Find the right combination! ChessBase 15 program + new Mega Database 2020 with 8 million games and more than 80,000 master analyses. Plus ChessBase Magazine (DVD + magazine) and CB Premium membership for 1 year!

Last year Komodo won the world championship title on two occasions and can call itself â€œ2019 World Computer Chess Championâ€ and â€œ2019 World Chess Software Championâ€. And the current Komodo 14 has been clearly improved over its predecessor!

3/8/2015 – During the weekend, the Vladimir Petrov Memorial was held in Jurmala, Latvia. The blitz and rapid tournament enjoyed a rather prestigious turnout with names such as Sergey Karjakin, Vasil Ivanchuk, Alexander Morozevich, just to name a few, while accepting inscriptions from players of all levels. The tournament was a high level with plenty of photos.

If the name Vladimir Petrov does not ring a bell, do not worry, he is not a recent name from the rosters. The Latvian player, born in Riga, Latvia in 1907, passed away in 1943 after having been sent to the Gulag for criticizing decreased living standards in his country after the Soviet annexation in 1940. He played for Latvia in seven chess Olympiads from 1928 to 1939, and his most prestigious tournament result was his victory at Kemeri in 1937, tied for first with Samuel Reshevsky and Salo Flohr, ahead of Alexander Alekhine, Paul Keres, Endre Steiner, Savielly Tartakower, Reuben Fine, Gideon Ståhlberg and others.

At the opening, Alexei Shirov, one of Riga's most famous chess players, receives a book

The Memorial held in his name would have made him proud, as it was not only played in the City Museum of Jurmala in elegant surroundings, but included numerous players from the elite yet with no imposition of exclusivity, allowing anyone to play and enjoy the chance to try and be that hero.

On Friday, the blitz tournament was held with over 130 players

Chess battles were waged on the board and off

It was won by Vladimir Malakhov, tied for first with 8.0/10, edging out on tiebreak Daniel Fridman,

Valentina Gunina, and Loek Van Wely, who all shared 8.0/10 as well

Valentina Gunina showed that women are not to be trifled with

Final blitz standings

Click for complete standings (note that ratings are FIDE Blitz)

The tournament was held in the elegant surroundings of the City Museum of Jurmala

Top players such as Boris Gelfand came to play. The Israeli finished third with 8.5/11.

Sergey Karjakin also participated, beating Gelfand on tiebreak, and finishing second with 8.5/11

Several top female players were also present such as Alexandra Kosteniuk

WGM Olga Girya was the top scoring woman in the rapid with 6.5/11

The key game was between Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Vasil Ivanchuk. Ivanchuk won a

fine game with a nice finish and took sole first with 9.0/11. He also gained 26 Rapid Elo, and

is now world no.4 in FIDE Rapid.

Mamedyarov - Ivanchuk

[Event "Petrov Memorial Rapid"] [Site "Jurmala"] [Date "2015.03.08"] [Round "7"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vasil"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E39"] [WhiteElo "2756"] [BlackElo "2731"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "LAT"] [TimeControl "900+6"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 O-O 6. Nf3 Na6 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. Qxc3 Nxc5 9. e3 d6 10. Be2 e5 11. b4 Nce4 12. Qc2 Bg4 13. Bd3 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Ng5 15. Ke2 Rc8 16. Rd1 Qe7 17. h4 {[#]} Nxf3 $1 {winning material.} 18. Kxf3 e4+ 19. Bxe4 (19. Kg2 {isn't really an improvement.} exd3 20. Rxd3 Ng4 21. Rd4 Qxh4 {with a decisive advantage.} 22. Qf5 Qh2+ 23. Kf1 Ne5 {etc.}) 19... Nxe4 20. Bb2 ({The reason for the move played in the game is that after} 20. Qxe4 Qf6+ { Black picks up the rook on a1.}) 20... f5 21. Rg1 Rf7 22. Ke2 Qe6 23. Rac1 f4 24. Qd3 fxe3 25. f3 Nd2 26. Qd4 Rcc7 27. Qxa7 Qh3 28. Qxe3 Rce7 0-1 [Event "Petrov Memorial Rapid"] [Site "Jurmala"] [Date "2015.03.08"] [Round "7"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vasil"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E39"] [WhiteElo "2756"] [BlackElo "2731"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "LAT"] [TimeControl "900+6"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 O-O 6. Nf3 Na6 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. Qxc3 Nxc5 9. e3 d6 10. Be2 e5 11. b4 Nce4 12. Qc2 Bg4 13. Bd3 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Ng5 15. Ke2 Rc8 16. Rd1 Qe7 17. h4 {[#]} Nxf3 $1 {winning material.} 18. Kxf3 e4+ 19. Bxe4 (19. Kg2 {isn't really an improvement.} exd3 20. Rxd3 Ng4 21. Rd4 Qxh4 {with a decisive advantage.} 22. Qf5 Qh2+ 23. Kf1 Ne5 {etc.}) 19... Nxe4 20. Bb2 ({The reason for the move played in the game is that after} 20. Qxe4 Qf6+ { Black picks up the rook on a1.}) 20... f5 21. Rg1 Rf7 22. Ke2 Qe6 23. Rac1 f4 24. Qd3 fxe3 25. f3 Nd2 26. Qd4 Rcc7 27. Qxa7 Qh3 28. Qxe3 Rce7 0-1

Evgeny Sveshnikov was the surprise winner over Evgeny Tomashevsky

Polish GM Monika Socko also took down rising star Vladimir Fedoseev in round seven

German GM Daniel Fridman who finished 7th with 8.0/11 was born in Riga

Richard Rapport's girlfriend Jovana Vojinovic also joined the fun

Final rapid standings

Click for complete standings (note that ratings are FIDE Rapid)

Photos by Maria Emilianova