Game of the Week #702: Oro vs Schnaider

by Merijn van Delft
12/23/2025 – Last week we saw 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus beating MVL in a match and this week the big news is the second GM norm of 12-year-old Faustino Oro. His first round game against 14-year-old Ilan Schnaider was a very fascinating encounter in the Sicilian Najdorf and therefore our Game of the Week. This new generation of top players seems to have a different take on the game and it's very interesting to investigate how that differs from a more classical approach. | 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 #702

Last week we saw 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus beating MVL in a match and this week the big news is the second GM norm of 12-year-old Faustino Oro. His first round game against 14-year-old Ilan Schnaider was a very fascinating encounter in the Sicilian Najdorf and therefore our Game of the Week. This new generation of top players seems to have a different take on the game and it's very interesting to investigate how that differs from a more classical approach.

Warm-up question: What would you play here with Black?

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 #701: Erdogmus vs MVL

12/16/2025 – The Clash of Generations II featured a six game match between 34-year-old former number two of the world Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and 14-year old super talent Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus. The result was amazing: Erdogmus hardly experienced any problems at all, comfortably drew five of the games and even won one! This remarkable fifth game of the match is our Game of the Week, it saw the suprising use of the Ruy Lopez exchange variation and turned into a positional masterpiece. | 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 #700: Abdusattorov vs Mishra

12/4/2025 – Nodirbek Abdusattorov recently went through a rough phase, dropping in the world rankings from #4 to #17, but right now at the London Chess Classic he is celebrating a major comeback. In the first round Jones forced a draw with White right in the opening, but after that Abdusattorov scored six wins in a row, all against strong grandmasters. Our Game of the Week is his second round win against Mishra, in an extremely theoretical battle in the Archangelsk Variation of the Ruy Lopez. | 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.