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
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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Instead of forcing you to memorise endless lines, Raja focuses on clear plans, typical ideas, and attacking motifs that you can apply in your own games without delay. A short, focused, and practical repertoire.
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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.
The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.
After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Qd3, White sidesteps mainline theory and steers the game into less explored, strategically rich positions.
In this course, you will learn the foundations and key ideas of the Vienna Game and discover a variety of systems that make you extremely difficult to prepare for.
Tata Steel 2026 with analyses by Bluebaum, Giri, L'Ami, Woodward and many more. Opening videos by Kasimdzhanov, Marin and Zwirs. 10 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
In this course, Dutch Grandmaster Jan Werle presents a modern and practical repertoire in the French Advance Variation, focusing on the critical line 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3.
One of the major battlegrounds of the Queen’s Gambit Declined is the Catalan, and against it Zwirs chose an ambitious strategy: accept the pawn and hold onto it with …c6 and …b5, aiming for an unbalanced fight from the very start.
In this course, IM Nico Zwirs presents the Reversed Sicilian as a powerful and practical weapon for White
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