“A Karpovian move”

In the current ChessBase Magazine #230, Nico Zwirs analyses the game between his compatriots Jorden Van Foreest and Anish Giri from the Tata Steel Masters 2026 in the video. The focus is on the opening, as Van Foreest had clearly prepared something special against the Najdorf Variation – known to be one of Giri’s specialities. After 11…Qc7, he continued with 12.a3 – ‘A Karpovian move!’. White’s idea is to move the b3 knight via c1 and a2 to b4 and from there to target the light squares d5 (and c6). Van Foreest thus invested four moves in improving his knight and securing his king’s position. A new concept that paid off in full in this game! Take a look at this week’s CBM reading sample!