5/23/2023 – Day 1 of the ChessKid Cup, a double elimination rapid (15+3) tournament, brought two big surprises: Alireza Firouzja lost his match against Dmitrij Kollars and Hikaru Nakamura lost against Jorden Van Foreest. Things went more smoothly for Fabiano Caruana and Nodirbek Abdusattorov: Caruana won 2.5-0.5 against Aleksandr Shimanov, as did Abdusattorov against Jules Moussard. | Graphics: Chess.com
new: Fritz 20
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
Whether you‘re a beginner looking for a clear roadmap or an advanced player ready to refine your strategic edge, this comprehensive course will transform the way you think about chess.
€49.90
The ChessKid Cup is the third tournament in the current Champions Chess Tour, which was originally launched by the Magnus Chess Group. Following the takeover of the company by Chess.com, the series continues in a slightly different format. The best of the best still take part, but there are now a number of qualifying tournaments and three divisions to play in.
The ChessKid Cup is a double elimination knockout tournament. Those eliminated in the winner's bracket continue to play in the loser's bracket. Only a second defeat will eliminate a player for good. The winner of the loser's bracket plays the winner of the winner's bracket in the super final.
Eight players qualified to play in Division I. One of them was German Grandmaster Dmitrij Kollars, with a rating of 2607, currently ranked 171st in the world. On day one he was up against Alireza Firouzja, one of the world's best blitz and rapid players and currently ranked 4th in the world. However, Firouzja struggled to get the better of Kollars and after both missed good chances in the first four games, the match was decided in a game of Armageddon. Firouzja had less time on the clock, but Kollars had white and needed to win. Which he did in a seemingly quiet Berlin.
Fabiano Caruana and Nodirbek Abdusattorov both prevailed as favourites with 2.5:0.5 against Aleksandr Shimanov and Jules Moussard. But Hikaru Nakamura, perhaps the top favourite to win the tournament, lost his match against Jorden van Foreest. Game four, in which both players missed good chances, decided the match.
Brackets
Division I
Division II
Division III
Games
Division I
Division II
Division III
Live commentary of day 1: With David Howell, Tania Sachdev, Daniel Naroditsky and James Canty III
Johannes FischerJohannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
In this course, you’ll learn how to take the initiative against the London and prevent White from comfortably playing their usual system by playing 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 Nh5.
London System Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.
The London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Opening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.
YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.
The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.
€9.90
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