6/29/2026 – In his new ChessBase course, IM Kostya Kavutskiy focuses on one of the most important and challenging skills in chess: calculation. Drawing on more than 15 years of coaching experience and his work with ChessDojo, he presents key concepts, patterns and practical techniques to help players calculate more clearly and objectively. The course also includes challenging assessments with instructive puzzles, encouraging students to test their skills, avoid tempting but flawed solutions and continue improving even after completing the video lessons.
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.
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. Calculation is at the heart of practical chess. Every chess concept builds on proper calculation technique. Therefore, all chess players should continuosly train the fundamental techniques, concepts and patterns this course will present. The goal isn't only to teach you to calculate, but to give you the tools and insights to keep improving long after the final lesson.
Free sample video: Introduction
Calculation is at the heart of practical chess. Every chess concept builds on proper calculation technique. Therefore, all chess players should continuosly train the fundamental techniques, concepts and patterns this course will present. The goal isn't only to teach you to calculate, but to give you the tools and insights to keep improving long after the final lesson.
Brute Force Thinking: Learn the disciplined habit of always starting your analysis with the most forcing moves, examining every check and capture to its conclusion before considering anything quieter.
Candidate Moves: Discover how to widen your search beyond the obvious, because the hardest part of finding the winning move is often simply considering it in the first place.
Tactical Pattern Recognition: Build the foundation of tactical vision by absorbing the recurring patterns that let strong players spot combinations almost instantly.
Quiet Moves: Train your eye to find the moves that are neither checks nor captures yet carry a deadly threat.
Advanced Tactical Themes: Master the sophisticated ideas that hide inside combinations, including the Zwischenzug, interference, and blocking theme.
Visualization: Develop the ability to hold a position clearly in your mind's eye and see it accurately several moves deep.
Evaluation: Build a framework for knowing when to stop calculating and weigh a position on its merits.
Finding Difficult Moves: Train yourself to find the counterintuitive shots that most players dismiss out of hand.
Mental Agility: Cultivate the flexibility to stay open to unexpected resources rather than locking onto your first idea.
Reciprocal Thinking: Learn the logical art of understanding why an idea fails and then changing the position to make it work.
Spotting Your Opponent's Resources: Tackle one of the hardest skills of all: looking for your opponent's chances as hard as you look for your own.
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. Calculation is at the heart of practical chess. Every chess concept builds on proper calculation technique. Therefore, all chess players should continuosly train the fundamental techniques, concepts and patterns this course will present. The goal isn't only to teach you to calculate, but to give you the tools and insights to keep improving long after the final lesson.
Free sample video: Introduction
6/25/2026 – In the ChessBase training course "The Bulletproof 1.b3 Repertoire", GM Andy Woodward explains how White can meet King’s Indian setups after 1.b3. He presents two practical systems: a sharper setup with e3, Be2 and d4, where White challenges Black’s central play, and a quieter positional approach with c4 and a double fianchetto. The lesson shows the course’s main idea well: giving players a simple, practical and venomous repertoire that avoids heavy theory while still creating uncomfortable problems for Black.
6/10/2026 – In this volume of Adrian Mikhalchishin’s Master Your Technique series, the focus is on developing tactical awareness and practical attacking instincts, especially through concepts like checks, double attacks, exposed pieces, and sensing hidden attacking opportunities before they fully appear on the board. Mikhalchishin explains how modern chess is driven by constant pressure and activity, showing that strong players often succeed not by immediately winning material, but by building dynamic threats that eventually overwhelm the opponent. Through instructive examples from grandmaster and student games alike, the course teaches how tactical alertness, active piece play, sacrifices for initiative, heavy piece coordination, and precise endgame technique all combine into a complete practical chess understanding.
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.
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
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