8/16/2024 – Alireza Firouzja took the sole lead after the first day of blitz at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament. The French representative goes into the final 9 rounds of 5-minute games with a 1½-point lead over Wesley So and Ian Nepomniachtchi. It was So who obtained the best score on Thursday, as he scored 7/9 points despite losing his round-12 encounter against Firouzja. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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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.
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.
FIDE World Cup 2025 with analyses by Adams, Bluebaum, Donchenko, Shankland, Wei Yi and many more. Opening videos by Blohberger, King and Marin. 11 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
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A quick tactical eye
The first half of the blitz section at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament saw Wesley So and Alireza Firouzja climbing in the standings by scoring 7 and 6½ points respectively. Firouzja, who tied for first place in the rapid section, is now the sole leader, while So is now sharing second place with Ian Nepomniachtchi, at a 1½-point distance from Firouzja.
Tense struggles saw many of the games being decided by one-move blunders. Following the games live with the great commentary by Yasser Seirawan, Peter Svidler and Nazi Paikidze is surely entertaining, as the participants showcase their ability to make difficult decisions in deep time trouble - until one of them falters decisively.
In this video course, experts including Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh, examine the games of Boris Spassky. Let them show you which openings Spassky chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were and much more.
Besides Firouzja, Nepo and So, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian are well within reach of winning the tournament - i.e. half the field have realistic chances of claiming overall victory before the final 9 rounds of blitz.
In the crucial encounter between Firouzja and So, the latter failed to foresee a tactical idea that allowed Firouzja to promote a pawn by sacrificing an exchange.
50...Re1+ was a decisive mistake, as after 51.Kh2 Rb1 there is 52.Rxc6 bxc6 52.Bb4, blocking the b-file. So resigned.
Wesley So | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Two rounds later, after beating Leinier Dominguez, So got a lucky break - Aronian went from having a clearly better position to blundering the game away with a single queen manoeuvre.
69.Qxb5 loses the queen to 69...Qf1+, with a skewer.
In this video course, GM Surya Ganguly joins IM Sagar Shah and drawing from his colossal experience, shares some uncommon endgame wisdom. The material mostly features positions with rook against rook and a pawn, and starts by covering the fundamentals.
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 almost every chess game there comes a moment when you just can’t go on without tactics. You must strike to not giving away the advantage you have worked for the whole game.
Opening videos: Daniel King presents new ideas against Caro-Kann with 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+. ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’: Najdorf, Petroff and Scotch. ‘Move by Move’ with Robert Ris. ‘Lucky bag’ with 37 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
Instead of forcing you to memorise endless lines, Raja focuses on clear plans, typical ideas, and attacking motifs that you can apply in your own games without delay. A short, focused, and practical repertoire.
FIDE World Cup 2025 with analyses by Adams, Bluebaum, Donchenko, Shankland, Wei Yi and many more. Opening videos by Blohberger, King and Marin. 11 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
€21.90
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