6/26/2015 – While travelling from Prague to Hamburg, GM Wesley So took the opportunity to visit the ChessBase headquarters in Hamburg. There he met the ChessBase family, was able to see the offices and studio, and enjoyed some one-on-one instruction with resident experts to finetune his understanding of the indispensable program. He also popped in the studio and kibitzed on the Norway games.
new: Fritz 20
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.
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.
Whether you‘re a beginner looking for a clear roadmap or an advanced player ready to refine your strategic edge, this comprehensive course will transform the way you think about chess.
€49.90
Visiting ChessBase in Hamburg on the way from Prague to Hamburg...
Wow, you can really do that? Learning advanced functions from resident expert Pascal Simon.
Watch Wesley pick up some rating points after these advanced lessons with ChessBase.
Joined by GMs Erwin l'Ami, who is currently recording two new Fritztrainers, and Karsten
Müller, whose DVDs Wesley has studied keenly ("since I was fifteen!")
Karsten and Erwin were doing live commentary on the games in Stavanger...
... and were glad when Wesley "barged in". It made for some very interesting analysis.
A video excerpt of Wesley So analyzing Norway 2015 with GMs Karsten Mueller and Erwin L'Ami as seen
by the Playchess viewers
About Wesley So
Wesley Barbasa So (born October 9, 1993 in Bacoor, Philippines) is a Filipino chess grandmaster representing the United States. In October 2008, he became the youngest player to pass 2600 Elo rating, breaking the record held by Magnus Carlsen.
At the age of sixteen, So became one of the stories of the 2009 Chess World Cup held in Khanty-Mansiysk after progressing to the fourth round before being knocked out by Vladimir Malakhov after rapid tiebreaks. He defeated Gadir Guseinov after rapid tiebreaks then defeated the experienced Vassily Ivanchuk and Gata Kamsky.
In early 2013, So passed the "elite" 2700 rating, which heralded a superb year in 2014 starting with first place at the winning the ACP Golden Classic tournament in Bergamo, Italy and then the 49th Capablanca Memorial tournament, held in Havana, a point clear of Lazaro Bruzon. After another win in the Millionaire Chess Open and tying for second place at the 2015 Tata Steel Chess Tournament, he made his first appearance in the Top Ten. (source: Wikipedia)
Here is a delightful win in 2006, when he was just 13 over Michael Prusikin, rated 2560 FIDE:
[Event "Bayern-chI Bank Hofmann 10th"] [Site "Bad Wiessee"] [Date "2006.11.08"] [Round "5"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Prusikin, Michael"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C14"] [WhiteElo "2411"] [BlackElo "2560"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "rn3rk1/3n4/1p2pqp1/p2p2Np/3p1P2/2PQN3/PP4PP/4RRK1 w - - 0 19"] [PlyCount "23"] [EventDate "2006.11.04"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "GER"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2006.11.23"] 19. Nxe6 $3 Qxe6 (19... dxe3 $2 20. Nxf8 Kxf8 (20... Nxf8 {loses the rook after } 21. Qxd5+ Qf7 22. Qxa8) 21. Qxd5 Qc6 {and because of the hampered and undeveloped pieces, Black is unable to defend himself.} 22. Qg5 Nf6 23. Rxe3 Nbd7 24. f5 $1 {and the f-file will open with deadly effect.}) 20. Nxd5 {A key move.} Qf7 (20... Qxd5 {just leads to mate.} 21. Qxg6+ Kh8 22. Re7) 21. Re7 ( 21. Ne7+ {is more efficient but the text does not change the evaluation.} Kg7 22. f5) 21... Qf5 22. Qxd4 Nf6 23. Re5 Qd7 24. Qd3 Nxd5 25. Qxg6+ Qg7 26. Qe6+ Qf7 27. Qh6 Qf6 28. Rg5+ Kf7 29. Qh7+ Ke8 30. Rxd5 1-0
Albert SilverBorn in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech as well as the author of Typing Tomes, a powerful typing program.
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.
You will learn how Black's dynamic piece activity and structural counterplay more than compensate for White's extra tempo in the colour-reversed setups.
In this course, you’ll learn how to take the initiative against the London and prevent White from comfortably playing their usual system by playing 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 Nh5.
London System Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.
The London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.
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.
€59.90
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.
