Svitlana's Smart Moves in Washington!

by Arne Kaehler
8/5/2025 – Svitlana Demchenko’s Smart Moves show began in 2021 and has produced over 120 nearly weekly episodes on topics ranging from openings and endgames to tactics and all things chess. Now, she is speaking at the World Schools Summit in Washington, DC—fittingly named the Smart Moves Summit 2025! | Photo: ChessBase India Interview
The Alapin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.c3) offers a simple yet highly effective solution to all major Sicilian lines, by sidestepping them with 2.c3.
Facing the Sicilian doesn’t have to be complicated. The Alapin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.c3) offers a simple yet highly effective solution to all major Sicilian lines, by sidestepping them with 2.c3. Whether your opponent plays the Najdorf, Taimanov, or Dragon, the Alapin lets you take control of the game as early as move two.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 2...g6

Svitlana's Smart Moves in Washington!

The Smart Moves Summit in Washington, DC (August 4–5, 2025) is a global education conference uniting chess, cognition, and learning, held alongside the FIDE World Schools Team Championship.

Featuring top influencers, researchers, and educators, the event aims to inspire, connect, and transform the future of education through chess.

Promo video of the summit by FIDE

Svitlana Demchenko playing chess in Europe

Soon, Svitlana will begin studying medicine at the University of Ottawa. Before that, she took the opportunity to travel to Europe and compete in two strong chess tournaments. At the XLIV Open Internacional Villa de Benasque in Spain, she gained rating points and even defeated an FM rated 2357.

The 2100+ rated Open International d'Aix-en-Provence – Trophée Dole 2025 was one of the strongest events she has ever played. After starting with 0 out of 4, she made a strong comeback by winning two consecutive games and finished with hardly any rating loss.

Svitlana Demchenko has now reached an Elo rating of 2156.

Speaking and playing at the Smart Moves Summit 2025

After her short European tour, she headed to Washington for the Smart Moves Summit 2025, where she participated not only as a speaker but also played a simul match against a group of brave schoolchildren.

Svitlana in Washington. | Photo/Reel: International School Chess Federation

Some players didn't lose, and won a ChessBase training course by Svitlana!

The courses:

The King‘s Indian Attack is a universal opening: easy to learn, flexible, and rich in both tactical and positional opportunities.

Besides in-depth theory and exciting tactical exercises in the Scotch Game, this video course also includes a bonus section on the Scotch Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Bc4), a lively variation often leading to very dynamic positions.

This DVD focuses on several types of material imbalances, such as Rook vs 2 Pieces, Queen vs 2 Rooks, and Queen vs Pieces.

The Leningrad Dutch Defence is a dynamic and aggressive opening choice for Black, perfect for players who want to add some adventure and spice to their repertoire.

Chess Summer

Besides all of her chess activities, Svitlana also brought out her newest ChessBase training Course - Silence the Sicilian!

The course includes structured explanations, model games, and interactive training tools to help you confidently master the Alapin and outplay your opponents.

The Alapin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.c3) offers a simple yet highly effective solution to all major Sicilian lines, by sidestepping them with 2.c3.
Facing the Sicilian doesn’t have to be complicated. The Alapin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.c3) offers a simple yet highly effective solution to all major Sicilian lines, by sidestepping them with 2.c3. Whether your opponent plays the Najdorf, Taimanov, or Dragon, the Alapin lets you take control of the game as early as move two.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 2...g6

In France, Svitlana was interviewed by ChessBase India

Links:

<< British Championship: Five players on 3/3, including Vitiugov and Royal
Arjun, Giri and Keymer head strong field at third edition of Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters >>
Topics: ChessBase Training, Svitlana Demchenko, Svitlana's Smart Moves
Arne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.
Discussion and Feedback Submit your feedback to the editors

See also

Svitlana Demchenko: Silence the Sicilian - Win with the Alapin Variation (2.c3)

7/28/2025 – This practical course offers a clean and effective response to the Sicilian Defense. By playing 2.c3, you sidestep heavy theory and gain early central control, logical development, and aggressive yet manageable positions. The course includes structured explanations, model games, and interactive training tools to help you confidently master the Alapin and outplay your opponents.

See also

Svitlana's Smart Moves - Attacking the English with ...h5!?

7/9/2025 – Svitlana presents an unconventional yet effective way to combat the English Opening by responding with 1...e5 and then an early ...h5, aiming to unsettle White's typical kingside fianchetto plans. The line offers dynamic attacking potential with ideas like ...h4, or even ...g5, depending on how White responds, and even top blitz players have experimented with it. While engines consider some White responses (like Nf3 followed by h4) slightly better, the surprise value and aggressive intent behind this line make it a strong practical weapon, especially in blitz and rapid games.
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Video

60m English surprising_your_opponents_with_the_lazy_sicilian

In just 60 minutes, you will be well-equipped with a surprise weapon, which will take most of your opponents out of book right from the start.