7/31/2021 – Sergey Karjakin knocked out Sam Shankland in the only match of the quarterfinals that was decided in a rapid and blitz playoff at the open section of the FIDE World Cup in Sochi. Meanwhile, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Aleksandra Goryachkina (pictured) advanced to the final in the women’s section after knocking out Tan Zhongyi and Anna Muzychuk respectively. Saturday is a rest day for both categories. | Photo: Anastasiia Korolkova
new: ChessBase Magazine 225
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. ChessBase Magazine offers first-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their brilliant games and explain the ideas behind the moves. Opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in tactics, strategy and endgames show you the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a direct download (incl. booklet as pdf file) or booklet with download key by post. Included in delivery: ChessBase Magazine #225 as “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.!
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.
Grandmaster Dr. Karsten Müller, one of the world’s leading endgame experts, guides you step by step through everything you need to know in this second volume.
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Karjakin, Goryachkina and Kosteniuk advance
As we pointed out in our recap after the first rest day, 5 out of the 8 previous editions of the World Cup were played in Russia, with 3 of them seeing an all-Russian final match. This year, we are sure to have one finalist in the open section hailing from the host country, while the first women-only edition will have a Russian winner.
Smyslov cultivated a clear positional style and even in sharp tactical positions often relied more on his intuition than on concrete calculation of variations. Let our authors introduce you into the world of Vasily Smyslov.
Although chess has grown incredibly in other countries — i.e. India, China, Iran — and the years of Soviet domination in the elite are over, Russia continues to be a chess powerhouse. In this year’s World Cup, 28 out of the 206 participants in the open and 15 out of 103 players in the women’s event were Russian.
On Friday, Sergey Karjakin set up an all-Russian semifinal against Vladimir Fedoseev after beating Sam Shankland in the only match of the quarterfinals that went to tiebreaks, while both Aleksandra Goryachkina and Alexandra Kosteniuk scored wins with white to knock out Anna Muzychuk and Tan Zhongyi respectively in the classical phase of the semifinals in the women’s tournament.
The women’s semifinals took centre stage on Friday | Photo: Anastasiia Korolkova
Winning on demand
Not one single game finished drawn in Karjakin vs Shankland. Twice did the Russian won on demand throughout the match, scoring victories with the white pieces both in the classical section and the first set of rapid tiebreakers.
After beating Shankland in the first 10-minute game — also with white — the Russian kept his cool in a slightly inferior position and ended up winning the game to move on to the next stage. Karjakin’s first two wins on Friday finished similarly, with his rooks and dark-squared bishop threatening to mate the opposite king on the back rank.
On this DVD, Grandmaster and worldrenowned commentator Maurice Ashley reviews some of the most interesting patterns with examples meant to educate and entertain.
Game 4 - Karjakin plays white
Game 5 - Karjakin plays white
With two spots in the Candidates in contention and Carlsen not fighting for any of them, it is possible that the losers of both matches will get a second chance at getting the coveted prizes in the match for third place (unless Carlsen loses against Duda, in which case the loser of Karjakin vs Fedoseev will be out of contention).
Sergey Karjakin had an incredibly difficult rival in Sam Shankland | Photo: Eric Rosen
Rating was much more of a reliable predictor in the women’s section, as 3 out of 4 semifinalists were seeded 1st, 4th and 7th in the initial ranking. On Friday, top seed Aleksandra Goryachkina knocked out Anna Muzychuk (4th) and Alexandra Kosteniuk (14th) knocked out Tan Zhongyi (7th).
Kosteniuk is the ‘outsider’ rating-wise, but the 37-year-old former world champion is no stranger to fighting at the very top in the women’s circuit. In the second game of the semis, she made the most of a blunder by her Chinese opponent.
On this DVD, well-known Indian WGM Tania Sachdev shows you how to evaluate certain positions and then find the right concepts and plans on the basis of her own games.
Tan’s 25...Nd5 allowed 26.Bxh5, when Black cannot adequately prevent White from grabbing the exchange due to the threats connected to Qd6+. The Chinese GM went for 26...Rf8, but her position was already hopeless. Kosteniuk swiftly converted her advantage into a 38-move win.
Alexandra Kosteniuk was world champion from 2008 to 2010 | Photo: Anastasiia Korolkova
In the meantime, 22-year-old Goryachkina was grinding out a win from a superior double-rook ending.
Double rook endings occur frequently and are different from single rook endings in several respects.
GM Karsten Müller demonstrates in his annotations below that Black needed to play actively to get good drawing chances in this position. Instead of Müller’s suggestion of 30...g5, though, Muzychuk went for the passive 30...Rc5 and was duly outplayed by her opponent.
Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Anna Muzychuk | Photo: Anastasiia Korolkova
The final and the match for third place kick off on Sunday. All the players involved are qualified to the Candidates, but they are still fighting for prize money:
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.
In this volume, we dive into core aspects of chess technique. Smyslov taught the principle of tactical hierarchy, “checks, double attacks, and unprotected pieces”, and Mikhalchishin demonstrates how this method of calculation is vital.
Videos: Nico Zwirs examines two Petroffs from the 2026 Candidates. Robert Ris has a tip against the Caro-Kann Advance Variation with 3…c5. Fiona Sieber reveals a surprise weapon against the Najdorf. ‘Lucky Bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, L'Ami et al.
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.
In this powerful new course, endgame expert Karsten Müller teams up with rising star Leon Mendonca to deliver what truly matters: 10 essential rules that every player must know.
In this video course experts examine the games of Bent Larsen. Let them show you which openings Larsen chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities!
From the 2026 Candidates Tournament, featuring a video review by Dorian Rogozenco, to Jan Werle’s opening video on the French Tarrasch Defence, and Oliver Reeh’s tactical column ‘Top Grandmasters at Work’. Analyses by Giri, So, Wei Yi and many others.
€21.90
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