On Monday, April 3rd, the 4th edition of the Chessable Masters tournament will begin. It’s the largest-ever edition of the event, and what would the Chessable Masters be if it didn’t have several of your favorite Chessable authors playing in it?
In this post, we will introduce and showcase the authors playing in the tournament and their Chessable courses. Without further ado, let’s get started.
Magnus Carlsen
A player that perhaps needs no introduction is Magnus Carlsen. Largely considered the greatest player in the history of chess, Carlsen is the reigning world champion, and the Chessable Masters tournament is significant as this is the last major tournament he will play before he relinquishes his World Chess Champion title, a title he has held for a decade.
Carlsen’s list of feats is endless and includes a peak classical rating of 2882, the highest in history. He also holds the record for the longest unbeaten streak of 125 games.
The “Mozart of Chess” is known to grind out wins in what would be drawn positions for most other players via his unwavering persistence, unparalleled positional intuition, and excellent command of tactics.
Carlsen has authored many courses on Chessable over the years, including Grind Like a Grandmaster, a course exemplifying and showing how to find winning plans, and The Magnus Touch series, with courses teaching how to use the same strategies Carlsen uses in his games.
Liem Quang Le
Grandmaster Liem Quang Le is the top-rated player from Vietnam.
He has been an absolute titan on the Asian chess circuit since winning a gold medal in the 2003 Asian Youth Championship. He racked up numerous youth awards before making his mark on the international chess scene. Some of his biggest achievements include winning the 2013 World Blitz Championship, 2019 World Open, and 2019 Saint Louis Chess Classic.
He’s also a veteran of the Chessable Masters tournament, having placed 2nd in the 2021 edition, the same year he released his first course for Chessable, Lifetime Repertoires: London System.
Hikaru Nakamura
Another household name, Hikaru Nakamura is known as much for his chess skills as his online personality, being one of the most popular chess streamers in the world, helping popularize chess during the chess boom of the last few years.
Nakamura is particularly strong in the rapid and blitz time controls, having reached no. 1 in both categories and has constantly remained near the top spot for both. He is also a strong player in classical time controls and has recently shown to be a strong contender in this category.
The five-time US national champion has released one course for Chessable, Nakamura’s Conquest: King’s Indian Defense.
Wesley So
American Grandmaster Wesley So began chess at the age of 9 as a child prodigy and broke the 2600 barrier before the age of 15.
With a peak rating of 2882 and a former 2nd-ranked world player, So has been a crucial member of the US Olympiad teams, having helped them win a gold medal at the 2016 Olympiad in Baku.
So also won the 2019 FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship and authored a course on the variant, The Ascent – Wesley So’s Fischer Random Strategies and Tactics. In addition to this course, So has released a two-part series on the King’s Pawn Opening, Lifetime Repertoires: Wesley So’s 1.e4.
Levon Aronian
Armenian native Levon Aronian is another former prodigy of the game, having learned to play at just 9 years old, the same year he turned pro.
His first international success came shortly after when he won the Under-12 category of the 1994 World Youth Chess Championship ahead of future super-grandmasters.
In 2002, he won the 82nd Armenian Championship, as well as the 41st World Junior Championship without dropping a single game. Aronian also won the 2005 and 2017 FIDE World Cup, led the Armenian national team to gold medals in the 2006, 2008, and 2012 Olympiads, and captured the world title in Chess960, rapid and blitz chess.
A highly tactical player, Aronian switched federations to the United States in 2021 and is now part of the country’s Olympiad team.
Aronian has released one course for Chessable, Levon Aronian’s Beauty of Chess – Vol. 1.
Anish Giri
Anish Giri is an all-out class act in the world of chess. A top-10 player in the world, one of Chessable’s most popular and prolific authors, and a beloved commentator, Giri has done more than his fair share in popularizing the game.
His tournament victories include the prestigious 2021 Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee, 2012 Reggio Emilia, 2017 Reykjavik Open, 2019 Shenzhen Masters, three individual bronze medals in the World Chess Olympiad, and four Dutch National Championships. He was a World Championship Candidate in 2016 and 2020.
He is also known for his opening expertise, exemplified by his courses, such as Lifetime Repertoires: Giri’s French Defense and his 1.e4 opening series, Lifetime Repertoires: Giri’s 1. e4.
Georg Meier
Georg Meier is a German-born Grandmaster who currently represents Uruguay on the international stage.
Meier started playing chess almost as soon as he could walk. In 2011, as part of the German team, he won the European Team Championship scoring 5.5/9 on board two.
In January 2012, he reached his maximum Elo- a stunning 2671- making him then the 75th strongest player in the world.
He is considered an endgame expert, and the world’s foremost expert on the French Rubinstein variation as Black. He released his first course for Chessable last year, Fundamentals of Endgame Strategy, which was nominated for Best Strategy Course of 2022.
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik is an authentic legend of the game. The 14th World Champion is still showing up to top tournaments and putting up results.
In 2000, Kramnik dethroned Garry Kasparov, one of the greatest players ever, to win the World Championship title, and defended his title twice against GM Peter Leko in 2004 and GM Veselin Topalov in 2006.
Kramnik was the second player ever to cross the 2800 rating threshold. His contributions to chess cannot be overstated.
He has produced a few successful Chessable courses, including a guide on how to think in chess, and a three-part series on 1.e4.
David Antón Guijarro
Known as “El Niño”, Spanish GM David Antón has made several appearances at the Champions Chess Tour and has scored victories at tournaments such as Tata Steel Challengers 2020 and the Spanish Championship 2020.
An ambitious player, Antón Guijarro crossed the 2700 rating barrier to become a super-GM just before the Covid pandemic hit. He is also a frequent commentator on Spanish broadcasts on Chess24. He has released a complete repertoire on 1.e4 e5 for Black on Chessable.
Be on the lookout for all these players starting Monday. You can follow the tournament live on Chess.com/TV, the Chess.com Twitch channel, or on YouTube.com/ChesscomLive.
