1/8/2018 – In a series of articles we'll present the different shows we produce throughout the chess year. We'll begin with "Simon says" (mondays at 6pm CET). The english GM Simon Williams is one of the most popular commentators in chess. He's a regular to do live commentary in Gibraltar and Reykjavik as well as on playchess.com. | Photo: Alina L'Ami
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The King‘s Indian Attack is a universal opening: easy to learn, flexible, and rich in both tactical and positional opportunities.
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Sensing the Moment
Why do top players always seem to find the right tactic at the right time?' In this Simon Says we take a look at when it is time to look that little deeper..
Simon is live on Mondays at 18:00 CEST / 5 pm BST time / 12 Noon EDT
In early 2015 Simon Williams launched his own show called "Simon says" after producing the first of his ChessBase DVD's. 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 can watch the show live and have permanent access to the videos in the archive. Through the end of 2017, 43 “Simon Says” shows have been published. Their length differs but most of them run for about 60 minutes.
Williams covers a wide range of topics and likes to show entire games. He also has a certain fondness for the attack and large number of the games he presents in his show focus on this part of chess strategy. Williams also likes to play — and analyse — opening sidelines and this shows in his game selection. He just might help you to prepare an opening surprise for your opponents.
The following game was taken from a show last March and is a typical example of the games Williams likes to present.
Mark Hebden vs Simon Williams (annotations by FM Markus Hochgräfe)
If you compare “Simon says” with Daniel King’s “Powerplay” show you will notice that the tempo in King’s show is a bit faster and that King manages to offer more content in an hour than Williams. But in exchange "Simon says" might be a bit easier to follow for club level players.
To give you a taste, you can watch his most popular broadcast here for free. The next live show is on Monday, January 8th at 18:00 CET (Noon EST):
Developments on the London System and the Four Knights
"Simple yet aggressive!" Enjoy this new exciting DVD by Simon Williams. Let the famouns Grandmaster from England show you how to gain a very exciting yet well founded opening game with the London System (1.d4 d5 2.Bf4).
View past shows, with a ChessBase Premium Account.
At the airport, in the hotel or at home on your couch: with the new ChessBase you always have access to the whole ChessBase world: the new ChessBase video library, tactics server, opening training App, the live database with eight million games, Let’s Check and web access to playchess.com
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.
FIDE World Cup 2025 with analyses by Adams, Bluebaum, Donchenko, Shankland, Wei Yi and many more. Opening videos by Blohberger, King and Marin. 11 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
Opening videos: Sipke Ernst brings the Ulvestad Variation up to date + Part II of ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’. Special: Jan Werle shows highlights from the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 in the video. ‘Lucky bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
€14.90
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