ChessBase tips for beginners - Quick access toolbars

by ChessBase
4/29/2026 – This episode explains how to use the quick access toolbar in ChessBase to manage game notation more efficiently. It shows how to handle variations, delete or hide moves, and quickly add comments, diagrams, and evaluation symbols.
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.
FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! 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.

ChessBase tips for beginners - Quick access toolbars

by Anastasia Corotcova

ChessBase tips for beginners introduces a wide range of ChessBase features and demonstrates how to use the program efficiently.

Viewers learn everything from entering their first moves to applying powerful analytical tools that improve understanding.

Anastasia Corotcova guides us through each step, explaining the functions with clarity and practical examples, and shows how to unlock the full potential of ChessBase and build confidence from the very start.

  • 0:00 – Introduction: What the quick access toolbar is
  • 0:28 – Promoting variations (moving lines up to main line)
  • 1:10 – Hiding all variations (focus on main line)
  • 1:30 – Deleting variations (including all sub-variations)
  • 2:00 – Delete remaining moves (cutting off future moves)
  • 2:16 – Adding text comments quickly (before/after moves)
  • 2:33 – Inserting diagrams into notation

Anastasia Corotcova is a chess player from Moldova who actively played and trained until starting university, around which time she also obtained her first FIDE Arbiter licence. Meanwhile, she is an international arbiter.

She has a background in computer science and has been working professionally in IT for the past seven years, which is her main occupation today.

Alongside this, Anastasia contributes educational chess content for ChessBase and previously hosted an educational TV program for children.

EXPAND YOUR CHESS HORIZONS
Data, plans, practice – the new Opening Report In ChessBase there are always attempts to show the typical plans of an opening variation. In the age of engines, chess is much more concrete than previously thought. But amateurs in particular love openings with clear plans, see the London System. In ChessBase ’26, three functions deal with the display of plans. The new opening report examines which piece moves or pawn advances are significant for each important variation. In the reference search you can now see on the board where the pieces usually go. If you start the new Monte Carlo analysis, the board also shows the most common figure paths.

Links:

<< Daniel King's Power Play Show: Preview Gukesh-Sindarov
Robert Ris' Fast and Furious: Sicilian Rossolimo with 3...e6 >>
Topics: anastasia corotcova, chessbase, ChessBase 26, Tutorial, Tutorials
Reports about chess: tournaments, championships, portraits, interviews, World Championships, product launches and more.
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ChessBase tips for beginners - Annotations

2/12/2026 – This episode explains how to add annotation symbols and evaluation marks to your analysed games in ChessBase using the Insert tab, quick-access menus, keyboard shortcuts, and the notation pane. It also shows how to insert, edit, or delete text comments before or after moves, helping you personalize your analysis and clearly express your ideas.
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Video

60m English New ideas in the Najdorf_E

‘New ideas in the Najdorf – a Power Play 18 Update’ aims to complement Daniel King’s popular DVD from last year ‘The Sicilian Najdorf - a repertoire for Black’. Such a dynamic and popular opening as the Najdorf is developing the whole time. On this download, Daniel King updates lines that were included on his DVD but also responds to viewers’ requests, considering lines that he omitted from his original repertoire. The lines examined on this update are: • 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 h3 e5 7 Nde2 • 5….a6 6 Bc4 in combination with the English Attack (Be3, f3 etc) • 5…a6 6 Be3 and the …a5 variation • 5…a6 6 Be2 and 9 Re1 • 5 f3 (instead of 5 Nc3) It isn’t necessary to have seen the original Najdorf DVD to understand the lines examined here – but it would help as they form part of a complete repertoire.