[{"title":"Women's Candidates R7: Vaishali climbs to sole second place","url":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/candidates-tournament-2026-w-7","date_unix":1775514900,"date_pl":"3 godz. temu","date_original":"Mon, 06 Apr 2026 22:35:00 GMT","description":"Anna Muzychuk leads the Women's Candidates Tournament at the halfway stage with 4½/7 after drawing a quiet game with Bibisara Assaubayeva in round seven. Vaishali Rameshbabu secured the only win of the day, capitalising on a late mistake by Tan Zhongyi to move into sole second place. The other games saw long, hard-fought draws, including a 135-move marathon between Divya Deshmukh and Kateryna Lagno. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza","full_content":"Anna Muzychuk remains the sole leader of the Women's Candidates Tournament, as she went into the rest day with a score of 4½/7. While the open section has seen a notably higher leading score at the halfway stage, the women's event has been far more tightly contested, with Muzychuk's plus-two tally - built on five draws and victories over Kateryna Lagno and Zhu Jiner - proving sufficient to top the standings at halftime.\n\nIn round seven, Muzychuk drew her game with Bibisara Assaubayeva in 26 moves in what was the quietest encounter of the day. It was one of three drawn games on Sunday, although the remaining two were considerably more complex.\n\nRuy Lopez for the tournament player - A Complete White Repertoire against the Marshall, Berlin & CoThis video course provides a comprehensive and practical White repertoire in the Ruy Lopez! Through instructive model games and in-depth theoretical explanations, you will learn how to confidently handle both main lines and sidelines. This video course provides a comprehensive and practical White repertoire in the Ruy Lopez! Through instructive model games and in-depth theoretical explanations, you will learn how to confidently handle both main lines and sidelines. Free video sample: Introduction Free video sample: Overview Free video sample: Chigorin: 9...Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7/cxd4\n\nAleksandra Goryachkina pressed for much of her game against Zhu Jiner, attempting to make something of a slight positional edge. The struggle extended to 70 moves, with Goryachkina probing persistently. Zhu defended accurately and held the balance, though.\n\nAnna Muzychuk v. Bibisara Assaubayeva | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza\n\nAleksandra Goryachkina v. Zhu Jiner | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis\n\nAn even more demanding contest unfolded in the game between Divya Deshmukh and Kateryna Lagno, which became the longest game of the tournament so far. The players battled for 135 moves in a prolonged endgame struggle.\n\nDeshmukh obtained a promising position in the early middlegame, gaining a pawn and getting realistic winning chances.\n\nLagno, however, defended with determination, gradually simplifying the position into a rook ending with three pawns against two.\n\nAlthough the resulting position was objectively drawn, Deshmukh continued to press until the very end. The tension was highlighted when Lagno incorrectly claimed a draw by triple repetition on move 117 - the game ultimately continued before concluding peacefully.\n\nA Supergrandmaster's Guide to Openings Vol.1 & 2This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.\n\nAnish Giri takes an interest on the Divya Deshmukh versus Kateryna Lagno lengthy battle | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis\n\nThe only decisive result of the round came in the game between Vaishali Rameshbabu and Tan Zhongyi. Playing black, Tan had the upper hand for much of the game and at one point reached a clearly superior position.\n\nEven after letting a significant portion of her advantage slip, she still retained a material edge of a pawn in a rook-and-bishop endgame. However, a final mistake proved decisive, as she inexplicably blundered into a straightforward two-move tactical sequence that allowed Vaishali to secure the win.\n\nThe result lifted Vaishali to sole second place on 4/7, after a first half in which she recorded two wins and one loss.\n\nUnderstanding Material ImbalancesThis DVD focuses on several types of material imbalances, such as Rook vs 2 Pieces, Queen vs 2 Rooks, and Queen vs Pieces.\n\nTan Zhongyi played the Pirc Defence against Vaishali Rameshbabu | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis\n\nMaster Class Vol.16 - Judit PolgarIn this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Judit Polgar. Let them show you which openings Polgar chose to play, where her strength in middlegames were, or how she outplayed her opponents in the endgame.\n\nExpand your Chess Horizon The perfect equipment for 2026 with the latest ChessBase program '26, Mega Database, ChessBase Magazine and Premium-Account!\n\nLondon System PowerBase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.\n\nThe London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.\n\nIn this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.\n\nYour personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally.\n\nOpening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.\n\nYOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.\n\nThe Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.\n\nWe use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.","guid":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/candidates-tournament-2026-w-7"},{"title":"A Game That Outlasted the Day (3)","url":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/a-game-that-outlasted-the-day-3","date_unix":1775502000,"date_pl":"6 godz. temu","date_original":"Mon, 06 Apr 2026 19:00:00 GMT","description":"Two months ago Valery Golubenko played what may well have been one of the longest chess games ever seen, measured by number of moves, under the rather restrictive conditions of modern chess life. At move 88, with queen and b-pawn against queen, Golubenko's opponent held for 37 moves, until he missed an only move, and it was theoretically a mate in 47. | Photo during the game by Chess Club Kaksikodad – from the right, GM Aleksandr Volodin and the chief arbiter Askold Nassar","full_content":"This time I will carry out a detailed analysis of the endgame \"queen and knight pawn versus queen\" that arose on move 88 of my game against Kirill Gorkov (Estonian Team Championship, Tallinn 2026). I will try to understand why it was theoretically drawn for such a long time, at first from move 88 to move 125, and then in different circumstances.\n\nAfter each move, starting from move 88 and ending with move 228, I will indicate the number of moves required for Black to deliver mate, or leave it blank — this will mean that the position is theoretically drawn (which for instance is the case from move 88 to 149, except for moves 125-126).\n\nReaders will find it interesting to follow how the numbers change: if after Black's move the number does not decrease by 1, this means that Black is playing inaccurately (and the greater the difference, the more inaccurate the play); if after White's move the number decreases, this means that White is playing inaccurately (and the larger the decrease, the more inaccurate White's play); if after White's move the number remains the same, this means that White is defending in the most stubborn and resilient way. As you may already have guessed, after Black's move this number cannot decrease by 2 or more, and after White's move it cannot increase even by 1.\n\nLet us look now at the final position, in which Black (that is me!) wins, but was prevented from doing so by the seventy-five-move rule.\n\nI vaguely remembered that in queen-versus-knight-pawn endgames, the queen should be placed on the central diagonal — but I could not recall whether this should be on my own side of the board or my opponent's. I failed to find a detailed analysis of this endgame in Mark Dvoretsky's excellent manual (I own the 2017 edition), but the analysis of this game makes one thing absolutely clear: the queen belongs on your own side of the board — on e5!\n\nWith the help of the Nalimov tablebases I discovered that the final position is mate in 39 — and how devilishly difficult this win really is.\n\nMaster Class Vol.17 - Boris SpasskyIn this video course, experts including Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh, examine the games of Boris Spassky. Let them show you which openings Spassky chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were and much more.\n\nOn March 9th 2026, on Fischer's birthday, which isvery memorable to me, I submitted an application to Guinness World Records. For the time being, I will keep the exact category confidential, but I am absolutely convinced that at the present moment, under today's draconian time controls and the restrictions laid down in the current FIDE Laws of Chess, the game Gorkov– Golubenko is the longest classical tournament chess game ever played in terms of number of moves.\n\nUnlike other long games in the entire history of world chess, this game did not result in the dull drawish endgame of R+B vs R, which was studied yet by Philidor more than 275 years ago. It was filled with intense struggle until the very last, 228th move, and ended only due to the automatic 75-move rule in a winning endgame for Black, which is still little studied and remains extraordinarily complex even for the stronger side. Or not so little now?\n\nPicture of Boris Vasilyevich Spassky with future grandmasters Valentina Golubenko and Aleksandr Volodin, in June 2006, at the Mikhail Botvinnik Central Chess House. Valentina and Aleksandr are the best students of Anastasia Golubenko, Aleksandr is rating number 1 in Estonia now and president of club Diagonaal.\n\nThe Endgame Academy Vol.2: Theoretical Rook EndgamesGrandmaster Dr. Karsten Müller, one of the world’s leading endgame experts, guides you step by step through everything you need to know in this second volume.Picture this: you’ve outplayed your opponent move by move, you’re clearly better – and then the endgame slips into a draw, simply because you lacked the crucial theoretical knowledge. That is exactly where this course comes in. Without solid endgame skills, there’s no way forward. Rook endgames are most essential: they occur more often than any other type of endgame, and often make the difference between victory and half a point. If you master them, you’ll confidently convert your advantages into wins! Free video sample: Introduction Free video sample: Bodycheck\n\nExpand your Chess Horizon The perfect equipment for 2026 with the latest ChessBase program '26, Mega Database, ChessBase Magazine and Premium-Account!\n\nLondon System PowerBase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.\n\nThe London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.\n\nIn this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.\n\nYour personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally.\n\nOpening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.\n\nYOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.\n\nThe Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.\n\nWe use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.","guid":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/a-game-that-outlasted-the-day-3"},{"title":"Henri Rinck Championship in Lyon","url":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/henri-rinck-championship-in-lyon","date_unix":1775473200,"date_pl":"14 godz. temu","date_original":"Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:00:00 GMT","description":"Lyon Olympique Échecs, founded in 1905, is one of the largest chess clubs in France. From 8–19 April 2026 they are staging the Henri Rinck International Chess Championships. If you are able to attend, you can explore the 600m² club, which is like a chess museum. For those who can't, here are visual impressions of the club and some of the remarkable collections it houses.","full_content":"The Henri Rinck International Chess Championships takes place in Lyon' historic chess club, 5, Place du Marché, 69009 Lyon (Metro Line D, Valmy stop) from April 8-19, 2026. The press conference is scheduled for Thursday, 9th April, from 5 pm to 6 pm, and will be followed by simultaneous exhibitions from 6.15 pm to 8.30 pm, featuring champions from Sport Etude Echecs and ECAM LaSalle, Lyon campus.\n\nLyon Olympique Échecs celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2025, and currently has over 950 members – active adults ranging from ordinary employees to business executives, pensioners, young people from one of the 86 schools they work with, not to mention our international partners, clubs in India, China, Armenia, Germany, Italy, covering 21 countries across Europe and the world.\n\nIn the first tournament, 140 players from 14 nations have already registered. There are three tournaments: slow, rapid and blitz games. Over the twelve days there will be outdoor sessions with simultaneous exhibitions against champions, including the three-time French champion GM Christian Bauer, chess music and painting courses. On April 15 at 8.00 pm there will be an awards ceremony in the presence of Henri Rinck’s family.\n\nHenri Rinck (1870–1952) was a legendary French chess composer and chemist, widely considered one of the founding fathers of the modern endgame study. He was incredibly prolific, publishing roughly 1,670 endgame studies during his career. He was a master of \"light\" positions (few pieces) and was particularly renowned for his studies involving two rooks.\n\nRinck remained dedicated to chess until the very end; he was famously buried with a copy of his final collection, 1414 fins de partie, tucked under his arm.\n\nMaster Class Vol.3: Alexander AlekhineOn this DVD GMs Rogozenco, Marin, Müller, and IM Reeh present outstanding games, stunning combinations and exemplary endgames by Alekhine. And they invite you to improve your knowledge with the help of video lectures, annotated games and interactive tests\n\nTop Choice Repertoire: Play the French Defence Vol.1 & 2In this two-volume video course former world-champion and startrainer Rustam Kasimdzhanov shows you the ins and outs of this hugely complex opening.\n\nExpand your Chess Horizon The perfect equipment for 2026 with the latest ChessBase program '26, Mega Database, ChessBase Magazine and Premium-Account!\n\nLondon System PowerBase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.\n\nThe London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.\n\nIn this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.\n\nYour personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally.\n\nOpening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.\n\nYOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.\n\nThe Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.\n\nWe use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.","guid":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/henri-rinck-championship-in-lyon"},{"title":"Candidates Round 7 - Live!","url":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/candidates-tournament-2026-live","date_unix":1775398500,"date_pl":"wczoraj","date_original":"Sun, 05 Apr 2026 14:15:00 GMT","description":"The Candidates Tournaments form the final qualifying stage of the FIDE World Championship cycle. Each tournament features eight of the world's strongest players competing in a double round-robin format over fourteen rounds of classical chess. In the open, sole leader Javohkir Sindarov plays white against Anish Giri in Sunday's seventh round. In the women's tournament, leader Anna Muzychuk faces Bibisara Assaubayeva. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 14.30 CEST (8.30 ET, 18.00 IST) | Photo: Yoav Nis","full_content":"The Candidates Tournaments (open and women's) form the final qualifying stage of the FIDE World Championship cycle. Each tournament features eight of the world's strongest players competing in a double round-robin format over fourteen rounds of classical chess.\n\nAt the conclusion of the events, the winners secure the right to challenge for the World Chess Championship and Women's World Chess Championship titles. Gukesh Dommaraju and Ju Wenjun are the reigning champions, respectively.\n\nIf there is a tie for first place, a playoff to determine the winner shall be played.\n\nAttack like a Super GrandmasterIn this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.\n\nChessBase’26 - Starter PackageEXPAND YOUR CHESS HORIZONSData, plans, practice – the new Opening Report In ChessBase there are always attempts to show the typical plans of an opening variation. In the age of engines, chess is much more concrete than previously thought. But amateurs in particular love openings with clear plans, see the London System. In ChessBase ’26, three functions deal with the display of plans. The new opening report examines which piece moves or pawn advances are significant for each important variation. In the reference search you can now see on the board where the pieces usually go. If you start the new Monte Carlo analysis, the board also shows the most common figure paths.\n\nExpand your Chess Horizon The perfect equipment for 2026 with the latest ChessBase program '26, Mega Database, ChessBase Magazine and Premium-Account!\n\nLondon System PowerBase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.\n\nThe London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.\n\nIn this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.\n\nYour personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally.\n\nOpening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.\n\nYOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.\n\nThe Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.\n\nWe use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.","guid":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/candidates-tournament-2026-live"},{"title":"The Birth of a Journey","url":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-birth-of-a-journey","date_unix":1774259396,"date_pl":"Poniedziałek o 10:49","date_original":"Mon, 23 Mar 2026 09:49:56 GMT","description":"Praful Zaveri is the founder of Indian Chess School, where he has trained more than 5000 students. In 2023 he began writing a book, Shat Shat Vande Chess, on the cultural, historical, and philosophical journey of chess, on the 15,000‑year “odyssey” of the game. Now he has decided to make it into a film. Here is the first trailer – and Praful's thoughts on the enterprise.","full_content":"Every civilization begins with a story. Before history was written in ink, it was preserved in imagination. Before dates were recorded, truth travelled through myth. And before scholars debated origins, humanity understood itself through symbols.\n\nWhen I began Shat Shat Vande Chess, I was not merely tracing the evolution of a board game. I was searching for its pulse — the ancient heartbeat that still echoes beneath sixty-four squares.\n\nThe official teaser with anthem song of Shat Shat Vande Chess — a cinematic odyssey that traces the timeless journey of chess, from its ancient origins in Bharat through mythology, history, and across civilizations, to the modern world.\n\nThe further we travel into antiquity, the darker the historical record becomes. Manuscripts fade. Empires vanish. Stone crumbles. Certainty dissolves. Yet something survives. Memory! And in ancient Bharat, memory was carried not in archives — but in epics!!\n\nWhen tradition speaks of Mandodari in Lanka, when it situates strategy in the shadow of the Treta Yug, it may not be offering a modern academic claim. It is offering something deeper — a civilizational metaphor.\n\nIn the great war of Lanka, Mandodari is remembered not merely as Ravan’s queen, but as a voice of counsel — composed, discerning, far-seeing. As battle clouds gathered and arrogance overshadowed wisdom, she is said to have urged restraint, reflection, and strategic clarity. In that image of a queen guiding a king through the complexities of war, we glimpse the archetype of disciplined strategy — intellect seeking to steady power.\n\nAnd in the Mahabharat, the great epic of the Dwapar Yug, we witness how a single game of Chaturang in the royal court of Hastinapur altered the destiny of empires. There, strategy, foresight, and miscalculation shaped the fate of kingdoms. The board — whether of Chaturang or of war — became a theatre where intellect decided history.\n\nOn the sacred battlefield of Kurukshetra, Lord Krishna stood between two armies and revealed not merely the art of war, but the science of discernment. In guiding Arjuna through doubt and destiny, He unveiled the eternal principle of disciplined action.\n\nThe ancient Indian army was organised into four divisions — elephants, horses, chariots, and infantry — the four limbs known as Chaturang. Within this four-fold formation lay more than military order; it reflected harmony, coordination, foresight, and balance. It was strategy aligned with dharma, power restrained by wisdom, movement governed by consciousness.\n\nIn that vision of structured warfare — disciplined yet mindful — one can glimpse the philosophical foundation from which the spirit of chess would one day emerge. It tells us that strategy was born in crisis. That foresight emerged amidst conflict. That intellect rose to discipline power.\n\nHistory tells us what can be verified. Mythology tells us what was valued! The documented journey of chess — from Chaturang in Bharat, to Chatrang in Persia, to Shatranj in the Arab world, to the global game we know today — is magnificent and undeniable.\n\nBut I wished to go further. Beyond inscriptions. Beyond manuscripts. Beyond the comfort of dates! Into the twilight of origins — where imagination and intellect first converged!\n\nThis book and this film are not an attempt to replace history with legend. Nor to prove myth as fact. They are an attempt to honour both!! For chess is not merely a set of rules. It is the awakening of strategic consciousness. It is humanity’s discovery that conflict can be studied without bloodshed, that kings can be trained without war, that destiny itself can be rehearsed upon a board. If history anchors the board, mythology gives it soul.\n\nAnd in that sacred meeting of fact and fable, Shat Shat Vande Chess was born.\n\nFor long before the first manuscript of Chaturang… long before Persia named it Chatrang… long before the Arabs called it Shatranj… long before the world called it Chess… the human mind had already begun to move invisible pieces upon the board of destiny!\n\nAnd from that first unseen move in ancient Bharat, this journey rises — Shat Shat Vande… to the eternal game!!\n\nNote that in traditional Indian nomenclature, we often retain the original phonetic form of names without the terminal “a” commonly used in Western transliteration. For example, it is Lord Ram (not Rama), Ramayan (not Ramayana), Mahabharat (not Mahabharata), and Chaturang (not Chaturanga). I mention this only for contextual clarity as to how they appear in my book and the movie.\n\nPraful Zaveri is the founder of Indian Chess School. In a highly decorated career span of over three decades he has trained more than 5000 students, empowered 100+ trainers to teach chess and has introduced chess in more than ten schools across Mumbai.\n\nHis experience and expertise cover coaching, giving seminars, organizing tournaments, officiating as arbiter writing chess books among a myriad of other facets of chess. He has authored eight training manuals, which includes the best-seller - The Chess Course (1999). This book has sold more than 100,000 copies. He authored Mastermind Chess in the year 2018 and The Chess Course, a Curriculum (2013 to 2021) which is widely used across the world to train children.\n\nShat Shat Vande Chess is an Indian book onthe cultural, historical, and philosophical journey of chess. It tells the story of a 15,000‑year “odyssey” of human strategy, storytelling, and thought, blending historical material with mythic and cultural narratives from the Indian subcontinent and beyond. It aims to honour chess as a civilizational heritage object, tracing how ideas of war, kingship, fate, and intellect have been encoded in the game.\n\nExpand your Chess Horizon The perfect equipment for 2026 with the latest ChessBase program '26, Mega Database, ChessBase Magazine and Premium-Account!\n\nLondon System PowerBase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.\n\nThe London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.\n\nIn this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.\n\nYour personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally.\n\nOpening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.\n\nYOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.\n\nThe Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.\n\nWe use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.","guid":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-birth-of-a-journey"},{"title":"Chess Olympiad: Cloud power for your national squad","url":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/chess-olympiad-cloud-power","date_unix":1773151200,"date_pl":"Wtorek o 15:00","date_original":"Tue, 10 Mar 2026 14:00:00 GMT","description":"Success in world-class chess is built long before the game begins. With the \"Federation Package\", developed specifically for national federations, players and coaches gain access to the complete professional ChessBase software, the world's largest chess database, and powerful cloud analysis – at a price that provides up to five times more computing power than individual solutions! A long-term investment that will measurably enhance the performance of the entire team.","full_content":"ChessBase '26 - Single ProgramEXPAND YOUR CHESS HORIZONSData, plans, practice – the new Opening Report In ChessBase there are always attempts to show the typical plans of an opening variation. In the age of engines, chess is much more concrete than previously thought. But amateurs in particular love openings with clear plans, see the London System. In ChessBase ’26, three functions deal with the display of plans. The new opening report examines which piece moves or pawn advances are significant for each important variation. In the reference search you can now see on the board where the pieces usually go. If you start the new Monte Carlo analysis, the board also shows the most common figure paths.\n\nTop-level chess games are not decided solely at the board – preparation plays a decisive role. Those who possess better data, more powerful analytical tools and more stable infrastructure give their players a significant advantage. This is precisely where the ChessBase \"Federation Package\" comes into play: a comprehensive solution developed specifically for national chess federations, combining professional software, powerful cloud analysis and maximum flexibility.\n\nAt the centre is a complete professional working environment: ChessBase 26 as the world’s leading database software, the Mega Database with more than 11.8 million games, the Opening Encyclopaedia with all the latest theoretical developments, and a Premium account providing access to online databases and cloud engines. This is complemented by regular updates and the ChessBase Magazine - a continuous source of recent games, analyses and training material. Players and coaches can therefore work at exactly the same level as international elite players.\n\nThe decisive advantage, however, lies in computing power. As a national federation, this offer gives you access to powerful 64-core analysis machines at a price of only 1 euro (or 10 ducats) per hour – a special rate that provides up to five times more computing power for the same budget than a standard Premium membership. In practical terms, this means significantly deeper analysis, more precise preparation and greater training opportunities, without the need to purchase or maintain your own hardware.\n\nMega Database 2026The premiere chess database with over 11.7 million games The ChessBase Mega Database 2026 is the premiere chess database with over 11.7 million games from 1475 to 2025 in high quality.\n\nAt the same time, you retain full control. The included computing quotas can be distributed flexibly – for example, specifically to national team players preparing for important tournaments, to young talents for long-term development, or to coaches for analysis and preparation of training programmes. Each player can use the available analysis power according to their individual needs, while the federation maintains overall strategic control and can also support players who join later using ducats that have not yet been allocated.\n\nAnother crucial factor is guaranteed availability. In the lead-up to major events such as Olympiads or international championships, the demand for analytical power increases considerably. With this offer, the required computing capacity is reliably available at all times – without queues, without bottlenecks and without additional organisational effort.\n\nComputing power for teams: the engine selection can be made here. Access is not provided through the familiar list of third-party cloud engines, but via the new ChessBase server portal shown here. In ChessBase´26, the ChessBase remote engines can be accessed via the \"Add Kibitzer\" button.\n\nChessBase '26 & Fritz 20 Deeper understanding, better preparation, and more effective training – ChessBase’26 and FRITZ 20 take your chess to the next level.Data, plans, practice – the new Opening Report In ChessBase there are always attempts to show the typical plans of an opening variation. In the age of engines, chess is much more concrete than previously thought. But amateurs in particular love openings with clear plans, see the London System. In ChessBase ’26, three functions deal with the display of plans. The new opening report examines which piece moves or pawn advances are significant for each important variation. In the reference search you can now see on the board where the pieces usually go. If you start the new Monte Carlo analysis, the board also shows the most common figure paths.\n\nFrom a financial perspective, the package also offers exceptionally high efficiency. In addition to the considerable savings on computing power, all players receive a complete professional software setup that would cost many times more if purchased individually. The available budget is therefore used optimally and has a lasting impact on the overall strength and performance of the federation.\n\nThe benefits are clear and long-lasting: players gain improved training and preparation opportunities, coaches receive powerful tools, and your federation systematically strengthens its international competitiveness. At the same time, youth development is directly supported, as modern analytical tools can be made available to young players at an early stage.\n\nThe result is a clear competitive advantage: better preparation, more efficient use of resources and the sustainable strengthening of the entire national chess system.\n\nNote:This ChessBase offer is intended exclusively for national chess federations. The cooperation programme was specifically developed to support structural and sporting development at federation level and to provide players with access to professional resources that would otherwise often be available only to individual players with significantly larger budgets. Federations interested in a cooperation agreement can contact ChessBase directly by email.\n\n--> Find here full details about the offer <----> Additional information and FAQs <--\n\nChessBase MobileThe free app from ChessBase! ChessBase Mobile has everything you need as a chess player on the go: access your chess data in cloud databases - and 13 million games. ChessBase Mobile has everything you need as a chess player on the go: Access the ChessBase online database - with more than 13 million games: search for players, positions, openings etc. Save your own games and analyses in cloud databases Synchronise your personal databases across all your devices Analyse your games with the built-in engine Live opening book: use the most comprehensive and up-to-date statistics for every opening position Access your opening repertoire in the cloud: create and edit your personal opening repertoire 300 opening overviews, with repertoire suggestions: get started with new systems! Practise opening variations with three modes. Advanced notation: add comments, symbols, variations, arrows and markings to your games Advanced sharing options: share games and positions via link, image, GIF, FEN or QR code PGN compatibility: upload and download games or databases as PGN files\n\nExpand your Chess Horizon The perfect equipment for 2026 with the latest ChessBase program '26, Mega Database, ChessBase Magazine and Premium-Account!\n\nLondon System PowerBase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.\n\nThe London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.\n\nIn this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.\n\nYour personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally.\n\nOpening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endga","guid":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/chess-olympiad-cloud-power"},{"title":"News on the 1896 Schiffers vs Steinitz Match","url":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/news-on-the-1896-schiffers-vs-steinitz-match","date_unix":1771664400,"date_pl":"Sobota o 10:00","date_original":"Sat, 21 Feb 2026 09:00:00 GMT","description":"Wilhelm Steinitz had lost his World Championship title to Emanuel Lasker in 1894, but he still retained the right to a return match. That rematch was scheduled to take place in Moscow at the end of 1896. Before that, however, Steinitz played a training match against Emanuel Schiffers. Join us on a brief journey back in time to Rostov-on-Don in 1896.","full_content":"As early as December 1895, the Russian newspaper Juschny Krai informed its readers that in the following year a match was to take place in Kharkiv (Russian: Kharkov) between the first World Champion in chess history, Wilhelm Steinitz, and one of the strongest Russian players of that time, Emanuel Schiffers.\n\nSteinitz had lost the World Championship match and thus his title to the much younger challenger Emanuel Lasker in 1894, but he had retained the right to a return match. He had secured this right when he accepted Lasker’s challenge for the World Championship. After some delays, the rematch was now scheduled to be held in Moscow in November 1896.\n\nIn the summer of 1895, Steinitz and Schiffers had met at the tournament in Hastings and presumably arranged a match there, which was intended to serve Steinitz as preparation for his World Championship return match against Lasker.\n\nStanding: Albin, Schlechter, Janowski, Marco, Blackburne, Maróczy, Schiffers, Gunsberg, Burn, Tinsley. Sitting: Vergani, Steinitz, Chigorin, Lasker, Pillsbury, Tarrasch, Mieses, Teichmann. Not pictured: von Bardeleben, Mason, Walbrodt, Pollock, Bird\n\nIn January 1896, the newspaper Juschny Krai announced the conditions for the match between Steinitz and Schiffers.\n\n*In December 1895, a four-player tournament was held in St Petersburg with Emanuel Lasker, Wilhelm Steinitz, Harry Pillsbury and Mikhail Tschigorin. Six rounds were played. Lasker won convincingly ahead of Steinitz.\n\nThis report still named Kharkiv as the venue, but in the end the encounter between the two masters did not take place there, but in Rostov-on-Don.\n\nThe initiators of the match were two dignitaries from Rostov-on-Don, D. I. Ilowaiskji and M. M. Scherebtsow. Their original idea was to make chess more popular again in southern Russia, and Kharkiv, as the largest city in the region, seemed suited of attracting the greatest number of spectators.\n\nHowever, the city authorities of Rostov-on-Don then decided to celebrate the centenary of the city’s founding in 1896. In doing so, they referred to a decree issued by Tsar Pavel Petrovich I on 12 December 1796 concerning the reorganisation of the Novorossiysk Governorate (later Yekaterinoslav, then Dnipropetrovsk), one of the administrative units of the Russian Empire. One of the districts of this governorate was the district of Rostov-on-Don. A top-level chess match was regarded as a fitting event within the framework of the jubilee celebrations.\n\nThe dignitaries of the Chamber of Commerce, which was based in the City Garden at the corner of Sadovaya and Taganrogsky.\n\nOnly later did Rostov settle on the year 1749 as the city’s founding date, since in that year, under Empress Elizabeth I, a customs post was established on the Don, from which the city later developed.\n\nThe originally planned jubilee was the main reason for moving the match from Kharkiv to Rostov-on-Don. Apart from that, however, the city could also look back on an active chess community. At the beginning of the 19th century, the “Rostov Society of Chess Enthusiasts” had been founded, and with Boris Alexeyevich Yankovich (1863–1918), who had moved from Kharkiv to Rostov, the city had a player of master strength. He took part in the 1st, 2nd and 5th All-Russian Championships. In 1894 and 1895, Yankovich also played two matches against Schiffers in Rostov, but lost both (+9, -6, =2 and +7, -2).\n\nThe Rostov City Duma therefore asked the organisers in Kharkiv to move the match to their city. The request was granted, and Wilhelm Steinitz and Emanuel Schiffers also raised no objections to the new venue.\n\nOn 9 February 1896, the newspaper Priasovsky Krai reported:\n\n“The famous chess players Wilhelm Steinitz and Emanuel Schiffers will soon come to Rostov for a match. The match comprises twelve games. The winner will receive a prize of 400 rubles, the loser 200 rubles. In addition, 20 rubles will be paid for each game won and 10 rubles for each game lost; if a game ends in a draw, both players will receive 15 rubles. The match will take place at the Rostov Chess Club. The organisers are Messrs Ilowaiski, Scherebtsow and Tereshchenko.”\n\nThe total cost of organising the match was estimated at 1,500 rubles, raised through contributions from the three main organisers. Ivanovich Ilowaiski and Mikhail Mikhailovich Scherebtsow were themselves passionate chess enthusiasts.\n\nThe match was played in the premises of the Rostov Chess Club, which was located on the second floor of the G. Melkonov-Ezekov House, a prominent large building at the corner of Bolshaya Sadovaya Prospekt and Bolshoy Prospekt.\n\nBolshaya Sadovaya Prospekt was — and still is — one of the city’s main thoroughfares, lined with many imposing buildings and shops.\n\nG. Melkonov-Ezekov was a well-known Rostov merchant. After the Revolution, his house accommodated the “Azov–Black Sea Radio Committee” during the Soviet period. In 1941, the building was destroyed in a fire and was later rebuilt in a similar style. \n\nFor a time, Schiffers was able to hold his own against Steinitz. After the former World Champion had won the first two games, Schiffers took games three and four. Steinitz won game five, but Schiffers then struck back in games six and seven and, about two thirds of the way through the match, was even in the lead.\n\nIn the first five games, play began with 1.e4 e5. Steinitz continued with the Italian Game, while Schiffers preferred the Ruy Lopez.\n\nIn game six, Schiffers surprised his opponent with the French Defence as Black and won. Steinitz had responded with the Tarrasch Variation, and the game still appears quite modern even today.\n\nIn game seven, Schiffers switched from the Ruy Lopez to the Four Knights Game and soon obtained a winning advantage there as well.\n\nIn game eight, Schiffers again chose the French Defence. This time Steinitz replied with 3.Nc3 and, after 3...Nf6 4.e5 Nd7, introduced the “modern” idea 5.Nce2. A very interesting game followed, with fluctuating advantages and material imbalance, in which Steinitz only managed to prevail after a long struggle in the end. He thereby equalised the score, then won game nine with Black and, after the only draw in game ten, also took game eleven to secure victory in the match.\n\nWhen replaying these games, one must bear in mind that the masters of that era were still navigating the opening without established theory and developed many ideas themselves. In this sense, some concepts appear somewhat unusual, while others seem strikingly modern.\n\nAfter the return match against Lasker, Steinitz is said to have been mentally severely affected. However, there is no sign of this whatsoever here, nor in the tournaments he played beforehand.\n\nMaster Class Vol. 19: Wilhelm SteinitzIn this video course experts examine the games of Steinitz. Let them show you which openings Steinitz chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities!Williams Steinitz, 1st World Chess Champion (1886-1894) The match between William Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort in 1886 was the first chess match for the ‘World Chess Championship’. Steinitz won, and has since been considered the first official world champion in chess history. Free video sample: The Steinitzian method of restriction Free video sample: Strategy Introduction\n\nExpand your Chess Horizon The perfect equipment for 2026 with the latest ChessBase program '26, Mega Database, ChessBase Magazine and Premium-Account!\n\nLondon System PowerBase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.\n\nThe London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.\n\nIn this course, Grandmaster Elisabe","guid":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/news-on-the-1896-schiffers-vs-steinitz-match"},{"title":"Endgame Challenge Solutions","url":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/endgame-challenge-solutions","date_unix":1771327622,"date_pl":"Wtorek o 12:27","date_original":"Tue, 17 Feb 2026 11:27:02 GMT","description":"Were you able to solve the challenge positions we gave you last week? Were you able to defeat the diagrams, which defended tenatiously? Today we bring you all solutions, with very instructive video explanations by Jared Modica, a chess content creator from Austin, Texas. He shows us how to solve tatical lines of play, and how to handle pawns in endgames.","full_content":"Jared Modica is a chess content creator from Austin, Texas and the founder of the YouTube channel Volclus, where he publishes instructional chess puzzles and opening guides. With over 175,000 subscribers, he is known for his clear, engaging teaching style and his ability to make complex ideas accessible to players of all levels.\n\nExpand your Chess Horizon The perfect equipment for 2026 with the latest ChessBase program '26, Mega Database, ChessBase Magazine and Premium-Account!\n\nLondon System PowerBase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.\n\nThe London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.\n\nIn this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.\n\nYour personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally.\n\nOpening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.\n\nYOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.\n\nThe Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.\n\nWe use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.","guid":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/endgame-challenge-solutions"},{"title":"Most attractive chess players","url":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/most-attractive-chess-players","date_unix":1770652800,"date_pl":"Poniedziałek o 17:00","date_original":"Mon, 09 Feb 2026 16:00:00 GMT","description":"Who is your favourite chess player – of all time, from the history of chess? Whose games do you enjoy the most? Is it one of the greats from the 19th century, the world champion legends of the twentieth? Or is it a player who is still active? Tell us your choices – and we will compare them with what a chess AI chooses, after evaluating millions of games.","full_content":"Who are the most intersting chess players in history, focusing on style, rather than just strength? Who do you count as your favourites? Candidates are surely:\n\nWilhelm Steinitz (1836–1900) – the first official world champion and father of positional chess, who pioneered the principles of structured buildup and small advantages.\n\nEmanuel Lasker (1868–1941) – the world champion for 27 years, famous for practical, “psychological” play and choosing lines that were unpleasant for specific opponents.\n\nJosé Raúl Capablanca (1888–1942) – the “Human Chess Machine,” feared for his effortless endgame technique and crystal-clear positional style.\n\nAlexander Alekhine (1892–1946) – the brilliantly aggressive world champion whose games are packed with deep combinations and attacking ideas.\n\nMikhail Botvinnik (1911–1995) – the father of the Soviet chess school, who combined scientific preparation, and disciplined training, mentoring stars like Karpov and Kasparov.\n\nMikhail Tal (1936–1992) – the \"Magician from Riga,” beloved for wild, speculative sacrifices that often looked unsound but posed impossible practical problems.\n\nBobby Fischer (1943–2008) – the lone American superstar who crushed Soviet dominance, who won the 1972 “Match of the Century” vs. Spassky.\n\nAnatoly Karpov (b. 1951) – the positional boa-constrictor who dominated 1970s–80s chess, embodying the pragmatic side of the Soviet school.\n\nGarry Kasparov (b. 1963) – the charismatic, fiercely combative world champion whose opening preparation and use of computers transformed elite chess.\n\nVladimir Kramnik (b. 1975) – the player who ended Kasparov’s reign in 2000 with superb preparation and defensive technique that shaped modern opening theory.\n\nViswanathan Anand (b. 1969) – the “Lightning Kid” who played very quickly while maintaining high accuracy, with clear positional play plus explosive tactical shots.\n\nMagnus Carlsen (b. 1990) – the “Mozart of chess,” who has dominated the game with a universal style, grinding small edges and winning equal endgames.\n\nAnd how about contemporary players like Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Gukesh Dommaraju, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Alireza Firouzja? Or any others?\n\nEd Schröder, Dutch software developer and author of the programs REBEL and ​Chess System Tal, came out of temperory retirement to develop a tool that evaluates games from general databases – specifically the best games played by humans and computers, from ChessBase Mega Database. The tool is called Best of Chess, and we described it in a previous report. It extracts the most spectacular games from a PGN database, with each game evaluated on three features:\n\nEd ran his algorithms on the many million of high-quality games contained in Mega Database, and it identified the 50 players it considered most attractive. We will not (yet) tell you the order of the players, but list them here alphabetically:\n\nPlease tell us which ten players you consider most attractive.\n\nWe will compare your choices with those of the the chess AI.\n\nExpand your Chess Horizon The perfect equipment for 2026 with the latest ChessBase program '26, Mega Database, ChessBase Magazine and Premium-Account!\n\nLondon System PowerBase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.\n\nThe London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.\n\nIn this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.\n\nYour personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally.\n\nOpening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.\n\nYOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.\n\nThe Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.\n\nWe use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.","guid":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/most-attractive-chess-players"},{"title":"ChessBase´26: A Players Guide (5)","url":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/chessbase-26-a-players-guide-5","date_unix":1770292800,"date_pl":"Czwartek o 13:00","date_original":"Thu, 05 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT","description":"\"Many players use ChessBase, it is the most popular chess software by far, writes GM Iniyan Pa. \"Yet, not many people are fully aware of all of its features, and fail to utilise most of them. In this guide I have tried to show the features that I think are vital and important so that the user may gain the most out of the ChessBase. I hope it helps them in their development.\" We are deeply indebted to Iniyan for his remarkable five-part training review.","full_content":"Not every tool fits neatly into a category, so here are a couple of additional gems worth highlighting.\n\nOn the left-hand side of the folder section, you’ll find the Live option. This opens a window showcasing major tournaments happening across the globe in real time. No need to scour multiple websites—ChessBase brings the action straight to you. Whether it’s a super-GM clash or a rising star making waves, you can follow the games as they unfold.\n\nWith countless tournaments running simultaneously, keeping up with fresh ideas can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. ChessBase simplifies this by scanning games for theoretically significant moves and compiling them into a dedicated database. Even better, it sends you notifications whenever new novelties are detected, ensuring you never miss the latest developments.\n\nThis feature is invaluable for staying ahead of theory. Instead of drowning in thousands of games, you get a curated feed of the moves that matter most.\n\nKeep notifications enabled so you’re alerted to new novelties as they appear.\n\nSave interesting games to your private databases immediately—since the novelty and opening ideas database updates continuously, older entries may be overwritten.\n\nJust as ChessBase scans games to uncover novelties and opening ideas, it also combs through daily games to extract fresh tactical puzzles. These positions are collected in a dedicated database, ready for training at any time. Coaches, in particular, will find this invaluable—no need to manually sift through games for instructive tactics, as ChessBase delivers them straight to your fingertips.\n\nSometimes your study focus isn’t an opening but a specific theme: a pawn structure, an endgame technique, a tactical motif, or a maneuver. ChessBase makes this effortless. With a few clicks, it searches millions of games and compiles hundreds or even thousands of examples featuring the exact theme you want to study.\n\nIn minutes, you have a curated training set tailored to your chosen topic—whether it’s mastering the Isolated Queen’s Pawn, sharpening your rook endgames, or drilling a tactical pattern like the Greek Gift sacrifice. It’s like having a personalized textbook generated on demand.\n\nTo access: Board -> Report on the top Pane -> Similar ….\n\nThe Live Book is a dynamic twist on the Reference feature. Instead of ranking moves by the number of games played, it ranks them by the number of visits from ChessBase users. This often points toward cutting-edge theory, where traditional databases may lag behind due to rapid updates in engine analysis.\n\nEven more powerful, the Live Book integrates the 7-piece tablebases. Whenever a position has seven pieces or fewer (including kings), you can instantly access the exact evaluation and the precise winning or drawing moves. These tablebases are 100% accurate, so they can be trusted blindly.\n\nNext time you’re debating an endgame with a friend, whether it’s a win or a draw settle the argument by opening the Live Book. The truth is just a click away!\n\nStreaming in chess has exploded in popularity, and ChessBase´26 adds features that make life easier for content creators. These tools help transform raw games into shareable, audience-friendly formats.\n\nTo access: Board -> File on top left corner -> Direct Share\n\nWith just a few clicks, any game can be turned into a GIF. It’s quick, lightweight, and perfect for sharing on social media. Whether you want to highlight a brilliant tactic, a blunder, or a sparkling finish, GIFs make it easy for your audience to relive the moment instantly.\n\nFor longer content, ChessBase lets you create a movie of a game, rendered in your choice of 2D, 3D, or even ray-traced boards for extra visual flair. You can control the playback speed, decide whether to show the entire game or start from a specific position, and tailor the presentation to your audience.\n\nIt’s a fantastic way to bring games to life—turning analysis into cinematic storytelling. Imagine showcasing a classic encounter in 3D with smooth transitions, or replaying your own victories in a polished, movie-style format.\n\nStay ahead of your opponents, buy ChessBase´26 now\n\nExpand your Chess Horizon The perfect equipment for 2026 with the latest ChessBase program '26, Mega Database, ChessBase Magazine and Premium-Account!\n\nLondon System PowerBase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.\n\nThe London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.\n\nIn this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.\n\nYour personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally.\n\nOpening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.\n\nYOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.\n\nThe Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.\n\nWe use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.","guid":"https://en.chessbase.com/post/chessbase-26-a-players-guide-5"}]