Author of THE CHESS REVOLUTION: geni.us/zoQC Co-host of peterdoggers.com/masters-and… I write regularly for @Chesscom.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Can’t believe it’s finally there! THE CHESS REVOLUTION is out now. If you see it in your local book store, send me a pic 😀📖
chess.com/news/view/book-the…
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I could be mistaken but this might be the youngest-ever top 10 in the live ratings! (@2700chess)
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Still thinking about that second handshake. Did Ding, in the midst of a waterfall of emotions, forget they already shook hands?
It does seem appropriate: one for the game, and one for the championship!
#NepoDing
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Carlsen's total thinking time in this match was 21 hours and 38 minutes vs. 19 hours and 47 minutes for Nepomniachtchi. On average, Carlsen spent two minutes and 17 seconds on a move; Nepo two minutes and five seconds, over a total of 568 moves.
#CarlsenNepo #FIDEMatch2021
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While Arjun is rapidly approaching 2800, he is not the only player playing on a 3000+ level in Budapest. The top 10 sorted by tournament performance rating (TPR) at this point:
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In his first Titled Tuesday stream, Vladimir Kramnik draws with an FM and immediately goes: "Something tells me he was a little too strong for his level."
Something tells me that not playing Kb5-a6 here might have influenced the result...
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Going through my archives, I found this clip from the 2011 Amber Tournament with Ljubomir Ljubojevic showing Viktor Korchnoi why Bobby Fischer thought Black is better, a tempo, down, in a symmetrical position. Also with Veselin Topalov "refuting" 1.b4.
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I think I can honestly say that I introduced online video on demand to the chess world in 2006-2007. I can only applaud @ChessbaseIndia for taking it to the next level (and beyond) time and time again. Just wonderful! 👏
piped.video/watch?v=QjWr47PT…
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Ding Liren’s mother checking the rook endgame he just won on her phone while her son is interviewed.
chess.com/events/2024-tata-s…
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If Nakamura loses, he is interviewed, not on the official broadcast but on his own channel, and quite extensively—something almost unknown in the chess world. I've always advocated that losers need to be interviewed as well and I think it's fantastic that @GMHikaru is doing this.
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The great @Kasparov63 back at the board for @STLChessClub’s Ultimate Moves (and 9LX the next three days).
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What a tremendous player is Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The new world number four! Not seeing him in the FIDE Candidates feels like the cycle could still be improved...
📷 Petr Vrabec/@PragueChess
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A fashion design competition might give @AlirezaFirouzja a slight edge on the first rest day of #NorwayChess
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According to many, @Kasparov63 is still the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) in chess. Today, it is exactly 25 years since Kasparov played his most famous and possibly best ever game, against Veselin Topalov in Wijk aan Zee. The story:
chess.com/news/view/25-years…
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Wesley So's 15.Bd3!! is among my favorite combinations in recent months.
chess.com/news/view/2021-mag…
#MagnusInvitational
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“I feel this cycle is not my cycle. I don’t regret to not play in the Candidates this year. I feel like I am not quite there yet. I’ll have more time till the next cycle and I’ll gain more experience. I hope I’ll be ready for the next tournament.” - Nodirbek Abdusattorov today.
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.@AlirezaFirouzja with a nice smile, when hearing that he’s the world number four now.
#GrandSwiss2021
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In one of the possible variations of his game yesterday, @SergeyKaryakin would have needed to grab a third knight somewhere to give checkmate!
#FIDEWorldCup
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Congratulations to Faustino Oro 🇦🇷 for achieving all requirements to become the youngest International Master in history, aged 10 years, 8 months, and 16 days!
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20 years ago today, @MagnusCarlsen brilliantly defeated Dutch GM Sipke Ernst in the #TataSteelChess Grandmaster Group C. At the age of 13, Carlsen won the group with 10½/13 and scored his first GM norm. The rest is (damn good) history.
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A stunning playing hall for the @GCLlive at Friends House on Euston Road in London! 👏
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With wins for Ju Wenjun and Eline Roebers, this was possibly the best day for women's chess since @GMJuditPolgar beat @Kasparov63 in 2002!
chess.com/news/view/2024-tat…
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Imagine flying all the way from Chile to Russia and getting to play possibly the game of your career while making your way into the tactics books. Lovely!
GM Pablo Salinas Herrera of Chile likely played the Game of the Day vs. the Danish GM Mads Andersen. What a beautiful finish!
chess.com/events/2021-fide-w…
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Ju Wenjun just drew her game with Ding Liren as the first reigning women's world champion to hold a classical game against the reigning world champion!
📷 Jurriaan Hoefsmit/@TataSteelChess.
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I'm biased but kudos to our @chesscom production team for quickly setting up this absolutely brilliant split screen.
#RapidBlitz
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I felt that @MagnusCarlsen deserved a little gift for winning the @chesscom meetup blitz tournament with 6/6. 😇
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.@lachesisq
won deservedly (congrats!) but it's time to speak up. I strongly recommend @FIDE_chess to once and for all get rid of the current #FIDECandidates tiebreak rules that nobody likes & simply add a tiebreak day (already in the schedule) for all players involved in a tie.
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"I decided to play the King's Indian because @Kasparov63 played the move on our board, so why not?" - @rpraggnachess
#GrandChessTour
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Does 1.Bxh7+ win? Excellent position for advanced players wanting to train deep calculation. Bonus: @suryachess64 tells a great story involving @vishy64theking (who was White) while providing the answer. Highly recommended!
chess.com/lessons/the-indian…
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A quick glance into the 9LX playing hall, in the @WorldChessHOF, with @GMHikaru and @Kasparov63 analyzing the starting position for round 8.
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You think @Shakhmamedyarov is playing a wild opening today? Look at him 20 years ago.
#TataSteelChess
chess.com/events/2022-tata-s…
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Nice one from @rajachess (or rather, one of the ex-world champions).
chess.com/news/view/fide-can…
#FIDECandidates
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Tremendously enjoyed my game of yesterday. I think a2-a4 goes in my top 10 of favorite moves ever played.
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.@MauriceAshley goes "blunder, blunder, blunder!" and then says that it is so difficult that even @MagnusCarlsen himself might not be able to figure out the reply. Why call it a blunder then, thus approving this behavior from amateurs to engine-criticize top GMs? #GrandChessTour
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Hearing that the one-year-old child of GM Bela Khotenashvili is fighting for his life in a Bordeaux hospital, needing an expensive treatment. Hope the chess community can be of help. Links for donating:
paypal.me/ForBellaandGabriel…
whydonate.nl/.../Join-to-sav…
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The most remarkable thing to me about Kramnik continuously and openly communicating his suspicions without substantial evidence, thus damaging reputations and ultimately the game itself, is that he doesn’t seem to have learned from Toiletgate at all.
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Wonderful to see the legendary @GMJanTimman having agreed to play the Dutch Championship, for the first time since 2006!
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TL;DR Kramnik’s clock issues likely due to unfinished Windows updates; today 4 OTB games, tomorrow 14 online games for a total of 28. #ClashofClaims
After much negotiation between Vladimir Kramnik, José Alcántara, the arbiters, and the organizers, this is my official update for the Clash of Claims.
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For the first time, a plastic curtain separates the grandmasters from the spectators at @tatasteelchess. It could well be related to the climate activist organization Extinction Rebellion’s announcement to organize a protest tomorrow in Wijk aan Zee. Better safe than sorry?
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In the @tepesigeman tournament they are trying a revolutionary idea: give the players a board and pieces so they can first discuss the game themselves before checking the engine! 😉
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Even in the White House they don’t know how to set up the starting position… #HouseOfCards #Episode60
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What a way to choose the new @chess_freestyle position!
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After the Grand Swiss in Isle of Man, the same production team also uses these amazing microcameras at @TataSteelChess. Such a cool addition to chess broadcasts!
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Thank you @GCLlive for graciously allowing me to present the English version of THE CHESS REVOLUTION during tonight’s GCL opening ceremony with @anishgiri and @ArjunErigaisi just hours after I received the first copies from my publisher @BooksByRobinson!
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Saddened by the huge amount of aggressive comments under the Carlsen & Giri piece. It seems 'racism' has become a tainted word that just serves as a capote the bulls will chase, without reading the article.
#MoveForEquality
chess.com/news/view/movefore…
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Fischer Random or #Chess960 officially recognized by @FIDE_chess is huge. After Steinitz-Zukertort in 1886 we’ll see the first official Fischer Random world championship in 2019!
BREAKING: Chess.com Announces FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship
The World Fischer Random Chess Championship is now officially recognized by @FIDE_chess and will start on @chesscom.
Find all info on this historic event here:
chess.com/news/view/chess-co…
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Last year @MagnusCarlsen and @anishgiri joined forces in a video as part of a @UN campaign against racism. "Frankly, with all the real problems in the world, I find it irritating that people try to find ones where they don't exist," was one comment. 🙈
chess.com/news/view/movefore…
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How rare is it to see a checkmate on the board at the highest level? In 2018, among players rated higher than 2700, it happened only 3 times, and only once in a classical game: Duda-Nakamura in Gibraltar. One other game was Carlsen-Svidler (!) at the World Blitz.
#GRENKEChess
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The FIDE Chess.com #GrandSwiss2021 starts tomorrow in Riga, Latvia. The playing hall is the Hanzas Perons building, a nicely restored former cargo railway warehouse located almost alongside Mikhail Tal Street.
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If I had to pick one chess moment from 2017, this is it. The return of @Kasparov63, and his heart breaking loss to David Navara.
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80–year-old Genna Sosonko (right) still going strong, giving excellent commentary on today’s 11th round of #TataSteelChess at Cafe De Zon.
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Eight times before in world chess championship history the score was equal with one game to go. Only twice, there was a decisive game in this situation:
- Karpov won game 32 in 1978
vs Korchnoi;
- Anand won game 12 in 2010 vs. Topalov.
#NepoDing
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Three games in world championship history saw Q vs. RR. Two draws, one win for the two rooks: Kramnik's win in game 1 vs. Leko in 2004. Draws in Spassky-Petrosian, 1966 and Anand-Topalov, 2010.
#CarlsenNepo
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I love the casual atmosphere at @PragueChess with Sagar and Amruta as commentators, radiating such joy for chess, and absolute top GMs joining them after their game as if they're just going to hang out a bit with friends and have fun. Which is probably what they're doing.
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At an online press conference currently underway, @DGukesh revealed that @GajuChess will be his trainer for the upcoming @FIDE_chess World Chess Championship. The challenger didn’t want to share other names of his team just yet.
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Look how deep @MagnusCarlsen calculated vs @anishgiri. He took on b4 based on 21.cxb4 Bxd4 22.bxa5 Bxf2+ 23.Kf1 Qd4 24.Qxc6 Bh4 25.g3! Bxg3 26.Qf3 Bxe1 27.Bxe1 Qxb2 28.Bc3 Qc2 29.Bc4 Ra7 30.Qf6 Re5 31.Qd8+! Kg7 32.Bxe5+ dxe5 33.Qd3 and wins. But he missed 24...Bxe1! 25.Bxe1 Qxb2.
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One of the best clips I’ve ever seen in terms of production quality. Chess broadcast has come a long way! 👏
It was a pleasure to work with the fantastic @thelittlehat and @DavidHowellGM, who give each other so much space and confidence to excel at the commentary booth. One of my favorite bits of the show was the moment leading to Bxh6 by Hikaru.
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This #SunwaySitges team selfie in the corridor starts to become a tradition. :-) This year we chose @GMJuditPolgar on our side!
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The main differences between the women's world ch match and the 'regular' one:
- lower prizes;
- 12 games instead of 14;
- faster time control;
- no rule against offering a draw before move 30.
I'm curious why, @FIDE_chess?
#WomenChessMatch
#genderequality
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One more misspelled chess player and I shall unfollow. 😜
Adolf Andersen (1818-1879) was born on this day. The winner of the first international chess tournament (London 1851), he was the strongest player in the world before and after Morphy. His "Immortal" and "Evergreen" games keep impressing 150 years past. A symbol of romantic chess
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An absolute beauty of a game played yesterday by David Navara vs. Vaclav Finek in the Czech Championship.
chess.com/events/2024-czech-…
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As the sun rises in Wijk aan Zee, let’s hope for a sunny day for Dutch chess! #goanish #gojorden #TataSteelChess
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Ten years ago, chess broadcasting was still a fairly new phenomenon. I believe it was the first year when @lennartootes and I got involved, and it looked like this. Things have improved in quality significantly since then, but somehow, I still like the clean look of it. :-)
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.@MagnusCarlsen vs @FabianoCaruana will be the first match with only players from the "West", i.e. without players who speak Russian or who's name is
@vishy64theking, since Lasker-Capablanca, 1921.
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Getting a loss for offering a draw in a completely drawn position: 👎
A lack of coherent, generic, and logical regulations at different chess tournaments: 👎
Chess players being famously bad in actually reading the regulations: 👎
#CSL
#ChessSuperLeague
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Arjun Erigaisi played the Grenke Open and the Menorca Open back-to-back and didn't lose a single game! Here's my report on Menorca which also includes a brilliant novelty by Daniel Dardha:
chess.com/news/view/arjun-er…
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My big interview with world number two @FabianoCaruana is out!
"...you’re playing a player like Magnus, one of the greatest players in the history of chess, and you know that he won’t make a single moment in any game easy for you, so you’ll always have to work for everything."
Read our full interview w/ Caruana ⬇️
chess.com/news/view/fabiano-…
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Just making sure nobody misses this stunning tactic from yesterday: 28.dxc6 Rgxh7 29.Rd2!!. What a beauty.
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Mathematically, even Firouzja and Praggnanandhaa have a chance, which means half the field can still win this tournament. Crazy!
📷 @LennartOotes
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Happy 30th anniversary to The Week in Chess! What an incredible milestone.
Here’s an interview I did with founder @MarkTWIC five years ago:
chess.com/news/view/the-week…
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What a crazy #TataSteelChess this year. Shoutout to @LennartOotes for an amazing job combining photography and interviews among other tasks. Hoping Dubov tests negative and that @rpragchess and @FabianoCaruana can soon socialize with their coaches again.
chess.com/news/view/tata-ste…
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It’s a skill, this piece spinning, but it’s also a skill to be able to ignore it. 😃 #FIDEGrandPrix
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My amazing weeks in Cancún and St. Louis are coming to an end. The absolute highlights? Giving a copy of THE CHESS REVOLUTION to @Kasparov63, @MagnusCarlsen and @GMJuditPolgar! 🐐🐐🐐
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The Dutch Chess Federation just issued a statement saying @FIDE_chess and @ECUonline didn't go far enough and urges them to:
- ban national teams of Russia & Belarus from FIDE team events;
- ban individual players from Russia & Belarus from FIDE & ECU events.
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"FIDE wanted to change the entire [Candidates] format at short notice to encourage Carlsen to take part. They wanted to alternate one day with a classic game and the next day with two quick games. (...) Everything was in limbo until Magnus officially canceled." - @GMHikaru
Streamer und Großmeister: Hikaru Nakamura spricht im Interview mit @StefanLoeffler über boomende Schachunterhaltung, die Beschleunigung des Sports – und darüber, warum mancher Profi Geheimnisse lieber für sich behält. faz.net/aktuell/sport/mehr-s…
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At the end of the day it's just very impressive for @lachesisq to have reached 8.5 points seven minutes into the 12th round, the winning score in four of the last five #FIDECandidates after 14 rounds. 👏
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FIDE is losing more credibility by the day now.
The FIDE General Assembly has voted 108:27 in favor of allowing the FIDE President to stay in power indefinitely. In 2018 Arkady Dvorkovich campaigned on a 2-term limit (which would end in 2 years) being essential. More details: chess.com/news/view/21-feder…
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We will see the fifth tiebreak in world chess championship history after 2006 (Kramnik-Topalov), 2012 (Anand-Gelfand), 2016 (Carlsen-Karjakin), and 2018 (Carlsen-Caruana). I used to be strongly against rapid/blitz to decide a classical title but now only mildly!
#NepoDing
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