2/8/2025 – The first day of the Freestyle Chess tournament in Weissenhaus featured the opening five rounds of the all-play-all qualifying stage. Fabiano Caruana and Javokhir Sindarov emerged as early leaders with 4½/5 points, while Nodirbek Abdusattorov sits in third place. Magnus Carlsen had a slow start, winning two games but also suffering three losses. With four more rounds to be played before the knockout stage, several players will need a strong second day to secure qualification. | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram
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Warming up!
The first five rounds of the all-play-all qualifying stage at the Freestyle Chess tournament in Weissenhaus took place on Friday, marking the start of the battle for the eight available spots in the knockout stage. Set in a luxurious venue, ten elite players competed under a 10+10 rapid time control, which, combined with the unpredictability of the Freestyle Chess starting positions, led to a number of blunders and tactical mishaps. Even experienced players such as Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian fell victim to early mistakes, finding themselves in clearly inferior positions even before reaching move 15.
Two players emerged as the early leaders: Fabiano Caruana and Javokhir Sindarov, who both scored an impressive 4½/5 points. Following behind in sole third place is Nodirbek Abdusattorov on 3½ points, while Alireza Firouzja sits in fourth place with 2½ points.
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.
The remaining six players all ended the day with a minus score, including world number one Magnus Carlsen, world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, Hikaru Nakamura and Vincent Keymer, who each have 2 points. Vladimir Fedoseev and Levon Aronian, with only 1 point, are in real danger of missing out on the knockout stage.
Much attention was naturally drawn to Magnus Carlsen's performance. The Norwegian, who won last year's G.O.A.T. Challenge at the same venue, had a slow start - something not uncommon in his career, as he often improves as events progress. On Friday, he played a decisive role in shaping the standings, as all five of his games ended with a winner. He scored two victories but also suffered three losses, including consecutive defeats against Sindarov and Fedoseev, the two players who qualified via the online play-in event.
With four rounds to be played (on Saturday) in the qualifying stage, much can change in the standings. While Caruana and Sindarov have all but secured their spots in the deciding stage, the fight for places in the knockout remains open, with players such as Carlsen, Nakamura and Gukesh needing a solid second day to secure qualification. Meanwhile, Fedoseev and Aronian will need a significant turnaround if they are to avoid elimination before the classical phase of the tournament begins.
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.
Vincent Keymer and Javokhir Sindarov | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram
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.
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.
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.
Videos by Mihail Marin: Najdorf Variation with 6.f4 and Nico Zwirs: Italian ‘giucco pianissimo’. ‘Lucky bag’ with 45 analyses by Edouard, Ftacnik, Gupta, Pelletier and others. Update service with over 50,000 new games for your database!
This video course provides a comprehensive and practical White repertoire in the Ruy Lopez! Through instructive model games and in-depth theoretical explanations, you will learn how to confidently handle both main lines and sidelines.
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
€21.90
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