There is no stopping the Tiger
Vishy Anand’s three straight wins on Thursday were no fluke. The multiple world champion kicked off the second day of action with two more victories, beating Kirill Shevchenko and Levon Aronian in consecutive rounds to extend his winning streak to five games. A draw with white against Jan-Krzysztof Duda left the Indian two points ahead of his closest chaser with three rounds of rapid left to go.
This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors how to successfully organise your games strategically, and how to keep your opponent permanently under pressure.
Hungarian star Richard Rapport, one of three Candidates playing in Poland, replicated Anand’s day-1 feat, as he scored three wins in a row to climb to sole second place. Anand and Rapport are set to face each other in round 9 of the rapid, before the eighteen rounds of blitz kick off on Sunday. A normal scoring system (1 point for a win, ½ point for a draw) will be used in the second phase of the tournament.
Wesley So and Jan-Krzysztof Duda are sharing third place on 7/12 points. The US grandmaster beat his Polish colleague in their round-5 direct confrontation.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda beat Radoslaw Wojtaszek with the black pieces in the all-Polish encounter | Photo: Lennart Ootes
After taking down Shevchenko with white to start the day on the right foot, Anand had the tough task of facing Aronian with the black pieces. Aronian, who was on a +1 score at that point, pushed his g-pawn on move 13 out of a Bishop’s Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4). Soon after, the man from Yerevan faltered decisively.
Aronian vs. Anand - Round 4
16.Nc4 was already an imprecision by White, as allowing the knight to grab the pawn on e4 with 16...Nxe4 — attacking the weak pawn on f2 — is a massive concession. That was not the losing mistake, though.
The only way to keep the fight going was with 17.Bxe4, while Aronian’s 17.Nxb6 fails to the good-looking 17...Nxf2
Grabbing the knight is bad due to 18...Qh4+, while after 18.Qd2 Qxb6, capturing the knight is again taboo because of 19...Rxe1+.
Aronian went for 19.Rxe5, but 19...Nxg4+ 20.Kg2 Nxe5 fully consolidated Black’s position. Four moves later, Anand “had the material and the compensation”, as he had two extra pawns and was still attacking the hapless white king. Aronian resigned.
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1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Bc5 4.Nf3 d6 5.0-0 0-0 6.c3 Bb6 7.Nbd2 c6 8.Bb3 Re8 9.Re1 Be6 9...Bg4 10.Nf1 Nbd7 11.h3 Bh5 10.Bc2 Nbd7 11.d4N 11.h3 h6 12.d4 Qc7 13.Nf1 Nf8 14.Ng3 Ng6 15.Be3 Red8 16.Qc1 Qe7 17.a4 11...Bg4 12.h3 Bh5 13.g4 Bg6 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Rxe5 16.Nc4 16.Kg2!= d5 17.f4 Bxe4+ 18.Nxe4 Rxe4 19.Bxe4 Nxe4 20.Be3 16...Nxe4 17.Nxb6? 17.Nxe5? Nxf2 18.Qe2 Bxc2-+ 17.Bxe4 Rxe4 18.Nxb6 Rxe1+ 19.Qxe1 Qxb6 20.b3 17...Nxf2!-+ 17...axb6 18.Bxe4 Rxe4 19.f3 Rxe1+ 20.Qxe1 18.Qd2 18.Kxf2 Qh4+ 19.Kg2 Rxe1-+ 18...Qxb6 18...Ne4 19.Rxe4 Qxb6+ 20.Rd4 18...Nxh3+ 19.Kh2 Qh4 20.Rxe5 dxe5 21.Nxa8 Bxc2 22.Qxc2 Ng5+ 23.Kg1 23.Kg2? Qh3+ 24.Kg1 Nf3+ 25.Kf2 Qh2+ 26.Kxf3 Qxc2-+ 23...Nf3+ 24.Kf1 Qh1+ 25.Kf2 25.Ke2? Qg2+ 26.Ke3 Qxc2-+ 25...Qh2+ 26.Kxf3 Qxc2 19.Rxe5 Nxg4+ 19...dxe5? 20.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 21.Kxf2 Bxc2 22.Be3-+ 19...Nxh3+ 20.Kh2 dxe5 21.Kxh3 20.Kg2? 20.Re3 Nxe3 21.Qxe3 Bxc2 22.Qxb6 axb6 23.a3 20...Nxe5 21.Bxg6 hxg6 21...fxg6? 22.Qe2-+ 22.Qxd6 Qb5 23.Qd1 Nd3 24.b3 Qd5+ 0–1 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
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Aronian,L | 2765 | Anand,V | 2751 | 0–1 | 2022 | | Superbet Rapid Poland 2022 | 5.2 |
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Levon Aronian facing Vishy Anand | Photo: Lennart Ootes
In round 4, Rapport grabbed his first win of the day by beating David Gavrilescu with the white pieces. The latter stepped in to replace Constantin Lupulescu. Born in 2003, the clear underdog has so far drawn Wojtaszek and So in Warsaw — a respectable performance given how heavily out-rated he is by his elite opponents.
In this two-volume video course former world-champion and startrainer Rustam Kasimdzhanov shows you the ins and outs of this hugely complex opening.
Out of a French Defence, the ever-creative Rapport pushed his army on the kingside.
Rapport vs. Gavrilescu - Round 4
Here Gavrilescu needed to play 29...gxh6, the only move that somewhat deals with White’s dangerous threats. The young Romanian instead activated his queen with 29...Qxc4, but soon realized he had erred, as Rapport continued pushing his pawns — 30.hxg7 Bxg7 31.Qc2 Nbd5 32.h6 Bh8. White was clearly in the driver’s seat, but converting the advantage into a win was no trivial task.
Ten moves later, Rapport broke through decisively.
43.R1a7+ Kd6 44.Bxd5 Kxd5 45.Rxc8 Nxc8 46.Qb7+ and the king hunt began.
46...Kc4 47.Ra4+ Kd3 48.Qb3+ Ke2 49.Ra2 Qd5 50.Ba5+ and only here, with mate-in-two on the board, Gavrilescu resigned.
In less than a month, Rapport, who is also among the participants of the Norway Chess tournament (May 31 to June 10), will play the Candidates Tournament in Madrid. He will face, among others, Fabiano Caruana and Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who are playing in Warsaw as well.
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1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 Nf6 6.Ngf3 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.a4 Qc7 9.Re1 h6 10.e5 Nd7 11.Qe2 b6 12.h4 Nb4 13.Nf1 Ba6 14.Qd1N 14.Bf4 c4 15.dxc4 Bxc4 16.Qd2 Bxf1 17.Bxf1 Qxc2 18.Rec1 Qxd2 19.Bxd2 a5 20.Rc7 Nxe5 21.Nxe5 14...Rfc8 15.N1h2 Qd8 16.Bf4 b5 16...Kh8= 17.c3 Nc6 18.axb5 Bxb5 19.Ng4 19.b3!? 19...Bf8! 20.Qe2 Ne7 21.h5 a5 22.Ne3 Qb6 23.g4 d4 24.Nc4 Bxc4 25.dxc4 Rab8 26.Bc1 Qa6 27.g5 27.cxd4?! cxd4 28.Nxd4 Qxc4 29.Qxc4 Rxc4= 27...dxc3 28.bxc3 Nb6 29.gxh6 Qxc4? 29...gxh6± 30.Bf1 Nf5 30.hxg7+- 30.Rxa5 gxh6 31.Qxc4 Nxc4= 30...Bxg7 31.Qc2 31.Rxa5?! Nf5± 31...Nbd5 32.h6 32.Rxa5 Nf5 32...Bh8? 32...Qxc3 33.Qxc3 Nxc3 33.Re4? 33.Ra4+- Rb4 34.Ra3 33...Qxc3± 34.Rg4+ Kf8 35.Qh7 Ke8 36.Rga4 36.Qxh8+? Kd7 37.Qxc8+ Rxc8-+ 36...Kd7? 36...Bxe5± 37.R4a3 Qxa1 38.Rxa1 Bxa1 37.Bd2+- Qb2 38.Rxa5 Bxe5 39.Nxe5+ Qxe5 40.Qxf7 40.Ra7+ Rc7 41.Qxf7 Qf5 42.Qxf5 exf5+- 40...Rc7 40...Qf5 41.Ra7+ Rc7 42.Qxf5 exf5 41.h7 Rh8 41...Qf6 42.Qxf6 Nxf6 42.Ra8 Rcc8 43.R1a7+ Kd6 44.Bxd5 Kxd5 45.Rxc8 Nxc8 46.Qb7+ Kc4 47.Ra4+ Kd3 48.Qb3+ Ke2 49.Ra2 Qd5 50.Ba5+ 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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Rapport,R | 2776 | Gavrilescu,D | 2518 | 1–0 | 2022 | | Superbet Rapid Poland 2022 | 4.2 |
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Richard Rapport | Photo: Bryan Adams
Standings after round 6 (2 pts for a win, 1 pt for a draw)
All games
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
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