Understanding opposite-coloured bishop endings
In two recent top level games (Kramnik-Nepomniachtchi and Nakamura-Carlsen) an opposite-coloured bishop ending appeared. Such endings are infamous, not only for their drawing tendency, but also for their hidden complexity. In ChessVibes Training issues #31 and #32 (to appear next Saturday) IM Robert Ris dives into the deep and diggs up all the ideas and motifs.
In the same issues you'll find:
- Two columns by GM Anish Giri, about his own game against Hans Tikkanen at the European Club Cup and about what he called a "ridiculous game", Kramnik-Carlsen.
- Two game quizes by IM Merijn van Delft: his own game against IM Paul Boersma from 2003 and Shirov-Vachier-Lagrave from the recent Spanish Team Championship.
- A discussion of the Benoni pawn structure, with colours reversed, and positions with a bishop locked in a corner, by IM Thomas Willemze.
- Tactics, tactics: two pages with 12 diagrams each, selected by IM Robert Ris
Highly instructive material - subscribe now!
Want to improve your chess? See more combinations, understand middle game plans, hear about useful endgame motifs? Receive the best chess tips available with ChessVibes Training, a weekly PDF magazine (+ PGN!) co-authored by International Masters Merijn van Delft, Robert Ris and Thomas Willemze, and including a weekly column by top GM Anish Giri.
What is ChessVibes Training?
Every issue consists of a PDF Magazine and the accompanying PGN file. The PDF consists of eight pages (A4 size) with the following contents:
- Giri's Grab Bag - A weekly column by GM Anish Giri in which he tells about his tournament practice and his excitement and worries during a top level chess game.
- Guess the move - A weekly game quiz by IM Merijn van Delft that gives you the opportunity to solve problems that GMs couldn't. What move did they play? Can you calculate as deeply? Give it a try and see how many points you score this week!
- Improve your play - An interactive section by IM Thomas Willemze that discusses games from our readers. Yes, that's you! You can send in your game(s) and Thomas will pinpoint mistakes and possible improvements from a number of amateur games every week.
- Tactics, tactics - 12 tactical exercises carefully selected by IM Robert Ris, arranged in increasing level. Regular tactical training is highly important to maintain your top form, and now it will be easier than ever with new diagrams delivered in your mailbox every week!
- Practical endings - IM Robert Ris gives a clear explanation of a recent endgame played by strong players, focusing on text rather than variations. Every week a typical endgame theme is discussed, sometimes with the emphasis on the theory, but always providing you with useful guidelines.
DOWNLOAD A FREE SAMPLE ISSUE HERE!
DOWNLOAD A FREE SAMPLE ISSUE HERE!
The magazine is published every week on Saturday morning, so that you can devote your weekend to studying chess! The first issue was sent out on Saturday, May 7th. 
Recent material, digitally
For their sections in the magazine the authors will mostly use recent games and fragments. However, if needed they will return to a classic example if it explains the basic theme the best. In any case, ChessVibes Training will provide excellent, additional training material to existing books and manuals with the advantage of being published digitally - you can enjoy all material in your Chessbase or Fritz or other software, or on your iPhone or iPad!
Interactive
For several reasons, this magazine will be different from other magazines in the market. An important aspect of ChessVibes Training is that it will be interactive. For our section Improve your play we need your input! If you have a question about a game you played, just send it to us and maybe it will be discussed in the next issue of ChessVibes Training so that you and all other subscribers can learn from it! 
Meet the ChessVibes Training team
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| GM Anish Giri - top grandmaster | IM Thomas Willemze - highly experienced trainer, talent coach for the Dutch Chess Federation and tournament player | |
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| IM Robert Ris - highly experienced trainer and tournament player | IM Merijn van Delft - highly experienced, full-time trainer, author and tournament player |
Pricing and paying
As a subscriber you'll receive the PDF Magazine (8 pages) and accompanying PGN files in your mailbox every week. The basic price is € 40* for a full year but you can also choose other options. Payments can be done via Paypal, by credit card after creating a Paypal account (which takes about a minute), bank transfer or iDEAL. Just click on the option that suits you most!
Please note that you'll be creating a recurring payment, which means that after the chosen period another payment will be made via Paypal and your subscription will be renewed automatically. Naturally you can always decide to cancel your subscription instead and cancel the recurring Paypal payment.
Bank transfer
Please drop us an email if you prefer to pay by bank transfer! |  |
iDEAL
For Dutch clients it's possible to pay for a 1-year subscription via iDEAL, the Dutch online bank system with which you can pay safely, secure and comfortably. Just click on the logo on the right. |  |
ChessVibes Openings and ChessVibes Training
Our other magazine ChessVibes Openings, which is 4 pages, costs € 28 a year. If you're already a subscriber to CVO, you should have received a newsletter this week that announced a serious discount. Not a CVO subscriber yet, and interested in getting both magazines? The two separate magazine subscriptions are 28 + 40 = 68 Euro but if you go for both you only pay 60 Euro! (click for price in US$) 
Can I buy back issues?
Yes you can! At the moment we offer back issues 1-20 for 18,95 EUR. You can also buy sets of ten issues separately. In all cases, you will receive a ZIP file with all PDFs and PGNs with dozens of pages full of instructive chess content.
