Start the video below, maximize it and learn from IM Sagar Shah how you can make full use of the ChessBase tools to improve your playing skills. This is what he says:

"Today I want to show you something very interesting about the ChessBase account. Often we wonder how we should get into the groove of practising regularly. I have found many different ways in which you can do something exciting and at the same time help you to become a better player. One of the things I like to do is to play blitz — but after playing blitz to make it a useful exercise by analysing that blitz game. That could be very, very useful to you as a chess player."

Sagar goes on to show you how it works. He is a closed opening player — 1.Nf3, or 1.c4 or 1.d4 — but of late he has been trying to develop his 1.e4 repertoire. He has played a blitz game a few minutes ago, in Playchess.com (one click in your browser gets you there), starting with 1.e4, and shows us how the game went. Then, more importantly, he does not continue with one blitz game after another but takes a break to analyse what he has just played. In the ChessBase account, he goes to his MyGames cloud, where the game was automatically saved (as the last of the 2070 blitz games he has played so far). Replaying the moves shows you all the alternatives you had, together with their success rates — a fantastic way to learn the opening. It all happens in your browser, but if you have ChessBase 15 you can also analyse the game there. He shows you how with two clicks you can access the game in your database software, and how you can then proceed.

We will not transcribe everything he says — just watch the video and learn. The tools you should ideally have are the following:

• A ChessBase Account
• ChessBase 15 + Fritz 16 (it comes with a ChessBase Account)

It's all you need. But just owning the instruments of success is not enough — you need to use them properly! Listen to Sagar. BTW here's the deal: if you gain more than ten Elo you must transfer 10% of the new points to Sagar. It goes towards his third and final GM norm. (Hang on, I am being told that that is not the way the rating system works. Okay, then just a commendation in the feedback section below will suffice.)

Special thanks for this report to ChessBase India, currently the biggest chess news portal and chess software distributor in the country. The motto is “Powering Chess in India”. Apart from news you can view hundreds of videos on the very successful ChessBase India YouTube Channel, and also visit the very active on social media sites: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.