10/5/2025 – When is it useful to invest a lot of time in thinking about a position, and when is it not? This is a question that players ask themselves time and time again. Our reviewer is familiar with this topic from his own experience. Hannes Langrock is an editor at a fiction publishing house and an International Master. He lives in Leipzig and plays for ESV Nickelhütte-Aue. He studied the course intensively and shares his thoughts on it. | Photos: ChessBase

9/13/2025 – GM Felix Blohberger takes the road less traveled with his two-part video course on the Réti Opening. In nearly eight hours of material, he explains the ideas he has developed for the Réti – drawing on his own practical experience. Hannes Langrock, an International Master and literary editor at a fiction publishing house, lives in Leipzig and plays for ESV Nickelhütte-Aue. He took an in-depth look at the course and now shares his impressions. | Photos: ChessBase

8/9/2025 – What kind of chess did a world champion play who combined brilliant intellect with quiet strategic strength? Master Class Volume 18 offers a deep dive into the thinking of Max Euwe, a player whose ideas remain surprisingly relevant and instructive today. International Master Hannes Langrock, a fiction editor based in Leipzig and a player for ESV Nickelhütte-Aue, has taken a close look at the course and shares his impressions.

2/17/2025 – The Catalan Opening is a very ambitious weapon against various Black defences. Depending on how Black reacts, different, usually very challenging structures emerge. Jan Werle has presented the opening in two Fritztrainer volumes, and Hannes Langrock took a close look at volume one.

12/17/2024 – If you play 1.e4, you need a variation against the Caro-Kann. The Advance Variation is popular and successful: White puts Black under pressure from the outset. In his ChessBase FritzTrainer "Understanding Middlegame Strategies, Volume 10", the successful coach and author Ivan Sokolov has analysed and explained the most important ideas and strategic concepts of this system. Hannes Langrock watched the course and was impressed.

11/21/2024 – IM Hannes Langrock had a look at one of our latest Fritztrainers, 'How to play the Caro-Kann' by Spanish GM Àlvar Alonso Rosell, and stumbled across the realisation quoted above. Modern engines judge precisely, but explain nothing. Àlvar Alonso Rosell, on the other hand, explains ideas and plans in great detail, says Hannes Langrock.

12/12/2023 – Ivan Sokolov has risen to the ranks of the top coaches since the team of Uzbekistan, which he coached, won gold at the the Chess Olympiad in Chennai 2022. In his Fritztrainer series "Understanding Middlegame Strategies", Sokolov regularly shares his grandmaster knowledge and shows what to do in a large variety of positions and structures. Hannes Langrock had a look at Sokolov's course on the Catalan.

8/19/2022 – High-stakes 1v1 competition is pretty rare in the chess world. But just before the Olympiad in Chennai top Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri faced off against India's Number Three Vidit Gujrathi in the first ChessBase India Original Death Match: Blindfold, Blitz and Bullet. You can follow all the action in a six-hour Death Match video – which so far has had over 350,000 views. | Report by Himank Ghosh.

11/24/2017 – Mihail Marin is considered one of the premier opening theorists and treats all his topics with great care and thoroughness. Hannes Langrock has watched his DVD on the main variation of the King's Indian Defense. Langrock calls it "an ambitious classical repertoire...the analysis is quite thorough and complete."