6/22/2020 – In this "Simon Says" Simon looks at the latest games from the Chessable Masters. He takes a look at the highlights and lowlights from the first six rounds and throws a glance at a curious case of "Chess Blindness", an illness most chess players know, and for which Dr. Tarrasch even coined a Latin term. | Watch "Simon Says" for free and on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account). (Normally 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EST). | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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Simon Williams presents the London System, providing the theory you need for your games (7 h 16 min). In addition Williams also introduces into typical tactics and patterns in a seperate product. (53 games, 96 training questions and 3h 14 min)
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Chess Blindness
Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch (5 March 1862 – 17 February 1934) was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th and early 20th century, but throughout his life he had always been an amateur. He was born in Breslau and after studying medicine in Halle he worked as a medical practitioner in Nuremberg and Munich.
Tarrasch came up with a Latin name for an illness that is peculiar to chess players: "Chess Blindness", or, to use Tarrasch's term: Amaurosis scacchistica. In a way, chess blindness is similar to the common cold: everyone suffers from it occasionally, but nobody knows why, and how you can protect yourself against it.
There is something tragicomic about chess blindness: deep opening preparation, sophisticated maneuvers, bold sacrifices or precise and deep calculation of countless variations all lead to nothing because of the unreliability of the human mind. However, with a relaxed attitude towards perfection and a little bit of schadenfreude you might enjoy chess blindness, particularly if others suffer from it.
In round 2 of the Chessable Masters Pentala Harikrishna and Magnus Carlsen both fell victim to this inexplicable disease.
Pentala Harikrishna - M. Carlsen, Chessable Masters 2020
Position after 30...Ba4
Magnus has just played ...Ba4 which is actually a major blunder. What should Pentala now have played?
(See the full game and the solution below)
This week's show
The show starts at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 2 PM EDT). You can also watch it in the archive with a ChessBase Account. Don't have an account? You can register a free 90-day account to watch!
On this DVD Grandmaster Daniel King: ● demonstrates typical tactical patterns ● shows how strong players use their tactical awareness ● puts your tactical abilities to the test — but this is a test with a difference. Although the emphasis is on tactics, there are also positions that require a strategic solution. You don’t know what’s coming next...
Simon is on air most Mondays at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EST)
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About Simon Says
In early 2015 Simon Williams launched his own show called "Simon says" after producing the first of his ChessBase video series. On a weekly basis (with breaks for tournaments and chess events) Simon entertains the chess world with attacking ideas, play strategies and witty manoeuvres on the chess board.
ChessBase Premium members have permanent access to the videos in the archive. Over 60 shows and counting have been published to date. Their lengths differ but most of them run for about 60 minutes.
Opening with the Chigorin shows your intention to play for a win right from the outset. After 2...Nc6 Black's pieces fly into the game putting pressure on White's position from a very early stage. This opening is ideal for the type of player who strives for an unconvential yet attacking game right from the start.
Over the last couple of years nearly all the world's elite grandmasters have been employing the London System, and on this DVD Simon Williams shows what we can learn from their practice. The "Ginger GM" takes a look at all the latest developments whilst teaching you all the basics that you need to know in order to play this opening with success.
Simon Williams presents the London System, providing the theory you need for your games (7 h 16 min). In addition Williams also introduces into typical tactics and patterns in a seperate product. (53 games, 96 training questions and 3h 14 min)
Johannes FischerJohannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
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.
The Trompowsky is especially suited for faster time controls as you don‘t have to memorise endless lines of theory, and you push your opponent out of their comfort zone after your second move.
Trompowsky Powerbook 2025 is based on 53,000 computer games from the engine room of playchess.com as well as 49,000 games from Mega and correspondence chess.
Trompowsky Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 8727 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 316 are annotated.
2025 European Championship with a German double victory and analyses by Bluebaum, Svane, Rodshtein, Yuffa, Navara and many more. Opening videos by Engel, King and Marin. Training sections “The Fortress”, “The Trap” and “Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" etc.
In this dynamic and practical video course, IM Andrew Martin arms you with powerful antidotes to White’s most annoying sidelines.
€34.90
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