With two rounds left in the $140,000 Women’s Grand Prix, India’s Rameshbabu Vaishali, 22, the older sister of Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, leads with 7/9, half a point ahead of China’s former world champion Tan Zhongyi and Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk. Royal can still achieve a GM norm if he scores at least 1.5 in the final two rounds. But then Royal misplaced his rook at h4, was hit by the tactical bombs 18…Bh6! and 19…Nf6! which transformed the position, and a later queen sacrifice led to checkmate for the Russian. However, in the ninth round, when Royal required only a draw for his second grandmaster norm (of three needed for the title), he had an early edge against Volodar Murzin’s King’s Indian.

The 14-year-old from Greenwich has met 2600+ grandmasters in all his nine games and this performance must count as the best yet of his fledgling career. Nikita Vitiugov, the former Russian who is now England No 1, is unbeaten with 5.5/9, within striking distance of the leaders, after a complex ninth-round draw against Hans Niemann. Sindarov is already an Olympiad gold medallist, and Caruana singled him out as a future top-10 player. Unfortunately for the US duo, they are paired together in Saturday’s 10th and penultimate round.Įarlier, Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov, 17, won a vintage 24-move miniature against Samuel Sevian of the US, then displayed impressive analytical skills as he explained his ideas in his post-game interview. Caruana broke through in round eight, as he took advantage of an endgame error by France’s Étienne Bacrot to win in 60 moves.Īfter nine of the 11 rounds, the leaders are Andrey Esipenko (Russia), Gujrathi Vidit (India), Bogdan-Daniel Deac (Romania), Caruana and Nakamura (US) and Parham Maghsoodloo (Iran) all 6.5, then six players on 6. It's a far cry away from the big video and mobile games of today but that's exactly why it's worth playing, it brings you back to the good old days of football before the flashing lights, big cash and business tycoons changed the game forever.In the critical ninth round, Nakamura converted an extra pawn against Bulgaria’s Ivan Cheparinov in 61 moves, after his opponent missed drawing opportunities. The distinguishing factor that sets Subbuteo apart from games like Dungeons and Dragons, however, is the fact you're kicking around a tiny football by flicking slightly larger (but still very tiny) players around a miniature football pitch. It has a playing surface of pre-determined dimensions, a set of rules that must be followed for its gameplay, and literally hundreds of tiny player pieces ready to be collected and used in full-on miniature battles against opponents. Subbuteo is really just like any other of the table-top miniatures game in many respects.

Call me bias because I am! But this classic table top footy game has to come first on the list, partly due to nostalgia, partly due to the originality of it at the time it was first launched just after World War II (1947) and finally due to it's longevity - still entertaining people right now today and even used by some managers when discussing real life football tactics!

Soccer tactics world edition board game