5/3/2025 – Christopher Yoo, aged 18, obtained outright victory at the 2025 Sardinia World Chess Festival with a final score of 7½ out of 9. He remained unbeaten, finishing ahead of Ukrainian GM Ihor Samunenkov and Italian GM Lorenzo Lodici, who shared second place on 7 points. Yoo's recent career has drawn attention for an incident at the 2024 US Championship, where he was suspended for a year by the US Chess Federation following misconduct. | Photo: Niklesh Jain / ChessBase India
ChessBase is a personal, stand-alone chess database that has become the standard throughout the world. Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it.
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
This isn’t just another chess tutorial—it’s your all-access pass to the strategies, insights, and techniques that define modern grandmaster play.
€39.90
Samunenkov and Lodici score in the final round to reach the podium
The Sardinia World Chess Festival 2025, which took place from 27 April to 3 May, came to a close with US grandmaster Christopher Yoo emerging as the overall winner.
At 18 years of age, Yoo topped the standings with an impressive score of 7½ out of 9. Over the course of the nine-round tournament, he registered six wins and three draws. His campaign began in dominant fashion, with five consecutive victories setting the tone early on. After drawing in the sixth round, he faced Italian GM Francesco Sonis in round seven and secured a vital win. Two draws in the final rounds were sufficient to maintain his lead and secure first place outright.
Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame. Max Euwe became the fifth World Chess Champion after beating Alexander Alekhine in the 1935 World Championship match. A maths teacher by profession, Euwe remained an amateur throughout his life, but was still the best chess player in the Netherlands, and one of the world's best players. Euwe holds the record for the most Dutch national championships, with twelve. After winning the World Championship, Euwe was also the world's best player for a while. He lost the title again in 1937 in the rematch against Alexander Alekhine.
Free video sample: Openings
Finishing just half a point behind Yoo were Ukrainian prodigy Ihor Samunenkov and local grandmaster Lorenzo Lodici, who both ended the tournament on 7 points. In the final round, 15-year-old Samunenkov defeated Dutch IM Miguoel Admiraal to move up the leaderboard. Lodici, aged 25 and representing Italy, also scored in the final round, he defeated French IM Loic Travadon. Both had entered the last day of play a full point behind the leader, but capitalised on their opportunities to reach the podium.
Yoo's triumph in Sardinia is particularly significant given the context of his recent career. In October 2024, during the US Championship held at the Saint Louis Chess Club, he was involved in a controversial incident. After a loss to Fabiano Caruana in the fifth round, Yoo left the playing hall in frustration and, in doing so, struck a female videographer from behind. The incident led to his immediate disqualification from the tournament and a subsequent charge of fourth-degree assault. The United States Chess Federation (USCF) issued a one-year suspension, effectively halting his competitive activities on the domestic scene.
Following the incident, Yoo issued a public apology, acknowledging that he had lost control of his emotions. He also took steps to address his conduct by engaging the services of mental coach Ebru Ceylan.
32.0-0White castles on move 32. His king is still exposed, but this brings the rook on h1 into play to support the kingside attack.Rfe833.f6Qb6+The position is double-edged and complicated, offering both sides dynamic chances. But this move is inaccurate and gives White the advantage.Engines recommend33...g5which is a typical computer move. Humans are more reluctant to weaken their king's position, but this surprising thrust actually maintains the balance. For example:34.Qf3Qb6+35.Rf2Red836.Rxd8+Rxd8and now the seemingly devastating37.Qf5fails toRd1+38.Kh238.Kg2Ne3+38...Qd6+and Black wins.34.Rf2gxf635.Qf5Kf836.Qh7Ke737.Bd5Ne538.c4Red839.c5
39...Qc6With this queen sacrifice, Black is trying to muddy the waters.But what else can he do? After39...Qc740.Qxh6Ng641.Re2+Ne542.Qg7White's attack crashes through.40.Bxc6Rxd1+41.Kg2Rxc642.Qxh6Re643.Rd2Rxd2+44.Qxd2The tactical complications are over and White is winning. He has a queen against a rook and knight, with an extra pawn — a passed pawn on the h-file. In the remainder of the game, Black tries a few tactical tricks, but they lack punch and are fairly transparent.Nc445.Qf4Ne546.Qh6Ng647.Kf2Re448.Kg3Re649.h4Re450.Qd2Kf851.Qd5Re3+52.Kf2Re2+53.Kf353.Kxe2??Nf4+53...Re754.Qd8+Kg755.h5Rd756.Qc8Ne5+57.Ke4Re758.Kf5Re659.h6+1–0
The course is designed to provide a deep yet practical repertoire for Black, balancing solid foundations with aggressive counterplay. The Classical Sicilian has stood the test of time as one of the most principled and fighting defences against 1.e4. With its rich history spanning world championship matches and modern elite tournaments, this opening remains a favourite among players who seek a dynamic, counterattacking approach without venturing into extreme theoretical battles like the Najdorf or Sveshnikov.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 6.h3
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
4/25/2025 – At the U.S. Championship in October 2024, Christopher Yoo—one of the greatest talents in U.S. chess—seriously damaged his career. After losing to Fabiano Caruana in round five, he struck a videographer from behind while leaving the venue. As a result, he was banned from the St. Louis Chess Club, faced a charge of fourth-degree assault, and was suspended by the USCF for one year. Yoo later publicly apologized, explaining that he had lost his temper after the defeat. He subsequently hired mental coach Ebru Ceylan. During the Grenke Open in Karlsruhe, Arne Kähler took the opportunity to speak with her.
10/18/2024 – Two Knights Talk is the title of a new ChessBase show in which Arne Kähler and Johannes Fischer chat about current and past chess events. In the first episode they talked about Christopher Yoo, good and bad losers, mental training in chess, the US Championship, Awonder Liang, Irina Krush, Carissa Yip and US record champion Bobby Fischer.
The Elephant Gambit (1.e4.e5 2.Nf3 d5!?) has never really been given the attention it deserves. It is a very useful surprise weapon. Let us list the advantages of playing this particular opening: 1) Shock value 2) It is very aggressive. Black can take over the initiative early. 3) Many tricky lines 4) Unorthodox. Black is basically taking the game to the opponent as early as move two. Not many openings do that! It's a perfect opening for young players and club players to adopt. Let Andrew Martin select a repertoire for you on this 60 mins, which, if used with discretion, will rack up the points. I am sure that you will enjoy this unusual tour of the Elephant Gambit.
This video course provides a comprehensive and practical White repertoire in the Ruy Lopez! Through instructive model games and in-depth theoretical explanations, you will learn how to confidently handle both main lines and sidelines.
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.
Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
This interactive video course of over 8 hours, provides an in-depth exploration of the Pirc Defence, a favoured opening for people looking to play for the win with the black pieces.
The course is designed to provide a deep yet practical repertoire for Black, balancing solid foundations with aggressive counterplay.
€39.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.
.jpeg)