3/31/2026 – At the grenke Chess Festival 2026 in Karlsruhe, ChessBase is right in the middle of the action: at the Chess Tigers booth, visitors can get direct help with preparation, training and all questions related to chess. At the same time, the team is creating plenty of content from the world's largest open chess festival, including interviews and shows with guests such as Veronika Exler and Georgios Souleidis, as well as coverage of the new Opening Encyclopaedia 2026. | Photos: Grenke Chess Festival video screenshots
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.!
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ChessBase at the grenke Chess Festival 2026 in Karlsruhe
Over Easter, ChessBase will be on site at the grenke Chess Festival in Karlsruhe: visitors can look forward to analysis, training, content, and plenty of practical help right at the board. The festival returns to the Karlsruhe Congress Centre from April 2–6, 2026, bringing together two major open tournaments under one roof: the classical grenke Chess Open and the grenke Freestyle Chess Open.
A special highlight in 2026: for the first time, the Freestyle Open serves as a direct qualification event for the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship. The winner of the A-Open qualifies for the 2027 edition, while the top three women earn a place in the first-ever FIDE Freestyle Chess Women's World Championship.
Magnus Carlsen will take part again, of course
ChessBase in Karlsruhe: Help, training and exchange
ChessBase will be present at the Chess Tigers booth – offering exactly what tournament players really need: practical support for the next game.
On site, the focus will be on:
Preparation for the next opponent
The new Opening Encyclopaedia 2026
Help with databases and analysis
Support with technical questions and problems
In short: from problem to solution – right before the round begins.
So be sure to stop by and bring your questions, ideas, and topics with you.
The team on site
Jeroen van den Belt – developer explaining new features directly
Nils Rohde – social media & photography
Arne Kähler – shows and interviews with top players and amateurs
Benjamin Bartels – technical support and organisation
Veronika Exler – live show "Exzellente Schachvorbereitung" & more
Shows, content and the new Opening Encyclopaedia
The grenke Festival has long become a content hotspot. One highlight will be the collaboration with Veronika Exler, who will produce several shows on site together with Arne Kähler.
The ChessBase Show "Exzellente Schachvorbereitung" is a popular format.
The focus is not only on training, but also on the brand-new Opening Encyclopaedia 2026 – a comprehensive package of articles, model games and video lessons for modern opening preparation.
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. YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY
Be well prepared with the new Opening Encyclopaedia 2026! 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 and is the ideal start for your opening training. Many new articles enrich the current theory with new or revisited ideas. The Encyclopaedia can help you learn openings quickly and give you a head start on your next opponent. Each article contains explanations and annotated games illustrating typical plans to deepen your understanding.
In addition, a special production is planned:
Georgios Souleidis (a.k.a. The Big Greek) will produce a show together with Arne Kähler directly from the grenke Festival.
What makes the 2026 edition special
The grenke Chess Festival is reaching new dimensions in 2026: weeks before the first move, over 3,000 players have already registered – a new record and a clear sign of the event's enormous appeal.
Tournament director Sven Noppes is even expecting more than 3,600 participants, which would elevate the festival to an entirely new level.
It is precisely this combination that makes Karlsruhe so special: world-class players like Magnus Carlsen meet ambitious amateurs – all in the same tournament hall, in the same competition, over nine rounds. The proven concept of two parallel open tournaments remains, including the possibility to switch between classical chess and freestyle up to round five.
For 3,600+ players, you need a lot of space!
The tournament gains additional sporting significance through qualification spots for the Freestyle Chess World Championship and a high prize fund – factors that make what is already the world's largest open chess festival even more attractive.
The history of the grenke tournament
The modern "grenke era" began in 2013 with the first grenke Chess Classic, an elite tournament.
A key step in its development followed in 2016, when an open tournament was added, allowing the event to evolve more and more into a festival for players of all levels.
After a pandemic-related break starting in 2020, the tournament returned in 2024 and was subsequently restructured: since 2025, the concept with two major open events and a strong focus on freestyle chess has taken centre stage.
Chess Tigers, Sven and Marina Noppes
A central part of the festival is the area surrounding the Chess Tigers.
Its roots go back to the Chess Tigers chess development association, founded in 1999 with the goal of promoting chess across all age groups. The organisation has been involved in numerous major tournaments, including the Chess Classic Mainz and early Chess960 events.
Today, Marina Noppes and Sven Noppes are the key figures. Together with Jonathan Carlstedt, they run the mobile "Chess Tigers Shop", which is present at many tournaments and visibly enriches the chess scene.
Sven Noppes also serves as the official tournament director at the grenke Festival.
In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.
Arne KaehlerArne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
This compact course is designed specifically for practical play. Instead of overwhelming you with endless theory, it focuses on the critical lines, typical plans, and recurring tactical ideas.
Slav and Semi-Slav Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains a total of 11 766 games from Mega 2026 or the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 1136 are annotated.
For the Slav and Semi-Slav Powerbook 2026 the ratings average was set again at 2400. 2.24 million games from the engine room of playchess.com met this threshold, to which were added over 130 000 games played by humans.
In this volume, we dive into core aspects of chess technique. Smyslov taught the principle of tactical hierarchy, “checks, double attacks, and unprotected pieces”, and Mikhalchishin demonstrates how this method of calculation is vital.
Videos: Nico Zwirs examines two Petroffs from the 2026 Candidates. Robert Ris has a tip against the Caro-Kann Advance Variation with 3…c5. Fiona Sieber reveals a surprise weapon against the Najdorf. ‘Lucky Bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, L'Ami et al.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
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