9/22/2026 – In a previous article we described the genesis of this increasingly popular form of chess – and what the strongest ever player, Magnus Carlsen, thinks of it. Today we hear the opinion of another top grandmaster. In this remarkable interview you can listen to the view of Levon Aronian – but also on a number of other subjects that are of great interest to the chess world.
new: ChessBase Magazine 225
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more. ChessBase Magazine offers first-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their brilliant 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 the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a direct download (incl. booklet as pdf file) or booklet with download key by post. Included in delivery: ChessBase Magazine #225 as “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.!
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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.
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Levon Aronian believes Chess960 has a future
In our previous article, we described how Fischer Random chess came about, how it was promoted by Bobby Fischer, shortly before his death, how it came to Europe and then spread into the world chess scene. We spoke about Garry Kasparov's ideas on the game, how its name changed to Chess 960 with the Fischer rules there are 960 possible starting positions), and how the first 960 tournaments were staged in Germany.
We also discussed some possible alternate rules to the game: we select ten interesting positions to be used in tournaments and allow players to prepare in advance. Immediately before the start of each round, the audience in the hall (or on the Internet) selects one of these ten positions for all games. This provides spectator participation, which is never a bad thing. We also included a video in which Magnus Carlsen talked about Fischer Random Chess.
Today we bring you the views of grandmaster Levon Aronian on the subject, which came up when Aronian sats down with Manisha Mohite in Bengaluru (Bangalore) during the recent Global Chess League. The interview was conducted for the Deccan Herald, the main newspaper of the southern Indian city.
Considered a master of prophylaxis, Petrosian sensed dangers long before they actually became acute on the board. In his prime, Petrosian was almost invincible. Let our authors introduce you into the world of Tigran Petrosian.
This is what he says:
Levon Aronian: I think in in a way it's also easy for us because we know that we can always switch to chess 960 any single day and that game is full of creativity.
Manisha Mohite: You have been a world champion in the Chess 960 or Fisher Random chess. Could you tell your experience with it?
LA: The first time I was introduced to it I fell in love with the game, because it's full of color. It feels amazing to play it because you have to um invent the game itself from move one. I think the reason why I was always successful in it was because I adore the game and I adore challenges. This has always been part of my life. Even from early age I always like challenges.
MM: So you think Fisher Random Chess or Chess 960 as it is called needs further exploration?
LA: Absolutely. We definitely we need some good literature written on it. I might be writing a book on it – I'm getting a team together for this. But I'm so busy with playing that it will take some time. But it is something I strongly believe should be done. Something to introduce the young generation to the game. So you learn Chess 960 instead of chess from the from your first game.
MM: Bringing a lot more creativity you think into the game?
LA: Yeah. And you know it's a game of the future I think because um you know the world is changing so fast and you cannot just grasp the amount of knowledge there is, the inexhaustible infinite possibilities.
The above is of great interest to people trying to form an opinion on Fischer Random, but we strongly advocate that you listen to at least passages of the rest of the 21-minute interview. Here are the subjects discussed – click on the links to start them in YouTube.
00:00 – First impressions of Bengaluru 01:31 – Surviving the Soviet collapse 02:37 – 3 Olympiad Golds for Armenia 03:07 – Early days in India & Viswanathan Anand 04:08 – The story behind the colorful shirts 05:22 – Did computers kill chess creativity? 06:01 – Why Chess960 is the future 08:52 – Why he moved to the US 10:19 – Rating India’s chess prodigies 11:37 – Gukesh vs. Ding Liren predictions 13:17 – Longevity in chess & Fabiano Caruana
On this DVD, Grandmaster Daniel King presents a repertoire for Black against the opoular queen's pawn openings such as the London System or the Trompowsky!
Frederic FriedelEditor-in-Chief emeritus of the ChessBase News page. Studied Philosophy and Linguistics at the University of Hamburg and Oxford, graduating with a thesis on speech act theory and moral language. He started a university career but switched to science journalism, producing documentaries for German TV. In 1986 he co-founded ChessBase.
9/19/2026 – The Master Class series combines biography, a collection of games and Fritz Trainer material on a chess legend in a multimedia format. Several authors contribute to each volume, presenting the master in their respective areas of expertise. Jochen Schwarz, a club player from Bremen, has followed the Master Class series since its first volume and has taken a look at the latest edition, devoted to Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen. He also compares it with earlier volumes in the series.
9/16/2026 – GM Jon Speelman returns to the theme of opening preparation in the computer era, examining how engine-assisted novelties can unsettle even the strongest players. His examples begin with Fabiano Caruana's preparation from the recent Grand Chess Tour final, before moving to an earlier attacking idea by Hikaru Nakamura and, finally, the famous gambit introduced by Frank Marshall (pictured) against José Raúl Capablanca in New York in 1918.
For a long time the Scotch opening was considered harmless and rarely played. This changed in 1990 when Garry Kasparov successfully employed the Scotch opening in his World Championship match against Anatoly Karpov. But that was 25 years ago. Now, there is no need to panic if you want to play 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 and need a line against the Scotch. On this 60 Minutes renowned and successful coach Adrian Mikhalchishin gives simple practical tips how to neutralize and counter the Scotch.
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 Nimzo-Indian has stood the test of time for over a century: Still a top choice for elite players today, from Magnus Carlsen to Praggnanandhaa, it remains one of Black's most reliable ways to fight for real chances against 1.d4 2.c4 3.Nc3.
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.
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