Behind the scenes in Samarkand: Inside the Expo

by ChessBase
9/30/2026 – Arne Kähler sets off by golf cart from the entrance gate to the exhibition area at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand. He shows the stands of WR Chess, DGT and ChessBase, while also passing the ChessBase India workspace, the food court and the souvenir shop. Arne then visits the press area and the game zone before meeting a special guest at the ChessBase stand - elite grandmaster Levon Aronian! | Photo: ChessBase
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Behind the scenes at the Olympiad with ChessBase

The ChessBase team had a great time in Samarkand! Arne Kähler begins another tour of the Olympiad venue at the entrance gate together with ChessBase News editor-in-chief Johannes Fischer. This time, he shows the inside of the Expo.

Arne Kähler continues the tour on foot inside the hall, passing the stands of WR Chess, DGT and ChessBase. The fan shop even has fan shirts featuring the faces of the Uzbek players!

In the gaming zone, there are areas for playing computer and PlayStation games, as well as areas for table tennis and table football.

Back at the ChessBase stand, Arne Kähler meets Levon Aronian. At the end of the vlog, there are also a few behind-the-scenes moments from the "Off the Board" nterviews conducted with players during the Olympiad.

Inside the Expo in Samarkand

Behind the scenes with ChessBase

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Video

60m The Two Knights

This entry into the 60 minutes series concentrates on the Modern variation of the Italian game where White opens the centre early : 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 d4 exd4 5 e5!. This line can be reached by various move orders, most frequently from the Scotch 3 d4 exd4 4 Bc4. It's a sharp variation and Grandmasters such as Evgeny Sveshnikov have used it frequently,with very good results. It's a perfect line for club players to adopt which is relatively easy to learn and which contains many traps. All the main responses are covered here, including 5...d5, 5...Ng4 and 5...Ne4 and the conclusion is that is is difficult for Black to equalize in a straightforward way. Problems are being posed, which over the board might prove tough to solve.