5/21/2019 – On the show today, the French team championship is taking place in Brest, and Lawrence was intrigued by some upset wins scored by 2200 players. A harbinger of the improvement of average standard? Live beginning at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, 12 Noon EDT) and free for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.
ChessBase is a personal, stand-alone chess database that has become the standard throughout the world. Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it.
Welcome to the Bombastic Bird's, a revolutionary repertoire for one of the most enterprising and underrated openings in chess theory (1.f4). In this series, IM Lawrence Trent uncovers a number of groundbreaking theoretical novelties and new ideas that will soon have scorners of this romantic system regretting they ever doubted its soundness.
The Scotch Gambit is a brazen yet utterly sound system for White who immediately opens up the position, by sacrificing a central pawn, in an attempt to assassinate the enemy king as quickly as possible.
Each week, I bring you the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments on Tuesday at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, 12 Noon EDT).
Today I am going to be looking at the French Top 12 (the team championship of France) with a focus on a few defeats if GM Sebastian Maze vs 2200 players. How difficult is it for GMs to play lower rated opponents nowadays?
But first...The diagram below is the final position between Daniil Dubov and Anish Giri from the first round of the ongoing Moscow Grand Prix knockout tournament. How would Dubov have finished off the game if given the chance?
Dubov-Giri, Moscow Grand Prix
White to play and mate in 3
Give up? You'll find the complete game at the bottom of this article!
This week
Lawrence is live this week and free to watch, or to replay on-demand, you can register a free 90-day account and will gain access to this and many more shows from a variety of authors.
Follow along, and try your own analysis in the game viewer below
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
Replay and check the LiveBook here
Please, wait...
1.c4Nf62.Nc3e53.Nf3Nc64.e4Bc55.Nxe5Nxe56.d4Bb47.dxe5Nxe4!8.Qf3A28:
English Opening: Four Knights Variationd5Threatens to win with ...d4.8...Nxc39.bxc3Be710.Qg3g611.Bh6d612.Be2Be613.Rd1Qd714.exd6cxd615.0-00-0-01-0 (24) Carlsen,M (2835)-Giri,A (2783) St Petersburg 20189.Be2Qe710.0-0White is slightly better.Bxc3!11.bxc3Qxe511...0-0!=remains equal.12.Bf4±Qxc312...Qf5±might work
better.13.Bd3! Black is under strong pressure.13.Bxc7Qxf314.Bxf3Nd2=13...Bg414.Qxg4Qxd315.Rad115.Qxg7?!0-0-0=15...Qxc416.Be5NPredecessor:16.Qxg716...Nd6?16...Qxa2?17.Qxg70-0-018.Ra1+-18.Qxf7Nd6±16...Nc3±17.Qxc417.Qxg7Ne2+18.Kh10-0-017...dxc418.Bxc30-017.Rd4Qxa218.Bxg7f519.Qh5+?19.Re1+Kd7=19.Qd1+-Kf720.Bxh8Rxh821.Rd221.Rxd5Re8+-19...Kd720.Bxh8Rxh821.Qh6Re822.Qxh7+Re723.Qg8c624.Rh4 White has compensation.Qe2?24...c5!=25.Rh8+-White threatens Qd8+ and mate.Re826.Rh7+Re727.h4!d427...Rxh7
is a better defense.28.Qxh7+Qe728.Rxe7+Qxe7 Endgame
KQR-KQN29.h5Qf7?29...Qf6was necessary.30.Ra1Qh630.Qh8Qe831.Qg7+Qf732.h6c533.Re1d334.Qc334.Qh8+-Qh535.f334...c435.Qd4a6?35...Kc636.h736.Qxa7d236.Re5b6±36...d236.Re3?36.Rb1+-Kc737.Qc5+Kd738.Rb636...Kc6?
36...Qh5!=and Black has nothing to worry.37.Rh3??
Don't do37.Re5?!b6+-37.h7!+- was the
only winning move.Qxh738.Re6!37...Qd5-+38.Qxd5+?38.Qa1d239.Qd138...Kxd5KR-KN39.Kf1
Strongly threatening h7.39...Nf7?Black should try39...Kd4!-+White must now prevent ...Kc3.40.h7Nf740.h7?40.Ke1=and White is okay.Kd441.Kd2c3+42.Kc140...Kd441.Rf341.h8RNxh842.Rxh841...Kc342.Rxf5d243.Ke2Kc244.Rd5c345.g4
45...a5!46.g546.Rxa5d1Q+46...Nh847.f4a448.f5a349.g6a250.g7a1Q51.g8Qd1Q+52.Rxd1Qxd1+53.Ke3Qd3+ Double Attack54.Kf4Qd4+55.Kg5Kb2Accuracy: White = 55%, Black = 47%.0–1
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
Make life difficult for the Sicilian! 2.b3 is a thoroughly venomous but still solid kind of "Anti-Sicilian". No matter what setup black chooses, the bishop on b2 will always be unpleasant for him.
Solution to today's puzzle:
In the final position, White would win after 37.♘xf7+ ♜fxf7 38.♖d8+ ♜f8 39.♖xf8# 1-0.
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
Replay and check the LiveBook here
Please, wait...
1.d4Nf62.c4e63.Nf3d54.Bg5dxc45.e4b56.a4c67.Nc3b48.Nb1Ba6D44:
Semi-Slav: Botvinnik System9.e5h610.Bxf6gxf6The position is equal.11.exf6c5NPredecessor:11...Qxf612.Nbd2c313.bxc3bxc314.Ne4Qf415.Bd3Bb416.0-01-0 (49) Riazantsev,A (2649)-Hovhannisyan,R (2637) St
Petersburg 201812.Nbd2c313.bxc3bxc314.Ne4cxd414...Bxf115.Kxf1Nd715.Bb5+!±Bxb516.axb5Qd5Black should try16...d317.Qxd4 Double AttackQxb518.Nxc318.Qxc3?!Nc6=18.Ne5!±Nd6+ is the strong threat.Qb419.Ra4Qxd420.Rxd418...Bb4=
And now ...Nc6 would win.19.0-0-0Qa5Black
should play19...Qb6!=20.Qxb6axb620.Nb520.Rd3!?Bxc321.Rxc3=20...Na6!21.Qd7+Kf8White must now prevent ...Qa1+.22.Kb1 White mounts an attack.Ba3?22...Bc5=and Black stays safe.23.Rd223.Ne5Qb4+24.Kc1Qf4+
Double Attack25.Qd2Qxd2+26.Rxd2Kg8±23...Rb823.Rd3!+-Worse is23.Nxa3Rb8+24.Kc124.Ka2?Nb4+25.Kb2Nd5+26.Kc1Qxa3+27.Kd2Qa5+28.Ke2Nf4+29.Ke3Rb3+30.Rd3Nxg2+31.Ke2Nf4+ Double Attack32.Ke3Rxd3+-+24...Qxa3+25.Kd2Kg8=23...Qb4+
24.Kc2! Intending Qd8+! and mate.Qa4+
25.Kd2!Bb4+25...Qf4+was called for.26.Ke2Qxf626.Ke2!
Threatening mate with Qd8+!Kg8Strongly threatening ...Nc5.27.Ne5Qc2+28.Kf3Rf8intending ..
.h5.29.Rhd1h5
Much weaker is29...Nc530.Qd4!29...Qb230.Qd4!Rh731.Qf4Bc532.Nd4Qa233.R1d2Qd5+34.Ke2Bb4
35.Ndc6! White
threatens Rg3+ and mate. Double Attack, Discovered AttackQc536.Ne7+Kh8
Accuracy: White = 81%, Black = 40%.1–0
Lawrence TrentBorn in 1986, Lawrence Trent is an international master, who has represented England in numerous international youth championships (including a 7th place in the U18 WCh in 2003). The Londoner, who has a degree in Romance languages, already has a lot of experience as a trainer. Trent has recorded several DVDs for ChessBase.
If you're looking to expand your opening knowledge with a modern, cutting-edge approach, the Ragozin Carlsbad is a must-have addition to your repertoire.
Videos by Leon Mendonca: French and Nico Zwirs: King's Indian. “Lucky bag” with 50 analyses by Ganguly, Giri, Praggnanandhaa and many more + two video analyses by Josefine Heinemann (in German)
The Reti Opening Powerbook 2025 has a tree structure based on a mixture of over 295,000 computer chess games, played in the engine room of playchess.com and the best games played by humans (137,000).
Reti Opening Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains 10989 high-class games from the Mega 2025 or the Correspondence Database 2024, 1069 of which are annotated.
After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6!?, Black takes the initiative, luring White into overextending their central pawns, only to dismantle them with precise counterplay. The Tango is not just an opening – it’s a weapon, designed for players who want to win as Black
€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.