11/29/2025 – Robert Ris showcases José Eduardo Martínez Alcántara’s stunning World Cup win with Black against Super GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, starting from a sharp opposite-castling Philidor-type position in which White unleashes a powerful kingside attack, including an exchange sacrifice on d5 and the pawn storm with h5–h6, while Black searches for counterplay on the queenside. Ris explains how key defensive resources completely turn the tables, leading to a direct attack on the white king.

11/27/2025 – Today, Svitlana teaches us about the Immortal Game by Carl Schlechter. If a game is called an "immortal game", you can expect some sensational tactics. Another thing what makes this game exceptional is the opening choice of 1.b4. According to the new ChessBase opening report, the Sokolsky Opening, also known as the Orangutan and the Polish Opening, is getting less, and less fashionable in the last years. But 1.b4 had its peak from 2009 to 2011!

11/25/2025 – In this episode, Arne briefly “takes over” the Monthly Dragon and, together with Chris, uses ChessBase 26’s new Opening Report to explore the history and current relevance of major Dragon and Dragadorf setups, checking how fashionable they are today across different rating levels. They showcase the tactics feature on Dragon positions, with Chris solving sharp combinations live and demonstrating how ChessBase automatically extracts tactical exercises from large databases. The show culminates in an instructive 1951 Averbakh Dragon game, where a dynamic pawn sacrifice and queenside pressure lead to a superior rook endgame. | Photo: John Upham

11/22/2025 – Svitlana dedicates the episode to the memory of Daniel “Danya” Naroditsky, whose impact as a player, coach, and communicator reached far beyond the chessboard. She explores one of his favourite ideas in the Four Knights Opening - the powerful Nd5!, a move Danya loved to highlight for its elegance and instructional value. This episode blends clear educational insight with a heartfelt tribute, showing how Danya’s creative spirit continues to inspire players through the ideas he championed.

11/10/2025 – Svitlana explores the theme of “invisible moves” — creative, hard-to-spot ideas that suddenly make everything work. By looking for checks, deflections, and quiet improving moves, players can uncover the beauty of ideas that seem “invisible” at first glance.

10/29/2025 – In this second October Monthly Dragon, Chris Ward let Arne pick two games. Game 1 (Yugoslav, Chinese variation) shows classic opposite-wing play, while Game 2 (Yugoslav, with g3) is a model Dragon win. The episode highlights practical Dragon themes—pawn sacs on the queen side, neutralizing Bh6 ideas, pinned-knight motifs on d5, and the power of coordinated rooks and queen on the b-file. | Photo: John Upham

10/26/2025 – Any idea how long the longest recorded chess game was? How many moves were played? It was the year 1989 when Ivan Nikolić and Goran Arsović played stunning 269 moves! Not only that, the game was also very interesting, as Svitlana demonstrates in this episode. But, there was actually a second game, which was even longer!

10/24/2025 – Exactly one year ago, Robert Ris released an Underdog episode titled: 9-Year-Old Girl Defeats WIM Mariam Mkyrtchyan. Now, that same girl—Bodhana Sivanandan—is 10 years old, and once again finds herself the underdog, this time facing none other than GM Mariya Muzychuk! It appears that opponents whose names include the letters “MKYC” and “H” tend to inspire brilliancies from Bodhana. The young English prodigy is clearly on a mission to make sure that by 2026, no one will dare call her an underdog any more.

10/12/2025 – In this episode of Svitlana's Smart Moves, Svitlana Demchenko and Arne analyze a classic 1991 game between Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand, inspired by their current exhibition match. They explore the tactical richness of the Sicilian Taimanov, focusing on key moments like Kasparov's brilliant knight sacrifice on b5 and his creative attacking manoeuvres leading to a decisive win. The discussion highlights Kasparov’s precision, Anand’s resilience, and the timeless instructive value of their games for learning dynamic chess play.

10/10/2025 – The delayed September edition reviews a single slow-play game in the mainline Sicilian Dragon, Yugoslav Attack with Bc4 and 10.Bb3. Chris outlines White’s three plans: all-out h4–h5, positional a4, or the “halfway house”, and shows the typical imbalances after Bxe6 followed by fxe6 and the tactical motif Rb4. But, our viewers have to be strong, since this episode it is White who actually wins | Photo: John Upham

9/16/2025 – On 12 September, the sixth edition of the popular simultaneous chess series "Grandmaster Meets Amateurs" took place in the café of the Salzgitter-Bad Grammar School – featuring a world-class player: GM Ivan Sokolov. The Dutch-Bosnian grandmaster faced 31 opponents and showed an impressive form, scoring 30½–½. Only Jannes Haverlandt managed to withstand the pressure and secure a draw – surely an admirable achievement.

9/15/2025 – In this episode, Svitlana Demchenko explores bishop vs. knight endgames, showing when each piece can be stronger depending on pawn structure and king activity. Bishops excel with play on both sides of the board and outside passed pawns, while knights perform better in closed or narrow positions and against pawns fixed on the bishop’s colour. Classic examples, including Karpov and Kasparov, highlight practical rules and surprising techniques, like sacrificing pawns to open king entry routes.

9/10/2025 – At the Louisiana State Championship, a surprise guest stole the spotlight: none other than Hikaru Nakamura. The superstar streamer was looking to secure qualification for the Candidates Tournament and needed a few rated games to do so. That set the stage for some wildly lopsided encounters - none more striking than his matchup against Nahum Jose Villamil, rated just 1933, nearly 1000 points below Hikaru. Against all odds, Villamil came close to pulling off what would have been one of the most sensational underdog upsets in chess history. Robert Ris has a closer look.

8/31/2025 – In this Smart Moves episode, Svitlana explains the Stonewall pawn structure, most often arising from the Dutch Defense, and outlines key strategic plans for both sides. White aims to control the e5 square, trade dark-squared bishops, and expand on the queenside with ideas like c4–b4, while Black typically seeks kingside play with a knight on e4, improving the bad bishop via maneuvers, or breaking with c5. She then illustrates these concepts through a model game by Jon Ludvig Hammer, showing how White successfully opened the c-file, traded bishops, exploited weaknesses, and converted into a winning endgame — demonstrating both the strengths and vulnerabilities of the Stonewall.

8/30/2025 – In the newest episode of Monthly Dragon, Chris Ward explores recent games in the Dragon, focusing on the fianchetto system where White plays g3. He analyzes key ideas, such as when White captures on c6 and pushes e5, showing how Black can calmly defend and even gain the upper hand, illustrated through a game where an English IM defeated a GM. Finally, Ward highlights a Magnus Carlsen game in the hyper-accelerated Dragon, where Magnus outmaneuvered his opponent with patient queen shifts, central tactics, and a brilliant finish, proving once again the richness of the Dragon.| Photo: John Upham

8/28/2025 – Fiona Steil-Antoni is a well-known and popular figure in the chess world. In an interview with ChessBase, she explains how she moved from being a competitive player to becoming an interviewer, commentator, and host — a transition that happened almost by accident. She talks about her love for events like Tata Steel, her recent involvement with St. Pauli, and the growing range of chess-related projects, from GothamChess and Freestyle Chess to chess boxing. While she admits she currently lacks the motivation to play competitively, she remains passionate about interviewing, hosting, and exploring new formats in chess, emphasizing both the importance of human connection and the representation of women in the game.

8/23/2025 – Svitlana's newest course is here: Silence the Sicilian – Win with the Alapin Variation (2.c3)! The Canadian WIM offers a first look at what you can expect from her lessons. In addition, she takes us through the famous 1996 clash between Deep Blue and Garry Kasparov, where the computer claimed victory with the very same Alapin Variation.

8/15/2025 – After the summer break, Svitlana shares one of her favourite tournament games, where she tried the O’Kelly Sicilian for the first time against a 2357-rated FM, using it to steer her opponent out of theory. She explains the strategic ideas behind the variation, demonstrates her pawn-storm attack on the kingside, and navigates through complex middlegame tactics while maintaining the initiative. The game concludes with a precise tactical finish, combining long-term piece coordination and threats to secure victory in a well-prepared and creatively played encounter.