2/13/2019 – Courtesy of our friends at USChess.org. The new digital editor JOHN HARTMANN recently penned a "Books & Beyond" article featuring a look at the new ChessBase 15, and we share excerpts from his review, for your review. Of course, we can only agree with his conclusion, "ChessBase is a mature, best-of-class product, and I cannot imagine seriously studying chess without it"!

2/12/2019 – Is the Bird opening an audacious attempt by chess mavericks? Or a slightly offbeat way for White to get an advantage in today's hyper-engine-analyzed opening landscape? Can the Bird's be a way to disorient our opponents using a lesser-known opening? The Bird's is an opening for players who are free spirits, says reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO. IM Lawrence Trent in his latest work addresses this need, covering all of Black's answers, and proudly finding new moves in old lines. If you are a club or a tournament player, searching for a surprise weapon, the Bird's can give a boost to your wins!

1/30/2019 – Daily training to improve and keep us in shape has to be fun as well as intellectually enlightening. We need to keep up our interest in order to perform well in tournaments. Reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO likes to do that by engaging with a variety of learning tools. This time he turns his training eye on the new ChessBase Magazine. CBM encompasses different training methods covering all areas, from theoretical opening articles, to tactical and endgame training with video feedback. CBM 187 is a great way to translate your training time into practical success. Here's an overview with examples.

1/15/2019 – Courtesy our friends At New in Chess: GM MATTHEW SADLER on books looks at two of Simon Williams' recent video series. Plus, what would AlphaZero think about the World Championship match that was held at a stone’s throw from DeepMind’s headquarters in London? Sadler and NATASHA REGAN, authors of Game Changer: AlphaZero’s Groundbreaking Chess Strategies and the Promise of AI, provide a glimpse.

12/30/2018 – If your nickname is 'Risk' or your middle name is 'Complication', then I've got an opening for you! The King's Gambit is swashbuckling but also full of positional ideas. Many top players have used — and continue to use — the King's Gambit, proving that this weapon from the long-forgotten past is still alive and scything victims! Grandmaster Simon Williams outlines novelties and ideas which can be added to the repertoire of the attacking player. Reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO has compiled a number of illustrative games from which to draw inspiration, improving any player's attacking chess. | Photo: Carl Portman / britishchesschampionships.co.uk

12/13/2018 – "I usually review mainly books but I want to say a few words about CB 15", writes CARL PORTMAN, author of the book Chess Behind Bars, as he begins his collection of thoughts on our flagship database program. Importantly, he tackles the perennial question: Should I upgrade it and why? Portman thinks "you’ll be intellectually naked without it"!

11/24/2018 – The Sicilian is, of course, a major opening if not THE major opening! It certainly has been instrumental to the ongoing World Championship match! For club players looking to make the life of a Sicilian veteran very unpleasant, with unusual ideas, patterns and moves forcing them to think from move 2, this is an anti-Sicilian line worth dabbling in! If White wants to throw down the gauntlet and bring Black into a dark forest, where 2+2 doesn't always equal 4 and the path leading out is only big enough for one, then...well, you get the picture! Reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO explains why following IM Lawrence Trent can bring Black into a world of pain, and definitely time-trouble.

11/1/2018 – Do you manage to execute your plan at the board, only to watch an advantage slip away? Are you able to convert a strategic idea into concrete moves, but in the end cannot convert the win? This is the essence of technique and GM Adrian Mikhalchishin faces this esoteric subject head-on in his latest FritzTrainer. Through examples from the games of great players past and present, he details their plans, catalogues their mistakes, and demonstrates how they transformed ideas in their minds into plans over the board. In this review, DAVIDE NASTASIO says you will learn a lot from this video series, and eventually be able to apply such knowledge to your own games.

10/12/2018 – Recently we've seen Chess960 being actively discussed as a way to play chess while avoiding opening theory, testing our opponent's mind from the start. However, for the amateur, playing tournaments on the weekend, there are so many possibilities in the opening theory that it is nearly impossible to cover all of them decently. Many already have adopted setups like the London system, or the King's Indian Attack (KIA) so they don't have to study opening theory. Gareyev proposes an attacking alternative in the Trompowsky, a lesser known opening which can oblige Black to think from the first moves while creating plenty of tactical problems. DAVIDE NASTASIO takes a look in this interactive review that encourages the reader to try out key middlegame and endgame positions against an engine. Get your daily training here and now! | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/4/2018 – How do you choose an opening for Black against 1.e4? One idea is to watch the games of the most influential players and discover how you feel about their main choices. But in general, having a number of games at our fingertips to use as a foundation for knowing the opening is a must for every serious player. The Petroff has been considered a safe and solid way to play for equality, but as we will see in this review, it can become quite a sharp weapon to add to one's own repertoire. This can be ideal for the weekend tournament warrior, as well as for club players. The collection of games given with this review will help the reader make an informed choice, discovering the manoeuvres, ideas and risky lines available in the Petroff.

9/10/2018 – The real reason one should study endgames, is not only related to the possibility those endgames actually appear on the board (they seemingly never do!), but to the gain of confidence we need in order to convert a game where we have a material advantage, or a more active position, into a won game. In fact, lately we have witnessed the World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, playing many games which seem drawn, and yet when he reaches the endgame, it turns into an almost magical win. In this review by DAVIDE NASTASIO, you can practice many interesting endgame positions against the engine which stem directly from the games of all these great champions. No excuses! Getting some training done today!

8/30/2018 – This quick review of a recent interesting product is geared toward the player who would like an easy plan to face the Stonewall Dutch. The review itself, thanks to the new ChessBase "live diagrams", lets a player tests some positions and ideas against an engine. Then, of course, Mikhalchishin's explanations and choice of example games can be quite enlightening. DAVIDE NASTASIO explains.

8/27/2018 – We often hear the advice to replay classical games played by World Champions in order to improve our chess understanding. What if we could unite the fun of learning a new opening with improving our chess? Yes, the Tarrasch Defence answers both these conditions. Many World Champions played it throughout their careers in very crucial moments, when a win would define their own existence as chess players. Now we can learn it from a top GM, who adds his own wisdom to the theoretical knowledge we can find in books.

8/9/2018 – There is a clear need to revisit one's own opening repertoire from time to time, reinterpreted under a different teacher — this is a must for every competitive chess player. Now here's a chance to add a very sharp opening to your toolkit, whether for blitz, quick time controls or a surprise weapon. Reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO says we can gain an edge over the competition thanks to this video series by International Master Michael Rahal.

8/2/2018 – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 — have you ever used this defence, which acts as a very big nuisance in the white position? In his latest Fritztrainer Lawrence Trent calls this “one of the most underrated openings, gambits-wise” and considers it perfectly sound, since he has not been able to refute it with some of the strongest computers in the world. He promises dynamic play, with the “most in-depth analysis I’ve ever done.” Review by SEAN MARSH, with live Fritz-board for you to train on.

7/14/2018 – Mikhail Botvinnik is the patriarch of the Soviet School of Chess. Knowing Botvinnik's games is fundamental for the development of every player, argues reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO, who takes you on a tour of the lasted addition to the Fritztrainer Master Class series. Try your skills at some study positions as you learn about Botvinnik and his games in this review. Whether or not one likes Botvinnik's style or personality, he is clearly a piece of chess history worth knowing and studying.

7/10/2018 – Rustam Kasimdzhanov is not only a great player in his own right, he's also Fabiano Caruana's main coach, and therefore played a major role in the new World Championship challenger's success at the Berlin Candidates tournament. That's why, speculates reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO, the first customer for this recent DVD offering was Magnus Carlsen or one of his seconds, in preparation for November's match. When a possible World Champion is learning from a former one, shouldn't we all do the same?

6/26/2018 – A romantic gambit? A modern product of top engines? How to define the Evans gambit? In today's frenetic chess world, with new tournaments every weekend, a chess warrior must keep the competition always unprepared using different sharp openings. Reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO has the review as GingerGM (AKA Simon Williams) continues his journey helping other chess players to spice up their openings and gain points while playing exciting chess.

6/5/2018 – Richard Reti was a very original player who brought us interesting ideas in the openings, as well as beautiful endgame studies. Reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO explores Victor Bologan's video series, as Bologan explores the different transpositions the Reti (1.Nf3) can lead us to. The goal is to make our opponents play chess from the word 'go', and side-step their theoretical opening preparation.

5/25/2018 – Will my tactical vision improve? With the right glasses, the answer is a resounding Yes! Dedicate the next ten hours to train under IM Oliver Reeh, and you'll discover your eyes will acquire new powerful tactical spectacles which will make you see the board under a different tactical light! Reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO explains.