7/9/2020 – The corona pandemic did not prevent the organizers of the Leon Masters (Magistral Ciudad de León) from launching the 33rd edition of the traditional yearly event. The main event, to be played on July 10-12, is a four-player knockout with two Spanish players and a couple of international stars. In the semifinals, Alexei Shirov will face local hero Jaime Santos, while Leinier Dominguez will play defending champion Parham Mahgsoodloo. Given the circumstances, the games will be played online. | Photos: Official site
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Your key to fresh ideas, precise analyses and targeted training! Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.
On this DVD you will be taken on a journey through what is arguably the sharpest opening line known to men.
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The tradition lives on
The “Magistral Ciudad León” will take place for a 33rd consecutive year, this time on the online platform chess.com. A long-standing tradition, it has seen some of the strongest players of our era winning the event: Veselin Topalov, Garry Kasparov, Vishy Anand (nine-time winner), Vladimir Kramnik, Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So and two participants of this year’s edition — Alexei Shirov and defending champion Parham Maghsoodloo.
Alexei Shirov shows on this DVD how White can develop pressure and seize the initiative with 5.Re1 against the Berlin Wall.
Although the players will not meet at the “Auditorio Ciudad de León” for obvious reasons, the same format from recent years will be in place. Two Spanish players — Alexei Shirov and Jaime Santos — will be joined by Leinier Dominguez and Parham Maghsoodloo in a knockout tournament that will last three days.
Santos, who was born in Leon, is actually the second highest-rated player in the event if we go by rapid ratings. Both Shirov and Maghsoodloo ar higher rated than Santos in the standard ranking (classical), but the Leonese has proven that rapid chess is his forte — in fact, Santos drew Anand and Paco Vallejo in the rapid section of the semifinals in 2017 and 2018, but ended up losing on tiebreaks.
After Thursday’s drawing of lots, the pairings for the semifinals look as follows (all rounds start at 17:30 CEST):
Friday: Shirov vs. Santos
Saturday: Dominguez vs. Maghsoodloo
Sunday: Final
Each match will consist of four rapid games (20 minutes for the whole game, with 10-second increments from move one). In case of a draw, two blitz games will follow (5 minutes + 3-second increments), and if the tie has not been broken the match winner will be decided in Armageddon (White gets 6 minutes, Black gets 5 minutes and draw odds).
The games will be broadcast with commentary on the official YouTube channel. If you understand Spanish, you can also enjoy the 29-minute presentation of the event:
The Smith-Morra Gambit (1.e4 c5 2.d4!) is a great attacking weapon against the popular Sicilian . On move two White sacrifices a pawn for fast development and good attacking chances, and Black can easily fall into one of the many devious opening traps.
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
In this video series Pert gives a strong and practical Black repertoire against the Anti-Sicilians such as the Bb5 Sicilian, the Grand Prix Attack, the Alapin and many more, from my years of experience playing the Sicilian.
Special: AVRO 1938. “All in One”: Anish Giri and Igor Stohl dissect two topical opening lines. Analyses from Norway Chess 2020 by Duda, Firouzja et al. Videos by Erwin l’Ami, Daniel King and Mihail Marin. 11 opening articles and much more!
If you want some inspiration for your next online or offline blitz games this video course is for you. Simon Williams shows his favorite opening traps in 60 minutes.
When it comes to strategy, one of the key things that chess professionals understand much better than amateur players is the role of the bishop which is the key theme on this video course.
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