6/3/2024 – Magnus Carlsen climbed to sole first place in the standings of the Norway Chess super-tournament after inflicting what was Ding Liren’s fourth consecutive classical loss in Stavanger. The world champion blundered a mate-in-two in a balanced position to lose the game. Meanwhile, Fabiano Caruana and Alireza Firouzja prevailed in Armageddon tiebreakers against Hikaru Nakamura and R Praggnanandhaa, respectively. | Photo: Stev Bonhage / Norway Chess
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Concerning
In a recent interview given to The Indian Express, Ding Liren reflected on his latest, subpar performances, noting that he hoped “not to finish in last place” at the Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger. After suffering four consecutive classical losses in the event, the world champion stands in clear last place with 2½ points to his name, a whopping 4 points behind fifth-placed Fabiano Caruana.
In round 6, it was Magnus Carlsen who got the better of Ding, as the Chinese GM incredibly blundered a mate-in-two in a position that engines evaluated as balanced. Carlsen had referred to Ding’s form in a recent podcast, mentioning that he hoped for his colleague not to be “permanently broken”.
In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.
Ding has already talked about the mental health issues he had to deal with after beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 2023 match for the World Championship. As shared by Tarjei J. Svensen on X, Ding provided more details about his struggles in a recent interview given to Die Tageszeitung:
I was exhausted, but still couldn’t sleep very well. That led to depression. I was treated in a clinic twice. Fortunately, things are slowly getting better. Chess is mentally exhausting.
A few of Ding’s colleagues in Norway, including Hikaru Nakamura, have shared their concern about Ding’s form and their desire for him to recover from this low point in his career.
Ding Liren | Photo: Stev Bonhage
As per the race for first place in Stavanger, Carlsen’s classical win allowed him to take the sole lead in the standings. The local hero has a 1-point lead over Nakamura, who was defeated by Caruana in Armageddon on Sunday. Standing in third place is R Praggnanandhaa, who also lost in round-6’s rapid tiebreaker, against Alireza Firouzja.
Monday’s seventh round will see the clash between Nakamura and Carlsen, while Ding will try to stop the bleeding in his game with black against Pragg.
In this Video-Course we deal with different dynamic decisions involving pawns. The aim of this Course is to arm club/tournament players with fresh ideas which they can use in their own practice.
On Sunday, Fabiano Caruana defeated Hikaru Nakamura with the black pieces in Armageddon | Photo: Stev Bonhage
1.Nf3d52.g3Nf63.Bg2c54.0-0e65.c4d46.e3Nc67.exd4cxd48.d3Bd69.Nbd2Carlsen had certainly studied the game:9.Bg5h610.Bxf6Qxf611.Nbd2Qe712.a3a513.Ne4Bc714.c50-015.Nfd2f516.Nd6Bxd617.cxd6Qxd618.Nc4Qd819.Rc1Ra620.Qb3Kh821.Rfe1f422.Qb5Rf523.Qb3f324.Bh3Rf625.Ne5Qd626.Nxc6Rxc627.Qb5Qc728.Rxc6bxc629.Qh5c530.Rc1Ba631.Qe8+Kh732.Bxe6Rxe633.Qxe6Bxd334.Qd51-0 Fridman,D (2590)-Ding,L (2762) Karlsruhe Grenke 4-6 rapid 2024 (2)9...0-09...h6The following had been seen in some games:10.Nh4e.g.:e511.Ne4Be712.Qf3g613.a3Nd714.b4a615.Bd2Nf816.b5axb517.cxb5Na518.Bb4f519.Nd2Kf720.Rfe1Bf621.Rac1Kg722.Qd5Nd723.Qd6Re824.Rc7Ra725.Rec11-0 Saric,I (2627)-Palac,M (2562) Blagoevgrad op 2013 (9)10.Ng5Be711.f4Rb8Here, in some of the games11...h6was played.12.Qe2Qc7
The real struggle is just starting.13.g4A somewhat unexpected advance of the g-pawn.b514.b3bxc415.bxc4Rb616.Nde4Nxe417.Nxe4Bb718.f5White conquers space with his kingside pawns, which he wants to use for an attack.exf519.gxf5Ne520.Bf4f621.Rae1Perhaps Ng5 is a threat.Bxe422.Qxe422.Bxe4Bd623.Bd5+22...Bd623.Kh1Qc524.Bg3Rd825.Qe2White has the upper hand.Nd726.Bf2Be527.Bd5+Kh828.Qh5More precise was28.Rg1+-28...Qf8After28...Rb229.Re4h6White only has a small advantage.29.Re4
29...Rb2??Overlooks the following two-move combination.30.Qxh7+1–0
I give promising mainlines for white against all black’s main replies to 1.d4 d5 that are engine-proof, easy to learn and can be played almost instantly.
The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.
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 insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
The Trompowsky is especially suited for faster time controls as you don‘t have to memorise endless lines of theory, and you push your opponent out of their comfort zone after your second move.
Trompowsky Powerbook 2025 is based on 53,000 computer games from the engine room of playchess.com as well as 49,000 games from Mega and correspondence chess.
Trompowsky Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 8727 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 316 are annotated.
2025 European Championship with a German double victory and analyses by Bluebaum, Svane, Rodshtein, Yuffa, Navara and many more. Opening videos by Engel, King and Marin. Training sections “The Fortress”, “The Trap” and “Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" etc.
In this dynamic and practical video course, IM Andrew Martin arms you with powerful antidotes to White’s most annoying sidelines.
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