1/8/2025 – One of our viewers’ favourite themes in Svitlana’s Smart Moves is the openings. This is probably due to the way Svitlana can splendidly explain the ideas, patterns, basics, and key points to consider in an opening. In this episode, the Canadian WIM tackles the Benko Gambit, an opening that Magnus Carlsen enjoyed for several years.

1/5/2025 – Svitlana's Smart Moves first episode of 2025 is all about juicy tactics, and tragical blunders of the Rapid & Blitz World Chess Championship. Some chess tactics were especially significant. A couple of games by top players like Carlsen, Nepo, and Pragg were already won, and one more correct move would have sealed the deal. Instead, some blunders occurred, mostly in time trouble of course, and the tables turned.

12/23/2024 – In this episode, Svitlana shows us a game between Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri. Interesting games either have a spectacular opening, some sweet tactics, or a fabulous endgame. In this game, it is the middlegame, in which Magnus sacrifices a piece, to gain a never-ending control of the whole game. Even the engines were impressed!

12/13/2024 – The mainline in the Yugoslav attack, is constantly played on a higher level. But what happens, if instead of moving the queen to d2, it goes to e2? Chris Ward says, shows us how to play against this attempt, and gain a good advantage for Black. Furthermore, the English GM has a recent, super entertaining game for us, where two chess legends battle it out - dragon style! | Photo: John Upham

12/10/2024 – After Ding Liren won against Gukesh in game 12 of the World Championship, chess players are talking about the Chinese comeback mentality. But the Indian GM also has some comeback abilities. Svitlana is showing us two examples by the two extraordinary players from a couple of years ago.

12/8/2024 – Svitlana invites us to discover invisible moves! Those moves are extraordinary, and hidden from our chess-pattern-trained eyes. Nonetheless, it is important to always lookout for a creative way to win a piece, save your queen, or even dodge a checkmate. Creativity is a strong factor to finding invisible moves.

12/4/2024 – Besides the World Chess Championship, some other important chess tournaments are currently going on. The US Chess Masters in Charlotte was crucial for Fabiano Caruana, to qualify for the candidates in 2026! He started with 5 out of 5, until he faced Nikolas Theodorou! The Greek GM also had 5 points, and got a nice king-side attack against Caruana in the English opening. Robert Ris has the full analysis of this fascinating game!

11/23/2024 – The World Chess Championship 2024 is finally upon us. Svitlana had an in-depth look at the last game, that Gukesh had against Ding Liren in 2024. Then, it was the World Champion who had the upper end. Although the Indian super star is the clear favourite to become the new World Champion, Svitlana and Arne hope for interesting games, and a tough fight!

11/15/2024 – We have been waiting for a while, but she is finally back! WIM Svitlana Demchenko had to work and study, but returns with a fun, attacking lesson! Well-known chess author, Joe Gallagher, wrote the book "101 Attacking Ideas In Chess". Svitlana took some examples of this book, and it covers plenty of rules for the attacking player.

11/12/2024 – Absolute chess superstars occasionally play a Sicilian Dragon in a classic game, and it is rare for these games to win a brilliancy prize. However, some of our readers prefer to see the Dragon in action at the highest level, and have mentioned recent games by Arjun Erigaisi and Ray Robson. Here at ChessBase our Dragon Tamer Chris Ward analyses these games, having previously done so on the chesspublishing.com website. Then, as an extra treat, he shows us a fantastic game by super grandmaster Daniil Dubov! | Photo: John Upham

11/7/2024 – In the European Club Championship, lower rated players occasionally faced GM superstars, such as Erigaisi, Gukesh, Abdusattarov, Praggnanandhaa or others. And in the very first round, Pragg had to deal with IM Francois Godart from Belgium, rated 2377. In a Sicilian Rossolimo, Godart had a pawn less, but strong counterplay. Counterplay that was so strong that the strong moves seemed to play themselves. Robert Ris took a closer look.

10/11/2024 – The Olympiad in Budapest is over, and of the 7000+ games, a couple of stunning dragons were on the board. Chris selected the 5 most interesting, and beautiful examples, and analysed them. A sixth game was also added, as a special surprise - Especially for co-host Arne Kaehler ... | Photo: John Upham

10/3/2024 – Round 1 was the main source for Robert Ris to find plenty of Underdog upsets at the Olympiad in Budapest. One game in particular was not only a big surprise result, but also interesting in many ways. Yakubboev, Nodirbek vs. Cabralis, Quinn! Roughly 500 rating points difference, didn't scare the man from Trinidad & Tobago, and he pursued a fabulous game against his opponent of the Bronze Medal-winning team.

9/25/2024 – This is what winners look like. At the end of the Chess Olympiad, Arne Kaehler brought the gold medallists in front of the ChessBase camera: Gukesh, Arjun, Vidit, Harikrishna and Divya shared their thoughts and answered to Arne's tricky questions!

9/12/2024 – Obviously, Alireza Firouzja cannot be considered an Underdog, right? But who would have guessed that he could play so brilliantly against one of the best players in the world with the Black pieces? Fabiano Caruana is still considered one of the best prepared players ever, and just like Magnus Carlsen, can rarely be beaten, when leading the White pieces. Robert Ris presents an unusual Underdog, which can rise back to his "overdog" status, end of 2021!

9/6/2024 – Vladimir Tukmakov faced Viktor Korchnoi in the USSR Championship, 1970, and played a famously brilliant game, in the Nimzo-Indian, Bronstein variation. While the Black King tries to escape a devastating attack, Korchnoi still finds the time for counterattacks, and builds up some intense threats. Tukmakov decides to invest his attack in a new idea! Svitlana's analysis of the whole game, is in great detail, as always. The Smart Moves continue in October, after the Olympiad in Budapest.

8/9/2024 – Episode 101 has launched, and Svitlana is testing our tactical skills! She found some lovely games of the World Rapid & Blitz Team Championship Tactics 2024, including Magnus Carlsen, Richard Rapport, Ding Liren, and more. Some tactics can be solved rather easily, while others require some critical thinking. Daniil Dubov, for example, couldn't find a decisive tactic. But maybe you can?

8/6/2024 – During the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships in Astana, a player from the all-Chinese team, Decade China, made headlines: Pang Bo! The 26-year-old dominated the amateur board, winning every single Rapid game and excelling in the Blitz section. His official FIDE rating is 1400, but he has yet to play an international tournament and is virtually unrated. However, he has successfully played strong tournaments and opponents in China and is much stronger than players with a real rating of 1400. No wonder, his pawn-pushing style gave his opponents in Astana a hard time. Robert Ris shows an interesting example of how Pang Bo tackles the London System!