8/28/2015 – The tournament has become an even tighter race. Topalov had a fantastic start with 3.0/4 and played very strong chess, but Fabiano Caruana, who had a rough start with 0.0/2, has beaten the Bulgarian, escaped from the basement and Topalov is no longer leading. With Carlsen winning yet another game, the Norwegian is now tied for first with Aronian, who drew Grischuk.
new: ChessBase Magazine 225
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more. ChessBase Magazine offers first-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their brilliant games and explain the ideas behind the moves. Opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in tactics, strategy and endgames show you the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a direct download (incl. booklet as pdf file) or booklet with download key by post. Included in delivery: ChessBase Magazine #225 as “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.!
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 this course, Grandmaster Felix Blohberger delivers a complete opening repertoire for White, centred around the flexible move 1.Nf3.
€59.90
€44.90
2015 Sinquefield Cup
This super-GM single Round Robin brings together some of the best players in the world. This is the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour.
The players – Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Levon Aronian (Armenia), Fabiano Caruana (USA), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Alexander Grischuk (Russia), Anish Giri (Netherlands), Viswanathan Anand (India), Wesley So (USA).
The venue is the Chess Club and Scholastic Center at 4657 Maryland Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108. Tickets can be purchased at the Saint Louis Chess Club.
Round Five
Round Five
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Aronian, Levon
2765
½-½
Grischuk, Alexander
2771
Carlsen, Magnus
2853
1-0
So, Wesley
2779
Nakamura, Hikaru
2814
½-½
Giri, Anish
2793
Anand, Viswanathan
2816
½-½
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime
2731
Topalov, Veselin
2816
0-1
Caruana, Fabiano
2808
Daniel King shows the game of the day from round 5: Carlsen vs So
The tournament has become an even tighter race. Topalov had a fantastic start with 3.0/4 and played very strong chess, but in the top tournament in the world it is clear that even the most “out of shape” player could strike back at any moment! Fabiano Caruana, who had a rough start with 0.0/2, has beaten the Bulgarian, escaped from the basement and Topalov is no longer leading. With Carlsen winning yet another game, the Norwegian is now tied for first with Aronian, who drew Grischuk.
The first game to finish today was slightly surprising. Anand came out with an interesting idea in the Najdorf that caught MVL somewhat off guard. However, it wasn’t enough; MVL played well and despite being down a pawn had really good chances to hold. In the final position, White had an extra pawn but the position seemed to be much closer to a draw than a win. It was still surprising that Anand didn't try to convert the position or at least torture his opponent.
Giri thought it was "ridiculous" to accept a draw as early as Anand did, but Hess
did mention he thought the game was simply a dead drawn
[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "2816"] [BlackElo "2731"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Be3 Be6 9. Qd3 {The idea of putting the queen on d3 to support a knight on d5 is common, it hasn't been seen in top level chess in this particular position.} Nc6 10. a3 {preventing Nb4 ideas and preparing Nd5.} d5 $5 {Black breaks through before White can establish his bind. However this doesn't fully equalize just yet.} 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 (12... Bxd5 13. O-O-O {seems dangerous for Black. But perhaps after} (13. O-O $1 $14) 13... Bxg2 $5 {he can get away with capturing the pawn.}) 13. O-O-O Qxd3 (13... Qxg2 {just looks suicidal, even if the computers can navigate the complications.}) 14. Bxd3 O-O-O (14... Bxb3 $6 15. cxb3 O-O {doubles the pawns, but the bishop on the lightsquares is too strong to control.}) 15. Nc5 Bd5 16. c4 {Black doesn't want to give up the pair of bishops, but that means that this bishop must take quite a tour.} Bxg2 17. Rhg1 e4 $1 {An important move.} 18. Be2 (18. Rxg2 exd3 19. Rxg7 Ne5 $11 {is not entirely clear.}) 18... Bf3 19. Bxf3 exf3 20. Rxg7 Rxd1+ 21. Kxd1 Rd8+ 22. Kc1 Ne5 {Black's structure isn't the best, and h7 is hanging, but he has good compensation. His pieces are active and Black's pawn on f3 is annoying.} 23. Ne4 $1 Kd7 (23... Nxc4 24. Rxf7 Re8 $14) 24. Rxh7 Ke6 25. Nd2 Rc8 26. Kc2 (26. Rh6+ $1) 26... Nxc4 27. Nxc4 Rxc4+ 28. Kd3 Rg4 29. h3 Ra4 30. Rh6+ f6 31. Rh7 Ra5 32. Ke4 Rb5 33. Bd4 Bd6 34. Rh6 Be5 35. Bxe5 Rxe5+ 36. Kxf3 Rf5+ {White is up a pawn, but converting it is very difficult black is too active and it is hard to make progress with a weak h-pawn.} 37. Ke2 Re5+ 38. Kf1 Rb5 39. b4 Rd5 40. Rg6 a5 41. bxa5 Rxa5 42. Rg3 Ra4 1/2-1/2
The Paulsen/Taimanov in Nakamura-Giri was an unbelievably deep preparation, especially when you take into consideration how early the novelty was in the game. Nakamura said he forgot which rook to play, chose the wrong one and was worse. A mistake by Giri allowed the American to equalize. A strange perpetual happened and the game was drawn.
Nakamura is not afraid to wear a logo... or three
[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2814"] [BlackElo "2793"] [Annotator "Ramirez alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qd2 Nf6 8. O-O-O Be7 9. f4 b5 10. e5 b4 11. Ncb5 axb5 12. Nxb5 Qb8 13. exf6 gxf6 14. Kb1 d5 15. Qf2 {A novelty according to my database, but apparently both players knew this move well.} Ba6 16. Bb6 Bxb5 17. Bxb5 Qb7 18. Rhe1 Rb8 19. Bxc6+ Qxc6 20. Bd4 Ra8 21. b3 Kd7 22. a4 $1 {Giri missed this move in his preparation, a move which seems to be quite strong.} bxa3 23. Rd3 $2 {The players were very critical of this move. Apparently up this point it had all been Nakamura's preparation, but he confused which rook to move!} (23. Re2 $1 Rhc8 {a bizarre thing about this position as that Stockfish gives a comfortable advantage to White... but Komodo thinks Black is better. Just analyzing the position I would say White has the better chances, planning to put his king on a2 and preparing c4. On the other hand, Aronian told me he has a feeling Black is better, so it's pretty confusing.}) (23. c4) (23. Ka2 Rhc8 24. Re2 Bc5) 23... Rhc8 24. Re2 Qb5 $1 {Around this time Nakamura noticed something was wrong: c4 is impossible since the rook is always under attack. As he put it "I don't know what I was doing".} 25. Qf3 Ra6 (25... Rc6 $1 {Was more precise, now f5 fails to} 26. f5 e5 $1 27. Bxe5 a2+ 28. Ka1 fxe5 29. Rxd5+ Rd6 {is the important point. Here the queen is untouchable since a2 is still defended and Rd1 is mate.}) 26. f5 $1 Rac6 (26... e5 27. Bxe5 $18) 27. fxe6+ fxe6 28. Rdd2 a2+ 29. Ka1 (29. Kxa2 {is playable, but strange.}) 29... f5 30. Qe3 (30. g4 $5 fxg4 31. Qxg4 Qxb3 {is a funny draw.} 32. cxb3 Rc1+ 33. Kxa2 Ra8+ 34. Kb2 Ba3+ 35. Ka2 $11) 30... Rg8 31. c4 {Finally with the break through.} dxc4 32. Bc5+ Ke8 33. Bxe7 Kxe7 34. Qh6 Qb6 $1 {Very resourceful from Giri, now this was the only move to draw.} 35. Qxh7+ Kf8 36. Qh4 Ke8 37. Qh5+ {White has nothing better than a perpetual as Black has real threats now.} 1/2-1/2
Stylish central... Anish Giri
Next, Levon Aronian brought an interesting idea in the Panov Caro-Kann, which was reached in a weird move order. Unfortunately, Grischuk over the board outplayed his opponent. Grischuk had quite an advantage, but the position was very messy with the kings castled on opposite sides. He was unable to find the most precise variations, mainly because as usual he was in time pressure, and Aronian was able to get a draw.
[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B13"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2771"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. e3 $5 {Clever. Aronian comes into the game with a very clear opening preparation. A few players have tried 1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 against Grischuk to trick him into a Sicilian, but Aronian has other thoughts in mind.} Nf6 4. d4 cxd4 5. exd4 d5 6. Nc3 {Suddenly, we are in a Panov Caro-Kann. The positions's are usually very unbalanced.} Bg4 {main line.} (6... e6 {is possible.}) 7. Bg5 $5 {In a position that has been reached thousands of times, Aronian chooses a move that has only been played 19 times in the database. Grischuk sank into deep thought after this.} e6 (7... Ne4 {seems possible, but after} 8. Be3 {it's unclear if the knight is well placed on e4.}) 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Qe2+ {Played very quickly.} Be6 {very natural, but Aronian started thinking after this move. Perhaps he didn't expect it or his preparation was simply not that deep.} 10. Bxf6 gxf6 {Black's pawn structure is shattered, but he has the pair of bishops and White hasn't finished developing yet.} 11. Qc2 Qb6 12. a3 { It almost feels like Aronian's last two moves were too slow.} O-O-O {The king is as safe on the queenside as it will be anywhere else.} 13. Na4 Qc7 14. Bb5 Rg8 {Surprisingly, it is not trivial for White to defend the g2 pawn.} 15. O-O (15. g3 Bh3 {is some trouble, as Bg2 is a difficult threat to parry.}) 15... Bh3 16. Nh4 (16. g3 {was a very interesting idea, sacrificing the exchange} Bxf1 17. Bxf1 {gives White the structural advantage and slightly safer king. However when one plays a game it is clear that an exchange is an exchange, so this cannot be done lightly.}) 16... Rg4 17. Bxc6 bxc6 (17... Rxh4 $5 {leads to other kinds of craziness.} 18. Rac1 bxc6) 18. Qd3 Rxh4 19. gxh3 Qf4 { Getting low on time, Grischuk's hand hovered over his queen for a while before making this move.} 20. Rac1 (20. Qa6+ $1 Kd7 21. Rfe1 $132) 20... Kd7 $1 {A very nice move, preemptively removing the king from the dangerous c-file.} ( 20... Bd6 21. Rxc6+ Kd7 22. Rxd6+ {gives White more than enough compensation for the exchange.}) 21. Rfe1 Bd6 22. Kf1 Qxd4 {Already in severe time pressure, Grischuk manages to win a pawn. However it is very messy and difficult to play precisely here.} 23. Qf5+ Kc7 24. Nc3 Kb7 (24... Qc4+ 25. Ne2 Qb5 $1 {looks too complicated to be played by a human with minutes left and 15 moves to go.}) 25. Ne2 Qe5 (25... Qe4 $1) 26. Qc2 Rc4 27. Qb3+ {Regaining the pawn, Aronian equalizes.} Kc7 28. Rxc4 dxc4 29. Qxc4 Qd5 30. Qxd5 cxd5 1/2-1/2
Grischuk had a good position, but as usual he was plagued by time pressure [photo by Austin Fuller]
Topalov seemed dominant in Norway and again now in the Sinquefield Cup, but Caruana has put a stop to his streak. The American player thought he was in a little bit of trouble but was very surprised when the Bulgarian pushed his pawn to e6. After this, Caruana swiftly advanced on the kingside, winning material. Topalov had compensation but it was clearly insufficient, precise simplifications that ultimately ended Topalov’s game.
[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2816"] [BlackElo "2808"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "106"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nbd2 Ne7 8. d4 exd4 9. cxd4 Bb6 10. Re1 Bg4 {a deviation from the Topalov-Nakamura game of round two. Black immediately pressures the center and develops his bishop, instead of improving his knight first.} 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qb3 {White gets out of the pin so that he can improve his knight. Before this happens, Caruana strikes the center.} d5 13. e5 Nd7 {Black would love to install a knight on e6 and start blockading, but he is a bit far away from doing so. On the other hand White hasn't even fully developed yet, so any break on e6 lacks strength.} 14. a4 a5 15. Qd1 {since c5 was weakened by d5, the knight wants to go to b3 instead of the queen.} Nb8 $5 {Interesting remaneuvering, and notice that this knight started on g8! It is now headed to b4.} 16. Nb3 Nbc6 17. Bg5 h6 18. Bh4 Qc8 (18... Bxf3 19. Qxf3 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Bxd4 21. Qg4 {looks extremely unpleasant. The attack on the kingside isn't easy to parry.}) 19. g4 $1 { Gaining space, kicking out the bishop. White of course has to be worried of weakening the kingside, but Caruana has to prove it.} Bg6 20. Rc1 Bh7 21. Bg3 ( 21. Nc5 {seemed more consistent.}) 21... Nb4 22. Re3 Na2 23. Ra1 Nb4 24. Ne1 { of course, Topalov doesn't want to draw right away.} Nec6 25. Qd2 Qe6 26. Bxc6 $6 {I don't understand this move. White's bishop wasn't the most valuable, but Black's knights were superfluous and White in the future might want to have his bishop to rip apart the blockade on the light squares.} Qxc6 27. Rc3 Qe6 28. Ng2 f6 $5 {Making things sharp. Black starts opening lines for his bishops and pieces.} 29. Nf4 Qd7 30. e6 {"I thought this was a disastrous move" - Fabiano Caruana.} (30. Nh5 $5 f5 31. e6 (31. Bf4 $5) 31... Qxe6 32. Be5 $19) 30... Qe7 31. Re1 f5 $1 {Going for the complications, despite being down on time. Caruana keeps trying to rip apart the kingside.} 32. Nc5 Bxc5 33. Rxc5 c6 {White finds himself without coordination. The threat of g5 is seriously looming.} 34. Rc3 g5 35. Ng2 (35. Nh5 f4 36. Bh2 {looks ugly, but at least doesn't lose material yet.}) 35... f4 36. Nxf4 gxf4 37. Bxf4 Nd3 $1 {Going for the greedy option!} 38. Rxd3 Bxd3 39. Bxh6 Rf3 $1 {Black is up a rook, but White does have three passed pawns and Black's king is exposed} 40. Re3 Rxe3 41. Qxe3 Qh7 $1 {Very precise} (41... Be4 42. f3 Bxf3 43. Qxf3 Qxe6 {Was also a good option as now both kings are under fire.}) 42. f3 Re8 43. h4 Qg6 44. e7 Qd6 {Threatening the pawn on e7 and check on g3. White, of course, cannot afford to trade bishops.} 45. Bf4 Qxe7 $1 {Excellent understanding.} (45... Rxe7 46. Be5 {is more material, but also more complicated.}) 46. Qxd3 Qe1+ 47. Qf1 {forced} Qxf1+ 48. Kxf1 Rf8 49. Be5 Rxf3+ 50. Kg2 Rb3 51. h5 Rxb2+ 52. Kg3 b5 53. axb5 Rxb5 0-1
Topalov is human, after all
Magnus Carlsen was able to obtain some pressure from the opening. Despite being down a pawn, his dominant knight on d5 was too strong. The combination of the strong knight and the pawn expansion on the kingside made the Black king very uncomfortable. Wesley So committed a mistake even though it was hard to make moves. Carlsen missed several winning moves, but it didn’t matter; his position was good enough.
Carlsen is back on top after his first round loss
[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2853"] [BlackElo "2779"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3 Nbd7 9. Qd2 b5 10. O-O-O Be7 11. g4 b4 12. Nd5 Bxd5 13. exd5 Nb6 14. Na5 Nbxd5 15. Nc4 {Rare but possible. Dominguez used it many years ago to win a game against Predojevic. The idea is that White will seek compensation for his pawn by using the opposite colored bishops to restrain the d-pawn and create an initiative on the light squares.} Nxe3 16. Nxe3 O-O 17. Bc4 Nd7 $1 {After a long thing, this makes sense. The idea is that the knight will remaneuver to a more useful spot, like b6, and make the bishop on c4 uncomfortable.} 18. h4 a5 (18... Nb6 {made more sense, but perhaps So didn't want to allow Qxb4} 19. Qxb4 d5 20. Qa5 $13) 19. g5 Rc8 20. Bd5 Nb6 21. Kb1 Qc7 22. Rhf1 Nxd5 23. Nxd5 Qb7 24. f4 f5 {White retains compensation for the pawn. His strong knight on d5 is untouchable, but a pawn is a pawn.} 25. Qe3 e4 26. h5 $1 {White's advance of this pawn is key. He will make Black's position very uncomfortable as So cannot afford to open up the kingside.} Rc5 27. h6 g6 28. Qb3 {So is in trouble, despite what the engines say. It is unpleasant to find moves and the king is always suffering.} Rf7 29. a4 $1 Bd8 30. Rd4 {putting on the squeeze.} Kf8 31. Rfd1 Rc6 32. Ne3 Bb6 {what else?} 33. Nc4 (33. Rxd6 $1 {was a big move, even if White retains the advantage in the game continuation.} Rxd6 34. Rxd6 Bc7 35. Re6 $1 {The point is as follows:} Bxf4 36. Nd5 Bxg5 37. Qc4 $1 {and the attack becomes too strong.}) 33... Bxd4 (33... Rxc4 34. Qxc4 Qc7 {is no fun for So.}) 34. Nxa5 Qb6 35. Nxc6 Bc5 (35... Qxc6 36. Rxd4 {and all of Black's pawns are falling and the king feels unsafe.}) 36. Qd5 e3 37. a5 $1 Qb5 (37... Qc7 {was better resistance}) 38. Nd8 $1 Ra7 39. Ne6+ Ke8 40. Nd4 $2 (40. Nxc5 $1 {was much stronger} Qxc5 41. Qg8+ Kd7 42. Qxh7+ Kc6 43. Qxg6 {and since e2 is not possible due to Qe8+ and Qxa5 isnt possible due to Qxd5+, Black is just lost.}) 40... Qxa5 41. Qg8+ Kd7 42. Qxh7+ Kc8 43. Qg8+ Kb7 44. c3 bxc3 45. Qb3+ $1 Qb6 46. Qxb6+ (46. Qxc3 $1 {was very strong, though the move in the game should be better for white, Qxc3 seems winning. Black has too many problems to solve and his king is very weak.}) 46... Kxb6 47. bxc3 Bxd4 48. Rxd4 Kc6 49. Kc2 Ra2+ 50. Kd1 Rf2 51. Ke1 {The pawn on h6 is just too strong. Black has no hope to hold.} Kd7 52. Ra4 Ke6 53. Ra8 Rh2 54. c4 Kf7 55. Rb8 Ke6 56. Rg8 1-0
It is a free day tomorrow, after all...
Standings
Round Five Games
Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games
Photos by Lennart Ootes
Pairings
Round One
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Giri, Anish
2793
1-0
Grischuk, Alexander
2771
So, Wesley
2779
0-1
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime
2731
Aronian, Levon
2765
1-0
Caruana, Fabiano
2808
Carlsen, Magnus
2853
0-1
Topalov, Veselin
2816
Nakamura, Hikaru
2814
1-0
Anand, Viswanathan
2816
Round Two
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Grischuk, Alexander
2771
1-0
Anand, Viswanathan
2816
Topalov, Veselin
2816
1-0
Nakamura, Hikaru
2814
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime
2731
½-½
Aronian, Levon
2765
Giri, Anish
2793
½-½
So, Wesley
2779
Caruana, Fabiano
2808
0-1
Carlsen, Magnus
2853
Round Three
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
So, Wesley
2779
1-0
Grischuk, Alexander
2771
Aronian, Levon
2765
½-½
Giri, Anish
2793
Carlsen, Magnus
2853
1-0
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime
2731
Nakamura, Hikaru
2814
½-½
Caruana, Fabiano
2808
Anand, Viswanathan
2816
½-½
Topalov, Veselin
2816
Round Four
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Grischuk, Alexander
2771
½-½
Topalov, Veselin
2816
Caruana, Fabiano
2808
½-½
Anand, Viswanathan
2816
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime
2731
½-½
Nakamura, Hikaru
2814
Giri, Anish
2793
½-½
Carlsen, Magnus
2853
So, Wesley
2779
0-1
Aronian, Levon
2765
Round Five
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Aronian, Levon
2765
½-½
Grischuk, Alexander
2771
Carlsen, Magnus
2853
1-0
So, Wesley
2779
Nakamura, Hikaru
2814
½-½
Giri, Anish
2793
Anand, Viswanathan
2816
½-½
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime
2731
Topalov, Veselin
2816
0-1
Caruana, Fabiano
2808
Round Six
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Grischuk, Alexander
2771
Caruana, Fabiano
2808
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime
2731
Topalov, Veselin
2816
Giri, Anish
2793
Anand, Viswanathan
2816
So, Wesley
2779
Nakamura, Hikaru
2814
Aronian, Levon
2765
Carlsen, Magnus
2853
Round Seven
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Carlsen, Magnus
2853
Grischuk, Alexander
2771
Nakamura, Hikaru
2814
Aronian, Levon
2765
Anand, Viswanathan
2816
So, Wesley
2779
Topalov, Veselin
2816
Giri, Anish
2793
Caruana, Fabiano
2808
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime
2731
Round Eight
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Grischuk, Alexander
2771
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime
2731
Giri, Anish
2793
Caruana, Fabiano
2808
So, Wesley
2779
Topalov, Veselin
2816
Aronian, Levon
2765
Anand, Viswanathan
2816
Carlsen, Magnus
2853
Nakamura, Hikaru
2814
Round Nine
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Nakamura, Hikaru
2814
Grischuk, Alexander
2771
Anand, Viswanathan
2816
Carlsen, Magnus
2853
Topalov, Veselin
2816
Aronian, Levon
2765
Caruana, Fabiano
2808
So, Wesley
2779
Vachier-Lagr, Maxime
2731
Giri, Anish
2793
Games start at 1 p.m. local time (20:00h CEST, 22:00h Moscow, Thursday 12:30 New Delhi, 03:00h Tokyo, 04:00 Canberra – check your location here).
Playoffs, if necessary, will be on the 2nd at 1pm.
The games will be broadcast live on Playchess, with expert analysis (see schedule below).
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess 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 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
Alejandro RamirezGrandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.
Throughout the video course, Sasikran shows various examples from his career to explain sacrifices for initiative, an attack, a better pawn structure and much more.
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.
Powerbook based on more than 618 000 games in which White already sidesteps the main variations of the Sicilian on move 2.
€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.