1/4/2026 – One of the standout moments of 2025 came from 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, whose rapid rise has marked him out as one of the most intriguing young players in the game. This article revisits his breakthrough season, focusing on a remarkable attacking win at the FIDE Grand Swiss that caught the attention of GM Daniel King, who described it as "The Turkish Immortal". | Photo: FIDE/ Michal Walusza
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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.
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.
As a new year begins, it is a good time to look back at the highlights from 2025. One of the biggest rising stars in the chess world is Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, the 14-year-old from Bursa, Turkey who has climbed to second place in the juniors' ranking, as players born in 2005 or later, like Pragg, have left the juniors' list on 1 January. Remarkably, Erdogmus is the youngest player among the top 20 in this ranking.
Erdogmus had a few very strong performances in 2025, including his 8/11 at the European Individual Championship, his 4/7 at the TePe Sigeman Tournament and his victory over Peter Svidler in the classical portion of a six-game match in Marseille.
The most important tournament Erdogmus participated in, though, was the FIDE Grand Swiss. At the event in Samarkand, the Turkish prodigy entered as the 52nd seed and finished 28th, with a 6/11 score and a 2721 TPR. During the tournament, he obtained wins over Aleksandra Goryachkina, Aditya Mittal and super-GM Levon Aronian.
Erdogmus' most eye-catching victory surely was the one achieved, with the black pieces, in round four over Aditya. GM Daniel King was impressed by the youngster's effort and made a video about the game in his Power Play Chess YouTube channel. King described the game as "The Turkish Immortal" and emphasised Erdogmus' boldness and tactical ability.
The final combination seen in the game was spectacular, but the wild tactical skirmish began much earlier, when Erdogmus decided to (awkwardly) place two minor pieces deep in the opposite camp.
Follow along as Daniel King goes over this very entertaining chess battle.
Glorious sacrifices, unexpected tactics and checkmating attacks. The King's Gambit is one of the oldest and most romantic openings in the game of chess. These DVDs contain all you need to know to play the King's Gambit.
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
12/8/2025 – Young players are often said to thrive on tactics while veterans rely on strategy. But the fifth game of the six-game match in Monte Carlo between 34-year-old Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus told a different story. After four draws, the young Turkish talent claimed the first win of the match — a clean, textbook performance in the Spanish Exchange Variation.
12/2/2025 – A six-game classical match in Monte Carlo will see Maxime Vachier-Lagrave face 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus from 3 to 8 December, in an event organised by the Monaco Chess Federation with support from Evren Ucok. The encounter brings together an established top-20 grandmaster and Türkiye's leading junior. The format mirrors the match Erdogmus played against Peter Svidler in Marseille earlier this year, where he impressed in the classical section. | Photos: Official website
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.
In almost every chess game there comes a moment when you just can’t go on without tactics. You must strike to not giving away the advantage you have worked for the whole game.
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.
€89.90
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