Over 1,100 special theoretical databases, 180 new opening surveys, a large number revised — in total 6,680 surveys — and over 38,000 illustrative games.
Be as prepared as you can be with the new Opening Encyclopaedia 2019! Whether you would like to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or you want to find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entirety of opening theory on one DVD or download. It is the optimal start for your opening training. Many new articles enrich current theory with new or revisited ideas.
The Encyclopaedia can help you learn openings rapidly, giving you a head start against your next opponents. Each article includes explanations and annotated games, which illustrate typical plans that help deepen your understanding.
The concept of the opening article: a grandmaster or International Master presents a repertoire idea. He shows you all important variations and his analyses, explains typical plans and shows all the critical lines. Every article includes annotated model games selected by the author to illustrate the ideas in tournament practice.
A Classical Guide to the French Defence
This DVD gives you the key to start out with the French Defence. GM Yannick Pelletier is a specialist of this opening, and believes that the most efficient way to understand its ideas, plans, and typical structures is to study classical lines.
ECO C11: The French Defence — click or tap to enlarge
The new Opening Encyclopaedia 2019 was completely revamped to enhance usability, with features such as a new design, new menu, and opening name sorting for fast and easy access to your favourite openings. Under the Menu “Ideas for your Repertoire” you can find all articles classified according to the opening names: “Open games”, “Semi-open games”, “Closed games”, “Half -closed game”, “Flank-Openings” or “English Opening and Reti”.
For example in the popular Najdorf Variation, the Opening Encyclopaedia offers 41 opening articles. Each of them is easily accessible via “Semi-open games” — Sicilian Defence — Najdorf Variation. The user can easily switch from one article to another to absorb all the important manoeuvres and typical plans related to the variation. That way finding your favourite openings becomes easy and fast!
Also new: 20 high-class opening videos are included in the Encyclopaedia 2019, from our popular ChessBase authors. You will find Daniel King, Simon Williams, Yannick Pelletier, Mihail Marin, Erwin l’Ami, all presenting new opening ideas clearly and vividly.
Powerplay 26: Checkmate Challenge — essential knowledge
Checkmate. That's the aim of the game. There are numerous ways to checkmate the enemy king, but there are common patterns that recur over and over again, and having these at our mental fingertips is essential for when we want to finish the game.
Videos from our popular authors are another way to learn
Note that the new Encyclopaedia also offers traditional access to finding openings from the “ECO-list” (see right) as an alternative way to access to all opening articles, hearkening back to the old days when tournament players carried heavy opening encyclopaedia tomes with them in their luggage.
The number of articles in the Opening Encyclopaedia is growing — it now contains more than 1,100, and the included games database contains all games from all the opening articles. This makes the new Opening Encyclopaedia 2019 an indispensable reference for every tournament player.
All innovations at a glance:
Order the Opening Encyclopaedia 2019 in the ChessBase Shop
Price: €99.90
€83.95 without VAT (outside the EU)
$94.86 (without VAT)
Upgrade from Opening Encyclopaedia 2018
Price: €59.90 – €50.34 without VAT (outside the EU) – $56.88 (without VAT)
The new format and design for the Opening Encyclopaedia was created by Arne Bracker, a graduate in business administration from the University of Hamburg. Arne is 29 and joined the ChessBase staff in 2018. His responsibilities range from customer support, order placement and product development. We put him in charge of a complete revamp the Encyclopaedia, with the goal of enhancing the usability of this product, giving chess players easy access to high-quality opening analyses and training.
Arne is a strong chess player himself, with an Elo rating of 2200. In 2009, he once won the Hamburg Individual Youth Championship, and currently plays in the Third National Chess League for the Hamburg Chess Club of 1830 e.V. As an active tournament player he understands better than most the needs of his colleagues and the best way for them to access openings knowledge.