ChessBase Magazine Extra 225

Opening videos

Mihail Marin: Sicilian Najdorf Variation with 6.f4

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 e5 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.a4 Qc7 9.a5

6.f4 is clearly a sideline against the Najdorf. In the Reference Search in the Mega Database 2025, the move ranks only seventh. Nevertheless, this variation is not without its sharpness. First of all, Black should respond to 6.f4 with 6.. e5, and after 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.a4, 8...Qc7 (which prevents the white bishop from developing to c4) is the main move. This is where Marin's analysis begins, based on Aryan Tari's positional continuation 9.a5 (played against Ivan Saric in July 2024). 

Marin examines 9...Be7, 9...exf4 and the active 9...Nc5, as played in the main game. This prevents Black from advancing g2-g4, but now White can gain space with 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.exd5 Be7 12.b4.

In the second part of his video, Marin discusses a change in the move order, where Black plays Qc7 as early as the seventh move. His recommendation: White should refrain from a2-a4 and gain options on the kingside with 8.Bd3 and 9.0-0.

Nico Zwirs: Italian

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 h6

In the popular Italian Opening with 5.d3 (Giucco Pianissimo), White (e.g. after the main move 5...d6) often likes to play 6.Bg5 to immediately bring some sharpness into the game. In the game Lu Shanglei-Eltaj Safarli from the 2025 Reykjavik Open, Black chose 5...h6, a sideline that prevents the active move of the white bishop. Nico Zwirs reviews the game and explains typical motifs and strategies, e.g. with regard to White's successful play on the queenside, initiated with the early advance b2-4. An impressive game by the Chinese GM, who made exemplary use of his space advantage and forced the decision by advancing his pawns!

‘Lucky bag": Analyses by Romain Edouard, Lubomir Ftacnik, Abhijeet Gupta, Yannick Pelletier and many more.

Extra #225 delivers 45 annotated games from a wide variety of tournaments in the ‘Lucky bag’.

Valentin Dragnev-Magnus Carlsen is ‘The brilliandy’ in this issue, commented on by Argentine GM Martin Lorenzini.

In this position, Magnus Carlsen continued with 19...c5!!. ‘Magnus doesn't waste his chance! With this powerful central break, including an exchange sacrifice, he opens lines and activates his pieces.’

The Update Service delivers over 50,000 new games for your database!

The games in the Update Service are also included in the Mega Update Service 2025, which can be used with ChessBase 17/18 (and a corresponding subscription).