9/2/2008 – It is one of the strongest chess tournaments ever: six players averaging 2775.6 Elo points, making it a Category XXII event. The games are being played in the middle of the town square, in a sound-proof glass cabin. The scoring system is unusual, with three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The prize fund? A cool 400,000 Euros (US $585,000). First pictorial report from Bilbao.
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.!
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
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.
€39.90
Grand
Slam Chess
Final Masters Bilbao
The Chess Grand Slam Final is being staged in Bilbao, Spain, from September
1st to 13th 2008. It is a six-player round robin event, possibly the strongest
in the history of the game. The Elo average is 2775.6, making it a category
XXII (22) tournament. Games start at 17:00h local time (CEST). There are two
rest days.
The venue of the event is the Plaza Nueva in the centre of Bilbao's Old Town.
To make it possible to play, a huge sound-proofed and air-conditioned glass enclosure
has been built, under a marquee to protect the players from the summer sun.
The scoring system in this tournament is different and experimental. Players
receive three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for losing
a game. For rating purposes the traditional 1-½-0 system will be used.
The prize fund for the event is 400,000 Euros, with the winner receiving €150,000,
the second place €70,000, etc. with the 6th player winning €30,000.
The sums are unprecedented for an event like this. Only World Championships
have exceeded the amount.
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the
chess server Playchess.com.
If you are not a member you can download
the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access.
You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse the PGN games.
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.
€9.90
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Grand
Slam Chess 
