In Schach 4/2026 finden Sie Berichte über folgende Veranstaltungen/Themen:
* Vorschau Kandidatenturnier
* Umfrage Kandidatenturnier
* Schachfestival Prag, Schach960 in Weissenhaus
* Herren-Bundesliga, Frauen-Bundesliga
* Fragebogen: Ding Liren
* Kombinationsschule, Problemschach, Turnierausschreibungen, Rezension
* Mitarbeiter dieser Ausgabe: Luis Engel, Stefan Löffler, Peter Nielsen, Franz Pachl, Michael Prusikin
¡Aprende grandes trampas, convierte las derrotas en empates y los empates en victorias!
Sergei Tkachenko, miembro del equipo ucraniano que ganó el 5º Torneo Mundial de Composición de Ajedrez en 1997 y que quedó segundo en 2000, 2004, 2013 y 2017, ha recopilado 100 estudios cuyo tema común es que las blancas terminan con un solo caballo en el final, pero logran ganar o empatar.
La mayoría de las soluciones no tienen más de seis movimientos, por lo que los jugadores experimentados pueden analizar las posiciones directamente a partir de los diagramas. Los principiantes en problemas de ajedrez también encontrarán útil analizar estos estudios. El diverso conjunto de ideas tácticas que involucran a un solo caballo en el final les permitirá comprender mejor la versatilidad del caballo.
Algunos de estos estudios son clásicos de épocas pasadas. Otros fueron publicados originalmente en la Unión Soviética o en países exsoviéticos. Varios son composiciones del propio Sergei Tkachenko.
Este es el segundo libro de una serie de estudios de finales de Sergei Tkachenko que publicará la editorial Elk and Ruby Publishing House.
Sergei Tkachenko, miembro del equipo ucraniano que ganó el 5º Torneo Mundial de Composición de Ajedrez en 1997 y que quedó segundo en 2000, 2004, 2013 y 2017, ha recopilado 100 estudios cuyo tema común es que las blancas terminan con un solo alfil en el final, pero logran ganar o empatar.
La mayoría de las soluciones no tienen más de seis movimientos, por lo que los jugadores experimentados pueden analizar las posiciones directamente a partir de los diagramas. Los principiantes en problemas de ajedrez también encontrarán útil analizar estos estudios. El diverso conjunto de ideas tácticas que involucran a un solo alfil en el final les permitirá comprender mejor la versatilidad del alfil.
Este es el tercer libro de una serie de estudios de finales de Sergei Tkachenko que publicará la editorial Elk and Ruby Publishing House.
¡Aprende grandes trampas, convierte posiciones perdidas en empates y empates en victorias!
Sergei Tkachenko, un miembro del equipo ucraniano que ganó el 5º Torneo Mundial de Composición de Ajedrez en 1997 y que quedó segundo en 2000, 2004, 2013 y 2017, ha recopilado 100 estudios cuyo tema común es que las blancas terminan con solo el rey en el final, pero logran empatar.
La mayoría de las soluciones no tienen más de seis movimientos, por lo que los jugadores experimentados pueden analizar las posiciones directamente a partir de los diagramas. Los principiantes en problemas de ajedrez también encontrarán útil analizar estos estudios. El diverso conjunto de ideas tácticas que involucran a un rey en el final les permitirá comprender mejor su potencial.
Este es el sexto libro de una serie de estudios de finales de juego de Sergei Tkachenko que será publicado por Elk and Ruby Publishing House.
The Queen's Gambit can be rather boring, especially for Black, so a couple of weapons to make things more excitement.
In this book, FIDE Master Carsten carefully analyzes two gambits for Black that both arise after the initial moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 c5!?. The Canal Gambit arises when White captures 5.cxd5, and Black responds 5...Qb6. The gambit is somewhat dubious, but very effective in practical play. The Prins Gambit instead sees Black respond 5...cxd4!?, which is a correct gambit, giving Black full compensation for the sacrificed pawn.
All of White's responses to both gambits are carefully analyzed.
Prepare to give White a wake-up call!
Yuri Sakharov (1922-1981) was a leading Ukrainian chess player and coach from the 1950s until his death, ranked the world number 17 in 1968 according to Chessmetrics. Although little-known in the West as he rarely played outside the Soviet Union, he qualified for six Soviet championship finals, with a highest position of joint sixth in 1967. Sakharov won the Ukrainian Championship twice and deployed many opening novelties in his time. As he aged he increasingly turned to correspondence chess, where he won gold medals at the ICCF Olympiads as a member of the Soviet team in 1972 and 1976.
As we see in this book, he went toe-to-toe with greats such as Tal, Smyslov, Bronstein, Keres, Polugaevsky, Taimanov, Geller, Averbakh, Stein, Ivkov and Kotov among many others. He started out as a primarily attacking player whose games often involved the Sicilian (especially the Najdorf variation), King’s Indian and Ruy Lopez openings, but he later evolved into a more universal player with strong positional skills. Sakharov also coached or seconded many future or contemporary grandmasters, including Vladimir Savon, Gennady Kuzmin, Ruslan Pogorelov, Dimitri Komarov, and Vladimir Sergeev, as well as WGMs Lidia Semenova and Elena Sedina. As his own chess understanding matured, he focused his pupils’ attention on more solid openings, such as the Slav Defense and Nimzo-Indian.
However, as first detailed to Western readers in the third volume of Sergey Voronkov’s Masterpieces and Dramas of the Soviet Championships, based on articles by this book’s author Mykola Fuzik, Yuri Sakharov had a fascinating but tragic life-story. His father was executed in 1938 during the Stalin purges. Finding himself and his mother destitute under the Nazi occupation of Ukraine during World War II, he volunteered to work in Germany, although he later escaped and joined the US Army in a civilian capacity. During his time in Germany he found himself drawn into a tragic incident of which his contemporaries were almost certainly unaware. After his return to the USSR, a case was gradually built against him culminating in his arrest in 1951 followed by a trial in 1952 and imprisonment. Yet he survived five years in the Soviet GULAG system and emerged to play his best chess in his forties.
Ukrainian Candidate Master Mykola Fuzik has written a detailed account of Sakharov’s life and career based on many years of research. He previously published a biography of another leading Ukrainian chess player, Isaak Lipnitsky, with Elk and Ruby in 2024. The current book includes reminiscences of Sakharov’s pupils and other strong players who studied with him, such as double World Senior Champion GM Vladimir Okhotnik. 121 of Sakharov’s own games and fragments, as well as four games of his contemporaries that he annotated, are analyzed in this book. Many games are annotated by Sakharov himself and others by some of the strongest contemporary players of his time, including Korchnoi and Flohr, as well as guest grandmasters and the author. In particular, Ukrainian Grandmaster Vladimir Sergeev provided a significant portion of the annotations for this book as well as making important contributions on the biographical side.
The games and commentary are highly instructive – as Vladimir Okhotnik remarks at the end of one game: “I think that this game demonstrates Yuri Nikolaevich Sakharov’s strongest sides: serious home preparation, consistent game plans, and excellent conversion technique.”
This book is supplemented with a large number of photos never published before in the West.
Chess Informant 167 “Speed-up!” presents:
* WIJK AAN ZEE 2026 by GM Miloš Perunović
* WORLD RAPID AND BLITZ CHAMPIONSHIP DOHA 2025 by FM Ivan Martić
* WORLD WOMEN'S RAPID AND BLITZ CHAMPIONSHIP DOHA 2025 by WGM Sabina Foişor
* TASHKENT IV PRESIDENT'S CUP 2025 by FM Csaba Zoltan Varga
* CHESS WORKSHOP – B 11 by GM Mikhail Bryakin
* MICHAEL'S MUSINGS by GM Michael Prusikin
* ROGERS' REMINISCENCES by GM Ian Rogers
Traditional sections:
* The best game and most important theoretical novelty from the previous Volume
* Endgames
* Combinations
* 190 games + Fragments according to ECO Codes.
The periodical that pros use with pleasure is at the same time a must have publication for all serious chess students!
Grandmaster Joel Benjamin introduces all seventeen World Chess Champions and shows what is important about their style of play and what you can learn from them. He describes both their historical significance and how they inspired his own development as a player.
Benjamin presents the most instructive games of each champion. Magic names such as Kasparov, Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik, Tal, and Karpov, they’re all there, up to current World Champion Magnus Carlsen. How do they open the game? How do they develop their pieces? How do they conduct an attack or defend when necessary? Benjamin explains, in words rather than in chess symbols, what is important for your own improvement.
Two Americans are included in this highly instructive manual, accessible to every post-beginner. Of course the crystal-clear style of Bobby Fischer, the 11th World Champion, guarantees some very memorable lessons. Additionally, Benjamin has included Paul Morphy. The 19th century chess wizard from New Orleans never held an official title, but was clearly the best of the world during his short but dazzling career.
Studying World Champion Chess for Juniors will prove an extremely rewarding experience for ambitious youngsters. Trainers and coaches will find it worthwhile to include the book in their curriculum. The author provides many suggestions for further study.
Joel Benjamin won the US Championship three times and has been a trainer for almost three decades. His book Liquidation on the Chess Board won the Best Book Award of the Chess Journalists of America (CJA), and his most recent book Better Thinking, Better Chess is a world-wide bestseller.
“The nice idea of this book is to fill the ‘culture gap’ that modern young players have about the classics (I was once told of a training session of promising young Western players where the immortal words ‘who was Spassky?’ were uttered!) through an easy to read overview of the world’s greatest players from Morphy to Carlsen. For each player, Benjamin provides an introductory summary of their career, annotates a few games in detail and then provides a small number of unannotated games for further study. I would definitely make sure this book was in the Christmas stocking of any budding young chess player!”
GM Matthew Sadler, co-author of ‘Game Changer’
“Benjamin’s guide to the greats of chess is most readable and contains a wealth of handy tips.”
CHESS Magazine (UK)
“Although the tone of voice is aimed at juniors, this book is very readable also for older generations. Welcome reading material, particularly for (beginning) club players who would like to learn more about the history of chess.”
Florian Jacobs, Max Euwe Center
“A book to increase the chess culture of junior chess players. The author brings to the reader’s attention the chess legacy of every official world chess champion including Paul Morphy. Joel Benjamin understand how juniors learn and the book is not a heavy read, but a door to future independent study. Benjamin’s writing style in World Champion Chess for Juniors is engaging, light but not simplistic and definitely will keep a young reader engage and make older readers avid to review their classics.”
Miguel Ararat, Florida Chess
For kids who love to amaze their friends with their chess skills, Charles Hertan presents new ways to find Power Moves, winning tactics that require thinking ahead.
In Volume 2, the four special teachers get a new colleague! Knelly the Knight arrives on the scene and will assists Zort (a computer from outer space), the Dinosaurs, the Power Chess Kids and the Chess Professor. Together they will help you to become a very dangerous chess player.
Power Chess for Kids is the most complete, practical and fun kids guide ever on learning how to win games. Forget about studying openings and endgames, Power Moves will help you to beat your opponents in all stages of the game!
Charles Hertan is a FIDE master from Massachusetts who has been teaching kids for more than thirty years. He has written a chess book for advanced players called Forcing Chess Moves: the Key to Better Calculation which was shortlisted for the Guardian Chess Book of the Year Award and won the ChessCafe Book of the Year Award.
Lukas Wedrychowski, DailyChess:
"What a wonderful series. This is really a beautiful and instructive book and a lot of children will certainly be enjoying it and getting better because of it."
Available via subscription
British Chess Magazine (March 2026)
Each exercise invites you to step into the shoes of the masters:
– Can you find the hidden combination that turned the tide?
– Will you spot the knockout blow that secured a brilliant victory?
– Can you defend as resourcefully as the Armenian greats when under pressure?
This collection is designed for players of all levels who want to sharpen their tactical vision and gain insights from the rich legacy of Armenian chess. With positions ranging from instructive classics to breathtaking brilliancies, the book offers a training ground where calculation, creativity, and intuition meet.
Whether you are a club player looking to improve, a coach seeking fresh material, or a chess enthusiast who loves the beauty of tactics, this book is your gateway into the magic of Armenian chess.
The English Opening, 1.c4, is a great practical weapon for players of all levels. White dictates the opening from the first move, reaching positions where understanding themes and plans is more important than computer-generated analysis. Win with the English! provides a complete repertoire with 1.c4, showing how to meet every major option that Black may try.
Playing the English (2023) became an instant hit with professional and club players alike, generating rave reviews. GM Matthew Sadler noted that “on top of all that great explanation, the analysis is simply first class”, while IM John Watson stated: “Every experienced English Opening player will want this book.” Still, author Nikolaos Ntirlis was determined to raise the bar even higher.
Win with the English! builds upon Playing with the English by tweaking move orders, plugging gaps and steering the play in even more practically potent directions than before. This enhanced edition leaves the best parts of the original work intact, while offering all the fine-tuning needed to make this the ultimate 1.c4 repertoire.
Nikolas Ntirlis is an award-winning author, correspondence IM and openings advisor to various grandmasters. His books are loved by amateurs and grandmasters alike, with a stellar reputation for clarity, practicality and analytical precision.
