3/28/2026 – In this episode of Svitlana's Smart Moves, Svitlana continues her Candidates series by presenting one key tactical moment from each player in the Women's Candidates, while Arne tries to solve them along the way. The positions showcase a wide range of attacking and endgame ideas, from classic double-bishop sacrifices to precise defensive resources and beautiful promotion tactics, while also highlighting the strength and fighting spirit of players like Deshmukh, Zhongyi, Vaishali, Goryachkina and Lagno.

3/21/2026 – In this second part of Svitlana’s Smart Moves: Candidates Special, Svitlana and Arne go through tactical highlights from the remaining four Candidates players, giving viewers both easier and harder puzzles to solve along with them. The episode especially showcases Fabiano Caruana’s astonishing calculation depth, several brilliant attacking ideas by Praggnanandhaa, and a series of creative tactical shots that underline why these players are so dangerous.

3/15/2026 – In this episode, Svitlana and Arne kick off a Candidates-themed tactics series by exploring beautiful combinations from the careers of several contenders, including Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri, Matthias Blübaum, and Wei Yi. Each player is represented by an easier and a harder puzzle, and the lesson highlights recurring tactical themes such as queen deflections, mating nets, forcing moves, and precise attacking calculation. Along the way, they also discuss their Candidates favourites, with Arne backing Matthias Blübaum as a dark horse, while Svitlana expects a fiercely contested tournament full of surprises.

2/28/2026 – This episode trains you to think more creatively by first testing obvious ideas, understanding precisely why they fail, and then searching for a small adjustment that removes the opponent’s defensive resource. Through tactical and endgame examples, Svitlana shows that imagination isn’t about random brilliance, but about spotting loose pieces, hidden interference ideas, and unexpected candidate moves that change the evaluation completely. The learning effect is practical: by repeatedly challenging your first instinct and actively looking for alternatives, you reduce careless mistakes and expand your tactical vision in real games.

2/20/2026 – In this episode, Svitlana explores how to fight back after a blunder, using dramatic comeback examples from players like Magnus Carlsen and classic games from the 19th century to show that even the best can recover from lost material. The key lessons are to avoid self-pity, keep pieces on the board, create complications, pose constant problems, and play actively as if you’re not worse—because pressure often causes the opponent to falter. Ultimately, she demonstrates that chess games are rarely over after a single mistake, and with the right mindset and resourcefulness, even a lost position can turn into a win or at least a save.

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.

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.

1/17/2026 – Svitlana introduces the “Fake Sveshnikov,” an unconventional Sicilian where Black mimics familiar Sveshnikov structures but deliberately deviates with early …e5 and …Ne7 to sidestep typical pins and seize dynamic counterplay. The episode walks through White’s main setups (Bg5, Be3, Bd3, c3, c4), showing recurring Black ideas like sacrificing a pawn, rapid development, dark-square pressure, and timely breaks with …f5 or …Nd4. The lesson emphasizes pattern recognition over memorization, illustrating how surprising plans and imbalances can lead to strong practical chances—even revealing that Sveshnikov himself once played this “fake” version.

12/31/2025 – This “Best of 2025” episode is a year-end tactics celebration where Svitlana reviews the coolest moments of the chess year by turning them into a guess-the-move challenge for viewers. The WIM works through several sharp positions from major events (including the Global Chess League, World Cup, Grand Swiss, and Prague Chess Festival), featuring wild sacrifices, mating nets, and one especially memorable queen-sac idea in a Petroff line. Happy new year!

11/27/2025 – Today, Svitlana teaches us about the Immortal Game by Carl Schlechter. If a game is called an "immortal game", you can expect some sensational tactics. Another thing what makes this game exceptional is the opening choice of 1.b4. According to the new ChessBase opening report, the Sokolsky Opening, also known as the Orangutan and the Polish Opening, is getting less, and less fashionable in the last years. But 1.b4 had its peak from 2009 to 2011!

11/22/2025 – Svitlana dedicates the episode to the memory of Daniel “Danya” Naroditsky, whose impact as a player, coach, and communicator reached far beyond the chessboard. She explores one of his favourite ideas in the Four Knights Opening - the powerful Nd5!, a move Danya loved to highlight for its elegance and instructional value. This episode blends clear educational insight with a heartfelt tribute, showing how Danya’s creative spirit continues to inspire players through the ideas he championed.

11/10/2025 – Svitlana explores the theme of “invisible moves” — creative, hard-to-spot ideas that suddenly make everything work. By looking for checks, deflections, and quiet improving moves, players can uncover the beauty of ideas that seem “invisible” at first glance.

10/26/2025 – Any idea how long the longest recorded chess game was? How many moves were played? It was the year 1989 when Ivan Nikolić and Goran Arsović played stunning 269 moves! Not only that, the game was also very interesting, as Svitlana demonstrates in this episode. But, there was actually a second game, which was even longer!

10/22/2025 – We take a unique behind-the-scenes look at how top chess masters organize their digital workspace. Grandmasters and trainers like Svitlana Demchenko, Robert Ris, Michael Prusikin, Harald Schneider-Zinner, Frederik Svane, Felix Blohberger, and Dorian Rogozenco share their screens to reveal their personal ChessBase 18 setups — from meticulously clean desktops to chaotic databases full of ideas. They show us their board designs, current projects, and discuss their favourite or most-used ChessBase functions, offering fascinating insights into how great minds prepare, study, and work with chess.

10/12/2025 – In this episode of Svitlana's Smart Moves, Svitlana Demchenko and Arne analyze a classic 1991 game between Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand, inspired by their current exhibition match. They explore the tactical richness of the Sicilian Taimanov, focusing on key moments like Kasparov's brilliant knight sacrifice on b5 and his creative attacking manoeuvres leading to a decisive win. The discussion highlights Kasparov’s precision, Anand’s resilience, and the timeless instructive value of their games for learning dynamic chess play.

9/15/2025 – In this episode, Svitlana Demchenko explores bishop vs. knight endgames, showing when each piece can be stronger depending on pawn structure and king activity. Bishops excel with play on both sides of the board and outside passed pawns, while knights perform better in closed or narrow positions and against pawns fixed on the bishop’s colour. Classic examples, including Karpov and Kasparov, highlight practical rules and surprising techniques, like sacrificing pawns to open king entry routes.

8/31/2025 – In this Smart Moves episode, Svitlana explains the Stonewall pawn structure, most often arising from the Dutch Defense, and outlines key strategic plans for both sides. White aims to control the e5 square, trade dark-squared bishops, and expand on the queenside with ideas like c4–b4, while Black typically seeks kingside play with a knight on e4, improving the bad bishop via maneuvers, or breaking with c5. She then illustrates these concepts through a model game by Jon Ludvig Hammer, showing how White successfully opened the c-file, traded bishops, exploited weaknesses, and converted into a winning endgame — demonstrating both the strengths and vulnerabilities of the Stonewall.

8/23/2025 – Svitlana's newest course is here: Silence the Sicilian – Win with the Alapin Variation (2.c3)! The Canadian WIM offers a first look at what you can expect from her lessons. In addition, she takes us through the famous 1996 clash between Deep Blue and Garry Kasparov, where the computer claimed victory with the very same Alapin Variation.

8/15/2025 – After the summer break, Svitlana shares one of her favourite tournament games, where she tried the O’Kelly Sicilian for the first time against a 2357-rated FM, using it to steer her opponent out of theory. She explains the strategic ideas behind the variation, demonstrates her pawn-storm attack on the kingside, and navigates through complex middlegame tactics while maintaining the initiative. The game concludes with a precise tactical finish, combining long-term piece coordination and threats to secure victory in a well-prepared and creatively played encounter.

8/5/2025 – Svitlana Demchenko’s Smart Moves show began in 2021 and has produced over 120 nearly weekly episodes on topics ranging from openings and endgames to tactics and all things chess. Now, she is speaking at the World Schools Summit in Washington, DC—fittingly named the Smart Moves Summit 2025! | Photo: ChessBase India Interview

7/28/2025 – This practical course offers a clean and effective response to the Sicilian Defense. By playing 2.c3, you sidestep heavy theory and gain early central control, logical development, and aggressive yet manageable positions. The course includes structured explanations, model games, and interactive training tools to help you confidently master the Alapin and outplay your opponents.

7/9/2025 – Svitlana presents an unconventional yet effective way to combat the English Opening by responding with 1...e5 and then an early ...h5, aiming to unsettle White's typical kingside fianchetto plans. The line offers dynamic attacking potential with ideas like ...h4, or even ...g5, depending on how White responds, and even top blitz players have experimented with it. While engines consider some White responses (like Nf3 followed by h4) slightly better, the surprise value and aggressive intent behind this line make it a strong practical weapon, especially in blitz and rapid games.

6/28/2025 – In this episode, Svitlana offers a comprehensive guide on how to play against the King's Gambit, an aggressive and historic opening that begins with 1.e4 e5 2.f4. While it's less common in high-level chess today, it still appears in club-level play and can lead to sharp tactical battles. Svitlana walks through multiple lines, including sideline traps and the main variations with 3.Nf3 and 3.Bc4, emphasising key defensive setups for Black, such as the flexible ...Nf6 line and the importance of early counterplay. She highlights thematic tactics, development priorities, and typical traps, ultimately showing how to neutralize White's initiative and even seize the advantage with correct preparation.