February 2017 – Hot Off The Chess | The home of John Lee Shaw on Chess.

FIDE Grand Prix, Sharjah 2017: Mamedyarov Beats Adams to join Vachier-Lagrave in the Lead.

February 22, 2017 John Lee Shaw

Round four of the FIDE Grand Prix in Sharjah, was played on February 21st. It saw Shakhriyar Mamedyarov winning against Michael Adams to join Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the lead. Chao Li also won in this round, taking a point from Evgeny Tomashevsky, after the Russian got himself into a bit […check it out!]

FIDE Grand Prix, Sharjah 2017: Nakamura Sole Winner in RD 3

February 22, 2017 John Lee Shaw

Round three of the FIDE Grand Prix 2017 in Sharjah, was played on Monday February 20th. It saw Maxime Vachier-Lagrave retain his lead of the tournament with a draw against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Hikaru Nakamura was the sole winner of the round, taking a point from Richard Rapport. Rapport opted for Chigorin’s Defence […check it out!]

Womens World Chess Championship 2017: Quarter Final Line-Up Known

February 22, 2017 John Lee Shaw

Round Three of the Women’s World Chess Championship 2017, was held between February 17th and 19th. At its conclusion, it had produced the quarter-final pairings: Wenjun vs Tan; Dronavalli vs Dzagnidze; A. Muzychuk vs Stefanova; Kosteniuk vs Ni. Of those contesting the last 16 matches, half would know their fate […check it out!]

FIDE Grand Prix, Sharjah 2017: Vachier Lagrave Wins Again in Round 2

February 20, 2017 John Lee Shaw

Round two of the FIDE Grand Prix 2017, in Sharjah, was played on February 19th. It saw Maxime Vachier-Lagrave win his second game on the spin and take the lead of the tournament with a 100% score. Vachier-Lagrave would have Black against Richard Rapport, who is fast making a name for […check it out!]

FIDE Grand Prix, Sharjah 2017: Adams, Rapport, Vachier-Lagrave Win in Round 1

February 20, 2017 John Lee Shaw

The first FIDE Grand Prix of 2017 got underway in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, on Saturday 18th February. Competing in the tournament are: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA 2796), Levon Aronian (ARM 2785), Hikaru Nakamura (USA 2785), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE 2766), Liren Ding (CHN 2760), Pavel Eljanov (UKR 2759), Michael Adams (ENG […check it out!]

Women’s World Chess Championship 2017: Wenjun and Muzychuk Safely Through in Round 2

February 17, 2017 John Lee Shaw

Round Two of the Women’s World Chess Championship, was played between the 14th and 16th of February. In this knockout tournament, the round would begin with two classical games on the 14th and 15th and tie-breaks on the 16th if the scores were level. Knockout tournaments can be very unpredictable, […check it out!]

Altibox Norway Chess | image © http://norwaychess.no/

Altibox Norway Chess 2017 Sees World Top Ten Line-Up!

February 15, 2017 John Lee Shaw

Hi there, dear reader! I have some good news and bad news for you. I’ll begin with the good news, which is that the organisers of the Altibox Norway Chess Tournament, have announced a stonking line-up for the 2017 edition. It will involve the world’s top ten players! These are, […check it out!]

Women’s World Chess Championship 2017: Round 1 Brings Some Surprises.

February 15, 2017 John Lee Shaw

The Women’s World Chess Championship, is being held in Tehran, Iran, February 10th to March 4th. It is a six round, knockout tournament. Each round consists of two classical games, with tie-breaks if the scores are level. Round One began with a moment of silence in honour of Cristina-Adela Foisor, […check it out!]

4NCL Weekend #3 Held in Northampton

February 14, 2017 John Lee Shaw

Weekend three (rounds five and six) of Britain’s 4 Nations Chess League (4NCL) 2016-17, took place 11-12 February. Division one would play at the Park Inn, Northampton. The Division contains sixteen teams, which are split into two ‘pools’ of eight. The same goes for Division Two, who also played at the same […check it out!]

Women’s World Chess Championship 2017 Opens

February 11, 2017 John Lee Shaw

The FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship opened yesterday, Friday 10th February, in Tehran, Iran. The tournament, which runs until March 4th, is a knockout format, played over six rounds. Round one will be played on Saturday 11th February (15:00 local time, 11:30 GMT — check your time here.) . Top […check it out!]

Month: February 2017

FIDE Grand Prix, Sharjah 2017: Mamedyarov Beats Adams to join Vachier-Lagrave in the Lead.

FIDE Grand Prix, Sharjah 2017: Nakamura Sole Winner in RD 3

Womens World Chess Championship 2017: Quarter Final Line-Up Known

FIDE Grand Prix, Sharjah 2017: Vachier Lagrave Wins Again in Round 2

FIDE Grand Prix, Sharjah 2017: Adams, Rapport, Vachier-Lagrave Win in Round 1

Women’s World Chess Championship 2017: Wenjun and Muzychuk Safely Through in Round 2

Altibox Norway Chess 2017 Sees World Top Ten Line-Up!

Women’s World Chess Championship 2017: Round 1 Brings Some Surprises.

4NCL Weekend #3 Held in Northampton

Women’s World Chess Championship 2017 Opens

Radoslaw Wojtaszek Wins Biel 2020

Tata Steel 2020, Rd 10: Carlsen Wins Again. Caruana Retains Lead After Beating Firouzja

The World Champion stamps some authority in this game, against the player many are tipping to be a future challenger and successor. The other games are drawn, Caruana leads. The Challengers group sees a 3-way tie at the top.

Fabiano outplays Vishy in the endgame to take the point, he leads with Alireza Firouzja on 5.5/8. Artemiev collapses against Carlsen, who notches up a rather comfortable point. Duda and Kovalev also win. Eljanov remains in the lead of the Challengers, which sees 4 games decided.

Tussle of the 'born in the 2000s' goes the way of the Iranian as his American opponent falters. Points also go to Caruana and van Foreest. Vishy Anand survives against Magnus Carlsen. Things largely unchanged in the Challengers as Sarin beats Saduakassova, Eljanov still at the top of the standings.

2018's World Championship rivals, are again not to be separated. Anish Giri recovers his point from round 5, at the cost of Vladislav Kovalev, while Daniil Dubov sees Vladislav Artemiev strategically wanting. The Challengers group sees 3 decided games, Eljanov leads.

Round 5 takes place away from Wijk aan Zee, at the stadium of football team, PSV Einhoven. It sees Firouzja take his 3rd win in 5 games, notching up a performance rating of 2854 so far. Xiong suffers at the hands of Anand. The Challengers group sees 6 of the 7 games decided.

Between 1939 and 1940, Paul Keres and Max Euwe played a 14-game match in the Netherlands. In game nine, Euwe would make some serious strategic errors. Keres takes advantage and plays a powerful game, which becomes known as 'the ninth' in relation to Beethoven's last symphony.

World Chess Championship 2018 taking place in London, United Kingdom, between November 8th and 28th. Game one sees a shaky start for Challenger, Caruana, as Champion, Carlsen gets winning chances. In the end, it is a 115-move draw!

All points split, including the much-anticipated Carlsen vs Caruana. The game saw the World Champion catch his challenger out in Caruana's beloved Petrov. But strong defence from Fabiano and an uncharacteristic lack of precision costs Carlsen the full point.

World Champion defeats Grandelius with a very confident game

In the year in which he became a Grandmaster, aged 15 years, Bobby Fischer demonstrates his potential to the chess world.