6/28/2023 – Dmitrij Kollars can celebrate having beaten a former world champion. In the No-Castling Masters, the German grandmaster defeated Vladimir Kramnik. Ruben Gideon Köllner leads the Sportland NRW Cup, while Alexander Donchenko won the all-important against Frederik Svane in the A-Open. | Screenshot: Former tournament director Jürgen Grastat makes the ceremonial first move
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.!
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.
In this course GM Ganguly turns calculation into a trainable skill with a structured path for any level.
€39.90
The defending champion strikes
Last year, in the absence of Vladimir Kramnik, Dmitrij Kollars stunned spectators and pundits with his tournament victory at the NC World Masters of the Dortmund Chess Festival. Now, the German grandmaster obtained a marvellous victory over 10-time Dortmund winner.
The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.
Dimitrij Kollars | Photo: Michelle Lassak
Kollars didn’t come out of the opening at all well with white, after Jürgen Grastat made the first move for him. Grastat ran the International Dortmund Chess Days for 20 years as tournament director (1983 - 2002). Kollars then decided to create complications in the position. In the resulting entanglements, he came out on top, as he punished the former world champion’s mistakes to win the game in grand style.
“I still have a lot of adrenaline in me, but it feels good”, the young German said in the interview a few minutes after his victory. The whole interview (in German), including analysis, was uploaded to YouTube.
US star Fabiano Caruana had an inferior position and needed to fight hard for a long time, but he finally managed to hold a draw against Pavel Eljanov. He commented on the new rules after his first two games in the No-Castling Chess format:
It’s fun. All the games, all the openings are very interesting. You get a fight immediately. I mean, Kramnik’s game today for example was very chaotic, I didn’t know what was going on. You get some really fighting positions early on. So I like the concept.
The world number 3 is looking forward to the coming games. Now he is half a point ahead of Kollars and Kramnik atop the standings.
Standings - Round 2
All games
A-Open: Donchenko beats Svane
Very combatibe chess was seen in round 4 of the A-Open. On the first three boards, played on the tournament’s stage, only Alexander Donchenko could win in the end. He gained an early advantage against Frederik Svane, and finally made use of his extra exchange up. Matthias Bluebaum, on the other hand, had to survive a few difficulties and was able to escape with a draw against Leon Mendonca. Mendonca had opportunities to win the game in the middlegame.
The second player with 4 points from 4 games is Aryan Chopra, who won after 5½ hours against Arthur Guo. Thus, Donchenko and Chopra will meet on Wednesday at the top board of the A-Open.
Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!
In the Sportland NRW Cup, Ruben Gideon Köllner claimed yet another victory. With 3½ points from 4 games, the 19-year-old is now in the lead and has good chances of getting a grandmaster norm in the tournament.
Meanwhile, 11-year-old Hussain Besou continues to play impressively: the greatest young talent in Germany missed his second victory against a grandmaster and is well in the fight for tournament victory with 2½ points from 4 games.
The most famous German-speaking chess YouTuber, Georgios Souleidis, a.k.a. The Big Greek, is currently in second place. TBG benefited from a mishap in the opening by Jana Schneider, for whom not much has come together in Dortmund so far.
In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.
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.
EXPAND YOUR CHESS HORIZONS
It doesn't get any better than this: the premium equipment perfect for tournament players and professionals: with ChessBase program '26, Mega Database, CORR-Database and much more.
Even more power forFritz. Even more Chess knowledge for you.
€89.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.
