Greetings chess friends! I beg your indulgence for this month’s column; I am just now finishing up the manuscript for a book that is to be released next year (details later!), and this month’s column is an idea I have had for some time, and for which I have many recent games (including several of my own) to work with. This allows me to make use of some recent post-game analyses. So, without further ado, I offer you my testimony on behalf of the Queen’s Gambit Declined!
Dull or exciting? That was the question in round two of Norway Chess on Wednesday. When GM Veselin Topalov exceeded the time limit against GM Viswanathan Anand, the Indian became the sole victor in the classical games of the second round. GM Wesley So took down the World Champion Magnus Carlsen in the.
For the third round in a row, the players delivered one win and four draws. This round saw the hometown hero, GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac, win against GM Richard Rapport after the latter first let go of a decisive advantage and then a perpetual check. The win means that Deac joins GMs Wesley So and Ian Nepomniachtchi.
The first round of this year's edition of the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest, Romania saw only one win. GM Wesley So defeated GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in a nice positional game, while the other four games ended in draws after varying amounts of battle and tension. Round two will begin on Friday,
GM Fabiano Caruana clinched clear 1st place in the inaugural 2022 American Cup, after defeating GM Levon Aronian in the second classical game of the final. In the Women’s Field, GM Irina Krush completed her campaign for the title as well, securing the victory after drawing the second game in her match against FM Alice Lee. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes