The new generation of chess stars is here, with no fewer than nine players aged 19 or younger rated above 2650 at the time. In a 7-part series, we will look at the performances of the top juniors in 2022. In fifth place is US grandmaster Hans Niemann. Chess blew up in mainstream media after Magnus Carlsen implicitly accused Niemann of cheating. But that did not prevent the Californian from continuing his rapid ascent in classical chess, as he broke the 2700-barrier for the first time (in an official FIDE ratings list) just this month! | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
In the small Armenian town of Jermuk, a round-robin tournament with a strong field of ten young participants is currently taking place. Among them are Hans Moke Niemann (photo), Nihal Sarin and Alexander Donchenko. After five rounds, these three players are only among the chasers with 2½/5 points each. At the top of the standings is a quartet with 3/5 points each: Armenians Haik Martirosyan, Shant Sargsyan and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan and the Iranian Amin Tabatabaei. Daily rounds will be played until Tuesday. | Photos: Official website
Incredibly for those of us who were first drawn to the game by the excitement and spectacle of the time, this year marks the 50th anniversary a full half-century of Bobby Fischer's epic run to the world chess title, culminating in the on- and off-board drama of Bobby's defeat of star-crossed Soviet world champion Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, Iceland.
In his ‘Weekly Show’ Lawrence Trent focuses on the Superbet Chess Classic currently taking place in Romania. He looks at a fine win by Fabiano Caruana over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. | Lawrence’s show 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>
Less than two weeks after winning the Capablanca Memorial, Hans Niemann claimed outright victory at the TePe Sigeman & Co tournament in Malmö. Niemann scored 5/7 points to finish a full point ahead of a three-player chasing pack, which consisted of Michael Adams, Nils Grandelius and Arjun Erigaisi. | Photo: Lars OA Hedlund