9/14/2020 – Simon Says: Today, we look at some of the most influential opening and early middlegame ideas that have left a major influence on me over the course of my career. Ideas that were unique at the time in history when they were played. | Watch "Simon Says" for free and on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account). (Normally 18:00 UTC (20:00 CEST / 14:00). | Photo: Bobby Fischer 1970
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
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)
2024 Chess Olympiad with analyses by Abdusattorov, Aronian, Giri, So, et al. Blohberger, Werle and Zwirs show new opening ideas in the video. 10 repertoire articles from English to King's Indian and much more!
€21.90
Unique ideas
Bobby Fischer's influence on modern chess is enormous. He brought chess into the headlines, he insisted that chess professionals should be adequately paid and he brought thousands of fans to take up the game. He also came up with a lot of new ideas and concepts in the opening and the middlegame. One of these ideas impressed Simon Williams deeply.
Here's the warm-up: "This is a perfectly normal looking Hedgehog position, expect now Bobby came up with a shocking plan. Do you know what that plan is?"
B. Fischer - U. Anderssen, Exhibition Game, Siegen 1970
Position after 12...Be6
(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!
Rules of thumb are the key to everything when you are having to set the correct course in a complex endgame. In this final DVD of his series on the endgame, our endgame specialist introduces you to the most important of these rules of thumb.
Simon is on air most Mondays at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EST)
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
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.
Still more Simon
Simon's latest DVD series, "The Exciting Budapest Gambit" is now available. Check it out, starting with the sample below:
The Budapest Gambit is an exciting and fun way to play against 1.d4 and 2.c4 - replying with 1...Nf6 and 2...e5. In this video you will learn how to pose problems for White with this fascinating opening.
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)
Simon WilliamsSimon Williams became a IM in 1998 and a GM in 2008. For the last 15 years he has concentrated on teaching, playing and making instructional chess DVDs. He also has a lot of experience commentating about chess. Being the regular commentator at the strongest and best open tournament in the world, Gibraltar. Simon Williams is the author of numerous chess books. His first chess book. 'Play the Classical Dutch' got voted, in New in Chess, as one of the top 10 chess books of all time. His playing style is very aggressive, preferring attacking chess to positional grinds. No wonder he produced two widely acclaimed ChessBase DVDs on the King's Gambit. More information about Williams can be found on his website.
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
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.
