Niemann up to world number 24
This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.
Hans Niemann obtained his peak rating in classical chess in the latest official list published by FIDE. After performing strongly at the French Top 16 tournament and the Turkish League, he achieved a 2711 Elo rating, surpassing his previous record of 2708, achieved in May 2023. Now, at the first match of the "Hans Niemann against the world" series, the 21-year-old has scored 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss against Anish Giri (rated 2746) to gain 7 Elo points and climb to world number 24 in the live ratings list.
The match consists of 12 blitz games (1 pt. per game), 6 classical games (3 pts.) and 12 rapid games (2 pts.), and is taking place from Wednesday to Sunday with a rather demanding schedule. Niemann won the blitz section by a 7½-4½ score, then saw Giri tying the score by winning once and drawing once on Thursday, and now got a 6-point lead after grabbing consecutive wins on the third day of action.
With 18 points up for grabs in the last two days of the contest, Giri still has chances of winning the match, though Niemann is now the clear favourite to start his series of confrontations against strong GMs with a win - later this month, the US grandmaster will face Nikita Vitiugov and Etienne Bacrot.
The two games played on Friday featured a fierce tactical struggle in the middlegame and required Niemann to show proper technique in the endgame to convert his advantage.
Playing white in the first game of the day, Niemann correctly sacrificed an exchange to take advantage of Giri's undermined king position.
Niemann v. Giri - Classical game #3
Giri's 27...g6, weakening the dark squares on the kingside, invited Niemann to go for 28.Rxg5, the strongest move in the position.
After 28...hxg5 29.Nf6+ Kh8 30.Nd7+ (a discovered check), White quickly recovered the material and got a clear positional advantage.
30...f6 31.Nxf8 Rxf8 32.Bc4 Qe7 33.Bd5
White is clearly in the driver's seat, but the conversion was not at all trivial. At some point, after move 46, Niemann correctly simplified into a position with four pawns for a rook - surely not a frequently seen material imbalance.
Black's rook and knight will not be able to stop the three connected passers on the queenside. Niemann needed 16 more moves to force his opponent's resignation.
These DVDs will show you dangerous new sidelines that are ideal for combatting the Sicilian after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6/d6 3.Bb5(+), with your author giving you the positional ideas behind less well-trodden Sicilian paths that avoid the main and winding main
The second game of the day also saw Niemann getting a clear positional edge in the middlegame, but he needed to work much harder to convert his advantage into a win. In a tricky endgame which saw Giri making the decisive mistake on move 97, Niemann ended up prevailing only after playing his 117th move.

The beautiful playing hall at the Utrecth City Hall | Photo: Harry Gielen
Blitz
Classical
All games
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 e6 5.0-0 Be7 6.c3 0-0 7.Bb3 b5 8.Re1 Bb7 9.Nbd2 Nbd7 10.Bc2 e5 11.a4 a6 12.Nf1 Re8 13.Ng3 Bf8 14.d4 cxd4 15.cxd4 exd4 16.Nxd4 bxa4N 16...d5 17.axb5 axb5 18.Rxa8 Bxa8 19.Nxb5 Nxe4 20.Nxe4 dxe4 21.Bf4 Nc5 22.Nc7 Qxd1 23.Rxd1 17.Ndf5 d5 18.Bxa4 dxe4 19.Bg5 Re5 20.Bxd7 Qxd7 21.Bxf6 Qxd1 22.Nh6+ gxh6 23.Raxd1 Re6 24.Nh5 Be7 25.Bxe7 Rxe7 26.Rd6 Rc8 27.Rxh6 Rc2 28.Rb6 f5 29.Nf4 Kf7 30.h4 Rec7 31.Rd1 Rc1 31...R2c6= 32.Rd6 Rxd6 33.Rxd6 a5 32.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 33.Kh2 Bc8 34.h5 Rc5 35.Nh3 35.Kg3± 35...Kf8 35...f4 36.Kg3± f4+ 37.Nxf4 Rg5+ 38.Kh2 Kf7 38...Rf5± 39.Rc6+- Bd7 40.Rxa6 Rb5 41.Rd6 Ke7 42.Rd2 Bf5? 42...Bg4 43.Kg3 Bc8 43.Nd5+ Kf7 44.Ne3 Be6 45.g4 Kf6 46.Kg3 Kg5 47.Rd6 Re5? 47...Kf6 48.Ra6 Rb7 48.b4+- Bf7 49.Rc6 h6 50.Rc5 Rxc5 51.bxc5 Be8 52.Nf5 Bd7 53.Nd6 Bxg4 54.Nxe4+ Kf5 55.c6 Be2 56.c7 Ba6 57.Nd6+ 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
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Niemann,H | 2711 | Giri,A | 2746 | 1–0 | 2024 | B50 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 1.1 |
Giri,A | 2746 | Niemann,H | 2711 | 1–0 | 2024 | D50 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 2.1 |
Niemann,H | 2711 | Giri,A | 2746 | 0–1 | 2024 | B50 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 3.1 |
Giri,A | 2746 | Niemann,H | 2711 | 0–1 | 2024 | D50 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 4.1 |
Niemann,H | 2711 | Giri,A | 2746 | ½–½ | 2024 | B51 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 5.1 |
Giri,A | 2746 | Niemann,H | 2711 | 0–1 | 2024 | E17 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 6.1 |
Niemann,H | 2711 | Giri,A | 2746 | 1–0 | 2024 | B51 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 7.1 |
Giri,A | 2746 | Niemann,H | 2711 | ½–½ | 2024 | E08 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 8.1 |
Niemann,H | 2711 | Giri,A | 2746 | ½–½ | 2024 | | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 9.1 |
Giri,A | 2746 | Niemann,H | 2711 | 1–0 | 2024 | D50 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 10.1 |
Niemann,H | 2711 | Giri,A | 2746 | 1–0 | 2024 | B51 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 11.1 |
Giri,A | 2746 | Niemann,H | 2711 | 0–1 | 2024 | D38 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 12.1 |
Niemann,H | 2711 | Giri,A | 2746 | 0–1 | 2024 | B51 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 13.1 |
Giri,A | 2746 | Niemann,H | 2711 | ½–½ | 2024 | C65 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 14.1 |
Niemann,H | 2711 | Giri,A | 2746 | 1–0 | 2024 | B90 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 15.1 |
Giri,A | 2746 | Niemann,H | 2711 | 0–1 | 2024 | E11 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 16.1 |
Niemann,H | 2711 | Giri,A | 2746 | ½–½ | 2024 | B90 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 17.1 |
Giri,A | 2746 | Niemann,H | 2711 | ½–½ | 2024 | C65 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 18.1 |
Niemann,H | 2711 | Giri,A | 2746 | 1–0 | 2024 | B90 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 19.1 |
Giri,A | 2746 | Niemann,H | 2711 | 1–0 | 2024 | C65 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 20.1 |
Niemann,H | 2711 | Giri,A | 2746 | 1–0 | 2024 | D10 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 21.1 |
Giri,A | 2746 | Niemann,H | 2711 | 1–0 | 2024 | C65 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 22.1 |
Niemann,H | 2711 | Giri,A | 2746 | 0–1 | 2024 | E11 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 23.1 |
Giri,A | 2746 | Niemann,H | 2711 | 0–1 | 2024 | C66 | Hans Niemann vs The World 1 | 24.1 |
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