12/29/2015 – Magnus Carlsen won his game with ease against Mamedyarov and shot into sole lead with 6.5/8. Kramnik beat Sjugirov while Yu Yangyi got the better of Nils Grandelius. Both of them follow Magnus with 6.0/8. It is going to be a superb last round as Carlsen takes on Kramnik and Wesley takes on Yu Yangyi. In this article we also introduce you to the eight chess couples in Qatar!
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
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.
When the games are running, clicking on the above link will take you to our live broadcast. It is free and open to all – as a Premium Account member you have access to the Live Book, Chat, chess engine analysis – all in your browser, on a notebook, tablet or even your smartphone. And the Let's Check function will show you what the most powerful computers in the world think of the current position, as each move is being played.
Qatar Masters 2015 – It’s a Carlsen vs Kramnik showdown!
Report from Doha by Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal
What a finale we have at the Qatar Masters Open 2015! It’s Magnus Carlsen against Vladimir Kramnik on board one of the final round, but before we start to discuss the possibilities on who will lift the trophy and also the tiebreak regulations (yes, there is one!), let us first shift our attention to the penultimate round.
At the start of the eighth round three players were in the lead with 5.5/7 – Magnus Carlsen, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Sanan Sjugirov. Carlsen faced Mamedyarov on the top board and Sjugirov was up against his countryman Vladimir Kramnik.
Name first, surname second, that’s the way the World Champion writes his scoresheet
At first, Mamedyarov played all solid with the Bxf6 variation in the Ragozin. Was he going to play it solidly and just make a draw? Well, the decision of taking back on d4 with the pawn and accepting the isolated pawn meant that Mamedyarov wanted something more. He then went ahead with his h-pawn and prepared for the d4-d5 central break. But it is one thing to trick 2600 rated opponents, which Mamedyarov has been doing quite successfully in this event, and quite another to fool the highest rated player in the world. Magnus was up to the task, gobbling up Shakhriyar’s incorrect pawn sacrifice and later even won a piece. The game ended in just 25 moves!
Mamedyarov - Carlsen
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
1.e4
1,185,008
54%
2421
---
1.d4
959,510
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
286,503
56%
2441
---
1.c4
184,834
56%
2442
---
1.g3
19,892
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,600
54%
2428
---
1.f4
5,954
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,911
50%
2384
---
1.b4
1,791
48%
2379
---
1.a3
1,250
54%
2406
---
1.e3
1,081
49%
2409
---
1.d3
969
50%
2378
---
1.g4
670
46%
2361
---
1.h4
466
54%
2382
---
1.c3
439
51%
2425
---
1.h3
289
56%
2420
---
1.a4
118
60%
2461
---
1.f3
100
47%
2427
---
1.Nh3
93
66%
2506
---
1.Na3
47
62%
2476
---
Please, wait...
1.d4Nf62.c4e63.Nf3d54.Nc3Bb45.Bg5h66.Bxf6Qxf67.e30-08.Rc1dxc49.Bxc4c510.0-0cxd411.Ne4Qe712.exd4This is much more combative than taking on d4 with the knight. The isolated pawn means that there is an imbalance and an imbalance means that both sides have to play actively to make use of their imbalances.12.a3is the new move with which Dubov beat Anand in the World Rapid.12...Rd813.Qe2Nc614.Rfd1Ba515.Ng3Bb616.Qe4Bd717.h4!?Typical Mamedyarov. Until here everything was seen in the game Shimanov-Matlakov 2014. But this is a new move.Be818.a3Rd619.Qg4?! It was a good time to think about equalizing and get rid of the isolated pawn. 19.d5exd519...Rad820.Qc2!Rxd520...exd521.Nf5±21.Bxd5exd520.Rxd5Qxe421.Nxe4Rxd522.Bxd5Rd823.Nc3=19...Rad8 Now the d4 pawn is just a weakness.20.d5Qf8!You are not going to be able to fool Magnus. He takes out his queen from the Nf5 fork tricks and gets ready to take on d5.21.Qe4Ne7Thanks to the pin on the d-file the pawn cannot really move.22.Bd3f5!23.Qe5Nxd524.Bxf5?exf525.Nxf5 Did Mamedyarov stir up some complications once again?Rc6!Not really! The rook on c1 would hang if the d-rook moved and if Rxc6 then bxc6 would solidify the knight on d5.0–1
A composed Mamedyarov a few minutes before all hell broke loose and he landed in a lost position
The sole leader of the Qatar Masters Open 2015 – Magnus Carlsen with 6.5/8
The only other person who could catch him was Sanan Sjugirov. The 22-year-old was up against Vladimir Kramnik. Last year at the Qatar Masters Kramnik had defeated Sjugirov by playing an absolutely flawless game from the white side of the Reti. Today the ex-World Champion decided to play the London System, and things were not very different from 2014. Kramnik once again played some fantastic chess to beat Sanan, although it must be said that Sjugirov made his opponent’s task considerably easier by castling long.
Sanan Sjugirov was having a great event with wins over Radoslaw
Wojtaszek and Dmitry Jakovenko, but the youngster had to taste
bitter defeat against Vladimir Kramnik
What? Wait! Come on Vlad, that is illegal!
Kramnik - Sjugirov
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
Replay and check the LiveBook here
Please, wait...
1.Nf3d52.d4Nf63.Bf4c54.e3Nc65.Nbd2cxd46.exd4Bf57.c3e68.Qb3Qc89.Nh4!At the first possible opportunity Kramnik goes ahead to create an imbalance. Once he achieves that he will have much easier task in outplaying his opponent.Bg69...Be4!?10.f3Bg611.Nxg6hxg6should have been considered. The move f3 doesn't do anything constructive to White's position.10.Nxg6hxg611.Bd3Nh512.Be3Bd613.0-0-0a614.Kb1b515.Qc2Na515...Nf416.Bf116.Nf3Nc417.Bc1!First this bishop retreats to its initial square and after a few moves the other one also retreats!Qc718.Ng5Nf419.Bf1!Quite a picturesque position. Both bishops on their initial squares.0-0-0?!A bad decision by Sanan whose king is not at all safe on the queenside. Kramnik must have been glad to see the sight of 0-0-0.20.a4Qb721.axb5axb522.b3Na522...Na3+23.Bxa3Bxa324.g3Nh525.b4±And the bishop on a3 has come too far from home.23.Qa2Nc624.g3Nh525.Bd3Kb826.Qe2Na727.Bd2Rc828.Kb2Rc629.Ra1Rf830.Ra2Ra631.Rxa6Qxa632.Ra1By methodical play Kramnik has got everything in his favour. The bishops are wonderful defenders and at the same time attacking the black queenside and the rook has controlled the open a-file.Qb733.b4Nf634.Ra5Bc735.Bf4Bxf436.gxf4Qc737.Bxb5Qxf438.Nf3Ne439.Ne5The knight, bishop, rook, and queen will launch a deadly attack against the black king.Rh840.Nc6+Nxc641.Bxc6Nxc3!?A desperate attempt to complicate the position. But Kramnik is alert and upto the mark.42.Kxc3Rh3+43.Kc2Qxd444.Qb5+Kc745.Qb7+Kd646.Qb8+46.Rxd5+!exd547.Qd7+Ke548.Qxh3+-was another way to win.46...Ke747.Qa7+Qxa748.Rxa7+Kd649.Ba4Rh449...Rxh250.Rd7+Ke551.Rxf7+-50.Kb3Rh3+51.Kb2Rh451...e552.Rxf7Rxh253.Kc3Ke654.Rxg7Rxf255.Rxg6+Kf556.Rd6+-52.Rd7+Ke553.Ka3Kd454.Rxf7Rxh255.b5Kc556.Rc7+A great game by Vladimir but it must be said that Sanan made his task considerably easier when he castled long. 1–0
White had chances to snatch the advantage at a prior phase of the game but as things stand right now he is not worse. The position is around equal. Nils makes a huge blunder now.19.Qf4??Qc2!A simple double attack on b1 and d2.20.Bxc620.Rd1Most probably Grandelius missed that this is losing toBxd2+!21.Rxd2Qb1+!+-And the bishop on b5 falls.20...Qxd2+21.Kf1Qd3+22.Kg1Qxb1+23.Kh2Bxc624.Qe5+Kd7Black is a rook and a piece up and White has absolutely no compensation.25.e4Rhe826.Qf5+Kd827.Qxf7Bd728.Qf6+Kc829.exd5b630.Rc4+Kb731.Rc7+Ka632.Rxd7Re10–1
Due to the huge number of draws, Vladimir Kramnik and Yu Yangyi are the only players in second with 6.0/8. While Magnus, the sole leader, faces Vladimir Kramnik, Yu Yangyi will take on Wesley So. The Chinese player still has some chances to defend his title.
If Magnus beats Vladimir then it is all over. He wins the title as no one can catch him. But in case the top board clash ends in a draw and Yu Yangyi is able to beat Wesley So, then both Carlsen and Yu Yangyi would be on 7.0/9. The rules of the tournament say that, “In the event of a tie for the first place in the Tournament, there shall be conducted a Play-Off for the first prize of $27,000 and Trophy.” The players will play a blitz (5 minutes + 3 seconds) tiebreak of two games. If that ends in a draw there will be another tiebreak of two games. In the event of another 1-1 tie the person to win the next decisive game would be the champion.
By the way this tiebreak scenario can also arise if Kramnik beats Carlsen and Yu Yangyi gets the better of Wesley So. In any case the blitz tiebreaks will only happen if Yu Yangyi scores a full point. For all other spots except the first place the tiebreak criteria is rating performance.
An about-to-yawn-Anish Giri was not able to breakthrough Ruslan Ponomariov’s defenses
and the game ended in a draw
Wesley So had a great chance of winning against Lin Chen (2532) but was unable to do
so and hence has fallen out of the race for the top spot. He will still play a pretty huge
role in determining the winner of the tournament as he faces Yu Yangyi in the final round.
Sergey Karjakin has been nowhere close to the form he showed in the
Baku World Cup 2015. He is currently on 5.5/8 and in the tenth spot.
Surya Shekhar Ganguly beat Salem Saleh in a tense encounter to move to 5.5/8
A battle between two men in their forties ended in a draw. Trivia: Who do you think is older:
Vladimir Akopian (left) or Vassily Ivanchuk? Please write your answers in the comments section
below. (Don’t use Google!)
Red – a colour that is associated both with love and war. In their game Vladimir Fedoseev
went for blood and defeated Dronavalli Harika
The two super Chinese players: Lin Chen (standing) drew against Wesley So in the eighth
round, while Xu Yinglun drew against David Howell and has a rating performance 2811. Both
are on 5.5/8 and the latter had already achieved his GM norm with two rounds to spare!
Somewhere around the 40th move, Shardul Gagare (right) was in a lost position and had
only one second on his clock when he made his move against Daniele Vocaturo. Nevertheless,
he miraculously saved his position and thus made his final GM norm. He is currently on 2491
and requires nine Elo points to become India’s latest grandmaster.
Four women players on 4.5/8 have a chance to win the women’s prize of US $8,000. From
top left clockwise: Aleksandra Goryachkina, Hou Yifan, Eesha Karavade and Alexandra Kosteniuk.
Currently Kosteniuk has the best tiebreak.
Chess Couples!
Chess is one of the very few sports where men and women can compete with each other on equal footing. When male and female players compete in the same event it is natural that many of them interact with each other! And when these meetings happen repeatedly in many chess events all over the world there are high chances of a relationship building up. In such a scenario the country, creed, caste etc. doesn’t really matter. What matters is the love for each other and the common bonding thread of the beautiful game of chess! At the Qatar Masters 2015 there are many chess couples. Amruta Mokal took pictures of them over the days of the event and we present them to you now:
The tournament director Mohamed-Al-Modiahki (2550) is the first grandmaster of Qatar and his wife
Zhu Chen (2416) is the former World Women’s Champion. They both married in the year 2001.
It’s been only a few months since Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2749) and IM Alina Kashlinskaya (2448) have
married each other and they are already back to the thing they love the most – playing chess together!
Pavel Tregubov (2576) is a strong Russian grandmaster while Alexandra Kosteniuk (2520)
is a former World Women’s Champion. They tied the knot in 2015.
One of the most lively and enthusiastic couples in Qatar are the Bartels! Mateusz is a strong
grandmaster with an Elo of 2631 while Marta is a WGM with a peak rating of 2379. They have
been married for two years.
Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son was a wonder kid. He started playing chess at the age of three and won
the world under-10 title. His wife IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen has shown a marked improvement in her
level of play ever since they got married in 2015. Take for example where she beat two GMs
Neelotpal Das and Aravindh Chithambaram and drew with Alex Lenderman and Nils Grandelius!
Ni Hua with his wife Su Shenzen who is a musician, though we are almost certain that she knows the rules of chess!
Chinese couple who now live in Singapore: GM Zhang Zhong and IM Li Ruofan
Do these guys even need an introduction! Currently the most famous chess couple in the
town Anish Giri and Sopiko Guramashvili. This might be a good time to revisit the beautiful
day of 18th July 2015 when the couple got hitched to each other.
The video above is shared by Anish’s father Sanjay Giri on Youtube and has the famous Indian
song “Tum Hi Ho” playing in the background.
Note: The last round begins three hours earlier than usual, at 12.p.m local time.
The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the 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 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
Sagar ShahSagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.
How do you play the Queen's Gambit Accepted? Does White have promising variations or can Black construct a water-tight repertoire? The Powerbook provides the answers based on 300 000 games, most of them played by engines.
The Queen's Gambit Accepted Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 11827 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 240 are annotated.
Rossolimo-Moscow Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 10950 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 612 are annotated.
The greater part of the material on which the Rossolimo/Moscow Powerbook 2025 is based comes from the engine room of playchess.com: 263.000 games. This imposing amount is supplemented by some 50 000 games from Mega and from Correspondence Chess.
€9.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.