ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024
It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.
Pranav Venkatesh had the sole lead heading into the final round. However, a last-round loss and playoff games changed the standings slightly. Only Karthik Venkataramn maintained his second place after the final round and Playoffs. The total prize fund of the tournament was €20.500. The top three prizes in the Group A (>1700) were €3.000, €2.000 and €1.000 along with a trophy each.
The Fashionable Caro-Kann Vol.1 and 2
The Caro Kann is a very tricky opening. Black’s play is based on controlling and fighting for key light squares. It is a line which was very fashionable in late 90s and early 2000s due to the successes of greats like Karpov, Anand, Dreev etc. Recently due to strong engines lot of key developments have been made and some new lines have been introduced, while others have been refuted altogether. I have analyzed the new trends carefully and found some new ideas for Black.
Leon Luke Mendonca ended Pranav Venkatesh’s fantastic run in the final round of the Chessable Sunway Formentera Open 2023. In the battle of teenagers, Pranav’s bold approach in the Advance Caro-Kann did not pan out the way he wanted. Leon beautifully manoeuvred his pieces and displayed his great positional understanding.
Vladimir Fedoseev, Karthik Venkataraman, Pranav V and Leon Mendonca ended up with the same score of 7/10 points. Fedoseev won the Armageddon against Karthik to become champion, thus Karthik secured second place. Leon finished third and Pranav fourth, as per playoff results.
A total of 57 players from 18 countries, including 19 GMs, 11 IMs, 2 WGMs and 2 WIMs, took part in Group A (>1700). The ten-round Swiss League tournament was organized by the Club Sunway Punta Prima Hotel on 18-28 April 2023 in Spain. The time control of the tournament was 90 minutes/40 moves + 30 minutes + 30 seconds per move from the first move.
The playoff participants (L to R) - Karthik Venkataraman, Vladimir Fedoseev, Pranav Venkatesh and Leon Luke Mendonca | Photo: Sunway Chess Festival
GM Vladimir Fedoseev is thrown to the pool after winning the 2023 @chessable Sunway Formentera Chess Festival in what is becoming a tradition of our event 😄 pic.twitter.com/yLasNGTWQF
— Sunway Chess Festival (@SunwayChessOpen) April 28, 2023
Pranav Venkatesh’s bold approach in the Advance Caro-Kann did not work out well against Leon Luke Mendonca. White decided not to castle and rush his g and h-pawns down the board, which left his king vulnerable and pieces uncoordinated. Leon gained control in the centre and beautifully manoeuvred his pieces.
28.Bc1? was unnecessary as the d4-pawn was pinned anyway. 28...Qa8 29.Ng3 Qd5 30.Ne2 Qe6 Black moved his queen from a5 to e6 as it was not doing much on a5. 31.Rh2 Nf5 32.h6 g6 33.Kg1 Rfd8 34.a5 d3 35.Ng3 Nxg3 36.fxg3 e4 and Black went on to win the game.
The tournament hall before the final round | Photo: Sunway Chess Festival
Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.1-6
In this Videocourse we deal with different aspects of the middlegame which are important to study and improve your general understanding of chess structures.
| Rk. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | ||
| 1 | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | 2674 | 7 | 56,5 | |
| 2 | GM | Karthik, Venkataraman | 2516 | 7 | 53,5 | |
| 3 | GM | Pranav, V | 2545 | 7 | 52,5 | |
| 4 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2596 | 7 | 52 | |
| 5 | IM | Prraneeth, Vuppala | 2437 | 6,5 | 57,5 | |
| 6 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | 2607 | 6,5 | 57 | |
| 7 | GM | Aryan, Chopra | 2607 | 6,5 | 56 | |
| 8 | GM | Jacobson, Brandon | 2556 | 6,5 | 51,5 | |
| 9 | GM | Alsina Leal, Daniel | 2520 | 6,5 | 47 | |
| 10 | GM | Dardha, Daniel | 2625 | 6 | 55 | |
| 11 | GM | Li, Di | 2554 | 6 | 52,5 | |
| 12 | GM | Xu, Yi | 2505 | 6 | 51,5 | |
| 13 | GM | Bernadskiy, Vitaliy | 2619 | 6 | 50,5 | |
| 14 | Chen, Peng | 2425 | 6 | 50 | ||
| 15 | IM | Aditya, Mittal | 2505 | 6 | 49 | |
| 16 | GM | Pranav, Anand | 2525 | 6 | 49 | |
| 17 | IM | Kushagra, Mohan | 2400 | 6 | 49 | |
| 18 | GM | Peralta, Fernando | 2592 | 6 | 48 | |
| 19 | GM | Asis Gargatagli, Hipolito | 2511 | 5,5 | 49,5 | |
| 20 | IM | Zhao, Yuanhe | 2447 | 5,5 | 46 |
