Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
In an interview given to Kommersant, former world champion Vladimir Kramnik explained that he and his colleagues decided they had a unique chance to help their country by organizing an online charity tournament. Kramnik elaborated:
Master Class Vol.11: Vladimir Kramnik
This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) how to successfully organise your games strategically, consequently how to keep y
My fellow chess players naturally discussed the current situation and decided to organize a charity event. Now, for all the known reasons, there are no sports competitions. Chess is one of the few types that can exist even in the current conditions. Some online tournaments are held. But we did not want to organize a commercial, but a charity competition.
We have a big country, and it’s hard to help everyone. Nevertheless, we want to do what is in our power. So, we came to the conclusion that in large cities, regional centres, everything is more or less in order. But if you move a little further away, then the situation there is often much worse. In general, I wanted to help hospitals, doctors — with protective suits, equipment, drugs. So this tournament appeared.
Each of the eight participants represents a region of the largest country in the world, and they will determine the amount and recipients of the donation, depending on the needs of a particular institution. The entire amount will be distributed equally among the regions, regardless of the final standings.
As of May 11th, 24,130,000 rubles had been donated (over $325,000 USD). In addition, the Timchenko Foundation has committed to deliver individual protective gear and medical supplies to ten regions of Russia.
If you want to donate, you can find the details for bank transfers following this link.
Andrey Filatov and Gennady Timchenko | Photo: Vladimir Barsky
Master Class Vol.6: Anatoly Karpov
On this DVD a team of experts looks closely at the secrets of Karpov's games. In more than 7 hours of video, the authors examine four essential aspects of Karpov's superb play.
The event, taking place on Lichess.org, is an eight-player double round-robin, with a time control of five minutes per game plus a two-second increment per move. The four top scorers of the round-robin will go through to a knockout playoff. The first half of the all-play-all section was played on Tuesday, with the second half scheduled for Wednesday and the semi-finals starting the day after. Games start at 3 p.m. Moscow time (2 p.m. CEST / 8 a.m. ET).
Despite having retired from competitive (classical) chess over a year ago, Kramnik is still the highest-rated player in the field, with a 2797 official blitz rating. The most active before the coronavirus crisis, however, were Alexander Grischuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi, who played the seven first rounds of the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg.
Grischuk, also a former blitz world champion, is currently leading the standings table on 5½ out of 7, followed by Kramnik (5/7) and two-time Russian champion Evgeny Tomashevsky (4/7). Kramnik was leading until round three, but lost against Grischuk the next round. Grischuk also scored wins over Peter Svidler, Alexander Riazantsev and Sergey Karjakin.
| Rk. | Name | Blitz rating | Points | TPR |
| 1 | Grischuk, Alexander | 2765 | 5½ | 2946 |
| 2 | Kramnik, Vladimir | 2797 | 5 | 2878 |
| 3 | Tomashevsky, Evgeny | 2695 | 4 | 2776 |
| 4 | Karjakin, Sergey | 2754 | 3 | 2670 |
| 5 | Svidler, Peter | 2766 | 3 | 2674 |
| 6 | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 2785 | 3 | 2665 |
| 7 | Inarkiev, Ernesto | 2639 | 2½ | 2631 |
| 8 | Riazantsev, Alexander | 2497 | 2 | 2578 |
