1/18/2020 – Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana signed a draw on a day that saw Anish Giri and Daniil Dubov getting wins at the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee. Thus, Wesley So and Alireza Firouzja are still co-leaders on 'plus two' — Fabiano Caruana, Daniil Dubov and Jorden van Foreest are a half point back. In the Challengers, Pavel Eljanov took advantage of a blunder by Max Wardermam to take the sole lead. Expert analysis by GM TIGER HILLARP-PERSSON and IM LAWRENCE TRENT. | Photo: Alina l'Ami
new: Fritz 20
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.
2024 Candidates Tournament with analyses by Gukesh, Pragg, Vidit, Firouzja and Giri. Kasimdzhanov, Engel and Marin show opening trends from Toronto in the video. 10 repertoire articles from English to Queen's Indian and much more!
€21.90
Carlsen's drawing streak
The 82nd edition of the chess festival in Wijk aan Zee takes place from January 11th to 26th. The Masters and the Challengers are both 14-player single round robins. Rounds start at 12:30 UTC, except January 16th in Eindhoven, when it starts 30 minutes later.
Magnus Carlsen has not lost a single classical game since July 2018, but he has not yet been able to score a win at the 2020 Tata Steel Masters. In round six, he had White against the last player to challenge him in a World Championship match, and for the first time in the event signed a rather uneventful draw. As Carlsen himself explained afterwards, it is looking more difficult by the day to call him a favourite to win in Wijk for an eighth time:
It's hard to call me a competitor for tournament victory with six draws in the first six games, but I'll continue to play. I mean, the first five draws were a problem; this one was not necessarily a problem.
It must be added, however, that seven rounds are still left to go, and nobody has been able to get a big edge at the top of the standings table — Carlsen, in fact, is only a point behind Wesley So and Alireza Firouzja. For the world champion, it is not about not losing at this point, but about collecting some wins:
I'm just hoping that my drawing streak will not be a hundred anytime soon (smiles).
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.
The Magnus Carlsen v Fabiano Caruana duel is just starting | Photo: Alina l'Ami
Carlsen could not get winning chances with White, but his former second Daniil Dubov managed to do precisely that against his compatriot Vladislav Artemiev. The latter used his pet Caro-Kann, but was quickly under pressure, as Dubov got control of the open c-file in addition to the usual space advantage White gets in these systems.
The Exchange Variation (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3) is a simple and easy to learn answer to the Caro-Kann. By clarifying the central tension White gives himself a clear plan of attack using the half open e-file and the e5 square. This is far from easy for Black to meet as Bobby Fischer, Jan Timman, Walter Browne and other leading Grandmasters have demonstrated in their games. Black too has his resources but he needs to know what he's doing.
Black is already in trouble, but 28...♜b6 only hastened his defeat, as White now has the added possibility to infiltrate with his rook through the a-file. The game continued 29.gxh5 ♛xh5 30.♕f6+ ♚g8 31.♖a5 and Artemiev resigned two moves later.
Swedish grandmaster Tiger Hillarp-Persson analysed the game in full:
Daniil Dubov | Photo: Alina l'Ami
The other winner of the day was Anish Giri, who immediately bounced back from his loss against Firouzja by taking down Vladislav Kovalev with the white pieces. Giri was clearly the one calling the shots in the opening, almost blitzing out all his twenty-one first moves while his opponent struggled to find the correct continuations from move 9. Kovalev put all his hopes on a direct kingside attack:
On this DVD Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Karsten Müller present the 8. World Chess Champion in video lessons: his openings, his understanding of chess strategy, his artful endgame play, and finally his immortal combinations.
It is hard not to play the direct 26.♘f5+ here — which Giri did — but in fact 26.♗g1 is much stronger. After the text, there followed 26...♚h8 27.♖g1 ♜xh2+ and Black's attack is scary. At that point, White had lost most of his edge according to the computers, but Giri had more time on his clock and a material advantage.
Soon enough, the Dutch player gave back the exchange and pushed for trades in order to fend off the attack. He was a pawn up in the endgame, and duly converted his advantage into a 51-move victory. The world number nine showcased his usual wit in the post-game interview:
Q: In a way you beat him twice today?
A: I wouldn't say so. Maybe I out-prepared him, but I think one win a day is enough for me.
Q: But you had a winning position and at some point you had to start all over again.
A: Well, in terms of computer evaluations, yes, but to be honest with the rook on f2 and the queen on g5 you're happy you're not gonna blunder mate.
Full interview with Anish Giri
None of the remaining draws lasted more than forty moves. Co-leaders Firouzja and So will face Jeffery Xiong and Artemiev in round seven respectively, while world champion Magnus Carlsen will play against Vishy Anand with the black pieces.
In the Challengers, a sole leader emerged in round six, as Pavel Eljanov defeated Max Warmerdam while Surya Shekhar Ganguly and Erwin l'Ami — the other co-leaders after round five — only managed to score half points. Eljanov took advantage of a one-move blunder by his young Dutch opponent:
Warmerdam's 19.♘ce2 allowed 19...♞xe5 and White cannot capture the piece due to 20...♜xh4#. Resignation came a couple of moves later.
What is Erwin l'Ami laughing about? | Photo: Alina l'Ami
On this DVD Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Karsten Müller present the 8. World Chess Champion in video lessons: his openings, his understanding of chess strategy, his artful endgame play, and finally his immortal combinations.
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.
2nd Move Anti-Sicilian Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 12090 games from Mega 2025 or the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 874 are annotated.
Ruy Lopez Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 12092 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 1276 are annotated.
In this 60 Minutes, Andrew Martin guides you through all the key ideas you need to know to play with confidence. Whether you’re looking to surprise your opponents, or simply want a straightforward weapon against e5, the Centre Attack has you covered.
€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.
The 82nd edition of the chess festival in Wijk aan Zee takes place from January 11th to 26th. The Masters and the Challengers are both 14-player single round robins. Rounds start at 12:30 UTC, except January 16th in Eindhoven, when it starts 30 minutes later.
