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The Honour Division of the Spanish League is taking place on September 16-22 in Linares, Jaén. Eight teams take part in the single round-robin competition. Each match is played over six boards, with the obligatory inclusion of a female representative on each team’s roster.
The only team that has yet to give up a single match point after three rounds is also the only team that has yet to lose a single individual point in Linares. DuoBeniaján, which came second in the 2022 edition, are the rating favourites this year, and are leading the standings with 6/6 match points to their name.
The Keymer Variation - 1.Nf3 d5 2.e3
This video course features the ins-and-outs of the possible setups Black can choose. You’ll learn the key concepts and strategies needed to add this fantastic opening to your repertoire. An easy-to-learn and yet venomous weapon.
A total of 13 draws and 5 wins granted the team from Murcia three consecutive match victories at the event. Marcos Camacho, who played on the sixth board in the first two rounds, scored back-to-back wins before “sitting on the bench” in Monday’s match against C.A. Silla. The remaining three victories of the leaders were obtained by Vladimir Fedoseev, Maksim Chigaev and Nino Batsiashvili. On the top board, Bogdan-Daniel Deac signed three draws against very tough opponents — Nikita Vitiugov, Etienne Bacrot and Kirill Alekseenko.
Two squads stand a match behind, Magic Extremadura and defending champion C.A. Solvay. The chasers drew their first-round encounter and scored wins in closely contested matches in rounds 2 and 3. In their direct confrontation from Saturday, four games finished decisively, with wins for Praggnanandhaa (Solvay), Manuel Pérez Candelario (Magic), Meri Arabidze (Solvay) and Emilio Moreno (Magic).
Round 4 will see DuoBeniaján facing Andreu Paterna. The latter team, hailing from Valencia, counts with an inspired Jorden van Foreest on the top board — the Dutchman has collected 2½/3 points so far in Linares, with wins over Alekseenko and Francisco Vallejo.
Other players who obtained 2½ points in 3 rounds are Meri Arabidze, Raunak Sadhwani, Manuel Pérez Candelario and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. Pragg has gained 8 rating points, and has climbed to world number 16 in the live ratings list!
Bogdan-Daniel Deac (DuoBeniaján) playing white against Etienne Bacrot (Gros Xake Taldea)
Analysis by Shahid Ahmed
In the first round, Pragg (C.A. Solvay) was paired up against Ivan Cheparinov (Magic Extremadura). The game reached an equal bishop endgame.
White traded the pawns with 53.gxf5 gxf5. The position is still balanced. However, Praggnanandhaa wanted a win. He kept grinding and arrived at a desired position.
Black is in a virtual zugzwang! The king cannot move as the e5-pawn will fall. Moving the bishop means allowing White to give a check, but after 82...Bc5 83.Bd8+ Kf7 84.Kg5 e4 85.fxe4 fxe4 86.Kf4 e3 87.Kf3 the position remains balanced.
82...f4?, on the other hand, helps White. 83.Kg4 Bc5 84.Bd8+ Kg6 — and after a couple of moves, White played the only winning idea.
Attack like a Super Grandmaster
In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM†with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.
88.d6! Bxd6 89.Bxb6 Bb4 90.Bd8 and White went on to win the game eventually. White stumbled for a moment before the finish line, allowing Black to salvage a draw. However, Black misplayed once again to lose the game.
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu
Full results and pairings at info64.org
| Team | Match | Ind. | Rtg. | Com. | |
| 1 | DuoBeniajan Costa Calida | 6 | 11½ | 2639 | Murcia |
| 2 | Magic Extremadura | 5 | 10½ | 2559 | Extremadura |
| 3 | C.A. Solvay | 5 | 10 | 2612 | Cantabria |
| 4 | C.A. Silla - Integrant Col·lectius | 4 | 9½ | 2602 | Valencia |
| 5 | MyInvestor Casablanca | 2 | 8½ | 2559 | Aragón |
| 6 | Andreu Paterna | 2 | 8 | 2578 | Valencia |
| 7 | C.A. Jaime Casas de Monzon | 0 | 7 | 2581 | Aragón |
| 8 | Gros Xake Taldea | 0 | 7 | 2554 | Euskadi |
Fascinated by the French Winawer
The Winawer Variation in just 60 minutes - that can only work by reducing it to a clear repertoire for Black and, where possible, general recommendations rather than variations. Alexei Shirov was surprised at how quickly he managed to make of the French Winawer an opening he himself could play. And now he will let you share in his conclusions.
