7/13/2012 – A quick draw in the final round left Ivan Sokolov and Alex Shabalov tied for first in the Open Section, with 7.0/9 points each. They were not caught by three GMs half a point behind, and so had to take part in an Armageddon play-off. Sokolov had the white pieces and five minutes, Shabalov the black pieces, three minutes and draw odds. Ivan Sokolov won and became the 2012 World Open Champion.
new: ChessBase Magazine 225
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. ChessBase Magazine offers first-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their brilliant games and explain the ideas behind the moves. Opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in tactics, strategy and endgames show you the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a direct download (incl. booklet as pdf file) or booklet with download key by post. Included in delivery: ChessBase Magazine #225 as “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.!
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.
Instead of forcing you to memorise endless lines, Raja focuses on clear plans, typical ideas, and attacking motifs that you can apply in your own games without delay. A short, focused, and practical repertoire.
€39.90
40th Annual World Open in Philadelphia
The 40th Annual World Open was held from July 2-8 at the Sheraton Philadelphia
City Center Hotel, 17th & Race Streets, Philadelphia, PA.
GMs Ivan Sokolov (above) and Alex Shabalov (below) finished at the top of the
Open Section standings, both tallying 7/9 (after agreeing to a quick draw in
the final round to secure a share of first). Both players could have been caught
by GMs Wesley So and Yury Shulman or IM Marc Arnold, who all started the final
round half-point behind the leaders. But none of those players managed a victory,
leaving Sokolov and Shabolov alone at the top.
An Armageddon play-off between the two GMs was held after the end of the tournament.
Sokolov had the white pieces and 5 minutes, while Shabalov had the black pieces,
3 minutes and draw odds (both players also had a 5 second delay).
The game was won by Sokolov (right) who becomes the 2012 World Open Champion
On the norm front, Arnold had already secured his 3rd and final GM norm going
into the round after a victory over GM Robert Hess in round eight. Other GM
norms were scored by IM Eesha Karavade and FM John Bryant. IM norms were scored
by FM Michael Kleinman, FM Thomas Bartell, Yaacov Norowitz and Luke Harmon-Vellotti.
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the
chess server Playchess.com.
If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there
and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase
11 or any of our Fritz
compatible chess programs.
You will learn how Black's dynamic piece activity and structural counterplay more than compensate for White's extra tempo in the colour-reversed setups.
In this course, you’ll learn how to take the initiative against the London and prevent White from comfortably playing their usual system by playing 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 Nh5.
London System Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.
The London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Opening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.
YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.
€169.90
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