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
new: Fritz 20
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.
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
King’s Indian fans who choose the Mar del Plata attack (7...Nc6) against White’s classical system (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0) usually aim for a complex position with mutual attacks on open wings, requiring long-term strategic planning and tactical sharpness in critical moments. Computers often do not know how to handle the arising complex strategic positions, which suits players who like to think on their own instead of memorizing long variations. However, the fashionable Bayonet Attack (9.b4) interferes with Black’s ideas. After Black’s main move 9...Nh5 the positions opens, the lines get forced and computer analysis is important again. But this DVD offers an antidote against White’s Bayonet Attack, namely 9...a5! This move leads to sound positions with very few concrete lines, in which the focus is on strategy not on tactics. Objectively chances are equal but if Black knows what to do things might quickly become dangerous for White.
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.
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.
Opening videos: Sipke Ernst brings the Ulvestad Variation up to date + Part II of ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’. Special: Jan Werle shows highlights from the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 in the video. ‘Lucky bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
€39.90
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