9/19/2011 – In his continued promotion for chess instruction in schools, and the Kasparov Chess Foundation, this weekend Garry Kasparov gave an exhibition blitz match in Clichy against the 2011 French champion, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The match, covered by the French mass media, was won by Kasparov with a flourish. Here is the report with videos and annotations by GM Karsten Müller.
Find the right combination! ChessBase 15 program + new Mega Database 2019 with 7.6 million games and more than 70,000 master analyses. Plus ChessBase Magazine (DVD + magazine) and CB Premium membership for 1 year!
In his continued promotion for chess instruction in schools, and the Kasparov Chess Foundation, Garry Kasparov was in Clichy this weekend where he gave an exhibition blitz match against the 2011 French champion, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
Garry Kasparov with Dan-Antoine Shapiro, the organizer of the 1990 World Championship
Vachier-Lagrave had to earn his right to play the champion, and a match was played against the 2010 French champion, Laurent Fressinet. The two played a match in identical conditions to the one to be played against Kasparov, in two games of five minutes plus a three-second increment, followed by an Armageddon game in the event of a tie. Both their games ended in draws, and Vachier-Lagrave won the tiebreaker.
The exhibition was completely sold out at the auditorium of the Lycée Auffray
Both French champions fought for the right to play Garry
Having warmed up, and being an ultra-active player with a 2700+ rating, one might think that Garry would be at a disadvantage, however the ex-champion shrugged off the years of retirement and won their first game in a flourish sure to make fans wish for a bit more than these bits and flashes we get from him nowadays.
If Vachier-Lagrave had aspirations of adding Kasparov's scalp to his laurels, he was
brutally shown otherwise.
Although analyzing blitz games is generally not done, but as Karsten Müller explains, "...when the great Garry Kasparov plays, matters are different." As such, here is the game with notes by GM Karsten Müller.
After winning the match, both players were teamed up with celebrities, in which Vachier-Lagrave was paired with Laurent Baumel, the mayor of Ballan-Miré, facing Kasparov with Anthony Delon, the son of the legendary Alain Delon. In this light-hearted encounter, the French champion and the mayor took the laurels.
Here is a video by the French Chess Federation highlighting moments of the event
The presence of the great player also ensured maximum press coverage from the French mass media such as Le Figaro, Le Monde, and even BFM TV.
This TV report by BFM TV emphasized the angle of chess instruction in schools
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.
11/28/2018 – The moment we've all been waiting for! Live games (for Premium members) from the 2018 World Championship match in London. Every two games will be followed by a rest day until Game 12 (if necessary) on November 26th which will be preceded by an additional rest day. All rounds start at 15:00 UT (London time) / 16:00 CEST / 10:00 EST. If needed there would be a rapid tiebreak match on Wednesday, November 28th. | Photos: Patricia Claros
8/27/2018 – Live games and commentary from Saint Louis! Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian tied for first place, while Caruana also tied for fourth place in the Grand Chess Tour standings with Wesley So, forcing a playoff match to be held on Tuesday. | Graphic: Saint Louis Chess Club
Former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik liked to play the French and once described it as a 'difficult and dangerous opening'. But in this 60 minutes video IM Andrew Martin suggests an aggressive and little-used idea of the renowned attacking player GM Viktor Kupreichik to counter the French: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Be3!?. Andrew Martin uses the games of Kupreichik to show why this line could catch many French aficionados unprepared and is very dangerous for Black. Attacking players will love this line and the unusual complications that it promotes.
The Sniper is a universal opening framework which can be played against all main first white moves - 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.c4, 1.f4 and 1.Nf3. Black plays 1…g6, 2…Bg7 and 3…c5 against practically anything!
