1/30/2026 – ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. Nagesh Havanur takes a look at the current issue, CBM 229. All games from the FIDE World Cup, 27 annotated, 11 opening surveys, 3 opening videos, demo lectures and several exercises for training. Annotators include Sam Shankland, Wei Yi, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Gabriel Sargissian among others. The icing on the cake is the Special feature "Giri's Gems", offering the Dutch star's eight best games from the year 2025.
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Expert commentators, in-depth analysis
My initial response to this issue was a slight disappointment. No sign of Carlsen, Caruana and Nakamura. Besides, only one major tournament finds coverage. That's the FIDE World Cup 2025. However, "The play's the thing", as the Bard once put it.
The tournament saw the fall of many veterans - Vasyl Ivanchuk, Levon Aronian, Michael Adams and Peter Leko, among others. So did young talents like Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Daniil Dubov and Arjun Erigaisi. In the end, it became a contest between Javokhir Sindarov, Wei Yi and Andrey Esipenko. Here is the decisive game between Sindarov and Wei Yi:
FIDE World Cup 2025 with analyses by Adams, Bluebaum, Donchenko, Shankland, Wei Yi and many more. Opening videos by Blohberger, King and Marin. 11 exciting 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 best games and explain the ideas behind their 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 exactly the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a download (including magazine as a PDF file) or as a magazine with download key by post. Included in delivery: CBM #229 as a ‘ChessBase Book’ for iPad, tablet, Mac, etc.! At books.chessbase.com
A dramatic game that Wei Yi deserved to draw and Sindarov deserved to win. In this issue, Anish Giri annotates a different game:
Sindarov - Svane, FIDE World Cup 2025
Andrey Esipenko played very well until he lost to Wei Yi with a terrible blunder. Watch the fateful moment at 2:02:25 - 2:19:45.
From Mating with a queen; a rook; two bishops; a knight and a bishop; to the basics of pawn endgames – here you will gain the necessary know-how to turn your endgame advantages into victories!
Wei Yi - Esipenko, FIDE World Cup 2025
It speaks for his determination that he recovered from this debacle and went on to beat Nodirbek Yakubboev in the final round. As a result, he was placed third. Esipenko's best performance was against the experienced US Grandmaster, Sam Shankland.
Shankland - Esipenko, FIDE World Cup 2025
The defeat in the hands of Esipenko put Sam Shankland out of the race for the World Cup. That's a pity as, among other participants, he was the most determined of them all. In this issue, he annotates his games with Daniil Dubov and Vasyl Ivanchuk.
Here Vasyl Ivanchuk deserves special mention. His native land, Ukraine, has been under siege for the last three years and the veteran battles on irrespective of the result. Shankland shows great respect and sympathy for the Ukrainian maverick in his commentary:
Ivanchuk - Shankland, FIDE World Cup 2025
Now that we have had a bird's-eye view of the race for the World Cup, a few observations on this issue are in order. The report on the World Cup here is too short. For a detailed narrative, readers may check out the reports on the news page here when the tournament was in progress.
A digital magazine like the CBM is well-placed to re-create the human drama of chess tournaments with pictures and videos.
A CBM Special
This time there is a special feature, Giri'sGems. Here, Anish Giri annotates eight very good games played during the year 2025. Anish Giri's commentary offers a judicious blend of explanation and analysis. Let us see one here:
This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) how to successfully organise your games strategically, consequently how to keep y
A battle of generations, so to speak!
Opening videos
There are 3 opening videos in this issue. The first of them is on the Open Spanish (C80) by Mihail Marin. The second, on the Closed Sicilian with 8.h4 (B25), is by Danny King. The third is on the King's Indian 6…Na6 Variation (E95) and was authored by Felix Blohberger.
Take your pick.
Opening surveys
There are as many as 11 articles on the openings, ranging from the Caro-Kann to the King's Indian. Among them, I would single out Robert Ris' analysis of the Ruy Lopez Marshall Attack with 11…Bb7!? (C89) and Yago Santiago's analysis of the Grünfeld Exchange Variation with 10.h4!? (E87).
First, we consider the treatment of the Marshall Attack by Robert Ris. As is known, the standard line is 11…c6, which has been heavily analysed. 11…Bb7 is not unknown, but relatively less tested. I found a correspondence game that vindicates Ris' analysis.
There is an interesting moment in the game. Black avoids playing the line 23…Qh2+ 24.Kf1 Qh1+ 25.Ke2 as he cannot continue with 25…Re8+. The result is a well-fought draw.
Now let us consider the analysis of 10.h4 in the Grünfeld Exchange Variation by Yago Santiago. The idea itself is not entirely new. Young Boris Spassky essayed it way back in the 1950s. In recent years Carlsen has also tried it. However, Yago Santiago gives it a sharp edge, and it is not easy for Black to find a draw. Here is a bird's-eye view of his analysis.
Besides opening surveys, this issue has standard features on tactics, strategy and the endgame.
Endgame play
In the regular column Fundamental Endgame Knowledge, Karsten Müller offers a video lecture on the rook versus knight endgames. In another video, he presents endgame highlights of the FIDE World Cup in Goa.
This section also offers the column Readers Write, in which we find contributions on the endgame by experts Zoran Petronijevic and Rene Kalmes.
I was a bit curious when I saw the analysis position of the following ending. A tragicomedy of errors, as the late Mark Dvoresky would have put it.
Summing up
The main database of the issue has 668 games, of which 27 are deeply annotated. There is much else in this DVD that deserves to be explored. Apart from the players I have already mentioned, the commentators include Matthias Bluebaum and Nils Grandelius, among others. It may be noted that there are more annotated games in the opening and training sections of this issue. Well, practice makes perfect.
FIDE World Cup 2025 with analyses by Adams, Bluebaum, Donchenko, Shankland, Wei Yi and many more. Opening videos by Blohberger, King and Marin. 11 exciting 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 best games and explain the ideas behind their 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 exactly the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a download (including magazine as a PDF file) or as a magazine with download key by post. Included in delivery: CBM #229 as a ‘ChessBase Book’ for iPad, tablet, Mac, etc.! At books.chessbase.com
Nagesh HavanurProf. Nagesh Havanur (otherwise known as "chessbibliophile") is a senior academic and research scholar. He taught English in Mumbai for three decades and has now settled in Bangalore, India. His interests include chess history, biography and opening theory. He has been writing on the Royal Game for more than three decades. His articles and reviews have appeared on several web sites and magazines.
1/18/2026 – ChessBase 26 is certainly the highlight among the November releases, but the other databases also offer a wealth of study material. There are many new options to explore, as well as in Harald Schneider-Zinner’s checkmate course, which combines a book with an online course. Finally, there are also new installments of Karsten Müller’s Endgame Academy and Ivan Sokolov’s middlegame strategy series. | All photos: ChessBase
12/20/2025 – In Part Two of his review of the Opening Encyclopaedia 2025, Nagesh Havanur explores the nuanced world of Semi-Open Games. From the dynamic Sicilian Defence to the "quiet" Caro-Kann, each defence offers distinct challenges and strategies. As our author transitions to Closed Games in his next instalment, he offers much practical advice for the aspiring tournament player.
On this 60 mins video we are going to concentrate on a simple, very solid idea in the main line Scandinavian, which even Magnus Carlsen has used to win games. Black focusses on making his life easy in the opening and forces White to work very hard to get advantage – but it is doubtful if White can get an advantage. Club players are always on the lookout for effective, time-saving solutions and here we have just that. Accompany FIDE Senior Trainer and IM Andrew Martin on this 60 mins video. You can learn a new opening system in 60 mins and start to play it with confidence on the very same day!
Opening videos: Daniel King presents new ideas against Caro-Kann with 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+. ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’: Najdorf, Petroff and Scotch. ‘Move by Move’ with Robert Ris. ‘Lucky bag’ with 37 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
Instead of forcing you to memorise endless lines, Raja focuses on clear plans, typical ideas, and attacking motifs that you can apply in your own games without delay. A short, focused, and practical repertoire.
FIDE World Cup 2025 with analyses by Adams, Bluebaum, Donchenko, Shankland, Wei Yi and many more. Opening videos by Blohberger, King and Marin. 11 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
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.
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