3/31/2026 – At the grenke Chess Festival 2026 in Karlsruhe, ChessBase is right in the middle of the action: at the Chess Tigers booth, visitors can get direct help with preparation, training and all questions related to chess. At the same time, the team is creating plenty of content from the world's largest open chess festival, including interviews and shows with guests such as Veronika Exler and Georgios Souleidis, as well as coverage of the new Opening Encyclopaedia 2026. | Photos: Grenke Chess Festival video screenshots
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ChessBase at the grenke Chess Festival 2026 in Karlsruhe
Over Easter, ChessBase will be on site at the grenke Chess Festival in Karlsruhe: visitors can look forward to analysis, training, content, and plenty of practical help right at the board. The festival returns to the Karlsruhe Congress Centre from April 2–6, 2026, bringing together two major open tournaments under one roof: the classical grenke Chess Open and the grenke Freestyle Chess Open.
A special highlight in 2026: for the first time, the Freestyle Open serves as a direct qualification event for the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship. The winner of the A-Open qualifies for the 2027 edition, while the top three women earn a place in the first-ever FIDE Freestyle Chess Women's World Championship.
Magnus Carlsen will take part again, of course
ChessBase in Karlsruhe: Help, training and exchange
ChessBase will be present at the Chess Tigers booth – offering exactly what tournament players really need: practical support for the next game.
On site, the focus will be on:
Preparation for the next opponent
The new Opening Encyclopaedia 2026
Help with databases and analysis
Support with technical questions and problems
In short: from problem to solution – right before the round begins.
So be sure to stop by and bring your questions, ideas, and topics with you.
The team on site
Jeroen van den Belt – developer explaining new features directly
Nils Rohde – social media & photography
Arne Kähler – shows and interviews with top players and amateurs
Benjamin Bartels – technical support and organisation
Veronika Exler – live show "Exzellente Schachvorbereitung" & more
Shows, content and the new Opening Encyclopaedia
The grenke Festival has long become a content hotspot. One highlight will be the collaboration with Veronika Exler, who will produce several shows on site together with Arne Kähler.
The ChessBase Show "Exzellente Schachvorbereitung" is a popular format.
The focus is not only on training, but also on the brand-new Opening Encyclopaedia 2026 – a comprehensive package of articles, model games and video lessons for modern opening preparation.
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. YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY
Be well prepared with the new Opening Encyclopaedia 2026! 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 and is the ideal start for your opening training. Many new articles enrich the current theory with new or revisited ideas. The Encyclopaedia can help you learn openings quickly and give you a head start on your next opponent. Each article contains explanations and annotated games illustrating typical plans to deepen your understanding.
In addition, a special production is planned:
Georgios Souleidis (a.k.a. The Big Greek) will produce a show together with Arne Kähler directly from the grenke Festival.
What makes the 2026 edition special
The grenke Chess Festival is reaching new dimensions in 2026: weeks before the first move, over 3,000 players have already registered – a new record and a clear sign of the event's enormous appeal.
Tournament director Sven Noppes is even expecting more than 3,600 participants, which would elevate the festival to an entirely new level.
It is precisely this combination that makes Karlsruhe so special: world-class players like Magnus Carlsen meet ambitious amateurs – all in the same tournament hall, in the same competition, over nine rounds. The proven concept of two parallel open tournaments remains, including the possibility to switch between classical chess and freestyle up to round five.
For 3,600+ players, you need a lot of space!
The tournament gains additional sporting significance through qualification spots for the Freestyle Chess World Championship and a high prize fund – factors that make what is already the world's largest open chess festival even more attractive.
The history of the grenke tournament
The modern "grenke era" began in 2013 with the first grenke Chess Classic, an elite tournament.
A key step in its development followed in 2016, when an open tournament was added, allowing the event to evolve more and more into a festival for players of all levels.
After a pandemic-related break starting in 2020, the tournament returned in 2024 and was subsequently restructured: since 2025, the concept with two major open events and a strong focus on freestyle chess has taken centre stage.
Chess Tigers, Sven and Marina Noppes
A central part of the festival is the area surrounding the Chess Tigers.
Its roots go back to the Chess Tigers chess development association, founded in 1999 with the goal of promoting chess across all age groups. The organisation has been involved in numerous major tournaments, including the Chess Classic Mainz and early Chess960 events.
Today, Marina Noppes and Sven Noppes are the key figures. Together with Jonathan Carlstedt, they run the mobile "Chess Tigers Shop", which is present at many tournaments and visibly enriches the chess scene.
Sven Noppes also serves as the official tournament director at the grenke Festival.
In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.
Arne KaehlerArne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.
1/25/2026 – The grenke Chess Festival returns to Karlsruhe at Easter 2026, bringing together thousands of players for one of the world's largest chess gatherings. Alongside the traditional classical Open, the festival will stage a Freestyle Chess Open that serves as a qualifier for the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship. With leading grandmasters expected and substantial prizes at stake, the event combines large-scale participation with direct international sporting significance.
1/24/2026 – The grenke Chess Festival will return to Karlsruhe over Easter 2026, bringing together thousands of players for parallel classical and Freestyle opens. For the first time, the Freestyle event will serve as a qualifier for the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, adding direct sporting stakes to the established festival format. Leading figures including Magnus Carlsen and Vincent Keymer are set to feature in one of the largest open gatherings in world chess. | Photo: Stev Bonhage
London System PowerBase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.
The London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Opening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.
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.
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