Latest news with #GrenkeFreestyleOpen
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.
Spectator
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Spectator
No. 848
White to play. Dardha-Sorensen, Grenke Freestyle Open, 2025. The knight forks rook and bishop, and Re6-e3 runs into another fork with Nd4-c2+. Which move enabled Dardha to decide the game in his favour? Email answers to chess@ by Monday 5 May. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address. Last week's solution 1…Bf3 with the idea 2 gxf3 Rh6 mate. White tried 2 Be6 but resigned after 2…Rxg2+ Last week's winner Phil Hair, Cambusbarron, Stirling
The Guardian
25-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
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. 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, Kai, Thalia and Lula will decide the winner. 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 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.
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.
