Highlights
From the 2024 Chess Olympiad to Jan Markos' “Practical Tips for the Tournament Player” and Dorian Rogzenco's “Modern Classics” to “Fundamental Endgame Knowledge” with Dr Karsten Mueller:
Over 6 hours of video game time with Felix Blohberger, Martin Breutigam, Jan Markos, Mihail Marin, Karsten Mueller, Oliver Reeh, Robert Ris, Dorian Rogozenco, Jan Werle and Nico Zwirs – 2024 Chess Olympiad: Double gold for India! Analyses by Abdusattorov, Aronian, Giri, So and many more - ‘Special’: Dorian Rogozenco gets to the bottom of India's dominance at the Olympiad in four video analyses - ‘All in One’ on the modern Evans Gambit: Tanmay Srinath dissects Carlsen's victory over Anand after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4!? - ‘Biting the opening dust’: Oliver Reeh's tactics column with 39 games and four interactive videos is all about early fiascos! - ‘Action in the Spanish Exchange Variation’: Evgeny Postny examines 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 h5 7.d3 Qf6 8.Nbd2 g5!? - and much more!
Top games and master analyses
2024 Chess Olympiad: Double gold for India! The Indian team dominated the Open Tournament in an unprecedented manner, winning with 21 out of 22 possible team points. Numerous participants comment on their best games from Budapest, including Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Levon Aronian, Jonas Bjerre, Matthias Blübaum, Ivan Cheparinov, Anish Giri, Luke McShane, Georg Meier, David Navara, Ruslan Ponomariov, Wesley So and Nikita Vitiugov.
“Special”: Indian dominance
In four video analyses, Dorian Rogozenco gets to the bottom of the secret of India's dominance at the Chess Olympiad. He analyses both the openings and the playing style of the two top scorers, Gukesh and Erigaisi.
Opening videos
Felix Blohberger shows his only losing game at the Chess Olympiad and explains how he could have equalised with 6...Be6 in the popular Anti-Berlin Variation. Jan Werle has come across a new idea in a “forgotten line” of the Sveshnikov Variation, which promises White the long-term initiative! And Nico Zwirs demonstrates the English Opening with 7.a3, with which he secured victory in the last round of the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Trophy.
Felix Blohberger: Spanish Anti-Berlin
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 Be6
Jan Werle: Sicilian Sveshnikov
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c4 b4 12.Nc2 0-0 13.Ncxb4
Nico Zwirs: English
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Nc3 Nc7 7.a3
“The fortress”
Some positions with bishop against rook can still be drawn even if the opponent has an extra pawn! Dorian Rogozenco continues his training series with several interactive videos!
New ideas for your repertoire
From English to the King’s Indian – ChessBase Magazine #222 offers 10 opening articles with new ideas for opening your games!
Sergey Grigoriants: English 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5
Petra Papp: Benko Gambit 4...a6 5.bxa6 e6!?
Robert Ris: Caro-Kann Panov Attack 6...a6
Lars Schandorff: Accelerated Dragon 2.Nf3 g6 3.h4
Spyridon Kapnisis: Sicilian Najdorf 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qf3
Alexey Kuzmin: Classical French Defence 6...gxf6
Evgeny Postny: Spanish Exchange Variation 5...Bg4/8...g5
Yago Santiago: QG Declined 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Qc2
Bakasz Csonka: Queen's Indian 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3
Christian Braun: King's Indian Four Pawns Attack 5...Bg4
Topical opening traps
‘A pseudo trap and two hundred per cent traps’ - Rainer Knaak presents eight traps from tournament practice.
“Move by Move”
As part of his match series in August, Hans Niemann met Etienne Bacrot, among others. In one of these encounters he played the Sicilian Taimanov Variation, for which Robert Ris has just published a complete video course. The Dutch IM goes through the complete game with numerous training questions with you.
“Modern Classics”
In the 1995 World Championship match between Gary Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand, the challenger led 5:4 after nine rounds. Dorian Rogozenco reviews the tenth game, which was decisive for the overall outcome. Kasparov surprised everyone with a rook sacrifice in the Open Spanish. Anand defended to the best of his ability, but was ultimately powerless against the world champion's deep preparation and precise play.
“All in One”
Recently, the Evans Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4!?) was discussed at the highest level in a theme tournament - Tanmay Srinath summarizes everything you need to know about the variation!
“Practical Tips for the Tournament Player”: Domination
The idea of completely dominating your opponent at the board and forcing him into total passivity is one of Jan Markos' favourite topics. Our author illustrates the power of dominance with three sample games by Alexandr Predke, Vidit Gujrathi and Magnus Carlsen!
Tactics: “Biting the opening dust”
39 games peppered with lots of training questions await you in Oliver Reeh's tactics article! Including some examples of fatal opening mistakes. Incl. three interactive training videos!
Fundamental Endgame Knowledge – Part 12: Opposite coloured bishops
This extremely drawish type of endgame is all about fortresses and fortress breakers, creating new passed pawns, dynamics, etc. Introductory video plus two interactive training videos by the endgame expert from Hamburg . Plus: Selected rook endgames from the 2024 Chess Olympiad.
