Game of the Week #724: Praggnanandhaa vs Gukesh

by Merijn van Delft
6/5/2026 – Norway Chess is arguably the strangest tournament in many years. Last week we discussed that Magnus Carlsen had already lost two games, but after eight rounds, he in fact already lost four games. This really seems to be caused by the fact that they play without increment before move 40 and with only 10 instead of 30 seconds increment after move 40. Our Game of the Week between Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh was highly spectacular and entertaining. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.
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.

Game of the Week #724

Norway Chess is arguably the strangest tournament in many years. Last week we discussed that Magnus Carlsen had already lost two games, but after eight rounds, he in fact already lost four games. This really seems to be caused by the fact that they play without increment before move 40 and with only 10 instead of 30 seconds increment after move 40. Our Game of the Week between Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh was highly spectacular and entertaining.

Warming-up question: What would you play here with White?
 

This week's show

Besides covering all the critical lines after 1.d4 & 2.c4, popular systems such as the Trompovsky, London/Jobava System, Torre Attack, Colle System and Veresov are dealt with as well.

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Topics: The Game of the Week, Training and improvement
Merijn van Delft is an International Master from the Netherlands who lived in Hamburg for many years and is currently based in Amsterdam. After scoring a GM norm in 2017 he is eager for more. His ChessBase show on Wednesday evenings has been running for over ten years now.
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See also

Game of the Week #723: Praggnanandhaa vs Carlsen

6/1/2026 – Magnus Carlsen has started Norway Chess with 0.5 out of 3 and his two losses seem to be a direct result of the unusual time control: increment only starts after move 40. Reasonably well played games are ruined by terrible blunders in time trouble. It's questionable how this makes chess more fun and it's strange to see that all important tournaments are using a different time control. Anyway, the game between Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen was a big adventure with many interesting moments.Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can <a href="https://account.chessbase.com/en/create-account" target="_blank">register a Premium account here</a>.

See also

Game of the Week #722: Carlsen vs Erdogmus

5/15/2026 – Last week we saw how Magnus Carlsen lost against Jorden van Foreest, which put him at 2 out of 4 at that point. But then he managed to win his remaining three games, and 5 out of 7 was just enough to share first place with Erigaisi. Eventually, Carlsen won the blitz tiebreak with 2-1, so he did it again. Our Game of the Week is the historical last round encounter between Magnus Carlsen and Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, the 14-year-old that may very well be his successor one day. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can <a href="https://account.chessbase.com/en/create-account" target="_blank">register a Premium account here</a>.
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Video

60m English The Elephant Gambit

The Elephant Gambit (1.e4.e5 2.Nf3 d5!?) has never really been given the attention it deserves. It is a very useful surprise weapon. Let us list the advantages of playing this particular opening: 1) Shock value 2) It is very aggressive. Black can take over the initiative early. 3) Many tricky lines 4) Unorthodox. Black is basically taking the game to the opponent as early as move two. Not many openings do that! It's a perfect opening for young players and club players to adopt. Let Andrew Martin select a repertoire for you on this 60 mins, which, if used with discretion, will rack up the points. I am sure that you will enjoy this unusual tour of the Elephant Gambit.