10/28/2021 – Using a fine game by Alexander Alekhine, Svitlana shows how to play against two weaknesses, an important strategic motif in middlegame and endgame. Svitlana and Arne also discuss how to pronounce "Alekhine", and wonder whether the German Master Friedrich "Fritz" Saemisch (1896-1975), name-giver of several popular opening lines, inspired developers to call their chess engine "Fritz".

10/21/2021 – Recently, Svitlana came to Hamburg to record her new Fritztrainer: "Understanding Material Imbalances". The DVD will appear soon, probably in a couple of weeks. But this is a good opportunity for a preview, including some recent examples of the themes Svitlana presents, e.g. the entertaining topic of "Material Imbalances". At the US Championship 2021 that just ended in St. Louis Sam Shankland and Fabiano Caruana played a fascinating game with material imbalances - it ended in a draw when the queen was unable to win against two minor pieces.

10/14/2021 – Svitlana is fascinated about the psychological aspects of chess. But the more chess is discovered, and theory knocks in, the more the things like the daily mood, or a posture for the next game are important. The Canadian WIM with the FIDE rating of meanwhile 2285 (2089 when we started), shares a personal story about the winning mindset, and how it improved her games. Furthermore, we dive into a decisive game between Xiong and Nakamura.

10/7/2021 – Congratulations to Svitlana, who just turned 18 years old. Since she is a year older now, maybe we rename the format to "Svitlana's Smarter Moves"? But not much has changed luckily, and it is time to make some bold sacrifices, and figure out, if they are even working. Svitlana shows us a famous example by Emmanuel Lasker, and an interesting variation in the Caro-Kann.

9/29/2021 – This episode is about the very interesting subject of how to "swindle" your way out of lost positions. Probably, you have managed to turn a game around once, or twice already? And likely, an opponent has done the same? Even a top player is not safe, as Svitlana can demonstrate in one of her played games against a Grandmaster.

9/15/2021 – Svitlana's Smart Moves conquers some easier, advanced, and even high level examples for getting better at chess. Sometimes it is good to take a huge leap back, and start with the absolute basics. Probably everybody has heard of the "Philidor Position" and "building a bridge", and some players might even know these positions by heart. Unfortunately, Arne is confronted with these postions for the first time in his life, and fails miserably. This episode is especially for people who have trouble with rook endings as they will learn and never forget these important concepts.

9/8/2021 – Ask your chess friends or colleagues, “What is the most difficult part for you to understand in chess?” The answer is often: middlegames. Once you have reached the middlegame, it is difficult to make a plan. But luckily, we are blessed with some of Svitlana’s Smart Moves once again. Today we try to figure out how to hold the tension in the middlegame, why to hold it, and how to break through with your pawns in the right moment.

9/1/2021 – The Scandinavian opening is controversial. Some hate it, others love it. But if Magnus Carlsen and many other Grandmasters play this opening occasionally, it wouldn't harm to take a closer look at it. Especially the "Portuguese Variation" is worth discovering. This tricky line is full of tactics, and heavy development on Black's side. Furthermore, Svitlana teaches us some more ideas from a blindfold match between Gelfand and Morozevich. After all, it is a great idea to try out openings you have never ever touched before, to get the most out of this beautiful game called chess.

8/10/2021 – Svitlana sets up a classic position between Nigel Short and Jan Timman. But before we start with the famous position, we derail a bit to the Alekhine Opening. It turns out, Svitlana Demchenko has a genuinely good score when playing the Alekhine Defense as Black. After the popular example, Svitlana shows us a similar technic from one of her own games, which she played in her chess club in Ottawa.

8/7/2021 – The 2021 FIDE World Cup concluded on August 5 with Jan-Krzysztof Duda defeating Sergey Karjakin by a score of 1½-½ in the finals. Joshua Doknjas takes a look at five interesting games from the second half of the event, focussing on the performances of the two finalists. | Photo: Eric Rosen

8/6/2021 – Thanks to a 30-move victory over Sergey Karjakin, Jan-Krzysztof Duda was crowned champion at the 2021 FIDE World Cup in Sochi. The Polish grandmaster had an undefeated performance in the 24-day event and knocked out none other than world champion Magnus Carlsen in the semifinals. Carlsen, who had high praise for Duda, beat Vladimir Fedoseev for a second day in a row to claim third place. | Photos: David Llada

8/5/2021 – Sergey Karjakin and Jan-Krzysztof Duda drew their first game of the final at the FIDE World Cup in Sochi — Duda has the white pieces in game 2. Meanwhile, Vladimir Fedoseev (pictured) needs to win with black to level the score against Magnus Carlsen in the match for third place. Follow the action live with expert commentary starting at 14.00 CEST (12.00 UT, 08.00 ET). | Photo: David Llada

8/4/2021 – A brilliant victory with the black pieces gave Magnus Carlsen the lead in the match for third place against Vladimir Fedoseev at the FIDE World Cup in Sochi. Meanwhile, Sergey Karjakin was surprised in the opening by Jan-Krzysztof Duda, which prompted him to agree to a quick draw in his game with the white pieces. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

8/3/2021 – Jan-Krzysztof Duda advanced to the final of the FIDE World Cup and secured a spot in the next edition of the Candidates Tournament by knocking out Magnus Carlsen in the rapid tiebreakers of their semifinal match. Meanwhile, Tan Zhongyi got third place in the women’s event, thanks to a 1½-½ playoff victory over Anna Muzychuk. | Photo: Eric Rosen

8/3/2021 – After analysing her first game of the World Cup in the last episode, today Svitlana Demchenko takes a more in-depth look at the second game. The game starts with the Petroff, which is considered one of the most drawish opening choices out there. After most of the pieces have been exchanged, a couple of pawns, two knights and two kings remain on the board. Now the endgame is very difficult for Svitlana. But luckily, we all know, she has some smart moves in her repertoire.

8/2/2021 – A draw with white was enough for Alexandra Kosteniuk to claim victory at the first edition of the Women’s World Cup in Sochi. Aleksandra Goryachkina could not create imbalances in her must-win game and ended up agreeing to a draw in a lost position. In the match for third place, Tan Zhongyi and Anna Muzychuk drew again and will decide their match in tiebreaks. Meanwhile, in the open section, Sergey Karjakin moved on to the final, where he will face either Magnus Carlsen or Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who will return to the playing hall on Tuesday to face off in rapid and blitz tiebreakers. | Photo: Anastasiia Korolkova

8/2/2021 – Alexandra Kosteniuk took a huge step towards winning the Women’s World Cup, as she defeated Aleksandra Goryachkina with the black pieces on Sunday. The remaining three games played in Sochi — both semifinals in the open and the women’s match for third place — finished drawn. | Photo: Anastasiia Korolkova

7/31/2021 – Sergey Karjakin knocked out Sam Shankland in the only match of the quarterfinals that was decided in a rapid and blitz playoff at the open section of the FIDE World Cup in Sochi. Meanwhile, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Aleksandra Goryachkina (pictured) advanced to the final in the women’s section after knocking out Tan Zhongyi and Anna Muzychuk respectively. Saturday is a rest day for both categories. | Photo: Anastasiia Korolkova

7/30/2021 – Jan-Krzysztof Duda will face Magnus Carlsen in the semifinals of the FIDE World Cup. The Polish grandmaster knocked out Vidit after the latter erred in a sharp endgame. Russian GMs Vladimir Fedoseev and Sergey Karjakin also won on Thursday — the former moved on to the semis, while the latter levelled the score in his match against Sam Shankland. In the women’s section, both semifinal encounters finished drawn. | Photo: Eric Rosen

7/28/2021 – Magnus Carlsen and Sam Shankland made a big step towards reaching the semifinals of the 2021 FIDE World Cup in Sochi, as they kicked off their matches against Etienne Bacrot and Sergey Karjakin with victories. While Carlsen displayed excellent dynamic feel for the position to win with the black pieces, it was Shankland’s endgame technique which allowed him to make the most of an unlikely blunder by his opponent. | Expert analysis by GM Karsten Müller. | Photo: Eric Rosen

7/28/2021 – This week, Merijn van Delft takes a close look at the encounter between Magnus Carlsen and Radoslaw Wojtaszek at the FIDE World Cup 2021 - a game full of tactical blows and surprises. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

7/28/2021 – Only after an extremely tense struggle did Magnus Carlsen manage to knock out Andrey Esipenko to reach the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Cup in Sochi, where he will face Etienne Bacrot. Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Vladimir Fedoseev, Amin Tabatabaei and Sergey Karjakin also went through. In the women’s section, Anna Muzychuk knocked out Nana Dzagnidze and qualified to the Candidates. | Photo: Eric Rosen

7/28/2021 – The 2021 FIDE World Cup in Sochi, Russia has narrowed down the 206 starting participants to just 8 remaining players. Canadian FM Joshua Doknjas analyzes some of the most interesting games from the first half of the event. | Photos: Anastasiia Korolka (FIDE)

7/27/2021 – Svitlana Demchenko is back to present us her smart moves, especially after playing chess constantly in the last couple of weeks. The 17-year-old WIM left Canada, to travel to Serbia, Sochi, Moscow, and finally to Mykolayiv, Ukraine. She competed in the Serbian Open, and fought hard in the World Cup in Sochi, against a more than 300 rating points stronger opponent. Finally, she is playing a tournament in the Ukraine. Nonetheless, she made some time for a new episode, in which we take a look at her whole travel experience, her World Cup game, and play three blitz games against each other. | Photos: Svitlana Demchenko