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
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.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
In this two-volume course GM Ganguly turns calculation into a trainable skill with a structured path for any level.
€39.90
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.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
The major part of the material on which the Petroff Defence Powerbook 2026 is based comes from the engine room of playchess.com: 357 000 games. This imposing number is supplemented by another 17 000 from Mega and from correspondence chess.
Petroff Defence Powerbase 2026 is a database which contains 6475 high class games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 682 annotated.
Videos: Felix Blohberger presents the surprise weapon 4…a6 in the Four Knights Game. Mihail Marin analyses the English Opening with 1.c4 e5 2.g3 g6 3.d4 exd4 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.Bg2 Nc6. Plus the ‘Lucky bag’ featuring 37 analyses by Berg, Radjabov and others.
Renowned for its solidity and strategic soundness, it has been a cornerstone of the repertoires of elite grandmasters including Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi, who relied on it successfully in the Candidates Tournament.
The Benko Gambit is back at the very highest level - and it's easy to see why. Black sacrifices a pawn to seize the initiative on the queenside, obtaining long-lasting pressure, active pieces and open files that make life difficult for White.
The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
€39.90
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.
