General Information
The most awaited chess event of the year, the World Championship match, started today in Dubai. In the first game, the candidate Ian Nepomniachtchi from Russia had White pieces against the current world champion Magnus Carlsen from Norway.
Apart from the results, to most of the viewers, the most interesting part was to see what opening choices both players had prepared. Ian Nepomniachtchi started the game with his usual weapon 1.e4 – no surprises so far. In his previous World Championship match against Fabiano Caruana, Magnus went for the sharp Sicilian Defense.
The World Champion title in chess is different from the same title in the other kinds of sports where usually the holder can be changed every year. This is why the Olympic Gold is more valuable: the event takes place once in 4 years. To become the world champion in chess, one must beat the previous holder in a match. This is why the span can be much bigger. Let’s mention that Emanuel Lasker held the World Champion title for 27 years straight!
Ian Nepomniachtchi is a well-known person in the chess world. He is considered the best chess player in Russia and is also in the world’s top 4. Since childhood, his chess career has developed quite rapidly, but, oddly enough, he began to show himself in the chess elite relatively recently. From a young age, Ian was a versatile person with wide interests outside of chess, and there have been moments in his career when Ian had other hobbies as a priority.
Chess is a complex game that requires a good memory, creativity, patience, and many other qualities. Perhaps, the main demand is the ability to think. For some reason, most of the players never really work on improving their thought processes. Instead, they spend all their time studying openings and solving puzzles. It is still a good investment that will pay off over the board, but to fully unlock your potential it is necessary to get rid of mistakes in thinking.
Many club players believe that tactics is the main reason they are stuck at that 1200, 1400, or 1800 level. And they are mostly correct. The ability to solve tactics greatly increases your chances to conquer the next rating bracket.
What could be more powerful than training tactics?
The answer is simple. Working on your calculation skills.
According to a legend, Napoleon Bonaparte knew the names of all of his soldiers. I am not sure if this is true or just a myth, but I can assure you that in chess, it is not enough to know the names of the pieces to win.
You should also be aware of their best qualities and weak points. The better you know your pieces the more suitable employment on the board you can find for them.
The attack is one of the most beautiful and interesting aspects of chess. It is also a skill that everyone can and should master to improve at chess.
Many rules could help with that. First of all, you should always remember the attack has to be energetic and fast. That is why different sacrifices become so powerful. It often comes as a trade of material for time and helps to speed up the invasion.
Is chess a Sport? The old debate.
Chess has officially been recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee since the year 2000. Despite that, opinions are still divided. Some people agree that it should be considered a sport, while others think otherwise. Both sides bring valid arguments, but let’s start with the beginning.
Fried Liver Attack is one of the oldest and at the same time most popular opening lines at the beginner level. You can see it played even by grandmasters sometimes but usually experienced players tend to avoid it as Black. Of course, it is not only because the Fried Liver Attack sounds scary (friendly internet users assure us it comes from an Italian saying “dead as a piece of the liver”) but the attack is very dangerous for Black objectively.
After the longest half-time break ever, the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg resumed. Ian Nepomniachtchi won the tournament with8.5 points and a round to spare and thus gained the right to challenge Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship title. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is second with 8 points. Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana have shared third place with 7,5 points.
