11/14/2025 – “It's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future” is a well-known witticism about the pitfalls of predictions. The quote is often attributed to American baseball legend Yogi Berra, but sometimes also to physicist and Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr. Predictions about the future may be difficult, but they can still be fun. Hikaru Nakamura recently ventured predictions about the round of the last 16 and the possible winner of the World Cup 2025.
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In this video course experts examine the games of Steinitz. Let them show you which openings Steinitz chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities!
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In his video, Nakamura goes through the matches of the round of the last 16 one by one and assesses the chances of the players.
In the duel between Frederik Svane and Javokhir Sindarov, he considers Svane to have no chance. The Uzbek is stronger in all time formats and therefore a clear favourite.
In the match between Pentala Harikrishna and José Martínez Alcántara, Nakamura is confident in Harikrishna's experience. Although Martínez is dangerous in rapid and blitz chess, he expects Harikrishna to win in regular time.
In the other matches, Nakamura also sees the nominally stronger players coming out on top in most cases. He considers Nodirbek Yakubboev the big favourite against Gabriel Sargissian, and he gives Alexander Donchenko little chance against Le Quang Liem.
In the duel between Dubov and Shankland, Nakamura sees Dubov as the clear favourite, considering him "the best player in the entire field" in rapid chess. In Grebnev versus Esipenko, on the other hand, he is backing the underdog Grebnev, whose online blitz strength has impressed him.
In the contest between Wei Yi and Sam Sevian, he believes in his compatriot Sevian. He describes the top match between Aronian and Erigaisi as completely open, but admits that he is rooting for Aronian.
In general, Nakamura believes that Le Quang Liem has the best chance of reaching a place in the Candidates Tournament among the players in the upper bracket.
However, he attributes the greatest chances of victory in the overall tournament to Daniil Dubov, mainly because of his strength in rapid and blitz chess.
Johannes FischerJohannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
11/13/2025 – Thursday's tiebreakers at the FIDE World Cup in Goa saw several high seeds eliminated, including Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Vincent Keymer and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who were knocked out by Daniil Dubov (pictured), Andrey Esipenko and Aleksey Grebnev respectively. Six lower-rated players advanced overall, while five favourites held firm to reach the round of 16. With only five players from the top 20 still in contention and eight national federations represented, the field has tightened considerably as the Candidates race enters its decisive phase. | Photo: Michal Walusza
11/3/2025 – The opening round of the 2025 FIDE World Cup neared its conclusion on Sunday, with most matches already producing a winner after the second classical game. Out of 78 encounters, 58 were decided without the need for tiebreaks, while 20 remain level and will continue on Monday. A few players managed to level their matches after early setbacks, and China's IM Wang Shixu (pictured) delivered the day's biggest surprise by eliminating Leon Luke Mendonca. | Photo: Michal Walusza
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.
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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