Round 4 of the FIDE World Championship was played today between the reigning champion, GM Magnus Carlsen and his challenger, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. (title image - FIDE / Niki Riga) Lichess is providing a broadcast of the moves being played in real-time. Additionally, GM Nijat Abasov is providing game annotations and insights on the games daily. Round four’s game annotations can be found below. Carlsen, celebrating his 31st birthday today, had the white pieces and opened the game with 1. e4. The Russian challenger, Nepomniachtchi chose to meet it with the Petrov (also known as the Russian Defence). As GM Nijat Abasov writes in the game annotations below, it seems likely Nepomniachtchi combined the best preparation of Caruana - recalling that Caruana paralysed Carlsen’s 1. e4 with two Petrovs back in 2018 (game 6 and game 11)

https://lichess.org/study/RoBvWqfx/JDlmzvy9 Generally, similar to the other games so far, both players were deeply prepared and struggled to make significant progress against each other. Neither player made any significant errors, and consequently there were hardly any finger-holds from which to extract a better position. Going into what was evaluated as a drawn middlegame, Carlsen teased a repetition. A few tries were made, but Nepomniachtchi couldn’t be fooled - and threefold occurred. Consequently, the game was drawn on move 33 - the shortest game of the match so far. The next game will be played tomorrow, 1st December 12:30 UTC. For more details on the tournament, you can review our first round recap which has more information. (GM Nijat Abasov achieved the GM title at just 15. He was Azeri national champion in 2017, also winning the Baku Open the same year. He has played the Tata Steel Challengers and the Grand Swiss (twice), amongst many other tournaments, reaching his all-time peak rating of 2670 in February 2020. He recently represented Azerbaijan at the European Team Championships, winning a board prize with a performance rating of 2760).

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Round 3 of the FIDE World Championship was played today between the reigning champion, the Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen and his challenger, the Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. (title image - FIDE / Eric Rosen) Lichess is providing a broadcast of the moves being played in real-time. Additionally, GM Nijat Abasov is providing game annotations and insights on the games daily. Round three’s game annotations can be found below. Carlsen, playing with the black pieces today, responded to Nepomniachtchi’s invitation of 1. e4 with another closed Ruy Lopez - similar to their first round clash. Whereas in the first round, Nepomniachtchi played 8. h3, today he tried another anti-Marshall line with 8. a4. This line was more well-trodden than their previous games, with the first novel move coming at move 15. Nepomniachtchi had a mean bishop pair and it looked like near absolute central control, but Carlsen’s position was still secure enough to prevent any obvious attacks. In any event, it appeared that Nepomniachtchi again potentially had the slight upper hand - although engines evaluated the position as nearly dead equal. 

https://lichess.org/study/embed/RoBvWqfx/1dx8ll2B After a strong build up of tension, almost all major pieces were traded off, followed by rooks being traded off shortly after. They simplified into a theoretical draw, with same-coloured bishops, and both players knew the other would be able to trivially defend - meaning the third round also ended in a tense and gripping draw. Lichess analysed the game afterwards with Stockfish 14 NNUE, where it was assessed as being an incredibly accurate 3 average centipawn loss for white, and 2 average centipawn loss for black. This seems to be the most accurately played (as assessed by an engine) FIDE World Championship game to have ever been played. When asked how both players felt about making history, Carlsen remarked “it fills me with pride...but it’s still only half a point!”. Meanwhile, Nepomniachtchi wryly joked, “that’s quite a murky question to bring up just before the anti-doping test.”

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Round 2 of the FIDE World Championship was played today between the reigning champion, the Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen and his challenger, the Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. Lichess is providing a broadcast of the moves being played in real-time. Additionally, GM Nijat Abasov is providing game annotations and insights on the games daily. Round one’s game annotations can be found here and round two's can be found further below. 

Carlsen, with the white pieces, played the Catalan - an opening he’s been increasingly flirting with since the World Cup in Sochi. Much like yesterday, Nepomniachtchi was undeterred and despite being in a novel position by move 8, neither player seemed unprepared. As FIDE commentator and 15th world champion GM Viswanathan Anand touched on, this could have been because they came close to transposing into a fiery and well-studied 1992 rapid game between Shirov and Gelfand.

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Round 1 of the FIDE World Championship was played today between the reigning champion, the Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen, and his challenger, the Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. Nepomniachtchi is playing under the Chess Federation of Russia flag due to WADA sanctions on Russia. (title image - FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich makes the symbolic first move for GM Ian Nepomniachtchi - FIDE / Niki Riga) Played in a balmy Dubai - enjoying winter sun and temperatures over 25 degrees - the two players will battle it out across 14 games to determine who carries the crown of world champion. In addition to the title signifying who is the undisputed best chess player in the world, a prize fund of $2,000,000 (USD) is also at stake. Lichess will be providing a broadcast of the moves being played in real-time. Additionally, GM Nijat Abasov will be providing game annotations and insights on the games daily, which can be found below:

https://lichess.org/study/embed/RoBvWqfx/FncZMPtk#1 (GM Nijat Abasov achieved the GM title at just 15. He was Azeri national champion in 2017, also winning the Baku Open the same year. He has played the Tata Steel Challengers and the Grand Swiss (twice), amongst many other tournaments, reaching his all-time peak rating of 2670 in February 2020. He recently represented Azerbaijan at the European Team Championships, winning a board prize with a performance rating of 2760).

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We’ve been waiting for this day for a very long time - the FIDE World Championship match between reigning champion since 2013, GM Magnus Carlsen, and his challenger, the Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. To be precise, it has been 720 days since the start of the dramatic 2020/21 Candidates Tournament, which was won convincingly by Nepomniachtchi. (title image - FIDE / Eric Rosen) The first game will be starting tomorrow, 26 November at 12:30 UTC. Lichess will be providing a broadcast of the moves being played in real-time. The schedule of the tournament is unusual, with many rest days for the players, so please review it carefully:

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The November Lichess Bullet Titled Arena was won by GM Oleksandr Bortnyk, who had also won the November Lichess Blitz Titled Arena. Bullet maverick GM Andrew Tang, who closely trailed behind Bortnyk and had a taste of the #1 spot at several points in the tournament, finished in second place. Third place went to the ever-consistent GM Dmitry Andreikin. Finishing in the money in fourth and fifth place were the anonymous GM Feeglood and the rising young star, IM Denis Lazavik.

It became clear that the tournament was going to be a two-horse (and a penguin?) race about 40 minutes into the tournament, when Bortnyk and Tang were already 7 points ahead of third place. At that point, Tang was leading with 50 points and Bortnyk was on a streak and had 48 points. Tang also had a good start, as 2 minutes in, he was already leading the tournament. However, he lost the lead after a berserk gone wrong, but bounced back with a win and then even managed to eke out a berserk win against Crazyhouse World Champion, NM Jasugi99. Bortnyk and Tang would then take turns at the lead, with Bortnyk amassing a 6-point lead an hour into the tournament. At that moment, Bortnyk was at 92 points, Tang at 86, and GM Sanan Sjugirov was only at 63 points in third place.

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If you missed our rounds 1 to 6 recap, and want to read that first, you can read it here. As a reminder, the Grand Swiss in the Open category gives two spots to the Candidates Tournament (to 1st and 2nd place), and 5 spots to the Grand Prix (3rd to 8th), a tournament which also gives the opportunity to enter the Candidates Tournament. In the Women’s category, 1st place receives a spot into the Women’s Candidates, with 2nd to 5th earning a spot in the Women’s Grand Prix. (title image credit: GM Alireza Firouzja - FIDE / Anna Shtourman) The Tal Memorial was a one day, 18 round blitz event which is a separate event but was hosted just a day after the closing ceremony of the Grand Swiss. In the Open category, Iranian prodigy GM Alireza Firouzja continued to dazzle, winning the event outright on 8 / 11. American stalwart GM Fabiano Caruana came second on tie-break, with 7.5 / 11, ahead of Russian GM Grigoriy Oparin who came third (the same points, but a worse Buchholz score, used as the first tie-break).  Joining Oparin in the Grand Prix, GMs Yu Yangyi, Vincent Keymer, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alexei Shirov came 3rd to 8th place, all on 7 / 11. Also on 7 / 11 but nudged out due to the tiebreaks included GMs David Howell, Anton Korobov, Andrey Esipenko and Vladislav Artemiev, amongst several others.  In the Women’s category, Chinese GM Lei Tingjie raced away with the event, with a completely dominant 9 / 11. German GM-elect, Elisabeth Paehtz, took 2nd place with 7.5 / 11, nudging ahead of WGM Zhu Jiner on tiebreak, who took 3rd. GMs Mariya Muzychuk and Harika Dronavilli will be joining Paehtz and Jiner in the Grand Prix, taking 4th and 5th on tie-break with 7 / 11.  Meanwhile, in the Tal Memorial - a blitz event held a day after the Grand Swiss - Ukrainian GM Kirill Shevchenko took 1st with 14 / 18, followed by GM Fabiano Caruana on 13.5 / 18 in 2nd place, ahead of GM Arjun Erigaisi on tie-break who came 3rd also with 13.5 / 18. 

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The November Lichess Blitz Titled Arena was won by GM Oleksandr Bortnyk. Bortnyk put up a brilliant performance as he lost the lead at multiple points but always managed to bounce back. Second and third place went to IM Minh Le and GM Aram Hakobyan, respectively. Finishing in the money, in fourth and fifth place, were FM Heisenberg01 and IM Mahammad Muradli. The top players in the blitz Titled Arena, as usual, decided to opt for a berserk-all strategy, turning the "fast blitz" tournament into a medium-paced bullet event. Bortnyk and Le finished the tournament with an astounding 100% berserk rate, while kyart2 had a 48% berserk rate.

As always in these large blitz arenas with a plethora of strong players, the first hour saw a lot of jousting for the coveted first place spot. FM Heisenberg01, CM Dmitry Rostovtsev, Bortnyk, GM David Paravyan, Muradli, and a few others had a brief taste of the throne. By the second hour, the battle remained rather tight, with Heisenberg01, Bortnyk, and Muradli topping the standings and taking turns on first. However, ninety minutes into the tournament, Heisenberg01 put on his running shoes and was, at one point, nine points ahead of the field.

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The FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss tournament was always going to have exciting games overlooked by the global pandemic - but it was unexpected by just how much. The action continues today and for the next five days with all games in the Open and Women's broadcast on Lichess from midday (12:00) UTC.

(all image credits - FIDE / Mark Livshitz / Anna Shtourman)

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A recent poster (@jcw024) on GitHub and Reddit tried to answer this question by using the Lichess games database. The database has served as a resource for many projects over the years, including Maia chess (a human-like neural network chess engine that's playable), and an analysis of whether the low time alarm makes people play worse. There's a full list at the bottom of the database page and we look forward to seeing what other cool projects people create! This article is an edited summary, but if you'd like to see the full details they are available on GitHub.

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