Game of the Week #743: Gaal vs Smeets

by Merijn van Delft
10/9/2026 – On Saturday the second round of the Dutch League was being played and the top match between Kennemer Combinatie and LSG was convincingly won by KC with 7-3. Ratingwise they were the slight favourite, but the main difference is that KC focuses on intergrating young players in their team, whereas LSG does not. Zsoka Gaal played her first game in the Dutch League and created a nice piece of art against experienced Dutch grandmaster and national coach Jan Smeets. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.
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.

Game of the Week #743

On Saturday the second round of the Dutch League was being played and the top match between Kennemer Combinatie and LSG was convincingly won by KC with 7-3. Ratingwise they were the slight favourite, but the main difference is that KC focuses on intergrating young players in their team, whereas LSG does not. Zsoka Gaal played her first game in the Dutch League and created a nice piece of art against experienced Dutch grandmaster and national coach Jan Smeets.

Warming-up question: What would you play here with White??
 

This week's show

Besides covering all the critical lines after 1.d4 & 2.c4, popular systems such as the Trompovsky, London/Jobava System, Torre Attack, Colle System and Veresov are dealt with as well.

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Topics: The Game of the Week, Training and improvement
Merijn van Delft is an International Master from the Netherlands who lived in Hamburg for many years and is currently based in Amsterdam. After scoring a GM norm in 2017 he is eager for more. His ChessBase show on Wednesday evenings has been running for over ten years now.
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See also

Game of the Week #742: Leko vs Erigaisi

9/30/2026 – Abdusattorov was the best player of the Olympiad with 8.5 out of 11 on board 1, beating Rapport, Ding Liren and Caruana amongst others, leading his country to victory. The games by Abdusattorov are always a candidate for Game of the Week, but our attention was drawn by the clash of generations and styles between Leko and Erigaisi. This last round encounter was very important and told an interesting story about how times have changed chesswise. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can <a href="https://account.chessbase.com/en/create-account" target="_blank">register a Premium account here</a>.
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See also

Game of the Week #741: Jobava vs Keinanen

9/27/2026 – The Olympiad in Samarkand is such an amazingly large and diverse event, that it is nearly impossible to decide between so many interesting games. Last week we selected an upset from the first round, this week we picked a hidden jewel from the middle of the tournament and next week we will probably focus on the top boards in their fight for the medals. Today's Game of the Week features good old Baduur Jobava, creating fireworks from a French exchange variation against Toivo Keinanen. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can <a href="https://account.chessbase.com/en/create-account" target="_blank">register a Premium account here</a>.
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Video

60m English Anti-Bayonet

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.