ChessBase Magazine Extra 206

Opening videos

Robert Ris: Hennig-Schara Gambit

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4 – Video playing time : 33:59 min.

Robert Ris got the idea for this opening video while analysing the game between Wesley So and Alexander Grischuk (FTX Crypto Cup 2021). Even though the Russian lost the game in the end, it shows many typical aspects of this opening, and after 5.Qxd4 Nc6 6.Qd1 exd5 7.Qxd5 Bd6 8.Bg5 Nge7 9. Qd2 h6 Grischuk missed the chance for an advantage a few moves later. However, the most recent top game with this opening was played only recently at the Tata Steel Masters 2022: the World Champion easily held Sam Shankland to a draw - the Hennig-Schara Gambit lives!

In his video analysis Robert Ris not only provides you with a large number of concrete variations, he also presents typical strategic motifs (such as the move h7-h6 followed by the advance of the g-pawn to g4) and numerous tactical finesses, which often arise quite naturally thanks to the active play of Black’s pieces and the White’s lack in developmental.  White therefore finds it difficult to maintain an advantage in this sharp opening against Black’s compensation. And if White feels compelled to return the extra pawn, Black will usually keep active play and often the initiative. "A lot of strong White players have gone wrong in the opening or even in an early middlegame. Just try it out in one of your own games and you will understand what sort of compensation Black is aiming for!"

Mihail Marin: The Fianchetto System against Gruenfeld and the King's Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 c6 6.0-0 d5 7.b3 Bf5 8.Bb2 – Vidoe playing time: 22:04 min.

The game between Magnus Carlsen and Jorden van Foreest at the Tata Steel 2022 saw a sharp battle, with the young Dutchman sacrificing two pawns and being rewarded with a draw in the end. At the start of the game the World Champion with White had chosen the Fianchetto System - a setup which Mihail Marin made his main weapon against the Gruenfeld and the King's Indian a good 30 years ago. In his video he explains - with recourse to games by Predrag Nikolic and other games by Carlsen and Van Foreest - the strategic ideas for both sides as well as typical plans (for White, for example, the move sequence Qd1-e2, Rf1-c1, Bg2-f1, followed by the advance of the queenside pawns). "The system is quite consistent for White. It can be played endlessly. Of course it does not guarantee that White will win but it offers him very good chances for a stable advantage and he can just play in a flowing way."

"The brilliancy” of this issue is the game between Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Magnus Carlsen from the 2021 World Rapid Chess Championship - analysed by Anish Giri! A great fighting game in which the 17-year-old Uzbek downed the World Champion in 83 moves. And a few rounds later Abdusattorov was crowned the youngest ever world rapid chess champion!

In addition to “The brilliancy”, no less than 83 other games with detailed commentary await you in the "Lucky Bag" of this issue! Among them are analyses by Nijat Abasov, Romain Edouard, Anish Giri, Spyridon Kapnisi, Marie Sebag, Andrey Stukpoin and many others.

And last but not least: the Update service provides over 30,000 new games for your database!

Once again, almost the entire world's top players are represented!

The games of the Update Service are also included in the Mega Update Service 2022, which you can use with a ChessBase 15/16 program (and a corresponding subscription).