In his new Fast & Furious episode, Robert Ris shows how Levon Aronian surprised Wesley So in a classical line of the Nimzo-Indian. Aronian’s 5.c5!? worked out perfectly as he went on to win the game. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can <a href="https://account.chessbase.com/en/create-account" target=" blank">register a Premium account here</a>.
Two rounds featuring turnarounds and missed chances left Richard Rapport atop the standings of the Grenke Chess Classic with a 1-point lead over Magnus Carlsen, Ding Liren and Vincent Keymer. Rapport drew Keymer and beat Daniel Fridman in rounds 3 and 4, while both Carlsen and Keymer obtained big advantages which they were unable to convert into full points. The marquee matchup of the day saw Ding holding a draw with black against Carlsen. | Photo: Angelika Valkova
“Everyone has been waiting for this chess festival”, writes Alex Winkler in a press release from the organisation of the GRENKE Chess Classic and the GRENKE Chess Open. Six international stars, including Magnus Carlsen and Vincent Keymer, will compete in the Classic, which starts tomorrow, Tuesday 26 March, while over 2500 players will take part in the Open. But last-minute entrants can still take part: the registration is still open!
Parham Maghsoodloo became the first sole leader at the Masters section of the Prague Chess Festival after beating Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu with the white pieces. Maghsoodloo thus ended Pragg’s undefeated streak of 47 games. In the one other decisive game of the round, Dommaraju Gukesh got the better of Thai Dai Van Nguyen. Meanwhile, Ediz Gurel scored a win to join Anton Korobov in the lead of the Challengers section. | Photo: Petr Vrabec
The German Bundesliga is a traditional team tournament featuring some of the best players in the world. After 11 rounds in the 2023/24 season, Viernheim have a clear 3-point lead over the perennial favourites from Baden-Baden. In round 9, Viernheim’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov obtained a memorable attacking victory over Gata Kamsky. The game was expertly analysed by IM Robert Ris!