Han Schut

I never came across a correspondence game in my local Mega DB.
My chess tools:
- CB and Hiarcs as DB programs
- Mega DB with weekly CB updates
- Corr DB with monthly ICCF updates
- Hiarcs openings book
- SF and LcO
- Forward Chess
- Chessvision.ai
- Qchess.net
- Lichess
- Chessable

Correspondence players spend days analyzing a position with the strongest engines. You can still find interesting ideas as L’Ami showed in the NIC Yearbooks.
I only look at games post SF-NNUE and use the corr DB to see if there is consensus on the strongest move and any new ideas from top players.

ChessBase '26, Mega Database 2026, and Correspondence Database 2026 are out!
Today, ChessBase is offering a 25% discount.
For me, living in the USA, my three upgrades totaled $250.

23... Nf6 24. d6?
(24. Rg4+! Nxg4 25. Qxg4+ Kh8 26. Qd4+ f6 27. d6 Bxg3 28. Qd2 Rf7 and wins.)
24... Bxg3
(24... Qc8! with equality.)
25. Rg4+ Nxg4 26. Qxg4+ Kh8 27. Qd4+ f6 28. Qd2 Rf7 29. Bxf7 Kg7 30. Qd3 1-0
Aronian saw the idea but chose the wrong move order but won after all.

rq3rk1/pp3p2/5n1p/3P4/4R3/1B4P1/PP5b/3QR2K w - - 0 24

White to play and win.
From the game Aronian - Aronyak Ghosh after 23... Nf6 at the FIDE World Cup 2025.
Solution in my reply.

The knight came from g6.

33. Bf6! Bxf6 34. Qxf4 and mate is unavoidable.

4r2k/1b4b1/1q1p4/pnpr2Bp/P1Q2p1P/1P1B1P2/6R1/6RK w - - 0 33

Caruana just played 32... Nxb5.
Gukesh played an elegant move to finish the game.
Can you find it?
(The answer is in my reply.)

6k1/5pp1/P6p/3p4/3P1n2/3Q2Pq/5P2/r2R1NK1 w - - 0 35

Carlsen played 34... Nf4 and Gukesh resigned in this equal position!
What did both Carlsen and Gukesh overlook?
What should Carlsen have played instead of 34... Nf4?

YouTube video by Han Schut Book Review: Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual - 6th Edition

My book review of the 6th Edition of Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, which is now available on Forward Chess.
The book has updated analysis (Q+2p vs R+3p), expanded material (R+p vs R+p), and new exercises compared to the previous edition.
youtu.be/4Sgwo2HjRds

YouTube video by Han Schut How to make your opponents blunder!

I was surprised by the number of blunders by top GMs in the FIDE Grand Swiss. No time pressure, equal position, and then in one move, the game is lost.
In this video, I analyze the root causes of these mistakes and what we, as amateurs, can learn from them.
youtu.be/Lbhqcj67Iww

YouTube video by Han Schut Game changer: generate a complete opening repertoire with just a few mouse clicks.

Game Changer!
You can now generate a complete opening repertoire in a few minutes on Qchess.net and then upload it to Lichess, ChessBook, or Chessable.
The repertoire is based on the Elite Database (2+ million master games), the Lichess user games DB, and engine analysis.

youtu.be/qi5FH3LV_Js

YouTube video by Han Schut Lichess 45 45 League Game Review

Review of a Lichess 45 45 game focused on plans in the Maroczy pawn structure and the pawn ending.

Lichess 45 45 League Game Review
youtu.be/x8Ay_F_eXr0

Also in New In Chess 2025#7:

James Altucher on the Code of the Adult Enjoyer.

5. Be OK Losing
My ex-wife once told me, 'Show me a learning experience and I'll show you a loser.'

New In Chess 2025#7 is out with a tournament report of the FIDE Grand Swiss, interviews with Giri and MVL, Timman on Caruana, and an article on @yoshaiglesias.bsky.social winning the French women's championship.

YouTube video by Han Schut Turbocharge your Chessable study!

In this video, I explain how I use chessvision.ai, YouTube, Lichess, chess.com, and Forward Chess to turbocharge my Chessable study.
For a given position, I demonstrate how to search for videos, find reference games, explore the Lichess games database, and use Forward Chess.
youtu.be/loUwYxl4Rvo

YouTube video by Han Schut Alekhine's Defense Four Pawns Attack: Part 2 - Variations without Bf5 and Early Deviations

Second introduction video: variations without Bf5 and Early Deviations
youtu.be/aTL4NKZbVUY

YouTube video by Han Schut Alekhine's Defense Four Pawns Attack: Part 1 - Introduction and Variations with Bf5

First introduction video: Variations with Bf5.
youtu.be/Xq9obNz4vLc

My 10th Chessable course is out!
'Annihilate the Alekhine: 4 Pawns Attack for White'
Inspired by GM Gawain Jones' Coffeehouse Repertoire.
Easy to learn, fun to play.
Designed for club players, sufficient for masters.
www.chessable.com/annihilate-t...

Congratulations! 🎉
You have proven to belong in this class, which should boost your confidence. 💪
Your focus now should be on converting winning positions, a much better challenge than must-win situations against lower-rated opponents.

After 13... Rxc3 14. Qxc3, White has Kd2 in the end.

Black won after 13... Rxc3 14. Qxc3 Qxa2+ 15. Kc1 Bh6+ 0-1
I discovered the tactical motif 15... Bh6+, forcing a white piece to block the escape square of the white king, when I created my course.

r1r3k1/pp2ppbp/3pbBp1/q7/4P3/2NB3P/PPPQ1PP1/1K1R3R b - - 0 13

Black has a cute tactic based on a tactical motif that I was not aware of until I created my Chessable course 'Dragon Fire: Tactics for Black in the Sicilian Dragon'.
White just played 13.Bxf6. Black to move and win.

YouTube video by Han Schut Useful chess principle or limiting chess dogma?

My video on this position and four other examples where active defense and concrete calculation trumps chess principles:
youtu.be/D1XLSEZA58E

2r1r1k1/2q2pp1/3p1b1p/1p1PpP2/p7/P1P2Q2/1P2N1PP/3R1RK1 w - - 0 1

From Step 4 Plus - Mini Plans.
White to move activates their knight with Ng3, planning Ne4.
How do you evaluate the position, and how would you play the position with Black?
I was surprised by the engine's choice: 1.Ng3 e4!? 2.Nxe4 Re5!? 3.Nxf6 gxf6 =. Active defense based on concrete calculation.

A new entry for the book 'Oops! I Resigned Again!' by Ian Rogers.

6rk/p6n/3p3b/2p1p2Q/2P1P1b1/1N1P1R1N/P3q2P/6RK w - - 0 33

Nakamura just resigned against Carlsen in a winning position.
Just shows that even the best players prove to be mortal.
White to move after 32... Bg4

The line is not played frequently enough for the course:
6... Nc6 is played in only 4% of the games after 6... b4
The subsequent 7... a6 in 32% of the games after 7... Nf3.
White gets a lead in development and more space:
8.Nc3 (attacks d5) e6 9.Na4 Be7 10.c4 Nf6 11.Nb6 Ra7 is a good illustration.

YouTube video by Han Schut Game changer: Position search now available on Forward Chess !!

You can now search for positions in the complete Forward Chess library!
For each book that contains the position, Forward Chess shows you a snippet.
If you own the book, you can go to the exact position in the book with just one click.
The position search includes subvariations
youtu.be/c8lo9HLvWGY

YouTube video by Han Schut Book review 'The Woodpecker Method 2 - Positional Play ' by Alex Smith

Book review 'The Woodpecker Method 2: Positional Play' by Axel Smith.
Over 1,000 exercises, 500 'pawn structure' puzzles and 500 'positional principles' exercises.
I compare the book to 'Chess Structures' by Mauricio Flores Rios, and compare the two learning philosophies.
youtu.be/7KccsQVczIg