Chess blog

Lennart Ootes - Superbet Chess Classic Romania 2023

Grand Chess Tour 2023: 4 rounds into the first super-GM tournament with Ding Liren as World Champion

The capital city of Romania, Bucharest, gives the start of the Grand Chess Tour 2023 between the 06th-13th of May. The Grand Chess Tour comprises five elite chess tournaments: an initial round of classic chess, followed by three rounds of rapid and blitz, and culminates with classic chess at the Sinquefield Cup. Let’s have a look at this year’s competitors: The Superbet Chess Classic Romania 2023 hosts ten of the best chess players in the Read more…

By Maria Ciocan, ago

DING LIREN – our new World Chess Champion

Ding Liren is officially the first player from China to be crowned as the World Chess Champion. After nerve-wracking final tiebreaks, Ding dethroned Magnus Carlsen. Let’s have a closer look and recap the last fascinating rounds and the tiebreaker. Game 7 – Nepomniachtchi takes the lead In Game 7, we witnessed a dramatic game where Ding went for the French Defence – an unexpected opening last played in a world championship since 1978. He later Read more…

By Stella Sáňková, ago
Ding Liren - World Chess Champion

Chessboxing: are you up for the challenge?!

Chess, the fascinating strategy game whose roots go all the way back to the 7th century, has eluded a strict categorization since its very beginnings. People refer to it as a mind game, a board game and a sport, the dispute originating in chess’s lack of physical engagement. While the International Olympic Committee recognizes chess as a sport, it is not included in the Olympic Games. Countless people have asked me whether chess is a Read more…

By Maria Ciocan, ago

Kazakhstan vs the World

As the entire world is tensely watching the World Championship Match between Nepo and Ding, there was another very interesting and strong tournament played in Astana in Kazakhstan. From the 17th to the 20th of April, there was a women’s match between the Kazakhstan selection and the World selection. Each team had eight players and has to have one player from categories U14, U16, U18 and U20. They played two days of rapid chess and one day Read more…

By Lucia Ševčíková, ago

Mitropa Cup 2023 – France won the gold medal in both sections

The Chess Mitropa Cup is an idea of the Austrian International Arbiter Gertrude Wagner. She wanted to create a tournament for teams in the center of Europe. This tournament has a lot of history, as the first Mitropa Cup was in 1953 in Vienna with only six teams. A different participating country hosts the tournament every year. There are ten teams in each section – Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia Read more…

By Lucia Ševčíková, ago

Win after win – an infinite roller-coaster in Astana!

What a match in Astana! The FIDE World Championship is heating after Nepomniachtchi got a lead in Game 5, but Ding strokes back in Game 6. Let’s discuss these fascinating last 2 rounds. Game 5 Following his defeat in Game 4 and the rest day, Nepomniachtchi scored an exceptional win to take the lead again. Nepomniachtchi went to the board well-prepared and blitzed the first 22 moves. They reached a line of Ruy Lopez, where Read more…

By Stella Sáňková, ago
Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman - Handshake before Game 3 World Chess Championship

Ding Liren strikes back and ties the score after showing his brilliant strategical skills

The World Chess Championships 2023 between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi is currently the hottest topic in the chess world. Let’s see how Ding and Nepomniachtchi did after the first game that ended as a draw. Game 2 – Ding‘s surprise that favored Nepomniachtchi Ding as white shocked Nepomniachtchi right in the opening, where he played 4. h3, stood up, and walked away from the board. Little did he know – this surprise brought him Read more…

By Stella Sáňková, ago

Blunders, mistakes, and inaccuracies: how to learn from your errors using Computer Analysis

Point of view: it’s 23:37 and you’ve just finished a nail-bitter chess match on lichess.org. The game was at times chaotic, but you feel you’ve crushed your opponent. You enthusiastically click on the Analysis board, and a series of blunders startles you out of your chair… What now?! Learning from your mistakes is key in chess, which makes the analysis of past games a guaranteed training tool for those looking to climb that rating ladder. Frankly, Read more…

By Maria Ciocan, ago
Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes – Hikaru Nakamura Chess Power Rankings 2023 April

Chess Power Rankings April 2023 – Nakamura enters top five

Here comes the monthly column of the Chess Power Rankings. We make a top 10 list of elite players according to their strength, form, influence, and potential. There was some change from the March Top 10 list, because of the American Cup 2023 where four players were playing from the list. You can read more about the tournament in our article. Besides that, not much happened in the chess world in the last month. 1. Read more…

By Kingwatcher, ago

Who is going to be our new Word Champion? Nepomniachtchi vs Ding

Because of Carlsen’s absence, Ian Nepomniachtchi is facing No.3 Liren Ding, the highest-rated Chinese player in history. The 2023 FIDE World Championship Match is being played in Astana, Kazakhstan from April 9 and can go on until April 30. They will play 14 games and the first who reaches 7,5 points will become our new World Champion. Carlsen’s decision It is strange not to hear Magnus Carlsen’s name while mentioning World Champion. What was the Read more…

By Stella Sáňková, ago