10/4/2026 – The Sahel Chess Festival returns to Monastir from 24 October to 1 November, with around 300 players expected to compete at the Hotel El Habib on Tunisia’s Mediterranean coast. The field already includes GMs Titas Stremavicius, Pavel Ponkratov, Friso Nijboer, Mihail Marin and Amir Zaibi, alongside leading Tunisian players and young international prospects. The event continues to position Tunisia as a growing destination for open tournament chess. | Photo: Diana Mihajlova
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.!
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. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! 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.
This is a full repertoire after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 focussing on the Evans Gambit as the main weapon.
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Chess, sea and sun
For more than a month, the global chess community was gripped by the intense battles of the FIDE Chess Olympiad and the political drama surrounding the FIDE Presidential election. Now, as the dust slowly settles, the broader chess landscape is regaining its rightful spotlight.
Privately run open tournaments remain the lifeblood of the sport, offering a crucial gateway to new heights for ambitious, hardworking players who are locked out of the exclusive elite circuits. Even when the prize funds are modest, the opportunity to secure ever-important title norms counts for a lot. When a venue perfectly fits the motto "chess, sea and sun", it adds a wonderful layer to the competitive experience. And if that tournament takes place in Africa, a continent boasting a vibrant chess community but historically lacking international open events, the picture is complete.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to. In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Invisible moves
The Sahel Chess Festival encompasses all of these elements. From October 24 to November 1, 2026, the famous resort town of Monastir on the central Tunisian coast will host an expected 300 international competitors at the four-star Hotel El Habib. The full technical regulations and official entry details can be found on the festival's official website.
Negotiations with titled players are still ongoing, but a formidable lineup has already been confirmed. Most of them will be travelling to Monastir after only a brief respite following their gruelling schedules at the Olympiad.
Among the headliners in Group A are:
GM Titas Stremavicius (2558) of Lithuania. The national champion in 2021, 2025, and 2026, Titas has represented his country at three Chess Olympiads (2018, 2022, and 2026). At the recent Olympiad, he played on board one with an unbeaten performance, securing draws against much higher rated opponents including GM M. Amin Tabatabaei (2737, IRI), GM Nikita Vitiugov (2666, ENG), GM Alexey Sarana (2666, SRB), GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2644, ROU), GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen (2633, CZE) and GM Ivan Saric (2623, CRO). A qualifier for the 2025 World Cup, Titas is no stranger to upsets, having famously knocked out Wesley So in the second round.
Image: Sahel Chess Festival
GM Pavel Ponkratov (2540, FID), a dynamic Russian grandmaster who won the Russian Rapid Cup in 2017 and 2018. In 2021, he won the Russian Championship Higher League and qualified for both the Russian Superfinal and the FIDE World Cup.
Image: Sahel Chess Festival
Dutch GM Nijboer Friso (2441), represented his country in six Chess Olympiads (1996–2006). He has written four different volumes on opening theory, Tactics in the Chess Opening.
Chess is a concrete game. There is no way around training your calculation skills. Improve your visualization, pattern recognition and learn calculation techniques such as reciprocal thinking with this course. Calculation is at the heart of practical chess. Every chess concept builds on proper calculation technique. Therefore, all chess players should continuosly train the fundamental techniques, concepts and patterns this course will present. The goal isn't only to teach you to calculate, but to give you the tools and insights to keep improving long after the final lesson.
Free sample video: Introduction
Representing the host nation is Tunisia's top active player, IM Kamel Njili (2406). A dedicated coach, Njili captained the Tunisian women’s team at the latest Olympiad. He recently launched the Njili Chess Academy in the capital city of Tunis, which is already training hundreds of aspiring young talents.
Image: Sahel Chess Festival
Also flying the Tunisian flag is GM Amir Zaibi (2343), who secured his grandmaster title in 2020 after winning the Arab Chess Championship.
Image: Sahel Chess Festival
GM Mihail Marin (2413) of Romania, a renowned ChessBase author, trainer and captain of the Italian women's squad at the recent Olympiad will be accompanied by his partner, the talented artist and player WFM Maria Yugina (2052, ROU).
Maria Yugina and Mihail Marin | Photo: Maria Yugina's Facebook
Two bright young prospects will enter the fray from India: WGM Priyanka Nutakki (2261) and twelve-year-old CM Aryan Mehta (2203).
This “60 Minutes” is aimed at providing the reader with a guide to positional and strategic play in the middlegame.
Fully dedicated to his budding chess career, Aryan has spent the last couple of years intensively studying the game and competing internationally. In Monastir, he will be travelling with his coach, GM Farrukh Amonatov (2598) of Tajikistan.
We previewed this event several months ago. This announcement serves as a final reminder for last-minute, efficient players looking to treat themselves to a valuable Mediterranean chess experience. If you cannot make it this autumn, make sure to pencil the festival into your calendar for next year. The 2027 edition is set to move to Sousse to celebrate the historic 60th anniversary of the legendary 1967 Sousse Interzonal, a tournament famously graced by the presence of Bobby Fischer.
Diana MihajlovaDiana Mihajlova is a former university lecturer in Romance philology. For almost thirty years she has contributed to ChessBase with reports from the international tournament scene, interviews, videos and reviews. Over the past decade, alongside her chess journalism, she has devoted much of her life to rescuing stray dogs and advocating for animal welfare. Her experiences are documented on her website, Dog's Life Dog's Life. In its literary section, Their Stories, the dogs themselves narrate true episodes of their struggle for survival in a hostile world shaped by human cruelty.
7/11/2026 – The second edition of the Sahel Chess Festival will take place in Monastir, Tunisia, from 24 October to 1 November 2026. After attracting more than 300 players in its inaugural year, the festival will again feature several classical tournaments divided by rating category, including a section for players aged fifty and above. The organisers also aim to draw more titled players, while highlighting Monastir's appeal as a Mediterranean chess destination. | Photos: Diana Mihajlova
9/25/2025 – Norway's GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen emerged victorious at the inaugural Sahel Chess Festival, held in Monastir, Tunisia, from 1 to 9 September 2025. Scoring 8½/9 in the main Open, Christiansen also won the blitz event, highlighting the high level of play at a tournament that attracted 263 participants from 11 federations. The festival, hosted at the Amir Palace Hotel, showcased Tunisia's vibrant chess scene and signalled the start of a promising new tradition in the Sahel region. | All photos: Diana Mihajlova
King’s Indian fans who choose the Mar del Plata attack (7...Nc6) against White’s classical system (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0) usually aim for a complex position with mutual attacks on open wings, requiring long-term strategic planning and tactical sharpness in critical moments. Computers often do not know how to handle the arising complex strategic positions, which suits players who like to think on their own instead of memorizing long variations. However, the fashionable Bayonet Attack (9.b4) interferes with Black’s ideas. After Black’s main move 9...Nh5 the positions opens, the lines get forced and computer analysis is important again. But this DVD offers an antidote against White’s Bayonet Attack, namely 9...a5! This move leads to sound positions with very few concrete lines, in which the focus is on strategy not on tactics. Objectively chances are equal but if Black knows what to do things might quickly become dangerous for White.
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.
Most players don’t lack the urge to attack, they just strike at the wrong moment, and GM Sipke Ernst shows you which signals tell you to go for the king and which tell you to choose another plan.
How grandmasters win without fireworks: GM Jan Markos shows you 11 very practical tips from "How to play in a lost position" to "Be patient like Carlsen" that will improve your tournament chess.
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.
€9.90
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