Today’s podcast once again reaches you from Paphos, in Cyprus, where at the luxurious Cap Saint Georges hotel the Candidates tournament has come to an end after two weeks of excitement and captivating chess.
My guest is Anish Giri, one of the main protagonists in this gruelling battle to determine the challenger of World Champion Gukesh later this year. Anish was one of the pretournament favourites and one of the absolute stars of the 2026 Candidates, but in the end he, too, had to bow to the exceptional performance of the winner, twenty-year-old Javokhir Sindarov from Uzbekistan.Anish finished in second place, one and a half points behind Sindarov’s phenomenal 10 out of 14, but one full point ahead of third place Fabiano Caruana, another clear pretournament favourite.Of course, finishing second in such an elite field is a marvellous result – and it comes with a consolation prize of 130,000 euros - but it’s also the cruellest of results in a cutthroat competition where only first place175
Today’s podcast reaches you from Paphos, in Cyprus, on a rest day of the Candidates tournament, after ten of the fourteen rounds have been played. My guest is Boris Gelfand.Â
For many years, Boris was one of the best players in the world and even if he plays less today, he remains a formidable opponent. Boris is here in Cyprus as an honorary guest and I am glad that he accepted my invitation to talk not only about this Candidates tournament, but also about his own rich experience in the world championship cycle. Boris has successfully played in the Candidates, won Interzonals and a World Cup and was the Challenger of Vishy Anand in the World Championship match in Moscow in 2012.
We sat down for our talk at the venue of the Candidates, the luxurious five-star Cap St. Georges Hotel in Paphos on the west coast of Cyprus. The big question here is whether the tournament is still exciting or whether we already know the winner. With four rounds to go it looks like Uzbek star Javokhir Sindarov175
GM Daniel King publishes a variety of interesting chess materials on his YouTube channel PowerPlayChess, ranging from puzzles to book reviews.
A few months ago, he interviewed our author, Slovakian grandmaster Jan Markos, about the sequel to his first book, Under The Surface. Like its predecessor, the Second Edition seeks to lay a finger on what differentiates chess professionals from club players. Jan's conclusion is that it does not just come down to faster and more accurate calculation. Grandmaster can see deeper. In his words: they can see a deep sea full of colourful fish and coral, where we can only see the glistening surface.Â
The second edition of the book explores a few topics that weren't covered in the first installment. Everyone knows that the bishop pair is "good", but how does one utilise them effectively? When are piece trades favourable and when are they to be avoided? How does one deal with pawn avalanches? Together with Daniel, Jan discusses these topics and elucidates175
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