Grand Chess Tour Zagreb 2019

Following the rapid and blitz tournament in Côte d'Ivoire, the Grand Chess Tour continues today with a classical round-robin. Twelve of the world's best chess players come together in Zagreb to play the second of a total of eight tournaments in this series, including the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen, his predecessor Viswanathan Anand and the last two challengers Sergey Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana. The other eight players are of course the crème de la crème of the chess world as well.

Players have 130 minutes for the entire game, with a 30-second delay (not increment) from move one.

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The Power Play Show: Grischuk-Vitiugov

7/19/2019 – On the show today: GM Daniel King will be examining Grischuk vs Vitiugov 2019 — a classic attack from the Russian maestro. Power Play is live most Fridays at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, Noon EDT) on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free! All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...

The Power Play Show: Ding-Nepomniachtchi

7/12/2019 – On the show today: GM Daniel King will be examining Ding vs Nepomniachtchi Zagreb 2019 — a rich and imaginative attacking performance. Power Play is live most Fridays at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, Noon EDT) on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free! All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...

Zagreb GCT: Carlsen amazes with yet another triumph

7/8/2019 – We saw history in the making, as Magnus Carlsen won his eighth tournament in a row at the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour in Zagreb. The world champion defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from the white side of a Grünfeld to finish in clear first place a full point ahead of his closest pursuer with a 'plus five' score. Carlsen's official rating in August will equal his own peak rating of 2882 points — the highest ever achieved. Wesley So finished in sole second place. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

GCT Zagreb: Round 11

7/7/2019 – We saw history in the making, as Magnus Carlsen won his eighth tournament in a row at the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour in Zagreb. The world champion defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from the white side of a Grüenfeld to finish in clear first place a full point ahead of his closest pursuer with a 'plus five' score. Carlsen's official rating in August will equal his own peak rating of 2882 points — the highest ever achieved. Wesley So finished in sole second place. Express report. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Zagreb GCT: Playing it safe

7/7/2019 – Round ten of the Grand Chess Tour event in Zagreb finished with all six games drawn. Wesley So had the white pieces against leader Magnus Carlsen and decided to use a safety-first approach which resulted in a 36-move tie. Only Caruana v Mamedyarov, by far the longest game of the day, saw the players creating some imbalances at the board. In Sunday's final round, Carlsen will have White against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and So will face Levon Aronian with the black pieces. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Zagreb GCT: Top-notch draws

7/6/2019 – Magnus Carlsen still leads the Croatian leg of the Grand Chess Tour, as both he and his only chaser Wesley So got half points in round nine. Carlsen and Levon Aronian played a remarkable, precise 49-move draw while Wesley So was on the brink of defeat but miraculously survived against Ian Nepomniachtchi. The only winner of the day was Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who defeated Vishy Anand with the white pieces. Round ten will see the deciding match-up between Carlsen and So. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Zagreb GCT: Carlsen's impressive year continues

7/5/2019 – In consecutive days, Magnus Carlsen defeated two players from the elite he had never managed to take down in a classical game ever before. After beating Ian Nepomniachtchi on Wednesday, he got the better of Ding Liren in round eight of the Croatian Grand Chess Tour. Second-placed Wesley So also got a win, though, which means Carlsen still has a mere half point lead in Zagreb. Meanwhile, Anish Giri inflicted Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's third defeat of the event. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Zagreb GCT: Carlsen grabs the lead

7/4/2019 – A big blunder by Ian Nepomniachtchi gave his round seven rival, Magnus Carlsen, a second straight win at the Croatian Grand Chess Tour in Zagreb. Thanks to this victory, Carlsen is now in sole first place on 5 out of 7. The rest of the games finished drawn — three of them were rather lifeless, while Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri fought on until move 54 and Sergey Karjakin missed a simple chance to take down former co-leader Wesley So. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Zagreb GCT: Carlsen and So catch up with Nepomniachtchi

7/2/2019 – The last round before the only rest day in Zagreb saw former sole leader Ian Nepomniachtchi suffering a first loss — against Ding Liren — which allowed Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So to catch up with him on 4 points out of 6. Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian also won, while the only draw of the day was seen in Anish Giri versus Vishy Anand. The action continues on Wednesday, when Nepomniachtchi will have the white pieces against Magnus Carlsen. | Photo: Justin Kellar / Grand Chess Tour

GCT Zagreb: Ding Liren beats Giri

7/1/2019 – A wild round was followed by a quieter one in Zagreb, as five games ended in draws, with most of them not living up to the level of excitement seen on Saturday. Only Ding Liren defeated Anish Giri to bounce back to 50% in the standings table. The other highlight of the day was Levon Aronian not managing to convert a big advantage — which emerged from brilliant play in the early stage of the game — against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Ian Nepomniachtchi defended well against Hikaru Nakamura and still leads. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

GCT Zagreb: A fighting round

6/30/2019 – There were no decisive results in round four of the Croatian Grand Chess Tour, but not for a lack of trying. Most notably, Magnus Carlsen vs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Anish GIri were wild struggles which could have gone either way. Levon Aronian and Fabiano Caruana also fought hard, while fortune continues to smile on Ian Nepomniachtchi, who was in a difficult position against Sergey Karjakin but ended up taking home the half point and still commands the standings table. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

GCT Zagreb: Three out of three for Nepomniachtchi

6/29/2019 – Ian Nepomniachtchi was the sole winner in Zagreb for a second day in a row, as he took down Shakhriyar Mamedyarov with the black pieces at the Croatian Grand Chess Tour. The Russian grandmaster now has a one-point lead over Wesley So and Magnus Carlsen, after the world champion finished on the bad side of a draw against world's number two Fabiano Caruana in the stellar match-up of the day. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour
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