8/23/2024 – Wesley So joined Alireza Firouzja in the lead of the Sinquefield Cup after beating former co-leader Ian Nepomniachtchi in Thursday's fourth round. So grabbed the full point by converting a minute advantage into a win in a pure rook endgame. Meanwhile, D Gukesh played a few astonishing moves to get an advantage out of a Berlin Defence against Firouzja - the French representative, however, managed to escape with a draw. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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.
True to his style, Wesley So collected his first win at the 2024 Sinquefield Cup by converting a small advantage into a win in his game with white against Ian Nepomniachtchi. So got an extra pawn in a rook ending evaluated as almost completely equal by the engines, and showed great technique to outplay Nepo, who finished the game with more than 90 minutes left on his clock.
The win allowed So to join Alireza Firouzja in the lead. Co-leader Firouzja escaped with a draw for a second day in a row - playing black against D Gukesh, he survived in an endgame with a pair of rooks against a rook, a bishop and two extra pawns (one of them was a dangerous outside passer). The game was a Berlin Defence in which Gukesh found a couple of astonishing tactical recourses to get the upper hand in the middlegame.
After 4 rounds, So and Firouzja have +1 scores, while Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Anish Giri have -1 scores. The remaining 6 players have collected 2/4 points.
Two Super Grandmasters from India explain the ins & outs of Attack, Tactics an Calculations in these two video courses.
A brilliant photograph of co-leader Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Lennart Ootes
So 1 - 0 Nepomniachtchi
Analysis by Shahid Ahmed
Nepomniachtchi needed to start moving his kingside pawns, which was his only saving grace in this position. The d-pawn will eventually get promoted, as Black has no way of stopping it.
36...f5 37.gxf5 gxf5 38.Rh4 Ra1 is one of the ways things could have gone better for Black.
Instead, there followed 36...Kf6 37.h4 Ra1 38.Kd3 Ra2 39.f3 Ra3+ 40.Kc4 Rxf3 41.d5 and White won the game in the next few moves.
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.
Wesley So v. Ian Nepomniachtchi | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Gukesh ½ - ½ Firouzja
Analysis by Shahid Ahmed
Firouzja was the only player who beat Gukesh at the 2024 Candidates Tournament. The world number 9 opted for the Berlin Defence in the Ruy Lopez. Gukesh found a way to make things interesting by sacrificing an exchange
23.Rd6+!? cxd6 24.exd6+ Kd5 25.Re5+ Kc6 26.Rxe7 f6 27.Rxg7 Rhg8 White's lack of material did not yield anything decisive immediately.
The following endgame position was reached after Black's 38th move.
Gukesh could have spiced things up further with 39.Rxc5+! Kxc5 40.Ba3+ Kd5 41.Bxf8.
However, the outcome quite possibly would not have changed. He opted for the safer 39.g3 Rh2 40.Bg7 Rf7 41.gxf4 and the game eventually ended in a draw.
Two of the most talented youngsters in the chess world | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Glorious sacrifices, unexpected tactics and checkmating attacks. The King's Gambit is one of the oldest and most romantic openings in the game of chess. These DVDs contain all you need to know to play the King's Gambit.
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.
€34.90
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.
