8/17/2026 – Alice Lee turned around an important game to defeat Humpy Koneru in round six of the Cairns Cup. Carissa Yip, meanwhile, missed a significant winning opportunity against Bibisara Assaubayeva. Tan Zhongyi remains in the lead with 4½ points out of a possible 6 after drawing with Alexandra Kosteniuk, but Lee's victory has moved her to within half a point. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
new: ChessBase Magazine 225
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more. ChessBase Magazine offers first-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their brilliant games and explain the ideas behind the moves. Opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in tactics, strategy and endgames show you the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a direct download (incl. booklet as pdf file) or booklet with download key by post. Included in delivery: ChessBase Magazine #225 as “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.!
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
In almost every chess game there comes a moment when you just can’t go on without tactics. You must strike to not giving away the advantage you have worked for the whole game.
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Lee scores, Tan leads
In round six, the first round after the rest day, Humpy Koneru had a clearly winning position against Alice Lee. The Indian GM, however, made a mistake in a hard-fought position and lost.
Become a master of chess strategy – get Robert Ris’s complete bundle now at a special price! Become a master of chess strategy – get Robert Ris’s complete bundle now at a special price!
IM Alice Lee has now beaten three grandmasters in this tournament - Kosteniuk, Deshmukh and Koneru - while drawing against two others, Assaubayeva and Tan. Lee's only defeat came against IM Tsolakidou. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Both players followed a long theoretical line in the Nimzo-Indian. Lee was clearly better prepared and quickly built up a huge advantage on the clock. Her plan to capture the a-pawn with the knight was not the best, however. Koneru initially gained the advantage, but then missed a sacrifice on g7, and the young American punished the mistake ruthlessly and in impressive fashion.
The Trompowsky is especially suited for faster time controls as you don‘t have to memorise endless lines of theory, and you push your opponent out of their comfort zone after your second move. Nowadays, the list of requirements for an opening repertoire is long: being sound and sustainable; not requiring much memorisation; offering great attacking chances; making your opponent think early on etc… The time of finding a minimal advantage from the opening has passed, and we are better off with a more practical approach - simply understanding the position better than our opponent does. The Repertoire for White 1.d4 ... 2.Bg5! from IM Robert Ris answers all these requirements!
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 e6 3.e4 Be7/d5/c5
The game between the tournament leader and the player at the bottom of the standings ended in a draw. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Tournament leader Tan Zhongyi faced former women's world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, who had made a disastrous start to the event. After opening with four defeats, Kosteniuk scored her first half-point against Stavroula Tsolakidou in round five. Against the leader, she added another half-point to her tally. The game ended after 49 moves. The position remained within drawing margins throughout. After a fighting Queen's Gambit Accepted, the two players reached an endgame with two knights each, which ended in a repetition of moves.
A prominent visitor at the Cairns Cup: Arjun Erigaisi has travelled to Saint Louis from the Esports World Cup in Paris | Photo: Lennart Ootes
The game between Anna Muzychuk and Vaishali Rameshbabu also passed without any major excitement. After another draw in which the position remained balanced throughout, Muzychuk has 3 points after signing six draws. Vaishali is 1 point behind her.
Looking for a realistic way to play for a win with Black against 1.e4 without taking unnecessary risks? The Taimanov Sicilian is a reliable system, and hence one of the best options out there!
Carissa Yip, by contrast, will have reason to be frustrated. She had a clearly better position against Bibisara Assaubayeva, but apparently fell for a bluff. On move 29, Assaubayeva began a dubious knight manoeuvre. Yip could simply have taken the piece with a pawn or first captured the g-pawn on the kingside. Instead, she appeared to be taken by surprise and made two mistakes over the next three moves. The position suddenly became equal and the game ended in a draw.
The two chasers Stavroula Tsolakidou and Divya Deshmukh agreed to a draw after an evenly balanced game | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Divya Deshmukh was unable to make use of a slight initiative in the endgame and drew against Tsolakidou. In round seven, she will face leader Tan. Tan has 4½/6, while Divya is on 3½. It is therefore an important game for both players: can Deshmukh draw level, or can Tan pull further ahead with a win? Assaubayeva and Tsolakidou will face each other - both are level with Deshmukh in the chasing group.
The two DVDs offer you the chance to solve 66 exercises with multiple questions. These exercises are presented in the interactive format, which makes them accessible for players of different strengths as we will go through the thought process step by step
Stefan LiebigStefan Liebig, born in 1974, is a journalist and co-owner of a marketing agency. He now lives in Barterode near Göttingen. At the age of five, strange pieces on his neighbour’s shelf aroused his curiosity. Since then, the game of chess has cast a spell over him. Flying high in the NRW youth league with his home club SV Bad Laasphe and several appearances in the second division team of Tempo Göttingen were highlights for the former youth South Westphalia champion.
8/16/2026 – All the games in round five ended in draws. As a result, Tan Zhongyi (4/5) maintains her one-point lead at the top of the standings. Alice Lee, Stavroula Tsolakidou, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Divya Deshmukh follow on 3 points. Playing white against Stavroula Tsolakidou, Alexandra Kosteniuk scored her first half-point. Humpy Koneru and Candidates Tournament winner Vaishali Rameshbabu have yet to score a win. | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club
8/12/2026 – Tan Zhongyi and Alice Lee (pictured) maintained perfect scores after the second round of the Cairns Cup in Saint Louis. Tan defeated Humpy Koneru after breaking through on the queenside, while Lee overcame fellow overnight leader Divya Deshmukh in a rook ending. Defending champion Carissa Yip bounced back from her opening-round loss by beating Alexandra Kosteniuk, leaving Tan and Lee alone at the top on 2/2. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
King’s Indian fans who choose the Mar del Plata attack (7...Nc6) against White’s classical system (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0) usually aim for a complex position with mutual attacks on open wings, requiring long-term strategic planning and tactical sharpness in critical moments. Computers often do not know how to handle the arising complex strategic positions, which suits players who like to think on their own instead of memorizing long variations. However, the fashionable Bayonet Attack (9.b4) interferes with Black’s ideas. After Black’s main move 9...Nh5 the positions opens, the lines get forced and computer analysis is important again. But this DVD offers an antidote against White’s Bayonet Attack, namely 9...a5! This move leads to sound positions with very few concrete lines, in which the focus is on strategy not on tactics. Objectively chances are equal but if Black knows what to do things might quickly become dangerous for White.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
“Attack with Qh5!!” – Tactical training with Oliver Reeh, “6…g5 – nothing ventured, nothing …” – Le Quang Liem comments on one of his victories in Biel, “Grischuk’s stroke of genius” – Petra Papp reveals a surprise in the Sicilian Kan Variation, and much
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
While tactics decide the game in concrete moments, strategy guides the entire battle. Understanding how to improve your pieces, create weaknesses, execute maneuvers, and steer the game toward favorable structures is what defines strong players.
The Italian Four Knights is the ideal choice. It combines the solid foundation of classical openings like the Ruy Lopez or the Italian Game with an active, initiative-driven style of play.
IM Andrew Martin shows why this 19th-century opening weapon still is a fantastic choice for club players. The Evans produces exciting chess and teaches the art of attack.
IM Andrew Martin complements his Evans Gambit course with a simple and attacking repertoire against all of blacks sidelines after 1.e4 e5.
€34.90
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