10/10/2019 – In Mumbai, Praggnanandhaa beat Iniyan to join Aryan Gholami in the lead in under-18 open section. Hans Niemann is unstoppable in the under-16 open. The American chalked up yet another victory. Shuvalova maintains her lead in under-18 girls, while there is very little to choose between Nurgali and Garifullina who are both winning their games in girls under-16. IM SAGAR SHAH reports. | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Fritz has fascinated the chess world for 30 years. And the success story continues. In Vienna, the most popular chess program ever was once again able to underline its premier position: the newly developed neural engine with NNUE technology won the official Chess Software World Championship!
One of the first lessons you learn in chess is to bring your king into safety by castling – be it on the kingside or the queenside - after having developed your minor pieces. By ignoring this rule of thumb, not only may your king end up in trouble, but your other pieces and in particular, your rooks, may never end up playing much of a role, and before you know it, things are looking grim. Even at the highest level, the consequences of neglecting this basic element of opening theory has been frequently underestimated. In this first volume of the new Mating Guide series, the emphasis will be on how to exploit a vulnerably placed king in the centre. A must-have for ambitious chess players who want to improve their own attacking skills.
On this all-new ChessBase video course, IM Andrew Martin introduces you to this exciting world, so that you can begin playing the Sicilian in your own games. The main themes and ideas of the Open Sicilian are discussed.
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Abinandhan unstoppable in under-14 open
The eighth round of the World Youth 2019 was a critical one. Some of the leaders are not letting go of their grip on the top spots, while others find motivated players nipping on their heels following back-to-back wins. Abinandhan is one of those who continued with yet another win. The 1830-rated youngster now has a performance rating of 2598. When he reached 6.0/7, everyone felt that it was a good performance, but he would not be able to keep it up. Well, he has a made a good start after the rest day and beat his compatriot Srihari LR (2283) with the black pieces in the Tartakower QGD.
Srihari was unable to match Abinandhan's cool and calm play | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Srihari - Abinandhan
Position after 8.g4
Srihari launched an attack with 8.g4 but Abinandhan met it calmly by just playing 8...♞e4
Position after 11.dxc4
Just to give you an example of how well this youngster is calculating: he took on c4 in this position. Now 12.gxh6 is met with 12...♞xc3 13.bxc3 and ♛f6! with pressure on f3 and also threatening to take on h6 with the queen, keeping the structure intact. If after 12...♛f6, White were to play 13.hxg7 then 13....♝xf3 allowing White to take on f8 with a check, as after 15...♚xf8, he will win the rook on h1 and be an entire piece up! Fascinating calculation and judgement by an 1800-rated player.
Position after 26...Nd4
The knight on d4 is firmly cemented. Black is a pawn up and also the pawn on f2 and h4 are weak. The position is completely lost and Abinandhan converted without any difficulties.
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1.d4610Nf65732.c413e663.Nf37d55 Abinandhan's
favourite.4.Nc37Be755.Bg550-0266.e310h667.Bh46b65 The Tartakower Makogonov Bondarevsky variation.8.g4!?10 Srihari
has come with the intention to checkmate his opponent!Ne4!?355 Abinandhan
plays it the classical way.9.Bxe738Qxe71210.h437Bb716511.g51493dxc4!?61912.Rg1130812.gxh6Nxc313.bxc3Qf614.hxg7?Bxf3!15.gxf8Q+Kxf8-+12...h5218 Black is already beginning to look
more comfortable.13.Nxe4221Bxe41814.Nd23Bg63215.Nxc4507Nd716.Bd324e5!281 Time for the king on e1 to feel the heat.17.Bxg6907fxg61518.Qc255exd424219.0-0-06 Srihari tries to
complicate things as much as he can.dxe372420.Nxe33320.Qxg6exf221.Rgf1Nc5-+20...Qf725721.Rge181Rae811422.Kb1788Ne5
12823.Nd567c67724.Nb4202c53125.Nd511Nf39326.Re3
247Nd474 Black is not just a pawn up, but also has better coordination.27.Qc431Kh827028.Rde157Rd823929.Re554Nf3930.R1e2
20Nxe52431.Rxe57Qxf21632.Qe462Qf1+11833.Kc27Rf2+
1034.Kb341Qb5+9435.Ka31Qxb2+736.Ka48Qc2+15
Practical solution.37.Qxc222Rxc2338.Ne77Kh7839.Re616Rxa2+4640.Kb319Rad254 It's true Srihari didn't play as per his
strengths, but it is also true that Abinandhan played excellently, giving his
opponent no real chances.0–1
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.
For his excellent opening play and also accurate handling of the attack Abinandhan wins the best game of the day award from ChessBase | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Quite a huge blunder occurred on board three of the under-14 open section. Sreeshwan Maralakshikari, who is the top seed, was completely dominating his game against Vo Pham Thien Phuc.
Sreeshwan - Thien Phuc
Position after 26...♜g8
In this position Sreeshwan played the very pretty 27.♕g7+! After 27...♜xg7 28.hxg7+ ♚g8 29.♖h8+ ♚f7, we reach the next critical position of the game.
Checkmate. That's the aim of the game. There are numerous ways to checkmate the enemy king, but there are common patterns that recur over and over again, and having these at our mental fingertips is essential for when we want to finish the game.
Position after 29...Kf7
Sreeshwan, who had 25 minutes, on his clock, hurriedly took the queen on e8. Instead, he had a mate in four move which he missed! Can you spot it?
In this video you get to see this critical moment of the game and also we tell you what Sreeshwan missed!
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1.d4575Nf65792.c43g643.Nc34Bg734.Nf340-055.e43d636.h33e567.d53a558.g44Na6329.Be36Kh8?!226 This move doesn't make much sense. Black has to be quick, or else
White gets everything that he needs.10.Be272Nd713411.a383Nb6
13112.g5!?614 The idea is to play h4-h5.Nc569413.a4?!49813.Nd2is a typical way to play thisa414.h4White continues his attack.13...f5!67514.gxf6135Qxf65315.b349Bd710216.Kd2
728 A typical move in this line getting your king to safety on c2 and also
defending the b3 pawn.h687016...Qe717.Kc2Rf4!is how Black shoud
continue.18.Bxf4exf4Unleashes the bishop on g7 and Black is just better.17.Kc211Kh73518.h4136Qe791919.Qd21013Rf744120.Rag1862Raf83721.h5!230g57521...Rxf322.hxg6+Kg823.Bxf3Rxf324.Bxh6±22.Bxg5174Qe896223.Bxh6!79 Sreeshwan is on
fire, playing one strong move after another.Bxh69724.Ng5+1Bxg52225.Qxg52Re758926.h610Rg84527.Qg7+!5Rgxg7828.hxg7+7Kg8229.Rh8+6Kf7130.Rxe8??7 This is one of those moves
which should have been avoided when you have 25 minutes on your clock.30.Bh5+Kf631.Rh6+Qg632.Rgxg6+Kf733.g8Q#is just a mate!30...Rxe87
31.Bh5+4Kg8232.Bxe88Bxe8033.f310Nc87634.Nd118Ne72535.Ne37Bg6436.Kc351Na67737.Rg415Kf712438.Nf5236Bxf51139.exf55Ng83440.Rg693Nb44441.Kd234Na62342.Kc37 A big miss for Sreeshwan and a lucky escape for Pham.½–½
The under-14 girls section is going to be closely fought. After eight rounds we have three leaders, all from different countries. Eline Roebers from the Netherlands, Rakshitta Ravi from India and Ekaterina Nasyrova from Russia.
The top board clash between Rakshitta Ravi and Ekaterina Nasyrova ended in a draw | Photo: Amruta Mokal
For her debut at World Youth Championships, Eline Roebers is doing exceedingly well | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The top seed of the event Divya Deshmukh slumped to a painful defeat against her compatriot the new National under-13 girls champion Sarayu Velpula who was rated 600 points below her
Sarayu Velpula talks about her game
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1.d4596Nf65752.Nf339g6143.Bf442Bg744.c376b675.e3117d6116.h373Bb7177.Nbd270Nbd778.Bc41390-0299.0-054c51210.Bh2291Qe8116111.Qe2623e5125212.dxe5469Nxe567712...dxe513.e4±13.Nxe5190dxe5514.Bb5
98Qe791 Black seems to be quite comfortable here.15.Ba632Bc637816.Bb5260Bb713317.Ba673Bxa62018.Qxa68Nh5?!25 When
you try to create an attack against such a solid White's position, you are
take a lot of risks. Something which backfired in the game for Divya.18...Rfd8It's true that this way of playing is not very inspring and most
probably the game would end up as equal after a few moves. Yet, this is the
right way to play.19.a4466Rab89820.Rad1130f512021.Rfe1
88g532322.Qe2233Nf639823.Nc49Ne88724.Qd3225Rf787
25.Qd5208Nc77926.Qc6284g487227.hxg4333fxg4128.Qe422h527229.Rd249329.Nd6Rf630.Nf5+-The rook has to be given
up or else White will take on g7 and then the pawn on e5.29...Qe68130.Rd6Qf52931.Qxf5242Rxf5132.Rd715Ne85133.Rxa760Bf6
3134.Ra6101Bh4535.Re225Rd82136.g3!279 Yes it boxes
the bishop in on h2, but White's other pieces will do the job.36.Bxe5Rxe537.Nxe5g3was what Sarayu was afraid of, but it also wins after38.Kf1gxf239.Rxf2+-36...Rd1+3637.Kg26Bd8038.e4112Rg58539.Rd2179Rxd21140.Nxd22Rg76341.Ra822Rd7042.Nc40Nc7043.Rc80Ne6044.Nxb60Rd1045.Nc40Kg7046.Nxe5
0Ng5047.Nc60Bb6048.Ne5048.a5c449.axb6Nf3Sarayu saw
this and didn't go for the variation. It is interesting to note prophylactic
she really is. She thought about the move c4 because it takes away the king
from running away to d3.48...Nxe4049.Nc40Bd8050.a50Bxa5
051.Nxa50Ng5052.Rxc50Nf3053.Rxh50Kg6054.Rh80Kg7055.Rh40Ne1+056.Kf114Nf3+057.Ke212Re1+058.Kd36Ne5+059.Kc254Re2+060.Kb351–0
Niemann's bold and creative play continues in Under-16 open
After beating his top competitor Rudik Makarian in round seven, Hans Niemann was up against Miguel Angel Soto of Colombia. It was a complex opening where the Colombian looked better prepared. But Hans was confident about his play, sacrificed material without much care, and built up a strong winning attack.
Hans Niemann got the better of Miguel Angel Soto in round 8 of the under-16 open | Photo: Amruta Mokal
This DVD offers Black a complete repertoire against all weapons White may employ on move six. The recommended repertoire is not as risky as other Sicilians but still offers Black plenty of counter-play.
Soto - Niemann
Position after 10.Nf5
White has moved his knight to f5 and this line has scored pretty well for White in the past. You must note that because the e6 pawn is pinned, the d5 knight is also hanging. Niemann was unperturbed. He played 10...♛c7 allowing White to pick up the knight.
Every chess coach preaches that attacking a stranded king in the centre is the easiest thing to do, but how about attacking a king which has already castled? More often than not kings hide on the kingside, right? So, that’s a good reason for you to know how to attack a king which has castled short. FM Valeri Lilov is glad to help you in this tricky business! His DVD focuses on a number fool-proof plans and techniques for successfully destroying the enemy’s fortress to bring the opponent’s king to justice!
Position after 19...h5
Material was the last thing on Niemann's mind in this game!
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1.e4573c56052.Nf315Nc6303.Bb595e61144.0-080Nge7275.Re186a6636.Bf190d51357.exd5656Nxd5828.d4
339cxd45049.Nxd4104Bd79510.Nf5!?462 This has scored really
well for White until now and seems like a strong idea.10.c4is the other
move here.10...Qc744810...Qa5!?11.Qxd56420-0-0812.Qc4
95exf56913.Bf414513.Qxf7Bd6Black has extremely quick
development.13...Bd6614.Bxd6180Qxd6715.Qxf7102Ne525316.Qb333016.Qxg7Nf3+!-+16...Ng499417.Qg3435f42717...Qxg318.hxg3±18.Qc3+57918.Qd3!?18...Bc6919.h346h5!1 Niemann is in his element.20.Na3?29820.f3should have
been considered.20...f3!4121.hxg4313hxg4322.Qe544Qxe5
522...Qh623.Qe6+Kb824.Qxh6Rxh6With the rook coming to h8, White is
busted.23.Rxe520Rh6124.gxf3456Bxf31325.Bg275Rdh8326.Re8+45Rxe8427.Kf110Rh217 An excellent game elucidating the
theme of how activity is important in chess!0–1
Ever since Garifullina missed her chance to beat Nurgali in round five, the Kazakh girl has been playing excellent chess. In round 8 she beat Romanian Alessia-Mihaela Ciolacu. The end was especially picturesque.
Nurgali Nazerke got the better of her Romanian opponent in round 8 | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Let endgame expert Dr Karsten Müller show and explain the finesses of the world champions. Although they had different styles each and every one of them played the endgame exceptionally well, so take the opportunity to enjoy and learn from some of the best endgames in the history of chess.
Position after 51.f4
A picturesque move! The bishop cannot take the pawn as 52.♕e1 would be a mate. The queen cannot take the pawn as 52.♕h5 would be a mate! All that Black could do was resign.
Who do you think will come out on top — Garifullina or Nurgali? | Photo: Amruta Mokal
After two draws in a row with black pieces, it was time for Praggnanandhaa to fire with the white pieces. His opponent was by no means an easy one. P Iniyan with an Elo of 2509 is already a grandmaster. It was a psychological battle where both players knew each others strengths and weaknesses very well. When Pragg opened the game with 1.e4, he expected Iniyan to play his usual Sicilian Defence. However, the GM from Erode, decided to go for 1...d6. After a few moves, Pragg was already in driver's seat with dominating knight on e5 square.
Praggnanandhaa - Iniyan
Position after 17.Nce5
The knight on e5 dominates the entire board. The bishop on c8 and the rook on a8 are just spectators!
The tournament director Mr. Ravindra Dongre checks out the proceedings between of India's best players at the event | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The final moments of the tense game
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1.e4596d6!?575 Iniyan doesn't usually play this. But against Pragg he
tries to do something different.2.d46g633.Nf325Bg754.Bc4
14a6565.0-0272Nf6435...b56.Bb3Bb77.Bxf7+Iniyan was
afraid of this move. But it doesn't work.Kxf78.Ng5+Ke89.Ne6Qc810.Nxg7+Kf8Black is better.6.Qe22870-09247.e5776 This is
the point of playing Qe2. You can get in e5 quicker.Ne81398.h389c6
6559.Re1760Nc725710.Nbd2612Nd7?!29810...d511.Bd3Ne612.Nb3Nd713.Be3This is how Pragg wanted to continue and he felt that
White is better here.11.e6!532 Played after nine minutes of thought.fxe647712.Bxe6+31Kh82012...Nxe613.Qxe6+Kh814.Ng5Ne515.Qb3+-13.Bb3!15913.Bxd7Bxd714.Qxe7Qxe715.Rxe7Rad8±
White is better, but to Iniyan it seemed that he has some play here.13...e675414.Nc4!144d59815.Bg5111Bf612716.Bxf6+99Qxf6111
17.Nce531 White has created a strong outpost on e5. The black bishop on
c8 and the rook on a8 are inactive.Nb543918.a4610Nd63419.c330
a517220.Bc273Qg717121.h4421Nf530122.Nd3222Nf6349
23.Nf4184Qc713124.Ne5!?204 Pragg plays it slightly risky by
sacrificing a pawn!24.g3was the steady way to play.24...Nxh421625.g3106Nf52126.Kg215g510127.Nh53827.Nh3Qg7Black
is still fighting.27...Ne825428.Rh120Kg82329.Ng4115c555
30.Qd281Qd83331.Rae148Neg71732.Nxg741Kxg7133.Rh59h64734.Reh178 Complete domination.Rh86835.Qe296Qc73036.Bxf529exf5237.Nxh67Kg6338.Nf729 A beautiful game by
Praggnanandhaa. Iniyan didn't play his best, but Pragg gave him absolutely no
chances.1–0
The chief arbiter of the event — Takis Nikolopoulos | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Some parents are worried before the round... | Photo: Amruta Mokal
...while some other parents are relaxed | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The Russians having a nice before the round | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The well known journalist of 'The Hindu' Rakesh Rao has been covering this event with great enthusiasm | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Cranberry or Rood fruit. What's your favourite flavour? | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The importance of sports psychology in chess
Janki Rajapurkar was the guest speaker on October 9th for the workshops that are held for the parents and coaches present at the World Youth 2019. Her topic was the importance of psychology for chess players.
Janki Rajapurkar is the co-founder of Samiksha, India's first sports psychology firm | Photo: Amruta Mokal
She is also a Ph.D holder in Sports psychology.
A lot of parents and coaches sat through the session with rapt attention! | Photo: Amruta Mokal
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bb5a64.Ba4Nf65.0-0b56.Bb3Bc57.a4Rb88.c3d69.d4Bb610.a5C78: Ruy Lopez: Archangelsk and Möller DefencesBa7!11.h30-012.Re1The position is equal.12.Be3exd413.cxd4Nb414.Nc3Bb715.Re1c516.Bg5h617.Bh4c41-0 (74) Jakovenko,D (2681)-Jones,G (2688) Khanty-Mansiysk 201912...h613.Be3exd414.cxd4Ne7
Avoid the trap14...Nxe4?15.Bd5+-15.d5N15.Qc2Predecessor:15.Nbd215...Bxe3=16.Rxe3c617.dxc6Nxc618.Qd2Bb719.Nd4Nxd420.Qxd4Qc720...Re8!=keeps the balance.21.Nc3±Qc522.Rd1Rfd823.Red3
Hoping for Qxc5.23...Re823...Qg5±was worth a try.24.Qxd6+-Qxd625.Rxd6Nxe426.Nxe4Rxe426...Bxe4was called for.27.Rxa6Ra828.Rxa8Rxa827.Rd7Played: Rd6-d81–0
Sagar ShahSagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.
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.
Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
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.
Pirc Defence Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 10027 games from Mega 2025 or the Correspondence Database 2024; of these 874 are annotated.
The Pirc Defence Powerbook 2025 consists for a greater part of engine games (168 000), to which has been added high value material from Mega and the Correspondence Database (115 000).
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