Game of the Week #716: Udovcic vs Korchnoi

by Merijn van Delft
3/26/2026 – Last week we honored Jan Timman, who passed away a few weeks ago, by studying his brilliant attacking game against Anatoli Karpov. This week at Chessbase we dedicate our shows to the legendary Viktor Kortchnoi, who would have turned 95. Hans Ree wrote that Viktor told him back in the day that he choose Kortchnoi as the right spelling of his name, since it combines something from several languages. Our Game of the Week is his amazing attacking game against Mijo Udovcic. 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 #716

Korchnoi Special

This week would have marked Viktor Korchnoi’s 95th birthday: the perfect occasion for us to shine a spotlight on one of the greatest fighters and most creative minds in chess history.

Look forward to a week filled with exciting content dedicated to Korchnoi’s unique legacy including analyses, games, and insights into the life of an extraordinary champion.

To mark the occasion, we are offering two outstanding video courses at a special price: “Master Class: Korchnoi” and “My Life for Chess,” in which Korchnoi personally analyses his best games.

In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Viktor Korchnoi. Let them show you which openings Korchnoi chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.

Last week we honored Jan Timman, who passed away a few weeks ago, by studying his brilliant attacking game against Anatoli Karpov. This week at Chessbase we dedicate our shows to the legendary Viktor Kortchnoi, who would have turned 95. Hans Ree wrote that Viktor told him back in the day that he choose Kortchnoi as the right spelling of his name, since it combines something from several languages. Our Game of the Week is his amazing attacking game against Mijo Udovcic. 

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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Viktor Korchnoi: A special bundle on the 95th anniversary of his birth >>
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 #715: Timman vs Karpov

3/20/2026 – A few weeks ago Jan Timman passed away at the age of 74. In the Netherlands Timman has always been immensely popular, a true icon of chess. His positive nature and adventurous style has inspired many chess players and will continue to do so. At his peak he reached number two in the world rankings, behind Karpov, ahead of the young Kasparov. Today we will look at his fantastic attacking game against Karpov, with whom he had countless interesting encounters. 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 #714: David Navara vs Nodirbek Yakubboev

3/16/2026 – The Prague Chess Festival produced such a nice collection of fascinating games that we are returning to this tournament once more. Jorden van Foreest was well on his way to win the tournament, but crashed in the final rounds, leaving Nodirbek Abdusattorov as the convincing winner and the new number four in the world rankings. Today's Game of the Week is the wildly entertaining attacking game David Navara produced after Nodirbek Yakubboev grabbed a poisoned pawn. 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 How to fight Queen's Pawn Openigns

After 1.d4 d5 many players with White avoid the great amount of theory in the Slav, Semi-Slav, QGA and Orthodox Queen's Gambit and do not therefore play 2.c4. This is not very ambitious, but the painful experience of many chess players has been that the Colle System, the Trompowsky Attack, the Torre Attack and the London System are nevertheless extremely dangerous. Black has to be prepared for each of these openings and IM Valeri Lilov offers you some help with his six instructive videos, in which he demonstrates for each single opening a relevant plan for Black. In addition to the openings mentioned, the Bulgarian trainer also delves into the Catalan, the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit and the Richter-Veresov Opening.