+Re744.Ra8?The engine brands this as a losing move and recommends instead44.Rd8with complete equalisation. But the difference between these two moves cannot be recognised by a human being at the board.44...d545.Kf3Ke546.Ra1Re647.Ra4Rb648.Ke2d449.f3f550.Ra5+Kf451.Rd5Rb2+52.Ke1Rh2!
Le Quang Liem deals with the technical part very precisely right to the end.53.Kf1Kxf354.Rxf5+Ke355.Re5+Kd256.Ra5Rh1+57.Kf2d358.Ra8Rh759.Ra2+Kc360.Ra3+Kc261.Ra2+Kb362.Ra8Re70–1
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!
...two moves later, Ding Liren bemoans his fate
...and resignation comes after Black's 62nd move | Photos: FIDE / Michal Walusza
This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.
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.
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.
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.
Whether it’s a weak pawn, a vulnerable king, or poor piece coordination, this course will teach you how to pinpoint the critical targets, prioritise your attack, and execute a clear, effective plan.
The Cozio Variation (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7!?) is an underrated weapon that takes White out of well-known theory.
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