8/23/2023 – The first game of the FIDE World Cup final ended drawn, as Praggnanandhaa could not get much of an advantage with the white pieces against Magnus Carlsen. In the match for third place, on the other hand, underdog Nijat Abasov managed to upset Fabiano Caruana, after the latter blundered in a sharp middlegame emerging from a Catalan Opening. | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova
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 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.
This interactive video course of over 8 hours, provides an in-depth exploration of the Pirc Defence, a favoured opening for people looking to play for the win with the black pieces.
Not only did the former world champion bounced back in that match, but went on to score three consecutive wins in the following two rounds (two over Vasyl Ivanchuk and one over Gukesh). In fact, so far in Baku, the Norwegian has gained 5.7 rating points thanks to his 10/13 score in classical chess — note that he has a vast rating advntage over pretty much every other player in the world!
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.
In a popular interview conducted by Michael Rahal during this event, Carlsen referred to classical chess as “stressful” and “boring”, but that did not prevent him from increasing his already stratospheric classical rating. And after holding Praggnanandhaa to a draw on Tuesday, he is one victory away (with white) from winning the World Cup.
Magnus Carlsen | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova
After the draw, the world number one confessed that he has not been feeling very well the last few days due to a case of food poisoning. In the game, he duly neutralized Pragg’s attempts to get something going on the queenside, nonetheless.
The queens and light-squared bishops left the board here — 18.Qxd8 Rfxd8 19.Bxc6 bxc6, and correct play by both sides led to a 35-move draw.
These video courses feature a black repertoire against 1.d4, 1.Nf3 and 1.c4. The recommended variations are easy to learn and not difficult to remember, but also pose White serious challenges.
Caruana blunders
Right after obtaining yet another upset victory, Nijat Abasov had this to say about his opponent, Fabiano Caruana:
I decided to test my luck [in the Catalan]. I had some ideas, and it turned out that Fabi was not ready against it, I guess.
Indeed, Caruana struggled from the get go, as Abasov got a comfortable position with a coordinated army ready to lash out on the kingside under the correct circumstances. Caruana’s meltdown came earlier than expected, though.
23...Qb4 was played after a 23-minute reflection, and it was a game-losing blunder (23...f5 was the way to go). The refutation was completely straightforward — 24.Bxh7 Kxh7 25.Ne4, and Black found nothing better than 25...Qe7, returning.
Resignation came after the very next move: 26.f5
Incredibly, Black is completely busted after the 3-move sequence following the blunder. A number of nice tactical shots justify Black’s resignation — e.g. 26...exf5 27.Nf6+ gxf6 28.Qxh6+ (diagram below) Kxg6 29.Rh3#
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.
In this course, you’ll learn how to take the initiative against the London and prevent White from comfortably playing their usual system by playing 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 Nh5.
London System Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.
The London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Opening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.
YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.
The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.
€9.90
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