6/8/2017 – This issue is not only packed with thousands of games from top tournaments – Grenke Chess Classic, US Championship, Gashimov-Memorial – many annotated by world class GMs – Levon Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura, Emil Sutovsky. It also contains 24 video lessons, openings training with eleven surveys by leading experts, and a special section on how a prodigy like 12-year-old IM Nihal Sarin thinks.
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.!
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ChessBase Magazine #178
ChessBase Magazine #178 (DVD + Booklet) Languages: English, German Delivery: Download, Post Level: Any Price: €19.95. €16.76/$18.10 without VAT (for customers outside the EU)
ChessBase Magazine is the modern training tool for every ambitious chess player. World-class players analyze their own games and explain the ideas behind their moves. Opening specialists show the latest trends in the world of theory, present exciting ideas for your repertoire and much more, all on a DVD + booklet.
Highlights from the latest edition:
Win with plan B: Levon Aronian analyzes his game against Naiditsch at the Grenke Classic, complete with exchange sacrifice, king hunt and an alternative solution.
How prodigies think: 12-year-old Nihal Sarin from India presents his game against GM Bluebaum (video). You will find a full report on Nihal's role in CBM 178 in this ChessBase India report.
“The lurking bishop”: Go on a tactical adventure with Oliver Reeh and solve his favorite combination with truly masterful moves! (Interactive video)
Completely irrational from a strategic viewpoint: Opening expert Mihail Marin will show you what has happened in the Winawer French in recent years.
Speculative and spectacular: Enjoy Vladimir Kramnik's rook sacrifice for three pawns and see Harikrishna in deep trouble!
Razor-sharp update: GM Erwin l'Ami presents fantastic new ideas in the Two Knights for White and Black! (Video)
Popular and dangerous: One of India’s top players, Adhiban, provides further evidence of the potential of queen’s pawn openings in his game against Swayans.
The editor’s top ten
Win with Plan B: Aronian analyses his game against Naiditsch at the Grenke Classic: with an exchange sacrifice, a king hunt and an alternative solution.
This is how child prodigies think: 12-year old Nihal Sarin from India presents for you his win over GM Bluebaum (video).
“The lurking bishop”: Enjoy the tactical fireworks with Oliver Reeh and solve his favourite combination with really masterly moves! (Interactive video)
“Strategically completely irrational”: Mihail Marin shows you what has been happening in recent years in the French Winawer Variation.
Speculative and spectacular: Enjoy Kramnik’s rook sacrifice for three pawns and a consternated Harikrishna!
The pawn as a curse: Test your endgame technique and together with Karsten Müller find the narrow pathway to the draw. (interactive video)
Triumph in Poikovsky: Emil Sutovsky (7 out of 9) analyses in great detail his first round win against the previous years’ victor: Sutovsky-Korobov
Sharp update: Let Erwin l'Ami show you fantastic new ideas for White and Black in the Two Knights Defence. (video)
Popular and dangerous: Adhiban delivers with his attacking win over Swayans further proof for the potential of Queen’s Pawn games.
Declining the gambit and still getting an advantage: Krisztian Szabo knows why you do not need to fear 3…f5 in the Ruy Lopez.
Recommendations for your repertoire – all opening articles in ChessBase Magazine #177
Although the world champion himself did not win against this variation (against Adhiban, Wijk 2017), Petra Papp convincingly shows that White can count on a nice advantage with this line of the Scandinavian.
Instead of the usual 7...Nd7 to take control of the e5-square, 7...e6!? allows the knight sortie. In the position in the diagram the usual move is 11.f4 upon which Lars Schandorff recommends 11...Be7, immediately attacking the h4-pawn. White seems to have no chance of an advantage.
A safe counter against the Najdorf-avoiding variation 5.f3 is offered by Igor Stohl in the form of the immediate counterthrust in the centre. Above all, after the required 7.Bg5 you immediately have in 7...Be6 and 7...d4 two good possibilities to get a satisfactory game.
As Robert Ris demonstrates in his article, White can count on a safe advantage when facing 10...e6. But a more critical move is 10...e5, though even then things are not easy for Black. But perhaps he can keep things on a level keel with a rarely played move.
Souleidis: French C01 (Recommendation for White): 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3
Georgios Souleidis explains that this is of course only a surprise weapon. Black ought to be able to equalise in several ways, but the author’s investigations also make it clear that there are still some blanks in the theory of this variation.
Kosintseva: French C15 (Recommendation for White): 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nge2
In the Alekhine Gambit there have in recent years been a few new developments which Nadezhda Kosintseva examines in detail. Black can equalise of course, but in doing so he should not under-estimate the difficulties which crop up.
As Jonas Lampert establishes, 8...b6 has almost completely replaced the older 8...Bb6. From Black’s point of view what is especially attractive is the fact that 9.f4?! is the most frequently played move, but that after 9...d5! Black is the one at the steering wheel.
Compared to the more frequently played 4.Nc3 the move 4.d3 looks really tame. But in his repertoire suggestion Krisztian Szabo shows that White can count on a secure advantage in all lines.
The position is also often reached via 4.Nc3 a6. The rarely seen bishop move has been played above all by Nikita Vitiugov. As Alexey Kuzmin shows in his article on the DVD, White has excellent chances of getting a small opening advantage.
With the fianchetto move 7...g6 Black is aiming for positions which are reminiscent of the Grünfeld Defence. Evgeny Postny is of the opinion that White is well advised to react dynamically. Nevertheless, in each case Black has several possibilities for equalising.
Renato Quintiliano advocates a variation for White which Dejan Bojkov had already examined six years ago in CBM 141, but on that occasion from the point of view of Black. But recent developments permit the conclusion that White can get an advantage.
Frederic FriedelEditor-in-Chief emeritus of the ChessBase News page. Studied Philosophy and Linguistics at the University of Hamburg and Oxford, graduating with a thesis on speech act theory and moral language. He started a university career but switched to science journalism, producing documentaries for German TV. In 1986 he co-founded ChessBase.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
Opening videos: Sipke Ernst brings the Ulvestad Variation up to date + Part II of ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’. Special: Jan Werle shows highlights from the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 in the video. ‘Lucky bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
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ChessBase Magazine #178
