Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Future Chess
This post is a collaboration with Mr Andrew Crosby who is an expert in chess gambits.
Andrew usually plays them in his games with great success. In addition, he is an active member of our virtual Chess.com club taking part in our online tournaments and matches..
The use of computers is widespread in the preparation of professional chess players. They help not only in developing new lines but also in finding new ideas and plans in well established positions.
We had a recent example in the game that Praggnanandhaa and Keymer played in the opening round of the Prague Masters 2024, which celebrated its 6th edition.
After the game, both players revealed their preparation for that line using chess engines. But as it became clear, Pragg did the best job. The 24 first moves were part of Pragg’s home preparation. However, Keymer needed a long thought after move 19, which suggests that Pragg’s 19th move was a surprise for him.
It’s worth mentioning that Keymer had played the same line starting with 9…Nh5 in a blitz competition the previous year. So, we can conclude that those professional chess players make a thorough study of their opponents’ games.
Praggnanandhaa confessed that he didn’t think Keymer would repeat this dubious line, but he was prepared just in case. A deep preparation from Pragg’s side!
It’s worth remembering that Praggnanandhaa is going to play in the Candidates Tournament in April and this game shows that he is working seriously for it.
Undoubtedly the players entered a complicated game where Praggnanandhaa was a piece down from move 13. And they had to work hard: Pragg in finding the best moves to carry on his attack, and Keymer in finding the best defensive moves.
After this game, Jonathan Tisdall, grandmaster and journalist, made the following insightful comment: “Pragg-Keymer sums up modern/future chess for me; ancient opening, reams of engine information, complications so mind-bending that time trouble ensues immediately upon coping independently with machine ‘equality'”
Maybe you play chess but are unable to attend a local club. If that is your case, then join our virtual Chess.com club. On our site, we regularly play online tournaments and team matches. More than 1000 members enjoy that chance and new players join every week. We have new tournaments scheduled for the coming months waiting for players! Join now! Additionally, we have a puzzle section and we have recently started to practice the variant of ‘Vote Chess’. Although not very popular, ‘Vote Chess’ is an effective educational tool for learning together.
