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World class players explain the ideas behind their moves. Opening specialists present current trends and exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in terms of tactics, strategy and endgame show you exactly the tricks and techniques that you need to be a successful tournament player!
For a few years it has become difficult to play the Scandinavian with 3...Qa5. After 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Bc4 c6 we enter the "Classical Line", and the problems for Black were perfectly exposed by Sergey Grigoriants in his article in CBM 203. This sequence of moves has practically ceased to be used. Later the line with 6.Bc4 e6 became fashionable, the idea is to carry out a quick Bf8-b4 and try aggressive development with Nb8-c6 and 0-0-0 if White allows it. This "Modern Line" was used by the likes of Mamedyarov, Rapport, Laznicka and Kovalenko and kept the line with 3...Qa5 alive. This relief for Scandinavian fans was interrupted by a new set-up for White that gave them a big headache: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bf5 6.Bd2 e6. Other moves do not allow entering the Modern Line, and usually transpose to the Classical Line with ...c6. 7.Ne5!.
White quickly centralises their knight and jeopardises the black queen with a potential Ne5-c4. Black must immediately deal with the threat, and has nothing better than 7...Qb6, which is met by 8.Qf3!.
White surprises with this atypical queen development that complements the idea of 7.Ne5, gaining some control over the h1-a8 diagonal and preparing annoying kingside pressure. The immediate threat is 9.g4 hitting the Bf5, while Black's queen remains vulnerable. It is surprising that at such an early stage of the game Black has only one move at their disposal in order not to fall into a premature disadvantage. Examples of this are:
8...Bb4? was played in Jansa,V - Milov,L 1-0 and after the simple 9.0-0-0 White enjoys an big advantage.
Black was bolder in Timman,J - Van Wely,L 1-0 and tried 8...Qxd4??. Unfortunately for him, after the precise 9.Bb5+! he is totally lost:
The only acceptable move for Black is 8...c6,
investing valuable time to provide an escape route for the black queen. Now 9.0-0-0 renews White's threat of a lateral pawn advance with 10.g4 and 11.h4. Black, for the third time in a row, has only one move and must play 9...Nbd7.
Here White has two main options: A) 10.Nc4 and B) 10.Bd3!.
A) 10.Nc4
This natural move aims to achieve a slight advantage. Of course, Black must play accurately, but they don't face the biggest challenge, see Hracek,Z - Bryson,D 1-0.
B) 10.Bd3!
White continues development and exchanges an important defending piece on Black's kingside. After 10...Bxd3 11.Qxd3
Korneev,O - Fischer,S 1-0 saw 11...Bb4, and this is where White shows the key idea with 12.Qg3!.
White targets the g7-pawn and there is no proper way to defend it. Some variations:
12...0-0? is not possible because of 13.Nxd7 Nxd7 14.Bh6 +-.
12...g6? 13.Qf3! threatening 14.Ne4 or 14.Bg5 gives White a clear advantage.
12...Rg8 allows White to achieve a considerable positional plus with 13.Rhe1!.
The best Black has is 11...Rd8 as played in Morovic Fernandez,I - Prie,E 1-0, but White has the same powerful idea again with 12.Qg3!.
In order not to be left in an extremely passive position, Black must dare the capture 12...Qxd4!?. The most accurate continuation is 13.Nxd7! Qxd7 14.Rhe1.
White maintains the threat on the g7-pawn; they have completed their development, and plan to play 15.Bg5 with great positional pressure. As can be seen in the analyses on Morovic Fernandez,I - Prie,E 1-0, in the resulting positions White's enjoys a constant initiative allowing him to play for a win without risk. Black usually suffers from a vulnerable king, a pawn structure frequently weakened and uncoordinated pieces. The best they can hope for is to finally achieve a draw, after a long and laborious defence. The position is very similar to the Classic Variation of the Caro-Kann Defence. However, Black is behind in development, and this is something they are going to pay dearly for. Without a doubt, this is the critical position of this new set-up. So far, the games that reach this position are counted.
Conclusion: The present scheme is a very strong idea to tackle the modern line in the Scandinavian with 3...Qa5. It's amazing how it limits Black's options and active counterplay possibilities. The positions that the second player gets are passive, difficult to handle and practically aspire to only a draw. From White's point of view, it makes no sense to allow the opponent to enter the normal orders with 6.Bc4 e6 having this line at their disposal. Assuming that in the Classical Line (6.Bc4 c6) White has an advantage, and the Modern Line (6.Bc4 e6) is the only playable option for Black, they urgently need reinforcement against the presented move order, or the Scandinavian with 3...Qa5 will completely lose appeal for the second players.
You can find the full article with all games and analyses in the new ChessBase Magazine #214!
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From the World Championship match Ding Liren against Ian Nepomniachtchi to repertoire ideas for Dutch, Najdorf or Scandinavian or the series "Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" Part 4 by Dr. Karsten Mueller:
Over 7 hours of video playing time with U14 World Champion Ilamparthi, Ivan Sokolov, Jan Markos, Mihail Marin, Dorian Rogozenco et al.
World Championship 2023: Anish Giri, Hou Yifan, Sam Shankland and Wesley So comment on the most important games of a highly entertaining duel.
TePe Sigeman: The veteran Peter Svidler put several young top players in their place at the tournament in Malmö. Analyses of the tournament winner as well as Abhimanyu Mishra, Boris Gelfand, Nils Grandelius and Jorden van Foreest.
CBM authors analyse their favourite game of the 10th World Champion. An exclusive collection of 27 annotated games from the period 1949 to 1989 awaits you!
The Hippopotamus Defence – a setup against everything! Igor Stohl dissects the game Tomashevsky-Carlsen with the opening moves 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 a6 5.a4 b6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0-0 Ne7 8.Re1 Bb7 9.Bf4 Nd7 10.Qd2 h6
With 9.5 out of 11, the now 14-year-old Ilamparthi won the 2022 U14 World Championship. Play through the decisive moments of his games together with Sagar Shah and the young champion - in interactive format with video feedback!
Ivan Sokolov checks Gukesh's novelty and pawn sacrifice 9.Qc2 in the Catalan from the Menorca Open 2023 - "excellent preparation by Gukesh!" Sipke Ernst examines the novelty 8.h4 in the Ragozin Variation, which was discussed in the duel between his compatriots Van Foreest and Giri at the Tata Steel tournament 2023. And Mihail Marin takes up the opening line 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 c5 4.Be2 Nc6 5.0-0, which came up on the board in the 12th game of the World Championship match, among others.
Ivan Sokolov: Catalan
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.g3 dxc4 6.Bg2 b5 7.Ne5 a6 8.0-0 Bb7 9.Qc2
Sipke Ernst: Queen's Gambit Ragozin Variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4 Ne4 7.Rc1 Nc6 8.h4
Mihail Marin: Queen's Pawn Opening
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 c5 4.Be2 Nc6 5.0-0
From the Dutch to the King’s Indian –ChessBase Magazine #214 comes with 11 opening articles and lots of new ideas!
Kapnisis: Dutch 1.d4 f5 2.e4Lorenzini: Scandinavian 3…Qa5 with 7.Ne5
Postny: Caro-Kann Exchange Variation 6.h3 e5
Ris: Sicilian Sveshnikov 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nab1
Quintiliano: Najdorf Poisoned Pawn Variation (I)
Papp: French Winawer Variation 5.Bd2 (Part I)
Grigoriants: Italian for insiders 10...Re8
Rosell: Ruy Lopez Delayed Steinitz 4.Ba4 d6
Kuzmin: QG Exchange 6.Bf4 c6 7.e3 Bf5 8.Nh4!?
Sumets: Catalan 6.0-0 dxc4 7 Ne5 Qd6
Szabo: King's Indian 5.Be2 0-0 6.h4
"Queens: flexible, lively or even dancing" - Rainer Knaak presents eight traps from current tournament practice. Including three FritzTrainer videos!
Robert Ris chose the eighth game of the World Championship match between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi for his interactive video – a fascinating game in which the new World Champion missed the win, however.
The Karpov-Yussupov game (1983) is a "real masterpiece of positional play". In this game, the then World Champion demonstrated in an exemplary manner how to prevent any active play on the part of his opponent through perfect prophylaxis.
Should you aim for symmetrical positions if you want to play safe in a game? Jan Markos explains what is important in these positions and why small differences are of great importance!
Strategy expert Mihail Marin sheds light on the strategy of the 10th World Champion on the basis of games before he won the World Championship title in 1969 - because as Korchnoi once said, Spassky played his best chess sometime between 1958 and 1963.
In the tactics article with 45 games, our expert Oliver Reeh has compiled material for more than one training session. His four favourite combinations are best solved move by move in the interactive video format with feedback function!
Karsten Mueller continues his training series. Following an introductory video, your technique is called for in three interactive videos! In addition, Mueller provides a contribution with the most beautiful endgames by Boris Spassky (video introduction + analyses).
Order now in the ChessBase Shop – Single issue € 21.90!
Try out ChessBase Magazine now! Order the ChessBase Magazine taster package!
Read ChessBase Magazine for 6 months (= 3 issues) for the special price of only € 44.90 € (instead of € 65,70 for buying them individually). As a thank you, you will also receive 3 months ChessBase Premium Membership free of charge.
*Bonus for new subscribers only, i.e. there was no CBM subscription for 12 months!
Save twice with ChessBase Magazine: For the annual subscription to ChessBase Magazine you’ll pay only € 109.90 per year (compared to € 131.40 for the 6 individual issues).
* Bonus only for new subscribers, i.e. there was no CBM subscription for 12 months! As a new subscriber you will receive the original ChessBase USB stick with 128 GB
