magnus carlsen - tag
The Sicilian Defense is one of the most interesting and versatile openings. It leads to imbalanced positions and suits dynamic players. While some variations, such as the Dragon, are razor-sharp and aggressive, there are solid alternatives for Black as well. One of such lines has recently become trendy – the Taimanov Sicilian.
The Catalan Opening has been one of the most fashionable systems in recent years. White fianchettos the light-squared bishop and gains space on the queenside and the center with the pawns. This strategy puts Black under serious pressure and often leads to a risk-free advantage for White. Magnus Carlsen made the Catalan his main weapon […]
Austrian Defense, also known as the Symmetrical Defense, is quite a rare opening. Most people have never seen its starting position, although it has been known since 1604! Nowadays it has been played a ton by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and once even by Magnus Carlsen. He used the Austrian Defense as Black to beat his second, […]
The start of the World Chess Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi was tense and entertaining. Many experts thought it was going to be the toughest challenge for the current world champion in his career. Some people even predicted he would lose the title this year.
The third game of the match finished in a seemingly uneventful draw, but actually, the day brought a lot of interesting things to discuss. First of all, both of Nepomniachtchi’s central pawns happened to move forward on the first move. The guest of honor probably wanted Ian to start with 1.d4, but he brought the […]
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 […]
Owen’s Defense starts with the moves 1.e4 b6 or 1.e4 e6 2.d4 b6 when Black is going to fianchetto the light-squared bishop. This is a bit slow and allows White to occupy the center but Black is hoping to attack it later with pieces and pawns. This system is not going to equalize any quickly, […]
Anish Giri managed to win against Wang Hao in round nine. He is now only half a point behind the leader. The remaining games have finished drawing, no not without a big fight. “It was very important for me to win this game to realistically stay in the race, otherwise it would have been really […]
The second part of the FIDE Candidates Tournament has started in Yekaterinburg. The strongest of the eight participants will earn the right to challenge the current World Champion Magnus Carlsen. The technical opening of the Candidates Tournament took place before the start of the 8th round at the Hyatt Regency hotel. The anthems of Russia and […]
Alekhine Defense is the most famous example of a provocative opening. Black meets 1.e4 with 1…Nf6, attacking the central pawn on move 1 and inviting it to move farther. It is well-known pawns cannot go backward and hence leave weaknesses behind themselves. Still, it is quite a common scenario when White starts pursuing that knight […]
