“Caissa is a jealous mistress”
After merely scoring a half point in 9 rounds on Saturday, things kicked off well for Garry Kasparov on the last day of action in Zagreb. The former world champion beat Jorden van Foreest with white in his first game of the day, but went back to his losing ways the very next round. In the end, 2 more draws in the remaining 8 rounds meant he finished the tournament with a 2½/18 score. The self-critical chess legend apologized on Twitter:
Sorry I couldn’t do better for the fans who gave me so much support at [the Croatia Rapid & Blitz tournament]. But time is undefeated, and Caissa is a jealous mistress who punishes anyone who ignores her as much as I do!
In the same tweet, Kasparov congratulated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Vishy Anand and Ivan Saric. While Saric impressed with his 10/18 performance in the rapid (despite being the lowest-rated player in the field), MVL and Anand were ruthless on Sunday, as both of them scored 6½ points in 9 rounds to climb to sole first and second places respectively.
For MVL, this might be the start of a much-wanted recovery after his lacklustre start to the year. The Frenchman recently told Dhananjay Khadilkar in Chalons-en Champagne:
It’s good that we finished this edition of the Candidates once and for all and move on to another cycle of tournaments. One of my aims is to get back in the top 10 very soon. The other is to qualify for the next Candidates which is not going to be easy. But it’s going to be an exciting challenge.
Thanks to his great performance in Zagreb, the 30-year-old climbed to fourth place in the blitz-chess world ranking, while he might as well secure a ticket to the next Candidates in the upcoming World Cup in Sochi — the Frenchman reached the semis in three out of the five World Cups he played in, including the last two editions!
The other big winner in Zagreb was 51-year-old Vishy Anand. The Indian legend finished in sole second place in the quickplay tournament ahead of blitz specialists Anish Giri, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Remarkably, this was the first over-the-board tournament Anand plays in a bit over a year and a half (since Wijk aan Zee 2020). The veteran is currently the fifth highest rated blitz player in the world!
This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors how to successfully organise your games strategically, and how to keep your opponent permanently under pressure.

“How did you do it?” | Photo: Lennart Ootes

“I don’t know, the moves just kept appearing in my head!” | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Nepo cannot keep up the pace
World Championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi seemed bound to win the tournament, as he finished all first four days of action in the sole lead. Besides being in excellent form, he was probably still using some ‘leftovers’ from the great theoretical preparation that allowed him to win the Candidates back in April. However, his four draws and single win on Sunday meant he would only get shared fourth place in the final standings.
Ahead of Nepo, in sole third place, finished Anish Giri — the Dutch star had perhaps the most stable performance throughout. In round 13 of the blitz, he held Van Foreest to a draw in a rook ending a pawn down.
Rules of thumb are the key to everything when you are having to set the correct course in a complex endgame. In this final DVD of his series on the endgame, our endgame specialist introduces you to the most important of these rules of thumb.
Van Foreest vs. Giri - Round 13
Endgame specialist Karsten Müller took a closer look at the technique needed to keep the balance in this tricky position, and noted:
Of course, usually blitz games are not analysed, but in this case the players are extremely strong. And by the way: I had one endgame training session for 5 days with Anish in Hamburg, and one with Jorden in the Netherlands!
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1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 Bf5 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 h6 5.Be2 Nf6 6.d3 a5 7.a3 Bh7 8.h3 a4 9.b4 c5 10.bxc5 Bxc5 11.0-0 0-0 12.c4 dxc4 13.d4 Bd6 14.Bxc4 Ne4 15.d5 exd5 16.Bxd5 Nc6 17.Nc3 Nf6 18.Ba2 Ne5 19.Nxe5 Bxe5 20.Nxa4 Qe7 21.Bxe5 Qxe5 22.Nb6 Ra6 23.Nd7 Nxd7 24.Qxd7 Be4 25.f3 Bf5 26.Qd4 Qxd4 27.exd4 Rfa8 28.Bb1 Bxb1 29.Rfxb1 Ra4 30.d5 Rxa3 31.Rxa3 Rxa3 32.Rxb7 Rd3 33.Rb8+ Kh7 34.Rd8 Rd2 35.Kh2 Kg6 36.h4 h5 37.Kh3 Kf6 38.Rd7 Rd3 39.Kh2 g6 40.Kh3 Rd4 41.g4 hxg4+ 42.fxg4 Rd3+ 43.Kg2 Ke5 44.Rxf7 Rxd5 45.Kg3 Ke6 46.Rf3 Ke7 47.g5 Rd6 47...Rd4 48.Rf4 48.h5 gxh5 49.Kh3 Rg4= 48...Rxf4 49.Kxf4 Ke6 50.Ke4 Kd6 51.Kd4 Ke6= 48.h5 Rd5! 48...gxh5 49.Kh4 Rd1 50.Kxh5 Rh1+ 51.Kg6 Rg1 52.Kh6 Rh1+ 53.Kg7 Rg1 54.g6 Rh1 55.Re3+ Kd7 56.Kf7 Rf1+ 57.Kg8 Rh1 58.g7 Rh2 59.Re4 Rh1 60.Kf7 Rf1+ 61.Kg6 Rg1+ 62.Kf6 Rf1+ 63.Kg5 Rg1+ 64.Rg4+- 49.Kg4 Rd4+! 50.Kh3 50.Rf4 gxh5+= 50...gxh5 51.g6 Rg4 52.Rf5 Rxg6 53.Rxh5 Kf6 54.Rh4 Kg5 55.Rg4+ Kf5 56.Rxg6 Kxg6 ½–½
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Van Foreest,J | 2688 | Giri,A | 2776 | ½–½ | 2021 | A06 | GCT Croatia Blitz 2021 | 13 |
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Fully focused — Anish Giri | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov kicked off the day 4 points behind the leader, but an impressive run of 5 wins in the first 6 rounds on Sunday left him 1½ points behind MVL with 3 rounds to go. Unfortunately for the Azerbaijani, losses against Anton Korobov and Giri in the last stretch of the event left him in sole sixth place in the final standings.
In round 11, Shakh had a queen and a dangerous passer against Nepo’s pair of active rooks.
Garry Kasparov's rise to the top was meteoric and at his very first attempt he managed to become World Champion, the youngest of all time. In over six hours of video, he gives a first hand account of crucial events from recent chess history, you can improve your chess understanding and enjoy explanations and comments from a unique and outstanding personality on and off the chess board.
Nepomniachtchi vs. Mamedyarov - Round 11
As GM Müller demonstrates in his analysis below, White could have held the draw with the impressive 37.a6, while Nepo’s 37.Rxb7 allowed the h-pawn to decide the game in Black’s favour. The power of coordination!
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.d4 c5 6.Nf3 d5 7.dxc5 Qa5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Qxd5 Bxc3+ 10.Bd2 Rd8 11.Qxd8+ Qxd8 12.Bxc3 Nc6 13.0-0 Qd5 14.b4 Qc4 15.Rfc1 Bf5 16.a4 Nxb4 17.Nd2 Qxc5 18.Nb3 Qd6 19.Rd1 Qe6 20.Bxb4 Qxb3 21.Bxe7 Qe6 22.Bg5 Be4 23.Bxe4 Qxe4 24.e3 Qf5 25.Be7 Re8 26.Bd6 g5 27.a5 h5 28.Rd4 Re4 29.Bc5 h4 30.Rd8+ Kh7 31.Bd4 Rxd4 32.Rxd4 h3 33.Rad1 Qf3 34.Kf1 Qg2+ 35.Ke2 Qxh2 36.Rd7 Kg6 37.Rxb7? 37.a6‼ bxa6 37...b6 38.Rxa7 Qg2 39.Rad7 h2 40.a7 g4= 40...h1Q? 41.Rxh1 Qxh1 42.Rd8+- 38.R7d6+ f6 38...Kg7 39.R1d5 Qg2 40.Rxg5+ Kf8 41.Rh6 h2 42.Rgh5= 39.Rxa6 Qg2 40.Rdd6 h2 41.Rxf6+ Kg7 41...Kh5? 42.Rh6+ Kg4 43.Ra4+ Kf5 44.g4+ Ke5 45.Ra5++- 42.Rg6+ Kf7 43.Raf6+ Ke7 44.Re6+ Kd7 45.Rd6+ Kc7 46.Rdf6= 37...Qg2 38.Rd6+?! 38.Rb8 g4 39.Rh8 Qc6 40.Rd4 Qb5+ 41.Kd2 Qxa5+ 42.Kd3 Qa6+ 43.Kd2 f5-+ 38...f6 39.Rb1 39.Rxa7 h2 40.Rd1 g4 41.Rf1 Qf3+ 42.Ke1 h1Q 43.Rxh1 Qxh1+ 44.Ke2 Qb1 45.a6 Qb5+ 46.Ke1 Kf5-+ 39...g4 40.Rd4 Qf3+ 40...h2?? 41.Rxg4+ Kf7 42.Rh4= 41.Kd3 Qf5+ 42.Re4 h2 43.Rh1 Qd5+ 44.Rd4 Qxh1 0–1
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Nepomniachtchi,I | 2792 | Mamedyarov,S | 2782 | 0–1 | 2021 | D74 | GCT Croatia Blitz 2021 | 11 |
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The tournament is over — Garry Kasparov had a bad event, but he dominated the world of competitive chess for a bit over two decades! | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Final standings

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All games - Blitz
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All games - Rapid
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