5/4/25 Update

Below are some recent happenings from the chess world:

The Superbet Rapid & Blitz tournament in Poland was dominated by GM Fedoseev (Russian but now playing for Slovenia). His total of 26.5 points was 5 points ahead of 2nd place GM MVL. Fedoseev scored 15.5 points out of 18 in Blitz! Reminder this tournament was 9 rounds of rapid (2/1/0 scoring) and 18 rounds of Blitz (1/0.5/0 scoring).

Following his win at Menorca (8/9 and 0.5 points ahead of 2nd/3rd places), GM Ivanchuk is back in the Top 100 in the world (now #82 and last month was #157).

Shout out to GM Christopher Yoo (from the Bay Area and likely has played a number of Kolty members) who evidently beat Carlsen, albeit in 3+1 Freestyle Blitz. Nevertheless, quite an achievement for a local talent. Of course Hans Moke Neimann spent much of his youth in the local area but his Carlsen connection is on a different level.

The last event of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix begins in a few days in Austria. The top 2 spots qualify for the next Women’s Candidate Tournament. Goryachkina leads overall with 308.34 points but she is not playing in Austria. However, 2nd place Zhu Jiner and 3rd place Anna Muzychuk are playing. Jiner needs a top 3 finish to leapfrog Goryachkina while Muzychuk needs a clear first to do the same. The A. Muzychuk- Zhu pairing is for Round 2 on 5/7/25. As usual you can find games and link to the tournament website on lichess broadcasts.

In browsing through lichess I came across a few interesting blogs (actually more but I focus on just three).

2) Somebody has identified there favorites from the last month (indicates this will be monthly): trainingaccount996's Blog • TOP 10 Classical Games of April 2025 • lichess.org

3) The same author has a separate article focusing on the top blunders - not top level games but you might find interesting. trainingaccount996's Blog • Biggest Blunders in Classical (April 2025) • lichess.org

In reading through Ben Johnson’s Perpetual Chess Linkfest I came across a link (in one of the stories) to a blog post by IM Kostya Kavutskiy regarding his recent trip to the Reyknavik Open. The article was about his experience meeting and befriending legendary GM Ivanchuk and their analyzing throughout the tournament. Great content! 2025 Spring EuroTrip - by Kostya Kavutskiy

In Ben Johnson’s (the same guy) weekly podcast he interviews local (well, Santa Cruz) NM Dana Mackenzie who is also a published author (math/science). BTW, Mackenzie is a previous Kolty Club Champion. The 5 Keys to Becoming a Chess Master & other Advice and Stories w/ Author NM Dana Mackenzie - YouTube

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