"Magnus the Great"

by ChessBase
5/6/2026 – His brilliancies captivate even seasoned grandmasters. Over 800 of his games in the Mega Database 2026 are annotated. In the ‘Special’ of the new ChessBase Magazine #231, our team of authors has taken a close look at 20 selected and previously unannotated winning games by Magnus Carlsen from 2014 to 2023. You can enjoy Karsten Mueller’s video analysis of the game Carlsen – Mamedyarov (Norway Chess 2022) this week as a free sample from CBM #231. Enjoy!
From the 2026 Candidates Tournament, featuring a video review by Dorian Rogozenco, to Jan Werle’s opening video on the French Tarrasch Defence, and Oliver Reeh’s tactical column ‘Top Grandmasters at Work’. Analyses by Giri, So, Wei Yi and many others.
ChessBase Magazine offers top-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their finest 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 exactly the tricks and techniques you need to become a successful tournament player! Available as a download (including the magazine as a PDF file) or as a printed magazine with a download key sent by post.
Included: CBM #231 as a “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.! At books.chessbase.com

 

"Magnus the Great" - the "Special" from CBM #231

In the anniversary issue ChessBase Magazine #200 (February 2021), we invited our authors to comment on their favourite game by the young Magnus Carlsen, that is, from the period before he became the 16th World Chess Champion in history with his victory over Vishy Anand in November 2013. In the following decade, the Norwegian racked up countless Tournament wins and became both Blitz and Rapid World Champion multiple times before announcing his retirement as Classical Chess World Champion in 2023 after four successful title defenses. 

Free sample: Karsten Mueller analyses Carlsen - Mamedyarov (2022)

Click on the image to view the sample on books.chessbase.com

How has Carlsen‘s game evolved during his ten years on the throne? And how did he manage to overcome a slump of 21 winless games in classical Chess and noticeably revitalize his universal style? The Norwegian himself said in 2019: “Basically, I‘ve become a completely different player stylistically than I was some time ago – and it‘s been a great development.”

Typical of the “new” Magnus the positional pawn sacrifice: In the game Carlsen, M - Mamedyarov, N 1-0 (notes by Karsten Mueller), White continued with 23.e5!?. High time, then, for an update!

In this issue, our authors have examined 20 previously unannotated Carlsen victories from the period between 2014 and 2023. World Champion Carlsen, the mature Magnus, or G.O.A.T. for short. We wish you lots of fun!

The CBM team of authors: Adhiban Baskaran, Emanuel Berg, Martin Breutigam, Romain Edouard, Sergey Grigoriants, Imre Hera, Michal Krasenkow, Jan Markos, Karsten Müller, Petra Papp, Evgeny Postny, Renato Quintiliano, Robert Ris, Igor Stohl and Krisztian Szabo.

The complete training programme from ChessBase Magazine #231 at a glance:

Clicking on the image loads a sample from the accompanying PDF file.

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Video

60m English A solid scandinavian surprise

On this 60 mins video we are going to concentrate on a simple, very solid idea in the main line Scandinavian, which even Magnus Carlsen has used to win games. Black focusses on making his life easy in the opening and forces White to work very hard to get advantage – but it is doubtful if White can get an advantage. Club players are always on the lookout for effective, time-saving solutions and here we have just that. Accompany FIDE Senior Trainer and IM Andrew Martin on this 60 mins video. You can learn a new opening system in 60 mins and start to play it with confidence on the very same day!