5/22/2025 – The first two rounds of the 2025 TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament have produced a mix of decisive results and hard-fought draws in Malmö. Richard Rapport, Javokhir Sindarov (pictured) and Yagiz Erdogmus lead the standings with 1½ points each. Tan Zhongyi, meanwhile, has suffered two losses and both with the white pieces. Round three will feature a clash between co-leaders Sindarov and Erdogmus, the youngest players in the field. | Photo: Mikael Svensson
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.!
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
In this course, Grandmaster Felix Blohberger delivers a complete opening repertoire for White, centred around the flexible move 1.Nf3.
€34.90
Ivanchuk plays 210 moves in two games
The opening two rounds of the TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament in Malmö featured plenty of fighting spirit, with three of the eight games ending decisively, yet no shortage of competitive play in the drawn encounters. After two rounds, three players share the lead on 1½/2 points: Richard Rapport, Javokhir Sindarov and Yagiz Erdogmus.
Rapport began his campaign with a win over Erwin l'Ami in the first round, while both Sindarov and Erdogmus defeated Tan Zhongyi with the black pieces - in rounds one and two, respectively. For Tan, who recently had a strong showing in the final stage of the Women's Grand Prix after losing to Ju Wenjun in the Women's World Championship match, two early losses with the white pieces represent a significant setback in the seven-round tournament.
Drawn games were by no means lacking in tension. Vasyl Ivanchuk, in particular, played two marathon encounters, taking theoretically drawn endgames to the bitter end against Ray Robson in round one (110 moves) and against L'Ami in round two (100 moves). Both games required the contenders to show proper technique to maintain the balance.
L'Ami v. Ivanchuk
L'Ami and Ivanchuk reached this setup on move 51 - and after 49 more moves the draw was agreed with the pawns sitting on the exact same squares
In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.
Round three, scheduled for Thursday, features a notable pairing between the two youngest participants, as Sindarov (19) faces Erdogmus (13) in a co-leaders' clash. Rapport, the remaining co-leader and the tournament's top seed, will play white against the struggling Tan.
Vasyl Ivanchuk, aged 56, had two long days at the office in Malmö | Photo: Mikael Svensson
1.c4e52.Nc3Bb43.Nd5Be74.Nf3d65.d4Nc6L'Ami, a well-known theoretician, goes for a sideline here.The main variation is5...e46.Nd2f57.e3Nf68.Nxe7Qxe7with an imbalanced structure.6.g3This move, preparing to fianchetto the bishop, has been played in the past, though not by elite grandmasters.Boris Gelfand and David Howell, among others, opted for6.e3and there might followNf67.Be20-08.0-0Re86...Nf67.Bg2Nxd58.cxd5Nxd49.Nxd4exd4The late Robert Huebner played this from the black side at the 1984 Bundesliga. He was facing Jan Smejkal, and the game ended in a draw.10.Qxd4
10...Bf611.Qd30-012.0-0Re813.Re1g614.Rb1Bf5L'Ami spent 13 minutes before playing this move, which only intends to force White to push his e-pawn to the fourth rank - nuanced play by elite grandmasters.15.e4Bd716.Bf4a517.h4a418.Qd2b6In such strategic battles, extreme care is needed. This harmless-looking pawn push turned out to be inaccurate, as it all but fixes a weakness on c7 - keeping the chance of playing ...c7-c6 later on was called for in this setup.An alternative line is18...h519.Kh2Ra620.Bf1Rb619.Rbc1Ra520.Be3h521.Rc2a322.b4Ra7Black has lost a few tempi in this sequence. White is now for choice.23.Bd4Kh724.f4Bg425.Rc3Bxd4+26.Qxd4Qe727.Ree3Rea8
White has more space and his pieces are more active. He is targetting weaknesses on a3 and c7, while Black needs to permanently look out for potential central breaks. But Rapport still needs to find the best way to make progress against an experienced, resourceful defender.28.Bf1Kg829.Bb5Bd730.Bd3Qf831.Kf2Qg732.Qxg7+Kxg733.Re1Rc834.Rec1Kf635.Ke3Ke736.e5b537.Kd2Be838.Be4Bd739.Kc2Be840.Kb3Bd741.Bd3
After trading queens, White has gained more space and activated both his king and his bishop. But Black has so far managed to keep the material balance. The time control has been reached, and Rapport now got enough time to figure out a way to break through.41...Be842.Be2Bd743.Bf1f6This is a mistake - but Black was already running out of moves.Engines suggest43...f5when44.e6There might follow44.Re1Rd845.exd6+Kxd6and White still needs to find a way to break through Black's defences.44...Be8does not work (as in the game), since White cannot play f4-f5.44.e6Be845.f5
The point! White finally gets to open up lines for his stronger army.45...g546.g4Rapport correctly calculates that getting a passer on the kingside is winning for him.hxg447.h5Kf848.h6Kg849.Be2Kh750.Bxg4c551.dxc6Rac752.Bf3g453.Bxg4Rxc654.Rxc6Rxc655.Rh1Rc456.Bh5Bxh557.Rxh5With his two far-advanced passers on the sixth rank, Rapport happily simplifies into a rook endgame.d558.Rh2Re459.Kc31–0
In this DVD, Erwin l'Ami guides you through the fascinating Benko Gambit. As early as move three Black starts a fight for the initiative, a strategy that has proved to be successful in countless amateur and master level games.
The playing hall during round one | Photo: Mikael Svensson
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
5/26/2025 – The TePe Sigeman & Co tournament is taking place on 20-26 at the Elite Plaza Hotel in Malmö, Sweden. The tournament is an 8-player single round-robin featuring Richard Rapport, Javokhir Sindarov and Ray Robson as the top seeds. Living legend Vasyl Ivanchuk and former women's world champion Tan Zhongyi are also in the mix. | Follow the games live starting at 15.00 CEST (9.00 ET, 18.30 IST)
5/19/2025 – The TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament returns to Malmö this May, bringing together a carefully selected mix of seasoned grandmasters and emerging talents, this year including the likes of Richard Rapport, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Nils Grandelius (pictured) and Turkish rising star Yagiz Erdogmus. Known for its thoughtful organisation and competitive format, the event continues its recent focus on promoting top female players, with Tan Zhongyi joining the 2025 edition. | Photo: Mikael Svensson
What to do against the Pirc? Many players find it difficult to play against Black’s set-up. Try the Austrian Attack! It is a solid but dangerous weapon and guarantees White an effective attack from the very start! Learn the key tricks of this deadly line and crush the Pirc with ease!
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
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