Improved Fort Knox

by ChessBase
3/10/2025 – In the classic Fort Knox Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7), Black maneuvers the light-squared bishop to c6 in order to exchange it for a white knight and establish a super-solid setup. Yago Santiago discovered a new - and even safer - way of playing the Fort Knox in some of Arjun Erigaisi's games: In his opening article for the current CBM #224, Santiago presents the variation 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bd7!? If White now reacts with 6.Nxf6+, he must be prepared for major complications after 6...gxf6! You can read the full article with all the annotated games this week as a free sample with your web browser in the ChessBase Books format!

ChessBase Magazine 224 ChessBase Magazine 224

Tata Steel 2025 with game analyses by Praggnanandhaa, Abdusattorov, Giri and many others. Opening videos by Ganguly, Blohberger and King. 10 opening articles with new ideas for your repertoire. Special on Korttschnoj and much more!

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Free sample from CBM #224: Improved Fort Knox

Click on one of the following images to load the full article in the ChessBase Books format with your web browser!

Yago Santiago analyses the variations after A) 6.Nf3, B) 6.Nxf6 and C) 6.Qf3.

Our author concludes the article: "The presented variation is a very interesting approach against 4.Bg5 (which has been gaining popularity again recently), with great power to surprise. Another point in our favour is that Black´s ideas and setups are easy to remember, so in rapid and blitz it turns out to be even more successful."

Highlights of ChessBase Magazine #224

From the Tata Steel Masters & Challengers 2025 to Robert Ris' training column ‘Move by Move’ and Felix Blohberger's opening video on 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 h6 to Dorian Rogozenco's ‘The Fortress’ to ‘Fundamental Endgame Knowledge’ with Dr Karsten Mueller.

Over 7 hours of video playing time with Felix Blohberger, Surya Ganguly, Daniel King, Jan Markos, Karsten Mueller, Michael Prusikin, Oliver Reeh, Robert Ris and Dorian Rogozenco. 

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Topics: ChessBase Magazine, Fort Knox, French Defence, Yago Santiago
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CBM 222: India strikes double gold!

12/24/2024 – ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. Our columnist Nagesh Havanur takes a look at our recent issue, CBM 222 (CBM 223 is just out!). A total of 7703 games from the FIDE Chess Olympiad, 28 annotated, 11 opening surveys, 3 opening videos, 5 demo lectures and several exercises for training. Annotators include Nordibek Abdusattorov, Levon Aronian, Anish Giri and Wesley So, among others. The icing on the cake is a special feature on Dommaraju Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi with 4 videos. | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova
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Surprise in the QG Declined

11/11/2024 – The line 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7!? is very popular among the adherents of the Queen's Gambit Declined. The knight move has given Black solidity and flexibility. Our author, GM Yago Santiago, recently went in search of a more ‘hidden’ idea for White to surprise his opponents with lesser-known positions. The move 5.Qc2!? caught his attention and captivated him more and more during his analysis...You can check out his opening article from the latest CBM #222 in this week's free reading sample in the ChessBase Books format - right in your web browser on your iPad, tablet, Mac or Windows PC!
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Video

60m English New ideas in the Najdorf_E

‘New ideas in the Najdorf – a Power Play 18 Update’ aims to complement Daniel King’s popular DVD from last year ‘The Sicilian Najdorf - a repertoire for Black’. Such a dynamic and popular opening as the Najdorf is developing the whole time. On this download, Daniel King updates lines that were included on his DVD but also responds to viewers’ requests, considering lines that he omitted from his original repertoire. The lines examined on this update are: • 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 h3 e5 7 Nde2 • 5….a6 6 Bc4 in combination with the English Attack (Be3, f3 etc) • 5…a6 6 Be3 and the …a5 variation • 5…a6 6 Be2 and 9 Re1 • 5 f3 (instead of 5 Nc3) It isn’t necessary to have seen the original Najdorf DVD to understand the lines examined here – but it would help as they form part of a complete repertoire.