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Zagreb GCT: Carlsen amazes with yet another triumph

Hats off to the champ We can already talk of a perfect semester, but it remains to be seen how far Magnus Carlsen can go during the second half of a mind-boggling 2019. The Norwegian won his eighth tournament in a row in Zagreb, where his 8 out of 11 score left him a full point ahead of second-placed Wesley So. Not only did he score five wins with no losses (his undefeated streak has reached 79 games, in fact) but he also missed a couple of winning chances in the meantime. In the post-tournament interview, Carlsen talked about how he had never had a chance to show his strength at a lengthy elite event, with most first-class competitions lasting nine rounds. His commanding performance added 9.7 points to his rating, which means he will reach the 2882 mark in the next official list, the highest-ever published rating in history (his own). The world champion also gained 20 GCT points and $90,000 in prize money. Besides the Norwegian’s victory, one more game finished decisively in round eleven — Anish Giri showed better preparation than Ian Nepomniachtchi to get a closing win in Zagreb with the…

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New Mastery Course: Using Time In Chess

Do you find that you sometimes miss opportunities to punish your opponent when leading in development? This week we are proud to release our new Mastery course, Using Time In Chess by GM Simon Williams. GM Williams shows you how to smell opportunity knocking and take the pawn by the horns. Learn how to speed up the game and punish your opponents for their incautious play! Course Outline This course features four lessons dissecting different aspects of tempo it uses. While GM Williams intended the course to be completed in the following order, users can complete lessons in any order they choose. Increasing The Tempo To Win Creating Threats Tempo In The Middlegame Attacking The King Now A Favorite Puzzle Every lesson features both a video and five challenge questions to help you test yourself on how well you retained some of-of the core points and positions in the video. Test yourself with one of our favorite challenges from this course. Here’s Peter Svidler winning an excellent game against a young Magnus Carlsen. How could he have concluded the game (had he selected this variation) beautifully and incisively? Read More

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Do You Speak The Language Of Chess

Most chess players are bilingual. Besides their mother tongue, they also speak the language of chess. Don’t tell me that you have no idea what I am talking about. If you have been playing chess for a long time you can hear how chess pieces talk and you understand their language. I bet you can hear the knight on g1 when it whispers, “You are mean!” and the king on e1 cannot hide his disgust: “I hate you!” Today, you can test your chess language skills. I will offer you 10 positions where pieces are saying famous quotes from well-known movies and you will have to figure out who said what. As an example, take a look at the following position from the Najdorf Sicilian: I can clearly hear that queen on b2 when she channels her inner Gordon Gekko by saying “Greed is good!” So, do you see now how it works? OK, here are the 10 positions: Read More

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New Auto Chess revealed to be Epic Game Store exclusive at E3

Auto Chess is an addictive Dota 2 mod, and it now has a version for the PC available only on the Epic Game Store. Loring Lee, founder, and CEO of Chinese game publisher Dragonest took the stage at the E3 2019 PC Gaming Show Monday to reveal a standalone Auto Chess game is coming and will be an Epic Game Store exclusive. He also confirmed his company is working with Drodo Studio, the creator of the Dota 2 mod. Dota Auto Chess mod came out in early 2019 for Steam and became a hit among Dota players. The game takes elements from the massive online battle arena formula Dota is known for and combines them with a strategic element of chess. Players have to select characters that act as chess pieces, and they have to level up the pieces as they do battle with other players or computer AI. Read More

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Six Indian chess GMs qualified to play in Grand Swiss Tournament

Six Indian chess Grandmasters, including former World Champion V. Anand, has qualified for the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss Tournament 2019 as of June 1, 2019, FIDE the global chess body said on Monday. The ‘FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss’ will be held in the Isle of Man from October 10 to 21, and is expected to be the strongest Swiss-system tournament in the history of chess. The Indian players who have qualified are Anand, P. Harikrishna, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, B. Adhiban, K. Sasikiran, and R. Sethuraman. The lists of players qualified from the African, American and Asian Continental Championships will be published as soon as the respective events are over, FIDE said. Top-ranked players like World Champion Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Anish Giri and others are also in the fray, FIDE said. The tournament is part of the 2020 FIDE World Championship cycle, with the winner qualifying for the Candidates’ Tournament which will produce a challenger to Magnus Carlsen in the next FIDE World Championship Match. Read More

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Kabaddi league gets a shakeup

Launched on May 13, the IIPKL has given several Pro League discards a second chance Shashank Wankhede thought his professional kabaddi career was over when he did not make the cut for the sixth season of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) last year. Having played for three different franchises since his debut in 2015, Wankhede had not quite been able to crack the PKL. He had played only five matches across those three seasons. Then, sometime last year, he heard about trials being conducted for a new kabaddi league being launched by a rival body to the recognised Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI), under whose aegis the PKL runs. Wankhede knew that if he was picked for the new league, it would be curtains for his PKL career. But at 36, he wasn’t getting any younger, so he decided to take a chance. Today, he is the captain of Mumbai Che Raje, one of the eight franchises of the Indo International Premier Kabaddi League (IIPKL). Launched on May 13, the IIPKL has given a second wind to the careers of a handful of PKL discards. “I’ve got a second chance, somewhat, and I’m keen…

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WATCH: Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez almost runs over marshals at Monaco GP

Racing Point driver Sergio Perez almost ran over a marshal during the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday. The Mexican driver was accelerating out of the pit while two officials were trying to cross the track, and Perez had to immediately the brakes to ensure he didn’t hit them. “What was wrong with those marshals? I nearly killed him,” said Pérez over the radio during the race. The Racing Point driver also shared a video of the incident on Twitter and expressed concern over the safety of the marshals. “After this incident, I’m just very happy with the outcome of my day. That we all can go back home safe and sound with our families. For the safety of the marshals, I hope it never happens again!” Perez tweeted. After the race, Perez said, “During the safety car I nearly ran over a marshal. They were running back across the track as I was coming out of the pits. I had to brake – they were very lucky I avoided them. They’re usually very good but it is a safety at the end of the day and that is what is important for the marshals and…

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