3/14/2026 – IM Andrew Martin makes a compelling case for the Vienna Game as a versatile and dangerous weapon, offering rich attacking chances with far less theory than mainstream alternatives like the Ruy Lopez or Italian. His course covers three distinct approaches - aggressive f2–f4 systems, solid early Bc4 lines, and positional g3 setups - giving you a complete, hard-to-prepare-for repertoire with real practical punch.
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In this course, you will learn the foundations and key ideas of the Vienna Game and discover a variety of systems that make you extremely difficult to prepare for. The Vienna Game is one of the most underrated openings in modern chess. While the Ruy Lopez and Italian dominate elite practice, the Vienna offers rich, creative play with far less theoretical burden and enormous practical value.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 1: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 - Martin vs Adams
In this two-volume course GM Ganguly turns calculation into a trainable skill with a structured path for any level.
€39.90
The Vienna Game – Dynamic, Flexible and Deeply Underestimated
by Andrew Martin
The Vienna Game is one of the most underrated openings in modern chess. While the Ruy Lopez and Italian dominate elite practice, the Vienna offers rich, creative play with far less theoretical burden and enormous practical value.
f2–f4 systems – aggressive, King’s Gambit-style positions with added flexibility
Early Bc4 lines – solid setups with long-term pressure (including the wild Frankenstein–Dracula Variation)
g3 systems – positional control of d5 with attacking potential
The Vienna leads to complex, original middlegames and makes you extremely difficult to prepare for. IM Andrew Martin, FIDE Senior Trainer and long-time ChessBase author, guides you through this versatile and dangerous opening weapon.
In this course, you will learn the foundations and key ideas of the Vienna Game and discover a variety of systems that make you extremely difficult to prepare for. The Vienna Game is one of the most underrated openings in modern chess. While the Ruy Lopez and Italian dominate elite practice, the Vienna offers rich, creative play with far less theoretical burden and enormous practical value.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 1: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 - Martin vs Adams
3/12/2026 – Welcome to The Initiative – a show dedicated to the relentless battle for momentum in chess! In every game, players fight to seize control, dictate the pace, and keep their opponent on the back foot. But what does it really mean to have the initiative? How do the world’s best players maintain pressure and transform small advantages into crushing attacks?
3/11/2026 – Chess tournaments have a way of running so smoothly that spectators rarely stop to think about why. That seamless experience is no accident, it's the result of dedicated people working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure everything goes according to plan. At the Prague International Chess Festival, organizer Petr Boleslav leads a close-knit team of helpers, many of whom he has known for years and who themselves come from a chess background. ChessBase sat down with several of them to offer a glimpse into the world behind the tournament.
After 1.d4 d5 many players with White avoid the great amount of theory in the Slav, Semi-Slav, QGA and Orthodox Queen's Gambit and do not therefore play 2.c4. This is not very ambitious, but the painful experience of many chess players has been that the Colle System, the Trompowsky Attack, the Torre Attack and the London System are nevertheless extremely dangerous. Black has to be prepared for each of these openings and IM Valeri Lilov offers you some help with his six instructive videos, in which he demonstrates for each single opening a relevant plan for Black. In addition to the openings mentioned, the Bulgarian trainer also delves into the Catalan, the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit and the Richter-Veresov Opening.
In this course, you will learn the foundations and key ideas of the Vienna Game and discover a variety of systems that make you extremely difficult to prepare for.
Tata Steel 2026 with analyses by Bluebaum, Giri, L'Ami, Woodward and many more. Opening videos by Kasimdzhanov, Marin and Zwirs. 10 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
In this course, Dutch Grandmaster Jan Werle presents a modern and practical repertoire in the French Advance Variation, focusing on the critical line 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3.
One of the major battlegrounds of the Queen’s Gambit Declined is the Catalan, and against it Zwirs chose an ambitious strategy: accept the pawn and hold onto it with …c6 and …b5, aiming for an unbalanced fight from the very start.
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.
€39.90
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