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Game of the Week: Reinderman vs Feuerstack

2/26/2020 – This week IM Merijn van Delft is wearing his "tournament director" hat in Amsterdam at the 12th Batavia tournament. He also gets to be an eager spectator | The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). Merijn is live this week starting at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 4 PM EST).

400 weeks of great games!

2/19/2020 – The Prague Masters is in the crosshairs for this anniversary edition of Game of the Week. IM Merijn van Delft explores the third round win of the tournament leader Vidit Gujrathi. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). Merijn is live this week starting at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 4 PM EST).

Grandmaster tips on how to fight time-pressure

2/18/2020 – When we learn the rules of chess as a youngster we are told about the chess board, the chess pieces and how each of the pieces move. Once we master these basics, we can proudly tell everyone that we have learnt the game of chess. However, when you go to a tournament, there is one more element that is added, one which plays just as important a role as the board and the pieces: the chess clock! Time is one of the most crucial factors when playing a game, and somehow this is one of the things that chess players pay the least attention to. It doesn't come as a surprise that many strong chess players handle the clock and time in a very poor manner, losing several games due to time pressure. How do we avoid this problem? In this article GM SWAPNIL DHOPADE tries to acquaint you with the causes and solutions of this perennial problem.

Speelman's Agony: California dreamin'

2/17/2020 – Two games with "considerable violence" quips GM JON SPEELMAN as he takes a look at his latest submission. | Send in your own games! | Jon welcomes submissions from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

Game of the Week: Georgiadis vs Fedorchuk

2/12/2020 – The current season of the German League is in full swing and this week IM Merijn van Delft dives into an "insanely sharp Sicilian" from the most recent weekend's rounds. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). Merijn is live this week starting at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 4 PM EST).

Reviewing typical mistakes made by club players

2/11/2020 – GM Nick Pert, a former World U18 chess champion and a member of the National English team, came up with an ingenious idea about helping the improving players. He composed three FritzTrainer DVDs in which he targets the "typical mistakes" committed by players in the lower rating brackets of 1000-1600, 1600-1900 and 1800-2000. DIANA MIHAJLOVA takes a look.

Game of the Week: Topalov vs Basso

2/5/2020 – Tonight, IM Merijn van Delft looks back on an eventful Gibraltar tournament, and a game by veteran Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov, who is always good for a show. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). Merijn is live this week starting at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 4 PM EST).

Speelman's Agony: Playing up a class

2/2/2020 – A hungry Hungarian A-player sent GM JON SPEELMAN two hard fought battles for your review and study. A mini-GM lesson! | Send in your own games! | Jon welcomes submissions from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

Game of the Week: Caruana vs Firouzja

1/29/2020 – Closing out our coverage of the Tata Steel Masters 2020, IM Merijn van Delft delves into a game from the winner Fabiano Caruana, who defeated Alireza Firouzja to kick off his superb four-game winning streak in the last third of the tournament. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). Merijn is live this week starting at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 4 PM EST).

Strategy Training: How to make a plan

1/27/2020 – There are two types of vision during a chess game. The first, which we use quite often, is to calculate variations in our head. We ask ourselves, "what happens if I move this and my opponent moves that...?" Often such vision is sharpened by the knowledge of common tactical motifs. The other type of vision is more abstract, and belongs to the realm of human imagination, we use the word "plan" to describe it. DAVIDE NASTASIO reviews IM Robert Ris' video series aptly titled "How to make a plan".

How to find what you need in the ChessBase Shop

1/23/2020 – In case you ever wondered, the ChessBase Shop has over 1,000 titles! You can find something on almost every topic. But how, you ask? Well, you might start with the Shop Assistant! With the new search filters you can find anything and everything that is of interest to you: search by openings, middlegame topics, language, operating system (now including Macintosh!), skill level and more. You can even search for titles simply by entering the desired opening moves on the chess board.

Game of the Week: Firouzja vs Carlsen

1/22/2020 – Once again live from the Wijk aan Zee studio, IM Merijn van Delft tackles the game from the Masters that was hotly anticipated: the first classical chess battle between World Champion Magnus Carlsen and rising phenom Alireza Firouzja. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). Merijn is live this week starting at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 4 PM EST).
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