Holger Hank is a journalist and works for <a href="https://www.dw.com/de/schach/t-36401613">Deutsche Welle</a> in Bonn. He plays for the <a href="https://www.sg-siebengebirge.de/">Siebengebirge Chess Club</a> in the NRW League and occasionally comments on the chess scene on Bluesky @seitenschach.bsky.social.
10/4/2025 – Matthias Bluebaum is the man of the hour in international chess. With his second place at the Grand Swiss in Samarkand, the grandmaster from Lemgo has achieved something that no German has managed in around 35 years: to be a World Championship candidate. Following the European Team Championship, where Bluebaum will represent Germany, he will play at the World Cup, where Vincent Keymer still has a chance to jump on the World Championship bandwagon. Holger Hank spoke to Bluebaum for Deutsche Welle in what turned out to be an in-depth interview. | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE
1/17/2025 – Vincent Keymer had an eventful year. He rose to the top of the world rankings and helped Dommaraju Gukesh win the World Championship at the end of the year. For Deutsche Welle, Holger Hank spoke to the German number one about various aspects of top-level chess. Here's the second part of the two-part interview. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess
YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.
The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.
After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Qd3, White sidesteps mainline theory and steers the game into less explored, strategically rich positions.
In this course, you will learn the foundations and key ideas of the Vienna Game and discover a variety of systems that make you extremely difficult to prepare for.
Tata Steel 2026 with analyses by Bluebaum, Giri, L'Ami, Woodward and many more. Opening videos by Kasimdzhanov, Marin and Zwirs. 10 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
In this course, Dutch Grandmaster Jan Werle presents a modern and practical repertoire in the French Advance Variation, focusing on the critical line 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3.
YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.
The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.
After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Qd3, White sidesteps mainline theory and steers the game into less explored, strategically rich positions.
In this course, you will learn the foundations and key ideas of the Vienna Game and discover a variety of systems that make you extremely difficult to prepare for.
Tata Steel 2026 with analyses by Bluebaum, Giri, L'Ami, Woodward and many more. Opening videos by Kasimdzhanov, Marin and Zwirs. 10 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
In this course, Dutch Grandmaster Jan Werle presents a modern and practical repertoire in the French Advance Variation, focusing on the critical line 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3.
€9.90
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