4/20/2020 – Our columnist JON SPEELMAN looks at two fascinating games and shares two very nice problems from the pages of the wonderful Dutchman Tim Krabbe's Chess Curiosities | Send in your own games! | Jon welcomes submissions from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!
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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By opting for a fianchetto setup, you embrace unbalanced and strategically rich positions, steering away from predictable theory battles.
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Agony & Ecstasy #120
This week's material — a pair of fascinating games and two additional items — was sent by Tim Gluckman, who is in his early seventies and plays for Lewisham Chess Club in Southeast London. The additional items are two very nice problems from the pages of the wonderful Dutchman Tim Krabbe's Chess Curiosities.
As Tim explains:
In 2019 I gave two talks on endgame studies. One of them (11.2019) was at the ISIS prison (next to Belmarsh) in the Woolwich area. It was part of a 'Chess in the Community' project. Apparently, the seven prisoners present were genuinely interested in the positions: the first was a Shinkmann classic with six white pawns on the a-file; the second by Gurgenidse is one in which the rooks become pawns and seem to move backwards.
We start with the games which are both from the London League Division 3. All notes are by me, but when analysing the first I happened to start without an engine and decided to carry on in two phases: firstly seeing what I could glean about the extremely complicated positions on my own tod, and then adding the addictive comfort of the engine in a second pass.
Select an entry from the list to switch between games
How many times have you been caught off guard by a seemingly inferior and unusual opening system that later turns out to be an especially strong one? Unorthodox openings can be a real asset to anyone’s opening repertoire and they often do not contain much theory, making them easy to master for your next important tournament.
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Did you enjoy the column and instructive analysis by GM Jonathan Speelman? Do you wish you could have a world-renowned grandmaster analysing your play? You can!
To submit your games just upload a PGN or ChessBase file (.pgn or .cbv archive), along with your name and e-mail address. Send one success story (Ecstasy) and one loss (Agony).
Tell why you chose them, where or when they were played. Please do include your email address, so Jon can reply, and preferably a photo of yourself for our article.
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Jonathan SpeelmanJonathan Speelman, born in 1956, studied mathematics but became a professional chess player in 1977. He was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980–2006 and three times British Champion. He played twice in Candidates Tournaments, reaching the semi-final in 1989. He twice seconded a World Championship challenger: Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995.
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In this volume, we dive into core aspects of chess technique. Smyslov taught the principle of tactical hierarchy, “checks, double attacks, and unprotected pieces”, and Mikhalchishin demonstrates how this method of calculation is vital.
Videos: Nico Zwirs examines two Petroffs from the 2026 Candidates. Robert Ris has a tip against the Caro-Kann Advance Variation with 3…c5. Fiona Sieber reveals a surprise weapon against the Najdorf. ‘Lucky Bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, L'Ami et al.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
In this powerful new course, endgame expert Karsten Müller teams up with rising star Leon Mendonca to deliver what truly matters: 10 essential rules that every player must know.
In this video course experts examine the games of Bent Larsen. Let them show you which openings Larsen chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities!
From the 2026 Candidates Tournament, featuring a video review by Dorian Rogozenco, to Jan Werle’s opening video on the French Tarrasch Defence, and Oliver Reeh’s tactical column ‘Top Grandmasters at Work’. Analyses by Giri, So, Wei Yi and many others.
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