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GM Hikaru Nakamura (2768) won his 5th Speed Championship by defeating world champion Magnus Carlsen (2859), 14.5 to 13.5. The event was played on chess.com. There were 3 different time controls. The event was a 16-player knockout with a $100,000 prize fund.

Andrey Filatov (1971- ) has been re-elected President of the Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) after beating GM Sergey Karjakin (1990- ) in the election. Filatov has been president of the CFR since 2014. He will remain in office until 2026. Filatov's wealth is $920 million.

My latest chess book, 600 Reti Miniatures, is now available at Amazon. Are you ready for the Reti? amazon.com/dp/B0BQ9R289F

A new look, thanks to webmaster Thomas K., with more chess articles, updates articles, fixed or deleted broken links, and over 66,000 games in PGN format that I have played over the past 54 years around the world and online everywhere. Thanks for following and your support.

Top FIDE ratings for March 2023: Carlsen – 2852, Nepomniachtchi – 2795, Ding – 2788, Firouzja – 2785, Giri – 2768, Nakamura – 2768, Caruana – 2766, So – 2761, Anand – 2754, Radjabov – 2747, Aronian – 2745, Rapport – 2745, Grischuk – 2745, Dominguez – 2743, Mamedyarov – 2738

The World Chess Ch. starts April 7 in Astana, Kazakhstan. Magnus Carlsen decided not to defend his title, so it will be Ian Nepomniachtchi vs. Ding Liren. Ian won the Candidates tourney in 2022 and is rated #2 in the world. Ding was the runner-up and is rated #3 in the world.

My latest book, available at Amazon. Bobby Fischer - 500 Winning Games. Working on Tal next.

1st game was drawn in the FIDE world championship match in Astana, Kazakhstan. Nepomniachtchi-Ding game drew after 49 moves. Opening was a Ruy Lopez. It is a 14-game match. First to 7.5 points wins, unless tied. Nepo may be favored to win the event. Time control is 40/120.

The second game of the 2023 FIDE World Chess Championship is over. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2800) won game two as Black in 29 moves against GM Ding Liren (2783). The opening was 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.h3 (a new move at top-level chess) 4…dxc4. Game 3 will be on April 12.

Game 3 in the FIDE World Chess Championship ended in draw by repletion after 30 moves. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi had White against GM Ding Liren. The opening was a Queen's Gambit Declined – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 O-O.

GM Ding Liren, as White, wins game 4 in 47 moves against Nepo in the FIDE world chess championship. Opening was yhr English Opening, 4 Knights variation. 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2. The match is now tied. Game 5 begins on Saturday after a rest day,

GM Ian Nepommiachtchi as White outplayed GM Ding Liren and won in game 5 in 48 moves. The opening was a Ruy Lopez. Ding Liren, as White, won in game 6 in 44 moves. It was a Queen Pawn opening (London System). After 6 games, the score is tied 3-3. Next games is on Tuesday.

GM Ian Nepomniachtchi won game 7 against GM Ding Liren in the 2023 FIDE world chess championship. He won in 37 moves. The opening was a French Defense (last played in a world ch in 1978) – 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4. Ding was in time pressure later in the game.

GM Ding Liren is the 2023 FIDE World Champion, beating GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in the rapid tiebreak game of 4 games. The match was a 7-7 tie. Ding won 1.1 million Euros. Ding won his final game as Black in 68 moves, playing a Ruy Lopez. The match was played in Astana, Kazakhstan.

They are getting younger. Alice Lee (born Oct 12, 2009) earned an International Master title at age 13. She is the youngest American-born female to do so. Pending certification, she will be a Woman GM. My newest book is available at Amazon.

GM Hikaru Nakamura recently married Atousa Pourkashiyan. Congratulations. Atousa is an Iranian-American Woman Grandmaster. She won the Iranian women’s championship 7 times. She came to the USA in 2022. My latest book is out – Tal’s Short Chess Games. amazon.com/Mikhail-Short-…

GM Magnus Carlsen won the 10th FIDE The World Cup, held in Baku. This is the 1st time he won it. He earned $110,000. GM Praggnanandhaa of India took 2nd and GM Fabiano Caruana of the USA took 3rd place. The knockout event had 206 players with a $2.5 million prize fund.

Still getting younger. Alice Lee of Minnesota, rated 2471, just became an International Master at age 13. She was an expert at age 8 and a master at age 10. My latest book, 600 Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Miniatures, is available at Amazon.

GM Fabiano Caruana won the US championship for the 3rd time. GM Wesley So took 2nd. Caruana was unbeaten with 8.5 points and won $60,000. IM Carissa Yip won the US women’s championship for the 2nd time. The event was held in St Louis.