2/14/2026 – In this episode of Svitlana’s Smart Moves, Svitlana introduces the concept “move first, think later,” encouraging players to start with concrete candidate moves based on intuition and pattern recognition, and only afterward justify them with general principles. Through several tactical examples, she shows how strong moves arise naturally from experience rather than abstract reasoning about positional features. The key takeaway is that in practical play, it’s often more effective to trust your instincts, calculate actively, and refine your logic afterward, rather than getting stuck searching for rules before finding a move.
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The Alapin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.c3) offers a simple yet highly effective solution to all major Sicilian lines, by sidestepping them with 2.c3. Facing the Sicilian doesn’t have to be complicated. The Alapin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.c3) offers a simple yet highly effective solution to all major Sicilian lines, by sidestepping them with 2.c3. Whether your opponent plays the Najdorf, Taimanov, or Dragon, the Alapin lets you take control of the game as early as move two.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 2...g6
ChessBase is re-releasing this timeless classic in the modern ChessBase Media format - complete with brand-new training features. Get ready to rediscover a masterpiece of chess instruction!
€49.90
Svitlana's Smart Moves - Episode 135
With Svitlana Demchenko and Arne Kaehler
Svitlana Demchenko, born in 2003, is a Canadian WIM and chess coach. Here and now, she will teach us plenty of smart moves on the board, ranging from tactics, strategies, openings, and everything else chess-related. In the process, I'm happy to be available as a student at club player level, and pester the Women's International Master with questions. Anyone who wants to strengthen their chess skills is welcome to watch, and actively replay the positions from the video on our chessboard.
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If you like Svitlana's Smart moves, you will certainly enjoy her newest course - Silence the Sicilian!
The Alapin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.c3) offers a simple yet highly effective solution to all major Sicilian lines, by sidestepping them with 2.c3. Facing the Sicilian doesn’t have to be complicated. The Alapin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.c3) offers a simple yet highly effective solution to all major Sicilian lines, by sidestepping them with 2.c3. Whether your opponent plays the Najdorf, Taimanov, or Dragon, the Alapin lets you take control of the game as early as move two.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 2...g6
Besides in-depth theory and exciting tactical exercises in the Scotch Game, this video course also includes a bonus section on the Scotch Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Bc4), a lively variation often leading to very dynamic positions.
Some impressions of the tournament:
CUCC 2026 playing hall | Photo: John Upper
The crowd gathering around IM Vettese vs WIM Svitlana | Photo: Derek Ma
Top Women - 1st Svitlana Demchenko, 2nd Cindy Qiao, 3rd Joey Qiao | Photo: John Upper
The Leningrad Dutch Defence is a dynamic and aggressive opening choice for Black, perfect for players who want to add some adventure and spice to their repertoire.
Arne KaehlerArne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.
2/7/2026 – In this episode, Svitlana takes on one of the most aggressive setups against the Modern Defence: the Austrian Attack. She explains the key ideas behind White’s early central pawn storm, typical attacking plans, and what you should be aiming for before the tactics even begin. A practical, idea-driven lesson that helps you understand when to attack, how to build it up, and what Black is trying to survive.
2/1/2026 – In this episode, Svitlana analyzes one of her own intense games from the Canadian University Championships, where she faced a 2400+ tactical rival in a long-awaited revenge match. The game began as a controlled strategic battle out of a Pirc structure, exploded into sharp complications, and transitioned into a wildly double-edged endgame where both players missed wins. Svitlana shows key defensive resources, creative practical decisions under time pressure, and two critical endgame “bluffs” that helped her hold a theoretically difficult position. After six exhausting hours and 113 moves, the roller-coaster fight finally ended in a hard-earned draw packed with lessons from opening to endgame.
After 1.d4 d5 many players with White avoid the great amount of theory in the Slav, Semi-Slav, QGA and Orthodox Queen's Gambit and do not therefore play 2.c4. This is not very ambitious, but the painful experience of many chess players has been that the Colle System, the Trompowsky Attack, the Torre Attack and the London System are nevertheless extremely dangerous. Black has to be prepared for each of these openings and IM Valeri Lilov offers you some help with his six instructive videos, in which he demonstrates for each single opening a relevant plan for Black. In addition to the openings mentioned, the Bulgarian trainer also delves into the Catalan, the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit and the Richter-Veresov Opening.
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Opening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.
YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.
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.
€39.90
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The crowd gathering around IM Vettese vs WIM Svitlana .JPG)
Top Women - 1st Svitlana Demchenko, 2nd Cindy Qiao, 3rd Joey Qiao 
