7/25/2026 – Michal Krasenkow gives an interview after a dramatic comeback win to talk about his turbulent game, his storied career and why he has no intention of making life easy for the Indian players chasing norms. Michal dominated the second edition of the Chola Chess Grandmaster Round Robin Tournament and won the event in style. | Photos and interview: Devansh Singh
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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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The grandmaster who won't go easy: Michal Krasenkow at Chola Chess 2026
Leading with 3½/4 after four rounds, the Polish grandmaster and former world number 10 Michal Krasenkow reflects on rook endgames, the growth of Indian chess and what it means to compete at the highest level well into the later years of a career.
We boldly confront the Caro-Kann Defense with the upcoming move 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d3!? With this highly strategic choice, we disrupt Black’s typical patterns and comfort zones and enter an early endgame full of chances for you.
GM Michal Krasenkow won the 2nd Chola Chess GM Round Robin
Devansh Singh: Michael, you just finished your game, and you're leading the tournament with 3½ out of 4. How was the game today?
Michal Krasenkow: It was actually terrible. I didn't feel well, and I didn't sleep well. I was generally not in good shape. I played very badly and was in a completely lost position. But then my opponent started playing badly too.
DS: When I saw the final position, your king was on h6, your queen on f8, rook on f7. There were so many mating threats. It looked devastating.
MK: Of course, Black should not have allowed that.
DS: Can you walk us through the last three rounds? Round one, you beat Anuj; round two, you had a better position against Kushagra; and yesterday, against Bala Chandra Prasad, you converted a beautiful rook ending.
MK: The first two wins were completely normal games. The rook ending yesterday was very interesting. My opponent had a draw, but it was not so easy to find.
DS: Yesterday, I think there was a chance that he could have held a draw.
MK: What I remember from the analysis is that at some point, he should have played king e6, allowing my king to g5. But after king g5, he could always attack my g3-pawn. That was the right plan. Black's most important task was not to allow the activation of White's rook.
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. The London System is one of the most popular openings at every level of chess but not all Londons are the same. 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.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: 5...cxd4 6.exd4 Qb6 sidelines
Round three: Michal Krasenkow v. Bala Chandra Prasad (1-0)
DS: And what about the first round against Anuj? I think that some rook manoeuvring involving rook h4, rook h5 and then rook g5 was seen on the board?
MK: Yeah, of course. Again, according to the position, he should not have allowed that. He could have played a bit more accurately. He shouldn't have allowed this manoeuvre.
Round one: Michal Krasenkow v. Anuj Shrivatri (1-0)
DS: How has your time been here in Chennai? I think you've been here for four or five days now.
MK: I've been to Chennai many times, actually. In 2022, I was here for the Chess Olympiad, but in a completely different role, as a fair play officer. It's generally a nice city. Last time I did some sightseeing. This time, after the tournament, there are plans for a camp at the Chola Chess Academy. We'll see how that goes.
DS: Speaking of the 2022 Olympiad, you could have played in it as a competitor, too, right? You were world number 10 at one point.
MK: Yes, when I was world number 10, I was actively playing in tournaments. I was even the leader of the Polish team, playing on board one. I played five Olympiads for Poland, from 1996 to 2004.
DS: When exactly were you in the top 10?
MK: Around the year 2000, but very briefly. Unfortunately, after that, I had a very bad period and lost a lot of rating.
DS: In the player reveal video for Chola Chess, you said you're not going to make it easy for others to score a GM norm. You're certainly delivering on that with 3½ out of 4.
MK: If a player wants to make a GM norm, he should play like a GM. Let him beat us first.
DS: That's the competitive spirit this tournament needs. In the last edition, no norm was scored either because I think Alisher Suleymanov won the tournament. Do you think Indian players can break through this time?
MK: Generally, I see that a lot of Indian players score GM norms in open tournaments. And yes, India has a lot of good players, a real boom. What was missing here was the round robin events. Indian players used to have to travel to Europe for closed tournaments. Chola Chess is filling that gap, and this is only the second edition. It's a new experience for India.
In this video course experts examine the games of Bent Larsen. Let them show you which openings Larsen chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities! Bent Larsen (1935–2010) was the greatest chess player in Danish history, and for a time, the second-strongest player in the Western world behind Bobby Fischer. Between 1954 and 1971, he won the Danish Championship six times, and achieved numerous international tournament victories throughout his career.
Free video sample: Introduction to Bent Larsen by Peter Heine Nielsen
Free video sample: Introduction to the Opening Section
Theoretically, in closed tournaments, it can be easier to make norms because grandmasters are sometimes less motivated. But generally in Swiss tournaments, they have their own challenge, that when you play a low-rated player, he has the same number of points as you at that stage, so he is in form. It's not easy to beat them.
Michal Krasenkow dominated the tournament
DS: The Olympiad is coming up in September in Samarkand. Can we expect to see you there?
MK: I'm not sure. I have a chance to be there as a member of the Rules Commission. But honestly, I'm ageing, and travelling has become quite difficult for me now. I don't know yet.
This interactive video course of over 8 hours, provides an in-depth exploration of the Pirc Defence, a favoured opening for people looking to play for the win with the black pieces. This interactive video course of over 8 hours, provides an in-depth exploration of the Pirc Defence, a favoured opening for people looking to play for the win with the black pieces. Through a combination of key reference games and the analysis of a complete repertoire, this ChessBase Training video course helps you understand the essential themes, ideas, and resources needed to master this opening.
Free Video sample: Introduction
Free Video sample: Attacking like in the King's Indian Defence
ChessBase IndiaChessBase India is currently the biggest chess news portal and chess software distributor in India. We have daily reports about tournaments in India, profiles of the best talents and information about players performing admirably at the international level. Our motto is “Powering Chess in India”. Apart from news, we provide all the services that are required to ease the life of a chess player.
6/5/2026 – The 14th edition of the Norway Chess super-tournament is taking place from 25 May to 5 June at Deichman Bjorvika in Oslo. An open event and a women's event are being played concurrently with an identical number of players, the same format and an equivalent prize fund. Wesley So, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Alireza Firouzja enter the final round with chances to take the title. Key pairings: Firouzja v. So and Pragg v. Keymer. | Follow the games live starting at 17.00 CEST (11.00 ET, 20.30 IST) | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza
4/15/2026 – The Candidates Tournaments form the final qualifying stage of the FIDE World Championship cycle. Each tournament features eight of the world's strongest players competing in a double round-robin format over fourteen rounds of classical chess. No fewer than six players (out of eight) enter the final round with mathematical chances of winning the Women's Candidates Tournament. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 14.30 CEST (8.30 ET, 18.00 IST) | Photo: Michal Walusza
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The Benko Gambit is back at the very highest level - and it's easy to see why. Black sacrifices a pawn to seize the initiative on the queenside, obtaining long-lasting pressure, active pieces and open files that make life difficult for White.
The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
The Hyper-Accelerated dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
“Mate is great!” – Tactical training with Oliver Reeh, “The 8th rank” – Andy Woodward analyses his game against Magnus Carlsen from TePe Sigeman 2026, “A modern Nimzo-Indian” – Andrei Volokitin introduces readers to "his" system and much more!
Chess is a concrete game. There is no way around training your calculation skills. Improve your visualization, pattern recognition and learn calculation techniques such as reciprocal thinking with this course.
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