1/25/2019 – The Iranian IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh is the player of the hour at the Gibraltar Chess Festival. She defeated GM Alexander Donchenko in Round 3 and was one of the five leaders with a perfect score. The dream start for Nigerian expert Kolade Onabogun, who beat two GMs, came to an end in Round 3, as he lost to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. We take a brief look at these two outsiders. | Photo: John Saunders
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 COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
In this video course experts examine the games of Bent Larsen. Let them show you which openings Larsen chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities!
€39.90
Open stories
In our story on the start of the Gibraltar Chess Festival, we hadn't yet seen the games of Kolade Onabogun, who has caused quite a stir. He is 40 years old, from Nigeria, and although he has a FIDE rating of 2189, he has rarely participated in tournaments — the most recent was in February 2016, where he scored 5½ points in nine games against players of similar rating. In the summer of 2015, he played in a pair of open tournaments — the 43rd Annual World Open in Arlington, Virginia and the 3rd DC International — earning himself a 2299 US Chess Federation rating in the process.
Kolade Onabogun is probably better than his Elo rating indicates, but his sensational start in Gibraltar even hints at Grandmaster level. In the first two rounds, he was able to defeat two GMs. He was lucky against Valentin Dragnev, but grabbed the chance when it presented itself. Against Sipke Ernst Kolade Onabegun showed a thoroughly convincing performance:
In the Dutch Stonewall Black from the very first move fights for the initiative. Let Erwin l'Ami take you on a fascinating journey to the depth and attractions of this unique opening. At the end you will be rewarded with a new repertoire against 1.d4!
As a reward, Onabegun earned the opportunity to play against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in Thursday's third round.
Vachier-Lagrave gegen Onabogun| Foto: David Llada
Far from being blown out against the French superstar, the Nigerian amateur kept the game quite close until well into the endgame, when Vachier-Lagrave finally capitalised on an inaccuracy.
White has worked his rook into the Black camp, and now saw a way to exchange rooks into a winning bishop-ending. 37.Re7! Rxe7 38.Bxe7 f5 39.Bd8 winning a pawn.
After this loss, he told IM Tania Sachdev that he expected 1.e4 from Maxime (which he plays most often by far).
On this DVD, well-known Indian WGM Tania Sachdev shows you how to evaluate certain positions and then find the right concepts and plans on the basis of her own games.
The Iranian star was the lowest rated player to reach 3/3 in Gibraltar, beating two GMs along the way. In the second round against Alexander Donchenko, she was never worse.
Sarasadat Khademalsharieh vs Alexander Donchenko | Photo: John Saunders
In the Benoni Defence, the German grandmaster was under pressure and struggled in vain to contain White's e4-e5 pawn break:
Play the moves on the live diagram!
While e5 is coming, this attempt to contain White's advance fails tactically. The rook was needed on c8 to defend its cousin on c5. After 30.e5 dxe5 31.fxe5 Qxe5 32.Bxf6 Bxf6 33.Qf2, the double-attack combined with threats to f7 are deadly. Although the 21-year-old Iranian did not find the quickest way to finish the game, she is now one of the five players still at 100% after three rounds.
"This is more than I expected...It's a dream" she told IM Sachdev:
On this DVD, well-known Indian WGM Tania Sachdev shows you how to evaluate certain positions and then find the right concepts and plans on the basis of her own games.
"Chess is a sport that we all play together; the age doesn't matter, the gender doesn't matter" | Gibchess on YouTube
Today, Khademalsharieh faced super-GM Levon Aronian in Round 4 and held him to a draw.
In the evening, hosted the Gibraltar Festival's next Masterclass, a regular special feature which is always well-attended by players. Watch! The show starts at 3:15:
Translation from German and additional reporting: Macauley Peterson
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
The Hyper-Accelerated dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
“Mate is great!” – Tactical training with Oliver Reeh, “The 8th rank” – Andy Woodward analyses his game against Magnus Carlsen from TePe Sigeman 2026, “A modern Nimzo-Indian” – Andrei Volokitin introduces readers to "his" system and much more!
Chess is a concrete game. There is no way around training your calculation skills. Improve your visualization, pattern recognition and learn calculation techniques such as reciprocal thinking with this course.
This compact course is designed specifically for practical play. Instead of overwhelming you with endless theory, it focuses on the critical lines, typical plans, and recurring tactical ideas.
Slav and Semi-Slav Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains a total of 11 766 games from Mega 2026 or the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 1136 are annotated.
€9.90
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.
