7 h. ago Chess: Carlsen scores record nine out of nine at Grenke Freestyle Open

The world No 1 swept the board with a result comparable to the great performances of Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov and Alexander Alekhine, but it won’t count for Fide ratingsMagnus 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. Continue reading...

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7 d. ago Chess: Carlsen scores in Paris, leads Freestyle Grand Slam after two events

The world No 1 defeated his old rival and world No 2, Hikaru Nakamura, in the final, and took the $3.75m series lead before the third Slam event in Las VegasMagnus 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. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Chess: Magnus Carlsen in form at Paris Freestyle after Hans Niemann drops out

Carlsen was the early frontrunner in the second leg of the Freestyle Grand Slam in Paris, from which both Alireza Firouzja and Niemann withdrew shortly before the startMagnus Carlsen, the world No 1, was an early front runner in the $375,000 second leg of the Freestyle Grand Slam in Paris. The 34 year-old tied for first with Russia’s Ian ­Nepomniachtchi in the 12-player round robin which decided Thursday’s quarter-­finalists, and which proved a disaster for India. Three of their four contenders were eliminated, headed by the 18-year-old world champion, Gukesh ­Dommaraju, who also failed in the first Grand Slam leg in Germany. Friday’s semi-final pairings are Carlsen (Norway) v Fabiano Caruana (US) and Hikaru Nakamura (US) v ­Vincent Keymer (Germany).Gukesh could have qualified by beating Nepomniachtchi in the final round, but instead was brutally defeated in only 21 moves. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago George Robledo: Newcastle great with a record beyond Salah and Henry

Born in Chile, shaped by poverty and hard graft, the prolific inside forward holds a scoring record unbroken to this dayIt was a question that had everyone in the room stumped, almost to the point of silence. “Who holds the record for the most league goals scored by an overseas player in the top flight of English football in a single season?”I felt as if I should know the answer, having written about sport for the vast majority of my adult life. But I didn’t. There I was, appearing as a guest at the Brighton branch of Sporting Memories, a UK charity which encourages older people to meet and reminisce through talking about sport, and I’d seemingly been exposed as a total fraud. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Scott Tiffoney on the 'simple' Rangers reason for Dundee defeat and key lesson they must put into practice

The Dark Blues are the joint-third top scorers in the league, but have the worst defensive record

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3 w. ago Swansea City stun Leeds United in stoppage time as Vipotnik silences Elland Road

Swansea City scored deep into stoppage time to record a well-deserved 2-2 draw

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4 w. ago Magnus Carlsen makes cameo in BBC Two’s Chess Masters as drop in viewers slows

World No 1 made surprise appearance in Monday’s episode as viewer numbers again dropped, but more slowlyMagnus Carlsen, the world No 1, made a cameo appearance via video in Monday’s third episode of BBC Two’s Chess Masters: The Endgame, setting a challenge to memorise a position from a “special” World Blitz game. Viewer numbers, ­supplied by Broadcast, again dropped, but more slowly, from 890,000 in the first episode to 710,000 last week and 655,000 this time.Carlsen displayed the position after 29 Ka6 of his 2022 World Blitz game with ­Richard ­Rapport. Continue reading...

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