After winning his August 7–11 match against GM Anish Giri in the Netherlands, GM Hans Niemann plays against GM Nikita Vitiugov August 14–18 in London. The matches are part of “GM Hans Niemann against the World” series. The third and final match in the series is in Paris, August 20–24, against Étienne Bacrot. GM Hans Niemann against the World has a total prize pool of $100,000.
After facing Bacrot, Niemann plays in Paris again. He will face GM Magnus Carlsen on September 6, in a semifinal match in the Speed Chess Championship 2024.
Olympics and Olympiad
The 2024 Summer Olympics were in Paris from July 26 to August 11. France earned 64 medals and Great Britain earned 65 medals. However, France had more gold medals (16) than Great Britain (14).
The 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad will be September 10–23, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary. At the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022 in India, France finished in 13th place and England finished in 14th place.
French Defense
The rivalry between London and Paris stretches back centuries. One popular opening, the French Defense, got its name from a correspondence match played in 1834 between London and Paris. Players from Paris answered 1. e4 with 1…e6.
The opening is still popular today. The French Defense Advance Variation continues 2. d4 d5 3. e5. The d4 pawn is the base of the d4-e5 pawn chain. Black hopes to capture it, to weaken the e5 pawn. But the d4-pawn is often poisoned.
Advance French Structure
Typical French: Effective Middlegame Training is by GM Karsten Müller. Its description states, “This book only deals with positions in which the white pawns on d4 and e5 are opposed by black pawns on d5 and e6 – or those positions that can arise from this basic structure.”
Müller wrote that the book “consists exclusively of exercises.” Each exercise is from a real chess game. The source games are identified in the solutions section, which makes up more than three-fourths of the book.
One set of exercises asks whether Black can capture the d4-pawn in particular positions. The positions are complicated, but some stem from a simpler idea. Müller provides that “kindergarten version, so to speak” where Black should not capture.
To be determined
Paris on September 6 will be, for Carlsen and Niemann, “the first time they will meet for a game in-person since 2022, though they will play on a computer and not on a chessboard” writes Anthony Levin on Chess.com. The other semi-final match is between GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Alireza Firouzja. The winner of each semi-final match will play in the final.
The Chess.com article continues:
The Speed Chess Championship is Chess.com’s most important speed chess event. Some of the biggest names in chess compete to determine the best speed chess player in the world. The main event started with qualifiers on June 27 and 28 and concludes with the first-ever Final on September 8, live in Paris. The games are played with time controls of 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1. The prize fund is $173,000.
Will Niemann win his matches against Bacrot and Carlsen in Paris? Who will play in the Speed Chess Championship final? At the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad, will England or France finish higher in the standings? The answers are to be determined.
