3/26/2024 – Want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire? The Opening Encyclopaedia is the ideal tool to get things started! Offering a collection of new and updated opening articles, annotated games and videos, the Encyclopaedia will help you to build your repertoire based on personal preferences and strategic goals. Find here three ways in which you can make the most of this irreplaceable product.

3/20/2024 – Be well-prepared with the new Opening Encyclopaedia 2024! Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory and is the ideal start for your opening training. Many new articles enrich the current theory with new or revisited ideas. The Encyclopaedia can help you learn openings quickly and give you a head start on your next opponent. Each article contains explanations and annotated games illustrating typical plans to deepen your understanding.

4/9/2020 – The new Opening Encyclopaedia 2020 is ideal for your opening training. Whether you want to build a solid opening repertoire or whether you are looking for new ideas for your repertoire: A huge pool of opening ideas and high-quality analyses is waiting for you. The Opening Encyclopadia 2020 includes all (!) opening overviews of the ChessBase Magazines from previous years, as well as more than 6,800 opening surveys with more than 38,000 illustrative games. Plus 40 videos with a total runtime of 14 hours.

3/31/2020 – The coronavirus forces the whole world to stay at home. Despite all the disadvantages this has, it is a good time to play chess online and to improve your chess online. International Master Sagar Shah helps you to do so. The lockdown in India is expected to last at least three weeks and every day of these three weeks Sagar Shah offers 60 to 90 minutes chess knowledge online. Enjoy!

3/4/2020 – “'I need a surprise weapon against the Sicilian, the most popular Black opening,' I schemed one day." So begins guest reviewer NATHANIAL FERNANDES in his look at the irreverent IM Lawrence Trent's FritzTrainer on 2.b3!? in the Sicilian. Find out what drew this 1.e4 devotee — an A-level club player — to this particular opening sideline.

2/16/2020 – The English is an opening which can transpose into many others. It is definitely a must for those who want to improve middlegame play, thanks to the huge variety of middlegame themes which can arise from it. One can play very aggressively, or positionally; it's clearly an opening which can satisfy everyone interested in learning strategy and tactics. World Champion Magnus Carlsen is one of the players who has incorporated the English into his repertoire. In this FritzTrainer, IM Lorin D'Costa presents a complete repertoire for White explaining key pawn structures and ideas behind the moves. DAVIDE NASTASIO breaks it down.

12/5/2019 – Pattern recognition is an important tool in modern chess, as it helps you to better understand the characteristics of a position. Particularly when you have been confronted with a surprise opening system played by your opponent, relying on general principles is an asset. In this video series, IM ROBERT RIS explores ten key elements of opening play. While these themes are found throughout chess literature this time you will get actively involved yourself as well!

10/10/2019 – A Britannica Special Feature: ChessBase has received special permission from Encyclopaedia Britannica to highlight several sections from the classic article by Grandmaster ANDREW SOLTIS on chess, aimed at newcomers to the game. Chess theory consists of opening knowledge, tactics (or combinations), positional analysis (particularly pawn structures), strategy (the making of long-range plans and goals), and endgame technique (including basic mates against the lone king).

8/30/2019 – Today’s way to learn chess! The ChessBase Tutorials are a new series in the publishing program of ChessBase. Every issue will consist of a DVD and a detailed accompanying booklet. The many readers of ChessBase Magazine have already come to appreciate this concept. Five volumes of tutorials for this week only 29.90 EUR (regular price 149.50 EUR!)

8/5/2019 – The Sveshnikov Sicilian is currently the hot topic of debate at the top level. With Magnus Carlsen scoring win after win with it, his compatriots are taking up the challenge and playing it themselves! With both White and Black finding hitherto hidden resources, it was high time that a FritzTrainer was made on the subject. Who better to do it than the man who has garnered numerous accolades for assisting Anish Giri? | Photo: Lennart Ootes / ReykjavikOpen.com (2017)

4/24/2019 – For a player who wants to learn a wide range of different middlegame positions, the English should definitely be high on the list. Flexibility in move orders can mean the difference between quiet or aggressive play. Reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO takes a deep dive into the new FritzTrainer by GM Mihal Marin, who previously authored one of the biggest literary works on the English opening and has now brought his experience to the video format in a new, updated repertoire. Glimpse his deep knowledge, acquired through years of practice, in order to gain confidence in this new opening weapon suitable in every type of setting, from long time control tournaments to online blitz.

4/21/2019 – Looking for something new to surprise your opponent in your next tournament game? Vidit Gujrathi, a 2700+ grandmaster and one of the brightest young players around, shows you a line that few opponents will expect. And here's the deal: you invest three minutes listening to Vidit, and then you can try out the line, right there in your browser, against an engine that matches the playing strength of you potential opponents. Thirty minutes of training that will get you some extra rating points!

4/16/2019 – Are you struggling in the opening phase of the game? When you go to a tournament and face an opponent who plays a specific line, do you find it difficult to come up with a fullproof idea. Has building an opening repertoire always been tough for you? Well, if you do face these problems then the opening encyclopaedia 2019 can be quite a useful product for you. In this video review, IM SAGAR SHAH reviews the recently released Opening Encyclopaedia 2019 and tells you how best you can make use of it.

4/9/2019 – Caro-Kann players like their solid structure. As White the question is how to dismantle such solidity, and rampage the Black territory. That's the topic of this review article from DAVIDE NASTASIO and the hour-long intense theoretical training one can find on the "60 Minutes" video series from IM Lawrence Trent. Don't miss this chance to add a new weapon to your own repertoire and create chaos in the Caro-Kann player's camp!

1/22/2019 – Today is the birthday of English Grandmaster Nicholas Pert, whose next video series on a 1.d4 repertoire will be released in a matter of weeks. Today, reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO takes a look at his most recent opening salvo, in which Pert examines the black side of the Classical Dutch. He presents the key lines, the latest theory, adding his own interpretation, and inserts new moves to refresh old lines. While covering the main tactical and strategic ideas, Pert provides a repertoire which can help us fight against 1.c4 and 1.Nf3.

1/3/2019 – If you want to work on your openings the reference search is crucial. And in ChessBase 15 the reference search is much faster than before — two to four times faster, depending on your computer. To quote Vishy Anand: "The search booster alone makes life better!" The fast search helps to improve your opening preparation enormously. Our tutorial shows how and why. | Drawing: ChessBase

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

9/24/2018 – For White, the Exchange Variation (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3) is a simple and easy to answer to the Caro-Kann. It is probably something you can use very effectively in your next tournament, especially if you have been given instructions by a true expert, and have practised the strategies he advocates against a human-like chess engine that matches the strength of your future opponents. That's precisely what you'll find here. Give it a try and see what it does for your understanding of this popular opening.

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.

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?

6/15/2018 – While this DVD is dedicated to an opening repertoire for Black, we can also catch a glimpse into the grandmaster's mind. We are treated to a show where pawn structures, relationships between pieces and pawns, and middlegame plans come alive through the words and explanation of a top GM. Yannick Pelletier guides us beyond the mere memorization of moves and lines, directly into the land of strategy and planning. DAVIDE NASTASIO says it definitely has a certain 'je ne sais quoi'.

6/1/2018 – This DVD could be Carlsen's answer to Caruana's unbeatable Petroff Defence. Tiviakov in his most recent video series teaches us his experience with this formidable weapon for White, which avoids the Petroff, and eventually lets us enter into a comfortable Italian game, an opening which has become very popular recently. DAVIDE NASTASIO takes a closer look, and SERGEI TIVIAKOV annotates a fresh game of his own.

5/5/2018 – If one desires to advance in chess, and become good like a Morphy, to learn and play actively a gambit is a must. Reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO says IM Trent is the right guide, because he plays the Albin Counter-Gambit, and knows the pros and cons. The Albin counter-gambit can be a useful new weapon for tournament or blitz games. Thanks to a detailed study one will improve the understanding of the initiative, while learning to disregard material, in order to have a strong attacking game. The top names, who play this exciting opening, are proof it is a sound opening too! By the way, The Albin Counter-Gambit is: GingerGM approved!

1/4/2018 – Openings teach us the value of the pieces as well as tactics, patterns, and of course most important of all: pawn structures. They are really the backbone of a player's knowledge, because they open our minds to different middlegame structures, which in turn brings us into different endgames. Openings teach us how to play with different pawn structures — things like when one needs to open the game, and when it is better to keep it closed. The Veresov as taught by IM Andrew Martin can become a good weapon in everyone's repertoire, while helping the player to improve! Davide Nastasio has the review