1/30/2020 – No runaway leader has emerged at this year's Gibraltar Masters as five players are tied on 7 points atop the standings with a large sixteen-player chasing pack on 6½ before the final round. The highlight of Wednesday's action was Andrey Esipenko failing to convert a clearly superior position in his game against Parham Maghsoodloo. In the meantime, a loss by Zhansaya Abdumalik left Tan Zhongyi as the top scorer among the women. | Photo: John Saunders
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
This course will enhance your understanding of the King’s Indian Defence. Perfect for anyone looking to improve their opening strategy, reduce mistakes, and develop a winning game plan.
€39.90
A bloody round
After a quiet eighth day of play, the participants went into the penultimate round with all guns blazing. Boards one and two finished drawn, but only after hard-fought struggles. For quite a while, in fact, it seemed like 17-year-old Andrey Esipenko would go into the final round as sole leader. His rival, Parham Maghsoodloo, gave up his queen in the middlegame and quickly found himself defending an inferior yet dynamic position, which he strikingly turned into a half point after his rival erred on move 50.
The big winner of the day was not Esipenko but Mustafa Yilmaz, who took down Ivan Cheparinov with White from a position that sharpened in a hurry during the early middlegame. Praggnanandhaa and Mikhail Kobalia split the point in a well-fought game, while Daniil Yuffa and Kirill Alekseenko were the only ones to sign a strategic quick draw from those still with chances to fight for the title.
From board six to board twenty it was all decisive results, with only two out of fifteen games finishing drawn. Remarkably, out of the thirteen decisive games, no fewer than ten favoured the player marshalling the white pieces. Most of these wins were achieved by the rating favourites, with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Veselin Topalov, David Navara, Le Quang Liem and Michael Adams, among others, getting full points to join the chasing pack.
In the contest to get the £20,000 women's first prize, Tan Zhongyi is the only player going into round ten with 6 points to her name. Zhansaya Abdumalik, Nino Batsiashvili, Lei Tingjie and Lela Javakhishvili are a half point behind and will be rooting for French champion Maxime Lagarde to take down Tan on the final day of action.
Round ten starts four hours earlier than usual, at 10:00 UTC (11:00 CET, 5:00 EST).
Former women's world champion Tan Zhongyi | Photo: John Saunders
The most popular chess program offers you everything you will need as a dedicated chess enthusiast, with innovative training methods for amateurs and professionals alike.
So, who can still fight for the enticing £30,000 first prize? For starters, let us call to mind the tournament regulations regarding the winners. In Gibraltar, the top prize is not shared, and in case of a tie for first place a play-off takes place to decide the winner. The rest of the prizes are shared between players with the same score. As the rules state:
If there are two or four players tied for first place, there will be a speed knock-out play-off for the first prize. [...] If three players tie for first place, the player with the highest performance rating will be seeded directly into the final of the play-off; the other two players will contest the semi-final.
If more than four players tie for first place, the four players with the highest performance ratings shall qualify for the play-off.
While last year Vladislav Artemiev secured tournament victory with a remarkable 8½/10 score, this edition sees five players tied on 7 points and sixteen chasers on 6½, a situation markedly similar to the one seen in 2018. Back then, the co-leaders drew and three players got last round wins to join them on 7½. Rating performances decided who qualified to the deciding knockout, which was won by Levon Aronian.
Will we see a repeat from two years ago or will one of the co-leaders clinch a key victory to take home the coveted money prize? These are the key pairings of round ten:
Daniil Yuffa has a good tiebreak score going into the last round | Photo: Niki Riga
Round 9 highlights
As mentioned above, there were plenty of exciting games in the penultimate round, so looking through the games at your leisure is highly advisable. Just to give you a glimpse though, check out how Parham Maghsoodloo 'ignored' his queen was threatened in the following position:
The Italian Game is considered a sound but quiet opening without early trades, giving rise to rich positions where plans are more important than forced variations. So shows black's plans on this DVD.
Maghsoodloo vs. Esipenko
Position after 18...Nf4
The Iranian star played 19.exd6 here, allowing a queen capture with check, which Esipenko quickly executed — 19...♞xe2+. The Russian then went on to demonstrate his rival's daring manoeuvre was not sound, getting a winning endgame with queen versus rook and bishop in an open position. However, Maghsoodloo never stopped looking for defensive resources, and his persistence was rewarded when White faltered on move 50:
Position after 50.Kh2
It turns out Esipenko's 50...♛xa4 is a blunder, as after 51.♖c8 (threatening mate) ...g552.b6 White's passer on the queenside gives enough counterplay to save the day. The centralizing 50...♛e5+ was the correct way forward, planning, among other possibilities, to place the queen on e4, limiting the mobility of the reduced white army.
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
Replay and check the LiveBook here
Please, wait...
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.d30-06.0-0d57.exd5Nxd58.Nbd2C54: Giuoco Piano: 4 c3 Nf6, main lines with 5 d4 and 5 d3Nb69.Bb3Qxd310.Bc2Qd811.Qe2Bd6NPredecessor:11...Bg412.Ne4Be713.Rd1Qe814.h3Bxf315.Qxf3f51/2-1/2 (57) Vajda,L (2597)-Sutovsky,
E (2700) Plovdiv 201212.b412.a4=12...Qe713.Re1f614.a4
Black should prevent a5.a515.b5Nd816.Nd4g616...exd417.Qxe7Bxe718.Rxe7=17.f4Ne618.fxe5Nf4 Black is pushing.Not18...Bxe519.N2f3±19.exd6?19.Qe4=Qxe520.N2f3Qxe421.Rxe419...Nxe2+-+20.Rxe2Qd8!
Stronger than20...Qxd621.Bb3+Kg722.Ba3=21.Bb3+Kh822.Ba3
next dxc7 is good for White.cxd623.Rae1Bg424.Re324.Re7is a
better defense.24...d525.h3
25.Bxf8was called for.Qxf826.Re725...Bd7!26.Ne6Bxe6!27.Rxe6Qc728.R1e3White wants to play
Bd6.Rf729.Bd6Qc830.Ba3Nc431.Bxc4dxc432.Nf3Qd7aiming for ...
Qd1+.33.Nd4Qd534.Be7Qg535.Ba3Threatens to win with Re8+.h536.Be7Kh737.Nf3Qf538.Nd4Qb1+39.Kh2Re840.Bxf6Rxe641.Rxe6
50...Qxa4?50...c3!-+51.Nf8Kg752.Ne6+Kf653.Nf4+Kg554.Ne6+Kf551.Rc8= The
position is equal.g551...Qa1!?52.b6Qe5+ Double Attack53.Kh1h4=52.b6!Qb453.Nd8!c3Much worse is53...Qxb654.Rc6+Qxc655.Nxc6±53...a4!?54.b7Qd6+55.Kh1Qd1+56.Kh2Qd6+57.Kh1Qd1+58.Kh2Qd6+=54.b7
54...c2!55.Rxc2Qd6+56.Kh1!White wants to mate with Nf7+.Qd1+57.Kh2Threatening mate
with Rc6+.Qxd858.Rc8Qd6+59.Kh1Qd1+60.Kh2Qd6+61.Kh1Qd1+62.Kh2
Accuracy: White = 46%, Black = 82%.½–½
In the meantime, Mustafa Yilmaz held his nerves to out-calculate Ivan Cheparinov. A two-time Turkish champion, Yilmaz is the lowest-rated co-leader and will have the black pieces against David Paravyan on Thursday. Cheparinov was actually in the driver's seat, until he played a natural-looking move that gave away his advantage:
Special attention will be paid to Intermediate Moves, Quiet Moves, Sacrifices on Empty Squares, Mating Patterns, Ignoring Opponents Threat, Calculation in Defence and Method of Comparison. Plus 50 interactive examples to test your knowledge.
Yilmaz vs. Cheparinov
Position after 20.Bf3
Black calculated that the forcing 20...♜d5 was good for him, when the computer thinks that keeping the tension with 20...♜f5 was the way to go. After the text, the game continued 21.♕xd5 ♜xc6 22.♕d2 ♜xc2 23.♕xc2 and the position is dynamically balanced. It was before the time control that Cheparinov lost the thread, a circumstance that was duly taken advantage of by his rival.
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
Replay and check the LiveBook here
Please, wait...
1.Nf3c52.c4Nc63.Nc3Nf64.g3g65.Bg2d66.d4cxd47.Nxd4Bd78.b3A31: Symmetrical English: 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 d48.Nc2Bg79.b3h510.Bb2h411.Qd2h312.Bf3Ne513.Ne3Nxf3+14.exf30-0
1/2-1/2 (14) Grischuk,A (2777)-Alekseev,E (2620) Moscow 20198...Bg79.Bb2h510.0-0White has an edge.h411.Nd5Ne512.Nxf6+NPredecessor:12.Nf3hxg313.Nxe5gxh2+14.Kh1dxe515.Bxe51-0 (49) Kulpruethanon,T (2235)-Scerbin,D (2347) Baku 201612...Bxf613.Bxb7Rb814.Bd5e615.Bg2Nxc416.Nc616.Bc3stays ahead.Ne517.Rc116...Nxb217.Qxd6Rb618.Rac1Rh519.Rc2h320.Bf3Rd520...Rf5!21.Be4Be5!21.Qxd5!=Rxc622.Qd2Rxc223.Qxc2Qa524.a4Qb425.Rc1Bd425...Ke7=26.e3Be5!27.Bc6Bxc628.Qxc6+Ke7Strongly threatening ...Nd3.29.Qc5+!Qxc530.Rxc5Nd331.Ra5 White has compensation.Bb832.Rb5!Bc7!White must now prevent ...Kd7.33.Rb7
Double AttackKd7Hoping for ...Kc8.34.Rxa7Nb4?
Mustafa Yilmaz is the second highest-rated player from Turkey | Photo: Niki Riga
Other highlights of the day include Michael Adams getting what can only be described as a lucky win over Mikhail Antipov, Le Quang Liem showing a model victory from the white side of a Sicilian against Jaime Santos, and David Navara getting a remarkable attacking victory over Alan Pichot, one that was described by the Czech ace as perhaps "the nicest game he has played in Gibraltar so far". Pichot was a piece up, but his king was in trouble — the Argentine left his monarch in harm's way on move 27, perhaps missing Navara's fine continuation:
Pichot vs. Navara
Position after 27.Kf3
White should have taken his king to e1 on the previous move, as Black now has 27...f5, opening up the diagonal for his queen. There followed 28.gxf6 ♛h5+ 29.♔xe4 and the king chase began. When Pichot resigned, the white monarch was on e7, completely lacking defenders.
The ChessBase Mega Database 2020 is the premiere chess database with over eight million games from 1560 to 2019 in high quality. Packing more than 85,000 annotated games, Mega 2020 contains the world‘s largest collection of high-class analysed games. Train like a pro! Prepare for your opponents with ChessBase and the Mega Database 2020. Let grandmasters explain how to best handle your favorite variations, improve your repertoire and much more.
13...c5!14.Nc314.dxc5Bxe514...cxd415.Bxd4Bxe516.Bxe5Nxf217.h3Ba6...Nd3 is the strong threat.18.Bd4 White has compensation.Nd3!Strongly threatening ...Rb8.19.Re6Bc820.Re3Nb421.Qa4Qd622.Nb5Bd7! White must now prevent ...Bxb5.23.Nxd6Bxa424.Rxe7White wants to mate with Rg7+.Nc6
Double Attack. Black is not holding back25.Rg7+Kh826.Nf7+!Rxf727.Rxf7+Nxd428.Re1Black should prevent Ree7.Nf529.b3Kg830.Rc7Be831.g4Nd632.Ree7a633.Ra7Rd834.Rxa6Bf735.Raa7Threatens to win with Red7.Kf836.a4d4The position is equal.37.Red7Ke838.Re7+Kf8Accuracy: White = 89%, Black = 54%.½–½
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.
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.
Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
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.
€0.00
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.