7/7/2026 – Indian Grandmaster Leon Luke Mendonca has never been shy about letting people into his world. Long a familiar face at the ChessBase studio, the 20-year-old from Goa has spent recent years building a genuine chess résumé, headlined by his surprise victory in the 2024 Tata Steel Challengers. Now the man who became India's 67th grandmaster back in January 2021 is channelling that same openness into his own YouTube channel, where he shares tournament battles, game analysis and glimpses of life on the professional circuit. His tagline says it all — "Just here to play chess and have fun".
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.
In this powerful new course, endgame expert Karsten Müller teams up with rising star Leon Mendonca to deliver what truly matters: 10 essential rules that every player must know. Endgames decide more games than any opening preparation ever will and yet they are often the least understood phase of chess. In this powerful new course, endgame expert Karsten Müller teams up with rising star Leon Mendonca to deliver what truly matters: 10 essential rules that every player must know.
Free Video sample: Introduction
Free Video sample: Activate the king
The Benko Gambit is back at the very highest level - and it's easy to see why. Black sacrifices a pawn to seize the initiative on the queenside, obtaining long-lasting pressure, active pieces and open files that make life difficult for White.
€39.90
Leon Mendonca on YouTube
Once upon a time ...
Leon's story has been closely intertwined with Sagar Shah and ChessBase India from the very beginning. Sagar has followed him since the earliest days of ChessBase India, back when Leon was a small, energetic kid, and he was candid in those years about sensing that the youngster was almost too gentle, lacking the killer competitive instinct that top-level chess demands.
One of Leon's first interviews with ChessBase India, titled - He is cute, he is 12, he is 2200+ and he is improving at great speed
Watching that same boy grow into a grandmaster who wins tournaments outright has made Leon something of a recurring ChessBase India success story, and it was Sagar who sat down with him for the in-depth interview after his breakthrough Tata Steel Challengers victory in Wijk aan Zee. Leon has essentially grown up inside the extended ChessBase family on both continents.
This video course features the ins-and-outs of the possible setups Black can choose. You’ll learn the key concepts and strategies needed to add this fantastic opening to your repertoire. An easy-to-learn and yet venomous weapon.
A frequent visitor to Hamburg and Budapest
That same thread runs to Hamburg through ChessBase co-founder Frederic Friedel, who spotted the Goan talent just as early and played quiet matchmaker at some pivotal moments. It was Friedel who arranged the Kramnik training camps where a young, still-untitled Leon was personally picked out by the former World Champion, and it was Friedel who connected him with Judit Polgár when the teenager was stranded in Budapest during the pandemic.
Meeting Judit Polgar? Piece of cake!
Friedel has since counted Leon among the younger Indian generation he treats as near-family, alongside Gukesh and Tania Sachdev, describing him as a remarkably versatile young man, and openly hoping he cracks the world's top ten.
That closeness turned into a steady stream of ChessBase visits. Leon has stayed in the ChessBase flat while recording FritzTrainers, played a casual blitz game against Ding Liren in the office, and, during his spell with Schachbundesliga side HSK Hamburg, dropped by the studio often.
In this video course we’ll have a look at the Queen’s Indian after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6. We’ll explore the ins and outs of the possible White setups against this rock-solid opening.
Loads of content work
It was there that Arne Kaehler put him through plenty of video formats, like:
Now Leon has started creating content on his own, and the years in front of ChessBase's cameras clearly rubbed off. He's taken the same easygoing spirit that made him such a natural guest and turned the lens on himself, sharing his own tournaments, preparation and the games he finds worth talking about.
The grandmaster who once let us document a day in his life is now doing the documenting himself, which is exactly what makes the channel worth a follow.
In this 60-Minutes, I present games which I have found instructive, while giving you insights and guidelines on how to counter your attacking opponent! The attack is one of the most important and fascinating concepts in chess. There have been many books, video courses and articles that have dealt with this aspect, but not a lot has been written about how to deal with it yourself. In this 60-Minutes, I present games which I have found instructive, while giving you insights and guidelines on how to counter your attacking opponent!
His latest ChessBase Training Course just came out very recently:
In this powerful new course, endgame expert Karsten Müller teams up with rising star Leon Mendonca to deliver what truly matters: 10 essential rules that every player must know. Endgames decide more games than any opening preparation ever will and yet they are often the least understood phase of chess. In this powerful new course, endgame expert Karsten Müller teams up with rising star Leon Mendonca to deliver what truly matters: 10 essential rules that every player must know.
Free Video sample: Introduction
Free Video sample: Activate the king
Arne KaehlerArne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.
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.
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4!? is an opening idea well worth considering. Black immediately threatens to double the pawns on c3 in the style of the Trompowski or Sicilian Grand Prix attack.
Italian Game Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains 8571 top class games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 479 are annotated.
Videos: Nico Zwirs discusses the Sicilian with 2…e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qe3 Nf6 6.Nc3. Mihail Marin examines Sindarov’s 6.Ne5 in the Queen’s Pawn Defence. Plus the ‘Lucky bag’ featuring 41 analyses by Berg, Ftacnik, Gupta and many others.
If you're looking for a dynamic alternative to the Slav, Queen's Gambit Declined, or other mainstream systems, the Chigorin Defence offers exactly what modern tournament players need.
Michael Kotyk presents a complete repertoire after 1.e4 e5, built around creative ideas, surprising move orders, and practical weapons designed to catch your opponents off guard.
€69.80
€59.90
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.
Meeting Judit Polgar? Piece of cake!
