4/7/2023 – Middlegame secrets are revealed - in a series of articles featuring videos by Jan Markos. We'll begin with the Queen, exploring things to avoid when playing with the most powerful chess piece! If you wish to know more, we recommend the full course by Jan Markos: Middlegame Secrets Vol.1: The Power of the Queen | Photo: Alexis Fauvet/Unsplash
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Let us explore together how the rooks should enter the game in the early middlegame, how they operate on open files and how they sometimes join a deadly attack, being transferred in front of the pawn chain and many more topics!
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Middlegame Secrets Vol.1: The Power of the Queen
For a chess player, chess pieces are like specific tools in a toolbox. We need to know how to use them best, like a craftsman knows their tools. We shouldn’t use a screwdriver to hammer in a nail; and we shouldn’t use the queen just for defence. This series will show you in great detail the specific qualities of each chess piece, so that you can maximize their effectiveness and thus improve your game. Queens are the true ladies of the chessboard. They are dangerous attackers, but poor defenders. They dislike dirty work, and often wait until other pieces prepare space for them. Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!
Let us explore together how the rooks should enter the game in the early middlegame, how they operate on open files and how they sometimes join a deadly attack, being transferred in front of the pawn chain and many more topics!
Soulmates: Queen & Knight
The Queen is the most powerful piece on the chess board, but it can be even more effective with the help of the other pieces. In this article we're going to talk about the most effective ways that the power of the queen is enhanced in combination with the knight.
How can Black take advantage of the power of the soulmates: Queen + Knight?
Meet the Fritztrainer
Jan Markos is a grandmaster from Slovakia.. He is the author of numerous excellent books and for some time has also been a writer for ChessBase. Besides his column in ChessBase Magazine "Practical tips for the tournament player" he writes a column for ChessBase News "The Winning Academy". With his new video series "Middlegame Secrets" the specific qualities of each piece are explained in detail. Each piece has certain tasks for which it is better suited than others. With the help of rules of thumb and principles, The Queen and the Rook are dealt with in the first two volumes. Markos knows how to break down the complexity of the pieces into simple rules of thumb. This makes it easier to learn and apply. On the occasion of the publication of the courses, we have made a nice interview with the author:
Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!
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Slav and Semi-Slav Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains a total of 11 766 games from Mega 2026 or the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 1136 are annotated.
For the Slav and Semi-Slav Powerbook 2026 the ratings average was set again at 2400. 2.24 million games from the engine room of playchess.com met this threshold, to which were added over 130 000 games played by humans.
In this volume, we dive into core aspects of chess technique. Smyslov taught the principle of tactical hierarchy, “checks, double attacks, and unprotected pieces”, and Mikhalchishin demonstrates how this method of calculation is vital.
Videos: Nico Zwirs examines two Petroffs from the 2026 Candidates. Robert Ris has a tip against the Caro-Kann Advance Variation with 3…c5. Fiona Sieber reveals a surprise weapon against the Najdorf. ‘Lucky Bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, L'Ami et al.
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.
In this powerful new course, endgame expert Karsten Müller teams up with rising star Leon Mendonca to deliver what truly matters: 10 essential rules that every player must know.
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