4/5/2018 – On April 5th, the 5th round of the "GRENKE Chess Classic", now in Baden-Baden was the first in which all five games ended in a draw. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Fabiano Caruana and Nikita Vitiugov thus continue to lead the standings; a half point behind are Levon Aronian and World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Against Georg Meier, Carlsen was on the verge of losing shortly before the time control, but the German grandmaster missed the win! Another game was nearly decisive: Arkadij Naiditsch stood much better against Matthias Bluebaum, but here it was the young German, who somehow managed to survive a devastating attack and fight back in the endgame. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
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.
Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
€34.90
Split decisions
After five rounds, the table miraculously reflects the two-tier company in the GRENKE Chess Classic: the five players in the top half have not lost any of the 25 games played so far; while among the players in the lower half, there is not a single victory between them. One possible explanation: Within both of the two groups, the players have barely played against each other. In the top half, only three games have been played so far, and the same in the lower group. Of these six matches, of course, all were drawn. The bottom line is: In the second half of the tournament the leaders will be playing each other, so we can look forward to that!
Carlsen chose to transpose to a Stonewall structure against Meier | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
Meier ½-½ Carlsen
Just before the time control, Meir had Carlsen dead to rights, but missed the knockout blow allowing the World Champion to turn the tables. Carlsen called it a "bluff", and the result was a quick draw.
On this DVD Grandmaster Daniel King offers you a repertoire for Black against the Catalan, based around maintaining the rock of a pawn on d5. Keeping central control ultimately gives Black good chances to launch an attack against the enemy king.
Vachier-Lagrave ½-½ Aronian
From the standings, this was the top contest of the 5th round — but the course of the game was not very exciting. After all, there was a mass liquidation in the middle game resulting in an equal bishop endgame and soon a handshake.
Among the open games the only opening with which White can really fight for an advantage in the long term is the Ruy Lopez. But in order to make this serious effort, he has buckle down and learn a whole series of sub-variations. That is what the professionals do, including of course Viktor Bologan, who now reveals the secrets of his own grandmaster repertoire.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian: The top game of today ended early with a draw | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
Anand ½-½ Caruana
Caruana took a more solid posture than in recent days, and Anand's game also looked as if minimising risk was a priority for the Indian. The result was a not very exciting draw:
The dynamic play based on a strong strategic foundation has always fascinated me, and in these DVDs I have suggested the lines which I personally prefer and employ in practice.
Anand vs. Caruana: The drawing margin was never exceeded | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
Naiditsch ½-½ Bluebaum
Matthias Bluebaum came under a terrible attack after a tactical mistake in time trouble against Arkadij Naiditsch. But the German managed to survive after a tough struggle netted a well-earned half point!
Williams main teaching method behind this set of two DVDs is to teach you some simple yet effective set ups, without the need to rely on memorising numerous complicated variations.
Naiditsch missed a potential first victory against Bluebaum, whose only loss came in round 1 | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
Hou Yifan ½-½ Vitiugov
In the final position, Vitiugov had indeed an extra pawn, but his bishop was far worse than his Chinese opponent's knight, and the draw was thus inevitable.
Klaus BesenthalKlaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
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.
€39.90
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