5/8/2019 – Starting on Wednesday, the first stop of the Grand Chess Tour 2019 is the Ivory Coast. It's the first time the GCT has held an event in Africa. Ten top GMs compete in the Pullman Abidjan Hotel in Abidjan, the country's largest city, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen in rapid and blitz chess for a prize fund of USD $150,000. Live commentary will be available by GM Yannick Pelletier, IM Tania Sachdev, GM Alejandro Ramirez & GM Maurice Ashley.
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.
On this DVD, Grandmaster and worldrenowned commentator Maurice Ashley reviews some of the most interesting patterns with examples meant to educate and entertain.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
€49.90
A new season
From May 8th to 12th, ten participants play 9 rounds of rapid chess and 18 rounds of blitz in the "Côte d'Ivoire Rapid & Blitz 2019", one of four new tournaments to be added to the Grand Chess Tour series in 2019. The tournament was made possible by a partnership between Vivendi SA, Canal+ Group and the Pullman Abidjan Hotel. The total prize fund is USD $150,000.
The economic capital of Ivory Coast, Abidjan, is the first stop of the new series and also the first tournament on the African continent in which a reigning World Chess Champion is participating.
2019 Grand Chess Tour participants
Ratings as of May 8th, 2019
#
FED
Name
URS*
FIDE Elo
Born
1
Carlsen, Magnus
2867 (1)
2861 (1)
1990
2
Nakamura, Hikaru
2805 (2)
2761 (11)
1987
3
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
2792 (3)
2780 (6)
1990
4
Caruana, Fabiano
2791 (4)
2816 (2)
1992
5
Ding, Liren
2786 (5)
2805 (3)
1992
6
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
2777 (6)
2781 (5)
1985
7
Nepomniachtchi, Ian
2776 (7)
2773 (8)
1990
8
Aronian, Levon
2776 (8)
2762 (10)
1982
9
Karjakin, Sergey
2773 (9)
2752 (16)
1990
10
So, Wesley
2772 (10)
2754 (13)
1993
11
Giri, Anish
2766 (13)
2787 (4)
1994
12
Anand, Viswanathan
2759 (15)
2774 (7)
1969
*URS stands for Universal Rating System, developed and used by the Grand Chess Tour
The players of the first leg of the GCT 2019 — Wei, Amin and Topalov are the wild cards
Let endgame expert Dr Karsten Müller show and explain the finesses of the world champions. Although they had different styles each and every one of them played the endgame exceptionally well, so take the opportunity to enjoy and learn from some of the best endgames in the history of chess.
Promotional video introducing the players | Grand Chess Tour
Abidjan is not the capital of Ivory Coast, but it is the largest city and economic hub
On the even of the tournament, Maurice Ashley and the GCT video crew visited a local chess school with Dr Essoh Essis
On this DVD, well-known Indian WGM Tania Sachdev shows you how to evaluate certain positions and then find the right concepts and plans on the basis of her own games.
From May 8th-10th, three rapid chess games will be played per day, starting at 17:00 local time (UTC) each day — 19:00, 20:30 and 22:00 (CEST) or 1PM / 2:30PM / 4PM EDT.
On May 11th and 12th, a total of 18 blitz games will be played. On both days, the rounds start at 14:00 local time (UTC), with each round starting 30 minutes after the prior round until 18:00. Should a tie-break be necessary, it starts on May 12th at 18:30 UTC.
All rounds will feature live commentary by GM Yannick Pelletier, IM Tania Sachdev, GM Alejandro Ramirez & GM Maurice Ashley.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
How grandmasters win without fireworks: GM Jan Markos shows you 11 very practical tips from "How to play in a lost position" to "Be patient like Carlsen" that will improve your tournament chess.
The Nimzo-Indian has stood the test of time for over a century: Still a top choice for elite players today, from Magnus Carlsen to Praggnanandhaa, it remains one of Black's most reliable ways to fight for real chances against 1.d4 2.c4 3.Nc3.
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4!? is an opening idea well worth considering. Black immediately threatens to double the pawns on c3 in the style of the Trompowski or Sicilian Grand Prix attack.
Italian Game Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains 8571 top class games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 479 are annotated.
Videos: Nico Zwirs discusses the Sicilian with 2…e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qe3 Nf6 6.Nc3. Mihail Marin examines Sindarov’s 6.Ne5 in the Queen’s Pawn Defence. Plus the ‘Lucky bag’ featuring 41 analyses by Berg, Ftacnik, Gupta and many others.
€14.90
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.
