5/12/2019 – After scoring five wins on the final day of action at the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour in Abidjan, Magnus Carlsen won yet another event, this time by a margin of three and a half points. | The first stop of the Grand Chess Tour 2019 is the Côte d'Ivoire Rapid & Blitz. It's the first time the GCT has held an event in Africa. World Champion Magnus Carlsen heads a field of ten top GMs competing for a prize fund of USD $150,000. Live games and commentary from 14:00 UTC (16:00 CEST / 10:00 EDT) with GM Yannick Pelletier, IM Tania Sachdev, GM Alejandro Ramirez & GM Maurice Ashley. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour
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Why memorising endless theory might not be the best path - and how an idea-based repertoire can change your game.
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Blitz — Day 5
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 blitz is a double round-robin with nine rounds each day for two days.
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.
GM Yannick Pelletier, IM Tania Sachdev, GM Alejandro Ramirez & GM Maurice Ashley
Current blitz standings
All blitz games
Rapid final standings
Players receive 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw in the rapid portion of the tournament.
On this DVD, Grandmaster and worldrenowned commentator Maurice Ashley reviews some of the most interesting patterns with examples meant to educate and entertain.
The players of the first leg of the GCT 2019 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour
Players
Seven of the twelve regular tour season players plus three wildcards (Wei Yi, Bassem Amin and Vesselin Topalov) are participating.
2019 Grand Chess Tour participants
Ratings as of May 8th, 2019
#
FED
Name
URS*
FIDE Elo
Born
1
NOR
Carlsen, Magnus
2867 (1)
2861 (1)
1990
2
USA
Nakamura, Hikaru
2805 (2)
2761 (11)
1987
3
FRA
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
2792 (3)
2780 (6)
1990
4
USA
Caruana, Fabiano
2791 (4)
2816 (2)
1992
5
CHN
Ding, Liren
2786 (5)
2805 (3)
1992
6
AZE
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
2777 (6)
2781 (5)
1985
7
RUS
Nepomniachtchi, Ian
2776 (7)
2773 (8)
1990
8
ARM
Aronian, Levon
2776 (8)
2762 (10)
1982
9
RUS
Karjakin, Sergey
2773 (9)
2752 (16)
1990
10
USA
So, Wesley
2772 (10)
2754 (13)
1993
11
NED
Giri, Anish
2766 (13)
2787 (4)
1994
12
IND
Anand, Viswanathan
2759 (15)
2774 (7)
1969
Players in bold are competing in Abidjan
Côte d'Ivoire Rapid & Blitz wildcards
#
FED
Name
URS*
FIDE Elo
Born
1
BUL
Topalov, Veselin
2736 (23)
2740 (18)
1975
2
CHN
Wei, Yi
2737 (22)
2736 (22)
1999
3
EGY
Amin, Bassem
2683 (63)
2704 (35)
1988
*URS stands for Universal Rating System, developed and used by the Grand Chess Tour
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Opening videos: Sipke Ernst brings the Ulvestad Variation up to date + Part II of ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’. Special: Jan Werle shows highlights from the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 in the video. ‘Lucky bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
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