Latest news with #FreestyleGrandSlam
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chess: Carlsen scores record nine out of nine at Grenke Freestyle Open
Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, soared to a new landmark in chess history last weekend, when the 34-year-old won all his nine games in the Grenke Freestyle Open at Karlsruhe, Germany. It was a result comparable to the great historical performances. Bobby Fischer won the 1963-64 US Championship with an 11/11 'picket fence', then defeated Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen by 6-0 in the 1971 Candidates. Anatoly Karpov triumphed at Linares 1994 with an 11-2 total, while further back the yardstick performance was Alexander Alekhine's 14-1 at San Remo 1930. Related: Chess: Carlsen scores in Paris, leads Freestyle Grand Slam after two events However, Fide does not officially rate Freestyle chess, in which the back rank pieces have randomised starting positions. It is also known as Fischer Random, Chess 960, and Chess 9LX. It was a remarkable victory in physical terms. Carlsen came direct to Grenke from his victory in the Paris leg of the Freestyle Grand Slam, and was fatigued by the two-rounds-a-day schedule. His laconic post-victory comment was: 'I'm not going to do that again, that's for sure!' He relied on grinding technique for many of his wins, but scored in a complex battle against the eight-time French champion Étienne Bacrot, who asked Carlsen for a selfie before the start. Carlsen's final-round win against Vincent Keymer, the 20-year-old who has emerged as his main Freestyle rival, was also a tense struggle until the young German blundered in time pressure with an unsound knight sacrifice. Superior clock handling has been a key to Carlsen's success. He understands the sometimes chaotic Freestyle openings faster and deeper than his opponents. The Grenke event produced a world record entry of 3,000 players, 500 up on 2024 and double the highest US total of 1500 at the 1986 World Open in Philadelphia. A drone's eye view of the multiple playing halls shows the scale of the vast operation. Just a day after Grenke, Carlsen was in action again, winning the late version of online Titled Tuesday. However, the Norwegian was upstaged in the early version, where the 13-year-old Turkish prodigy, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, became the youngest ever winner of this highly competitive event. neglected to mention Erdogmus in its headline, but the teenager's impressive result was underlined by his strong performance in the Grenke Freestyle Open, where Erdogmus drew with three 2700+ opponents and totalled 7/11. Next Monday is the eighth and final episode of BBC Two's Chess Masters: The Endgame, when the four finalists, Richie, Kel, Thalia and Lula, will decide the winner. Episode seven proved a disappointment in audience numbers, supplied by Broadcast, which dropped to 535,000 and 4% of the total viewers. Perhaps it was an effect of the Easter holiday. The highlight was a three board simultaneous performance by the prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan (seen here in action at an earlier simul in Harrow), in which the opponent she checkmated the fastest was eliminated. If the semi-finals and final were a normal tournament with head-to-head pairings, Kel, who has an excellent record in Manchester weekend events, would be the favourite, but according to the BBC's advance clip the challenge will also involve solving tactical puzzles. It was different in BBC Two's The Master Game of the 1970s and 80s, when Karpov, the then world champion, was twice the top seed and the other grandmasters knew that to succeed they had to defeat the Russian … 3969: 1…Qh3+ 2 Ke1 (2 Kg1 Qg2 or Nf3 mate) Ng2+ 3 Kf1 Ne3++ 4 Ke1 Qf1+! 5 Rxf1 Ng2 mate.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chess: Carlsen scores record nine out of nine at Grenke Freestyle Open
Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, soared to a new landmark in chess history last weekend, when the 34-year-old won all his nine games in the Grenke Freestyle Open at Karlsruhe, Germany. It was a result comparable to the great historical performances. Bobby Fischer won the 1963-64 US Championship with an 11/11 'picket fence', then defeated both Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen by 6-0 in the 1971 Candidates. Anatoly Karpov triumphed at Linares 1994 with a 11-2 total, while further back the yardstick performance was Alexander Alekhine's 14-1 at San Remo 1930. Advertisement Related: Chess: Carlsen scores in Paris, leads Freestyle Grand Slam after two events However, Fide does not officially rate Freestyle chess, in which the back rank pieces have randomised starting positions. It is also known as Fischer Random, Chess 960, and Chess 9LX. It was a remarkable victory in physical terms. Carlsen came direct to Grenke from his victory in the Paris leg of the Freestyle Grand Slam, and was fatigued by the two rounds a day schedule. His laconic post-victory comment was 'I'm not going to do that again, that's for sure!' He relied on grinding technique for many of his wins, but scored in a complex battle against the eight-time French champion Étienne Bacrot, who asked Carlsen for a selfie before the start. Advertisement Carlsen's final round win against Vincent Keymer, the 20-year-old who has emerged as his main Freestyle rival, was also a tense struggle until the young German blundered in time pressure with an unsound knight sacrifice. Superior clock handling has been a key to Carlsen's success. He understands the sometimes chaotic Freestyle openings faster and deeper than his opponents. The Grenke event produced a world record entry of 3,000 players, 500 up on 2024 and double the highest US total of 1500 at the 1986 World Open in Philadelphia. A drone's eye view of the multiple playing halls shows the scale of the vast operation. Just a day after Grenke, Carlsen was in action again, winning the late version of online Titled Tuesday. However, the Norwegian was upstaged in the early version, where the 13-year-old Turkish prodigy, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, became the youngest ever winner of this highly competitive event. neglected to mention Erdogmus in its headline, but the teenager's impressive result was underlined by his strong performance in the Grenke Freestyle Open, where Erdogmus drew with three 2700+ opponents and totalled 7/11. Next Monday is the eighth and final episode of BBC Two's Chess Masters: The Endgame, when the four finalists Richie, Kai, Thalia and Lula will decide the winner. Advertisement Episode seven proved a disappointment in audience numbers, supplied by Broadcast, which dropped to 535,000 and 4% of the total viewers. Perhaps it was an effect of the Easter holiday. The highlight was a three board simultaneous performance by the prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan (seen here in action at an earlier simul in Harrow), in which the opponent she checkmated the fastest was eliminated. If the semi-finals and final were a normal tournament with head to head pairings, Kai, who has an excellent record in Manchester weekend events, would be the favourite, but according to the BBC's advance clip the challenge will also involve solving tactical puzzles. It was different in BBC Two's The Master Game of the 1970s and 80s, when Karpov, the then world champion, was twice the top seed and the other grandmasters knew that to succeed they had to defeat the Russian … 3969: 1…Qh3+ 2 Ke1 (2 Kg1 Qg2 or Nf3 mate) Ng2+ 3 Ke1 Ne3++ 4 Kf1 Qf1+! 5 Rxf1 Ng2 mate.
Hindustan Times
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
‘MS Dhoni is like an emotion': D Gukesh recalls ‘watching final shot at the 2011 World Cup when I was 5'
The reigning world chess champion and the youngest one to bag the title, D Gukesh is among the most popular personalities in India currently. The GM beat Ding Liren in December last year to become the youngest world chess champion, scripting history and becoming a national hero. Little is known about the young chess star, who reportedly is an introvert. He was recently in action in the Paris Freestyle Grand Slam event, where he failed to reach the playoffs. He will soon be in action in the upcoming Norway Open in May, where he will also face Magnus Carlsen. Gukesh was recently interviewed by RevSportz, where he revealed that he is a MS Dhoni fan. Opening up on his support for the former India cricketer, he said, 'I remember when I was like five years old, I was watching 2011 World Cup. The final shot. It is just something. Also, for kids in general, Dhoni is like an emotion. Especially me, coming from Chennai, he playing for CSK. So, from childhood, I admired him. Also, like, I can connect with him on how he behaves on the field, always composed, calm in the critical situations.' 'Something that I try to do on the chess board as well. And recently, also, (Novak) Djokovic. I really admire him', he further added. Gukesh also had Paddy Upton as his mental conditioning coach for the World Championship. Upton has previously worked with India, including Dhoni's 2011 World Cup-winning team. Upton revealed that Gukesh's strategy was to tire out Liren if necessary, and to make the Chinese GM create mistakes. 'Yeah, we tried. I mean, when you play a World Championship and prepare for 6-7 months for all kinds of scenarios and their reactions. And we thought it will be a good idea, with Ding not being at his absolute best. We just wanted to keep him at the board and prolong the game and let him make a mistake,' Gukesh said. 'Especially after his first few games, where he was struggling to stay at the board.'
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chess: Carlsen scores in Paris, leads Freestyle Grand Slam after two events
Magnus Carlsen (left) beat Hikaru Nakamura 1.5-0.5 in the final of the Paris leg of the Freestyle Grand Prix. Photograph: Stev Bonhage/Freestyle Chess Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, scored a low-key triumph on Monday when he won the Paris leg of the $3.75m Freestyle Grand Slam by defeating his old rival and world No 2, USA's Hikaru Nakamura, by 1.5-0.5 in the final. It was patient attrition over the two games, worthy of a place in the Carlsen-David Howell book Grind like a Grandmaster. Advertisement The decisive first game had some technical errors, which the Norwegian described almost apologetically in his post-game interview. The rematch was more routine as the 34-year-old simplified to his goal of a drawn rook endgame and a move-40 handshake. Carlsen now has the overall lead in the five-leg $3.75m Grand Slam which continues later in the year at Las Vegas, Delhi and Cape Town. Related: Chess: Magnus Carlsen in form at Paris Freestyle after Hans Niemann drops out Earlier, he displayed his creativity when he gave up his queen for three minor pieces in his quarter-final, and his versatility and his continuing hunger for more chess when, his day's work done in Paris, he took part in weekly Titled Tuesday and made a clean sweep of all 11 games, a rare feat which he has achieved twice previously. This week, Carlsen did it again, winning Titled Tuesday with an unbeaten 10/11. Advertisement The openings in Freestyle are a treacherous swamp, where careless play can lead to a lost position within a dozen moves. Relevant experience helps, though. Freestyle has 960 different starting positions, but there have been cases where one of the 960 appeared in a previous tournament, and a GM has remembered it. Some time in the first 20 or so moves, a Freestyle position often becomes recognisably similar to normal chess and the players can use their previous knowledge effectively. In Carlsen's Freestyle games, he spots this metamorphosis and transformation faster than his rivals, and that is one secret of his continued success. A negative at Paris was the failure of the four Indians who have dominated classical chess in recent years. Only Arjun Erigaisi, who remained true to his attacking style and emerged in fifth place, did well, while Gukesh Dommaraju, the 18-year-old classical world champion, did worst, finishing 11th out of 12. What happens to the 2025 Freestyle Grand Slam in the coming months remains to be seen. Its third leg, scheduled for New York in late July, has been moved to Las Vegas and reduced from eight days to five, allowing two games a day in the interests of publicity. This means a faster time limit, from slow classical chess, as championed by Carlsen, to one-hour rapid games. Advertisement The change may also reflect the worsened economic climate. The Grand Slam series, which was projected to break even with the help of new trading partners by 2026, is financially backed by a $12m investment from the New York based venture capitalist firm Left Lane Capital, which is privately quoted but is still susceptible to market downturns and recessions. The pressures for Freestyle to achieve faster profitability, and wider support among the chess public and media, are increasing. Ju Wenjun, the holder, won four games in succession against her demoralised challenger, Tan Zhongyi, to score a 6.5-2.5 victory in the $500,000 Women's World Championship match in Chongqing. Game seven was Tan's nadir as she allowed her a8 black bishop to be entombed by her own c6 pawn and a c5 white knight. Ju needed just a draw in Wednesday's ninth game (of 12) to take the crown for the fifth time in her career. Ju has now equalled the title totals of Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze, both of Georgia, who each won five crowns between 1962 and 1988, The all-time record holder remains Vera Menchik, a Czech who lived most of her life in London. Menchik won eight titles between 1927 and 1939 before being killed by a German V1 bomb at her Clapham home in 1944. Shreyas Royal, England's youngest ever grandmaster, scored his best performance so far in 2025 when he totalled 6.5/9 at the Reykjavik Open after sharing the lead two rounds from the finish. It brought a pairing with Iran's world No 31, Parham Maghsoodloo, which Royal lost in 17 moves due to 9…Bxc3+? (9..d6!) allowing the top seed's 12 Ba3! with decisive threats to d6. Advertisement Nigel Short, the 1993 world title challenger, is making a rare competitive appearance this week in the Bangkok Open, where his third round win started with the Grand Prix Attack and led to a devastating assault on his opponent's king. England swept the board at last week's European Senior over-50 and over-65 Championships at Swidnica, Poland, last weekend, winning three team golds, one team bronze, and 14 individual medals. Both England 50+, led by Michael Adams, and England 65+, headed by John Nunn, won every match and neither lost a single game. Such a feat would normally rank much higher in this column, but entries for the event were low both in quality and quantity. The European Seniors were staged only two months after the World Seniors in Prague, a popular venue, while many seniors have been deterred by Fide's overzealous Fair Play anti-cheating officials, which sparked a public rebuke by Malcolm Pein in Chess magazine. BBC Two's Chess Masters: The Endgame reaches episode seven (of eight) on Easter Monday at 8pm. Audience numbers, supplied by Broadcast, remain rock solid at 600.000, 5% of the viewing audience, and indicative of a significant loyal fan base. Advertisement Next Monday's episode will include an appearance by Bodhana Sivanandan, the Harrow 10-year-old who has become globally famous. Sivanandan is likely to take on all six remaining contestants simultaneously, a feat which will be familiar to her. Here is how, at age eight, she defeated Harrow Chess Club 5-1. What do retired grandmasters do? One answer, as explained here by GM Jonathan Levitt, is to write song lyrics about Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. 3968: 1…Rf4! wins with the threat 2…g3 and 3…Qh2 mate. If 2 Qc3 Qh4 3 Qc8+ Kh7 and White has no defence to 4…g3.
The Guardian
18-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Chess: Carlsen scores in Paris, leads Freestyle Grand Slam after two events
Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, scored a low-key triumph on Monday when he won the Paris leg of the $3.75m Freestyle Grand Slam by defeating his old rival and world No 2, USA's Hikaru Nakamura, by 1.5-0.5 in the final. It was patient attrition over the two games, worthy of a place in the Carlsen-David Howell book Grind like a Grandmaster. The decisive first game had some technical errors, which the Norwegian described almost apologetically in his post-game interview. The rematch was more routine as the 34-year-old simplified to his goal of a drawn rook endgame and a move-40 handshake. Carlsen now has the overall lead in the five-leg $3.75m Grand Slam which continues later in the year at Las Vegas, Delhi and Cape Town. Earlier, he displayed his creativity when he gave up his queen for three minor pieces in his quarter-final, and his versatility and his continuing hunger for more chess when, his day's work done in Paris, he took part in weekly Titled Tuesday and made a clean sweep of all 11 games, a rare feat which he has achieved twice previously. This week, Carlsen did it again, winning Titled Tuesday with an unbeaten 10/11. The openings in Freestyle are a treacherous swamp, where careless play can lead to a lost position within a dozen moves. Relevant experience helps, though. Freestyle has 960 different starting positions, but there have been cases where one of the 960 appeared in a previous tournament, and a GM has remembered it. Some time in the first 20 or so moves, a Freestyle position often becomes recognisably similar to normal chess and the players can use their previous knowledge effectively. In Carlsen's Freestyle games, he spots this metamorphosis and transformation faster than his rivals, and that is one secret of his continued success. A negative at Paris was the failure of the four Indians who have dominated classical chess in recent years. Only Arjun Erigaisi, who remained true to his attacking style and emerged in fifth place, did well, while Gukesh Dommaraju, the 18-year-old classical world champion, did worst, finishing 11th out of 12. What happens to the 2025 Freestyle Grand Slam in the coming months remains to be seen. Its third leg, scheduled for New York in late July, has been moved to Las Vegas and reduced from eight days to five, allowing two games a day in the interests of publicity. This means a faster time limit, from slow classical chess, as championed by Carlsen, to one-hour rapid games. The change may also reflect the worsened economic climate. The Grand Slam series, which was projected to break even with the help of new trading partners by 2026, is financially backed by a $12m investment from the New York based venture capitalist firm Left Lane Capital, which is privately quoted but is still susceptible to market downturns and recessions. The pressures for Freestyle to achieve faster profitability, and wider support among the chess public and media, are increasing. Ju Wenjun, the holder, won four games in succession against her demoralised challenger, Tan Zhongyi, to score a 6.5-2.5 victory in the $500,000 Women's World Championship match in Chongqing. Game seven was Tan's nadir as she allowed her a8 black bishop to be entombed by her own c6 pawn and a c5 white knight. Ju needed just a draw in Wednesday's ninth game (of 12) to take the crown for the fifth time in her career. Ju has now equalled the title totals of Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze, both of Georgia, who each won five crowns between 1962 and 1988, The all-time record holder remains Vera Menchik, a Czech who lived most of her life in London. Menchik won eight titles between 1927 and 1939 before being killed by a German V1 bomb at her Clapham home in 1944. Shreyas Royal, England's youngest ever grandmaster, scored his best performance so far in 2025 when he totalled 6.5/9 at the Reykjavik Open after sharing the lead two rounds from the finish. It brought a pairing with Iran's world No 31, Parham Maghsoodloo, which Royal lost in 17 moves due to 9…Bxc3+? (9..d6!) allowing the top seed's 12 Ba3! with decisive threats to d6. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Nigel Short, the 1993 world title challenger, is making a rare competitive appearance this week in the Bangkok Open, where his third round win started with the Grand Prix Attack and led to a devastating assault on his opponent's king. England swept the board at last week's European Senior over-50 and over-65 Championships at Swidnica, Poland, last weekend, winning three team golds, one team bronze, and 14 individual medals. Both England 50+, led by Michael Adams, and England 65+, headed by John Nunn, won every match and neither lost a single game. Such a feat would normally rank much higher in this column, but entries for the event were low both in quality and quantity. The European Seniors were staged only two months after the World Seniors in Prague, a popular venue, while many seniors have been deterred by Fide's overzealous Fair Play anti-cheating officials, which sparked a public rebuke by Malcolm Pein in Chess magazine. BBC Two's Chess Masters: The Endgame reaches episode seven (of eight) on Easter Monday at 8pm. Audience numbers, supplied by Broadcast, remain rock solid at 600.000, 5% of the viewing audience, and indicative of a significant loyal fan base. Next Monday's episode will include an appearance by Bodhana Sivanandan, the Harrow 10-year-old who has become globally famous. Sivanandan is likely to take on all six remaining contestants simultaneously, a feat which will be familiar to her. Here is how, at age eight, she defeated Harrow Chess Club 5-1. What do retired grandmasters do? One answer, as explained here by GM Jonathan Levitt, is to write song lyrics about Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. 3968: 1…Rf4! wins with the threat 2…g3 and 3…Qh2 mate. If 2 Qc3 Qh4 3 Qc8+ Kh7 and White has no defence to 4…g3.
