8/19/2026 – In this episode of Svitlana’s Smart Moves, Svitlana Demchenko explains how to work with candidate moves and build a more reliable thinking process at the board. Using several practical examples, she shows how comparison, calculation, prophylaxis and piece improvement help narrow down the right choices in critical positions. Special attention is given to knowing when a forcing line deserves deeper calculation and when positional understanding should guide the decision instead. The lesson ultimately shows how strong candidate moves combine concrete calculation with a clear sense of what the position actually demands.

8/17/2026 – Chris Ward examines an uncommon Classical Dragon line from the game between Andy Woodward and 2600+ GM Vasif Durarbayli. The system resembles a Yugoslav Attack, but White develops the bishop to e2 instead of playing the typical f3, leading to different strategic and tactical possibilities. Chris highlights several critical moments and believes Black could have improved with Rxc3, although Woodward eventually took over the initiative and won an entertaining game. | Photo: John Upham

8/7/2026 – In this episode, Svitlana explains why controlling the centre remains important throughout every phase of a chess game. Using an instructive encounter between Vassily Ivanchuk and Anatoly Karpov, she shows how central control creates space, restricts the opponent’s pieces and provides clear plans. The game also demonstrates how powerful central pawns and an active king can become in the endgame, ultimately allowing Karpov to take control and win.

7/31/2026 – Svitlana explores the Center Game with 1.e4 e5 2.d4 and explains why this historic opening remains a practical surprise weapon. She examines the main queen placements, Black’s most important defensive setups, and White’s typical plan of castling queenside and launching an attack. Particular attention is given to the choice between f3 and Nf3, the importance of preventing Black’s central break with d5, and the tactical possibilities that arise from opposite side castling. The episode shows that even if engines consider many positions equal, the Center Game can still lead to rich, aggressive, and highly playable positions

7/30/2026 – Chris Ward turns this edition of the Monthly Dragon into a special exploration of the Accelerated and Hyper Accelerated Dragon. He explains how Black can respond to the Maroczy Bind, why move order details matter, and which active ideas can prevent White from establishing comfortable control. Several instructive sidelines and one of Ward’s own quick victories illustrate the tactical possibilities of the opening. The main example is a highly entertaining rapid game between Gukesh and Hikaru Nakamura, in which Nakamura creates remarkable counterplay and eventually wins a dramatic queen and rook ending. | Photo: John Upham

7/13/2026 – In this episode of The Underdog, Robert Ris presents a spectacular upset from the Asian Esports Chess Cup, where a young Thai player (Pakornnarong Liukasemsarn) defeats super-GM Andrey Esipenko despite an enormous rating gap. In a sharp Italian Game with opposite-side castling, Black bravely pushes the kingside pawns, opens the g-file and keeps finding dynamic resources while White misses several powerful attacking chances on the queenside. The game turns into a wild attacking masterpiece, ending with decisive tactics around the white king and a memorable victory for the underdog.

7/21/2026 – Svitlana looks at Max Euwe, one of the most underrated world champions in chess history. Through one attacking game and one defensive game, she shows that Euwe was not just a logical and balanced player, but also capable of finding powerful sacrifices, active counterplay and precise prophylactic ideas. The lesson highlights how much can still be learned from classical games, especially when it comes to initiative, defensive resourcefulness and the idea that prophylaxis can be aggressive rather than passive.

7/14/2026 – Svitlana Demchenko introduces the Ukrainian Variation from the Old Indian Defense and explains why it can lead to surprisingly comfortable positions for Black, especially if White accepts an early queen trade. The featured Soviet-era game between Lev Polugaevsky and Rashid Nezhmetdinov becomes a spectacular attacking lesson, where Black keeps the white king trapped in the center and launches a dangerous pawn and piece storm. The episode ends with a beautiful queen sacrifice, a wild king hunt, and a forced mate that makes the line both instructive and highly entertaining.

7/7/2026 – Indian Grandmaster Leon Luke Mendonca has never been shy about letting people into his world. Long a familiar face at the ChessBase studio, the 20-year-old from Goa has spent recent years building a genuine chess résumé, headlined by his surprise victory in the 2024 Tata Steel Challengers. Now the man who became India's 67th grandmaster back in January 2021 is channelling that same openness into his own YouTube channel, where he shares tournament battles, game analysis and glimpses of life on the professional circuit. His tagline says it all — "Just here to play chess and have fun".

7/6/2026 – Svitlana shows her final-round game from the Canadian Women’s Championship, which she describes as one of the best games of her life. Facing WIM Yunan Li in a sharp Sicilian Taimanov, Svitlana surprises her opponent with the rare and aggressive 7.g4, launches a powerful kingside attack, and keeps finding precise tactical resources. The game reaches a spectacular climax with a rook sacrifice, a queen sacrifice and a clean attacking finish, helping Svitlana secure third place and likely qualification for the Canadian Olympiad team.

7/1/2026 – Bodhana Sivanandan took on the virtual version of José Raúl Capablanca in Fritz 21 at Master Candidate strength and impressed with her calm, confident decision-making throughout the game. Despite facing one of history's greatest positional players, she consistently found strong plans, converted her advantage into a favourable endgame, and secured a convincing victory. The post-game analysis highlighted her excellent endgame understanding and tactical awareness, showing why she is regarded as one of the brightest young talents in chess.

6/30/2026 – Chris Ward looks at a sharp Dragon main line from the French League, featuring GM Surya Ganguly with Black. The focus is on the fashionable Bishop c4 system and Black’s fresh-looking plan with ...a5, which helps activate the queenside pieces and create pressure before White can build a dangerous kingside attack. The game becomes a model Dragon victory, with Black taking over the b-file, pushing ...d4 at the right moment, and finishing with a powerful interference tactic that forces resignation. | Photo: John Upham

6/27/2026 – Svitlana Demchenko introduces the Ukrainian Variation from the Old Indian Defence and explains why it can lead to surprisingly comfortable positions for Black, especially if White accepts an early queen trade. The featured Soviet-era game between Lev Polugaevsky and Rashid Nezhmetdinov becomes a spectacular attacking lesson, where Black keeps the white king trapped in the centre and launches a dangerous pawn and piece storm. The episode ends with a beautiful queen sacrifice, a wild king hunt, and a forced mate that makes the line both instructive and highly entertaining.

6/26/2026 – Anastasia Corotcova challenged the virtual version of Mikhail Tal in Fritz 21, hoping to experience the legendary attacking style that made the former World Champion famous. After gaining a promising position, she and Arne Kaehler struggled to find a series of critical defensive moves, allowing Tal’s relentless sacrificing attack to take over. The game was full of tactical fireworks and captured the feeling of facing the real “Magician from Riga,” making it an entertaining and memorable experience.

6/13/2026 – Yağmur Gündüz takes on Fritz 21 and shows that even club-level players around 1200 Elo can have exciting and entertaining games against the engine. Although Yağmur quickly gets into a difficult position and loses several pawns, she keeps fighting actively, finding creative tactical ideas involving forks, pins, and mating threats. The game suddenly turns around as the “Fork Queen” uncorks a series of strong tactical combinations and reaches a winning position. The episode demonstrates perfectly that Fritz 21 is not only enjoyable for grandmasters, but can also provide fun, learning moments, and real excitement for ambitious hobby players.

6/11/2026 – Svitlana Demchenko explores the fascinating concept of attacking a king castled on the same side, using a brilliant classic game by former world champion Alexander Alekhine as the main example. She explains how strong attacks do not always require reckless pawn storms, but can instead be built slowly through piece improvement, central control, and restricting the opponent’s counterplay before striking at exactly the right moment. The episode culminates in a stunning tactical finish beginning with a central breakthrough and ending in a beautiful double check mating pattern, while also teaching important attacking concepts such as identifying hooks near the king, preparing attacks patiently, and coordinating pieces before launching the final assault.

6/1/2026 – Grandmaster Amin Bassem takes on the Swindler on GM level and quickly guides the game into a strategically rich King's Indian structure. Throughout the game, Amin demonstrates deep positional understanding, carefully evaluating dynamic imbalances and resisting tempting material gains when they would strengthen Fritz's active pieces. After a tense middlegame battle full of subtle decisions, both sides agree to a draw, and the post game analysis reveals just how finely balanced the struggle had been.

5/30/2026 – In this episode of The Underdog, Robert presents a game from the 25th European Women's Chess Championship 2026 in Batumi, Georgia. As he has done in several previous episodes, the featured game is not from the opening round but from round four. The talented Armenian player Polina Kobak faced IM Stavroula Tsolakidou of Greece, one of the tournament favourites, and met the King's Indian Defence with impressive play. Interestingly, both players had opportunities to force a draw, but neither was willing to settle for half a point.