ChessBase Magazine #230
Highlights
From Tata Steel 2026 to Rustam Kasimdzhanov’s opening video on the Two Knights Game and Dorian Rogozenco’s ‘The Fortress’ to Karsten Mueller’s training series ‘Fundamental Endgame Knowledge’.
Over 6 hours of video training with Martin Breutigam, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Jan Markos, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller, Oliver Reeh, Robert Ris, Dorian Rogozenco and Nico Zwirs.
Top games and master analyses
Tata Steel 2026: At the ‘Wimbledon of chess’ in Wijk aan Zee, the Uzbek top player Nodirbek Abdusattorov was among the leaders in the Masters from the outset and ultimately prevailed with 9 out of 13, ahead of his compatriot Javokhir Sindarov (8.5 out of 13). In the Challengers, the decision was made in the final round, when Andy Woodward prevailed against Erwin L’Ami and Aydin Suleymanli, who had been level on points until then, lost to Velimir Ivic. From a German perspective, Christian Glöckler’s triumph in the Qualifiers (8.5 out of 9 – see cover!) is particularly leasing. In this issue, you will find game analyses by Blübaum, Giri, Nguyen, Suleymanli, Warmerdam and Woodward.
Opening videos
Mihail Marin and Nico Zwirs take two games from the Tata Steel tournament as the starting
point for their opening theory analyses. Aravindh-Blübaum featured the Catalan, while Van Foreest-Giri saw the Sicilian Najdorf Variation. And Rustam Kasimdzhanov reports on his experiment with the Two Knights Game against McShane in the German Bundesliga.
Mihail Marin: Catalan
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0–0 6.0–0 dxc4 7.Qc2
Nico Zwirs: Sicilian Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.f3 Be6 9.Qd2 Nbd7 10.0–0–0 h5 11.Kb1 Qc7
Rustam Kasimdzhanov: Two Knights Game
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ Bd7
Opening articles
ChessBase Magazine #230 provides plenty of new ideas for your repertoire with ten opening articles – from Sicilian to King’s Indian!
Krisztian Szabo: Rossolimo 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.b3 e5!?
Yago Santiago: Sicilian 2… e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6
Petra Papp: French Winawer Variation 7.Qg4
Alexy Kuzmin: Berlin Defence Showalter Gambit
Robert Ris:Queen’s Gambit Accepted 3.e4 e5 4.Nf3 Bb4+ 5.Nc3
Lar Schandorff: Slav Marshall Gambit 9.Ba5 f6
Evgeny Postny: Queen’s Gambit 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 b6 7.Bd3 Ba6
Spyridon Queen’s Gambit 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 cxd4
Balaczs Csonka: Gruenfeld Fianchetto 4…d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5
Sergey Grigoriants: King’s Indian 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0
‘Special’: Vlastimil Hort
CBM authors comment on their favourite games by the German-Czech chess legend. Exclusive
collection of 24 games from 1965 to 2016.
Ris: ‘Move by Move’
Robert Ris’ favourite game from the 2026 Tata Steel Masters was Jorden van Foreest’s brilliant
victory in 26 moves against the world number 5, Vincent Keymer. Interactive video with 14 training questions and feedback on your ideas.
Rogozenco: ‘Modern Classics’
The 2010 game between Boris Gelfand and Wang Yue has everything a master game needs – from the concept of the game plan to the consistent expansion of the space advantage to the decisive breakthrough in the endgame!
Markos: Practical tips for tournament players – ‘The Hook’
The ‘hook’ is a lesser-known strategic motif. The attacker often invests a tempo to provoke the advance of a castled pawn with a piece – and suddenly you have a nice attacking point to break open your opponent’s king position!
… and much more!
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