9/18/2019 – Half the matches of the round of 32 at the FIDE Grand Prix in Khanty-Mansiysk already have a winner, while the remaining eight encounters will be decided on tiebreaks. None of the players that lost the first game of the round managed to bounce back, and only Levon Aronian got a win after having drawn on Monday. The biggest upset of the round was given by Kirill Alekseenko, who got a 2:0 win over Pentala Harikrishna. GM ERWIN L'AMI recapped the action of the day. | Photo: FIDE
new: ChessBase 16 - Mega package Edition 2021
Your key to fresh ideas, precise analyses and targeted training!
Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. 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.
Your key to fresh ideas, precise analyses and targeted training! Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. 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.
Enjoy the best moments of recent top tournaments (World Cup, Isle of Man Open) with analysis of top players. In addition you'll get lots of training material. For example 10 new suggestions for your opening repertoire.
€19.95
Levon Aronian joins game one winners
The FIDE World Cup is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk. It is a seven-round knock-out event for 128 players, with a total prize fund of US$ 1.6 million and a first prize of US$ 110,000. The matches consist of two classical games with a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move. The finals consist of four classical games. Full schedule.
Defending champion Levon Aronian is looking to get a third World Cup victory after having won the arduous event in 2005 and 2017. So far, the Armenian has reached round four without needing to play any rapid or blitz, as he defeated Essam El Gindy, Parham Maghsoodloo and now Maxim Matlakov in the classical phase of each match. On Tuesday, he got one of only three wins seen in Khanty-Mansiysk. Aronian will be facing either Le Quang Liem or Vladislav Artemiev in the fourth round.
The other two winners of the day only needed a half point to move on to the next round but ended up prevailing nonetheless. While Alexander Grischuk was a heavy favourite against Xu Xiangyu, Kirill Alekseenko impressed by eliminating Pentala Harikrishna, a player who has become a member of the elite the last couple of years or so. Grischuk and Alekseenko are two out of three Russians already in round four — Nikita Vitiugov has secured his spot as well, while the duel between Evgeny Tomashevsky and Ian Nepomniachtchi secures at least four local players will reach the round of 16.
Two pairings of round four have already been decided: Wesley So will face Vitiugov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is set to play against his compatriot Teimour Radjabov. All the participants that got a ticket to round four on the classical phase will enjoy two free days, as the first rest day (for everyone) is scheduled for Thursday.
For a second World Cup in a row, Levon Aronian and Maxim Matlakok met in round three. In the last edition, the eventual champion only defeated the Russian in the blitz phase, getting a close 4½:3½ victory right before the Armageddon would be needed to break the tie. Back then, the players traded blows in the classical games, both winning with White in forty moves or fewer.
This time around, Aronian could not make the most of his white game, a tranquil 25-move draw, but chose an ambitious line with Black in the rematch. A turning point was reached on move 17:
In the first ever English "Master & Amateur" ChessBase DVD, International Master Lorin D'Costa and chess-software expert Nick Murphy take you through the main ideas of the Giuoco Piano in an easy to follow, conversational style.
There is no way to save the white knight, but Matlakov has a couple of alternatives to consider — instead of 18.dxe5, he could have gone for 18.d5 and would have got a slightly better version than the game...but that would be more relevant if we were talking about a game between computers. In actual fact, a complex position with a strange material imbalance ensued, as Black ended up with two knights for a rook and a pawn. Aronian coordinated his two pieces exemplary and got a winning position right before the time control:
White's rooks are highly constrained by a host of potential forks. Matlakov opted for 38.♖f2 here, which was responded by the centralizing 38...♞e4 — then the inevitable came, as 39.♖f5 fails to 39...♞d6, forking. Matlakov resigned.
Defending champion Levon Aronian | Photo: FIDE
A similar material imbalance was seen in the game that faced Pentala Harikrishna against Kirill Alekseenko, albeit in a different match situation. Harikrishna was in a must-win situation and had given up material to muddy the waters in the middlegame. But when the time control had passed, Alekseenko had consolidated his advantage, and there was little doubt about who would go through to the next round:
The odd-looking move 5….Qe7 is an ideal surprise weapon against the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez. Robert Ris takes a look at possible variations.
Harikrishna found the computer's first suggestion in a dismal position, 45.♖xb4. From that point on, Alekseenko was merciless in converting his advantage, pushing the passed c-pawn down the board until forcing his opponent to resign. The Russian grandmaster will play either Ding Liren or Alireza Firouzja in the round of 16.
After winning a double-edged game on Monday, Alexander Grischuk got a dominant position in his rematch encounter against Xu Xiangyu. The Russian star highlighted the superiority of his pieces with a good-looking advance on move 24:
Our experts show, using the games of Botvinnik, how to employ specific openings successfully, which model strategies are present in specific structures, how to find tactical solutions and rules for how to bring endings to a successful conclusion
Grischuk executed what in the round-up show Erwin l'Ami calls the "Russian exchange sacrifice" with 24.♖d6 — Black cannot capture due to the strong battery on the dark-squared long diagonal. Xu found nothing better than 24...♛e7 and allowed his opponent to invade the seventh rank after the queen trade. Resignation came a few moves later, but the young Chinese should certainly leave Khanty-Mansiysk happy with his performance — the 2576-rated grandmaster knocked out Bu Xiangzhi (2721) and Ernesto Inarkiev (2693) before facing Grischuk.
Xu Xiangyu had a good run in Khanty-Mansiysk | Photo: FIDE
We cannot end this article without mentioning Nikita Vitiugov's resolute attitude in his rematch game against Sergey Karjakin. After winning the first duel, Vitiugov played enterprising chess with Black despite only needing a draw, giving up a pawn for the initiative and getting an enviable attacking position as early as move 20:
The Italian Game is considered a sound but quiet opening without early trades, giving rise to rich positions where plans are more important than forced variations. So shows black's plans on this DVD.
With all four minor pieces ready to hunt down the white king, Black went for the immediate 22...♝xf2+. There followed 23.♔xf2 ♛g3+ 24.♔g1 ♞f4, and soon enough Vitiugov found a perpetual check — the player from Saint Petersburg had knocked out the 2015 World Cup champion.
Nikita Vitiugov talking to commentator Sergei Shipov | Photo: FIDE
Alireza Firouzja will face rating favourite Ding Liren on tiebreaks | Photo: FIDE
To avoid them or to play them, you have to know them. In two Volumes we see gambits such as Frankenstein-Dracula Gambit, the Cochrane Gambit, the Belgrade Gambit, the King's Gambit, Marshall Gambit, the Scotch Gambit, the Jänisch Gambit and many more.
GM Erwin l'Ami reviews the games of the day
Commentary webcast
Commentary by GMs Evgeny Miroshnichenko and Alex Yermolinsky
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.
Anniversary issue with several extras! "My favourite young Carlsen game": 22 authors annotate. Pearls from Wijk: Jorden van Foreest and Anish Giri comment on their best games. Plus 11 opening articles, 3 opening videos, "Carlen's strategy" and much more!
Fat Fritz 2.0 is the successor to the revolutionary Fat Fritz, which was based on the famous AlphaZero algorithms. This new version takes chess analysis to the next level and is a must for players of all skill levels.
Videos by Jan Werle ("Latest trends in King's Indian Saemisch Variation") and Mihail Marin ("Ruy Lopez with 6.d3"). "Lucky bag" with analyses by Adhiban, Ganguly, Mikhalchishin, Bartel et al. Over 44,000 new games for your database.
In this video series Pert gives a strong and practical Black repertoire against the Anti-Sicilians such as the Bb5 Sicilian, the Grand Prix Attack, the Alapin and many more, from my years of experience playing the Sicilian.
Special: AVRO 1938. “All in One”: Anish Giri and Igor Stohl dissect two topical opening lines. Analyses from Norway Chess 2020 by Duda, Firouzja et al. Videos by Erwin l’Ami, Daniel King and Mihail Marin. 11 opening articles and much more!
€19.95
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.