Die Englische Eröffnung
Band Drei by Mihail Marin
2011
Quality Chess
272 pages
Price € 24,99
ISBN 978-1-906552-95-4
Grandmaster Mihail Marin completes his 1.c4 opening repertoire series
for white with this Band 3, 272 page 1..c5 book.
The Symmetrical Variation is one of Black’s most reliable methods of
meeting the move 1.c4.
Marin has split this book in three parts: Closed System,Open Lines and
lines with the move 3…e6. Marin provides the reader in this book with a
lot of interesting ideas
so as
for example the move: 1.c4 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Nf3
e6 6.d3 Nge7 7.Bg5 0-0 8.Qd2!
This is much better than what Petrosian played against Bobby Fischer:
Petrosian,Tigran V - Fischer,Robert James [A37]
Belgrade URS-World Belgrade (2.2), 31.03.1970
1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 c5 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.Nf3 e6 6.0-0 Nge7 7.d3 0-0 8.Bd2
d5 9.a3 b6 10.Rb1 Bb7 11.b4 cxb4 12.axb4 dxc4
13.dxc4 Rc8 14.c5 bxc5 15.bxc5 Na5 16.Na4 Bc6 17.Qc2 Nb7 18.Rfc1 Qd7
19.Ne1 Nd5 20.Nb2 Bb5 21.Ned3 Bd4 22.Qb3 Nxc5
23.Nxc5 Rxc5 24.Rxc5 Bxc5 25.Nd3 Bxd3 26.Qxd3 Rd8 27.Bf3 Qc7 28.Bg5 Be7
29.Bxe7 Qxe7 30.Qd4 e5 31.Qc4 Nb6 32.Qc2 Rc8
33.Qd3 Rc4 34.Bg2 Qc7 35.Qa3 Rc3 36.Qa5 Rc5 37.Qa3 a5 38.h4 Nc4 39.Qd3
Nd6 40.Kh2 Kg7 41.Rd1 Ne8 42.Qd7 Qxd7
43.Rxd7 Nf6 44.Ra7 Ng4+ 45.Kg1 Rc1+ 46.Bf1 Ra1 47.e4 a4 48.Kg2
Ra2 49.Rxf7+ Kxf7 50.Bc4+ Ke7 51.Bxa2 a3 52.Kf3 Nf6
53.Ke3 Kd6 54.f4 Nd7 55.Bb1 Nc5 56.f5 Na6 57.g4 Nb4 58.fxg6 hxg6 59.h5
gxh5 60.gxh5 Ke6 61.Kd2 Kf6 62.Kc3 a2 63.Bxa2 Nxa2+
64.Kb2 Nb4 65.Kc3 Nc6 66.Kc4 Nd4 0-1.
Included is also the new knight move 8.Ne4?! but as Marin explains does
not completely work out.It is all a matter of one tempo.
Some players try to reach a Hedgehog with the odd looking rook move:
{1.c4 c5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.Nf3 a6 5.Nc3 b6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4}
Ra7!? 5.Nc3 b6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Ra7 but after 8.0-0 Bb7 9.e4 d6
10.Be3 Nbd7 11.f4 Qa8 12.f5 e5 13.Ne6 fxe6 14.fxe6 Nc5 15.Rxf6 gxf6
16.Qh5+ Kd8 it can even get sharp but after17.b4 Bc6
18.bxc5 bxc5 19.Rd1 Kc8 20.Nd5 Qb7 21.Nxf6 Be7 22.Nd5 Bxd5 23.exd5 Qb4
24.Qe2 Rb7 25.Be4 Qb2 26.Rd2 Qc1+ 27.Kg2 white still holds a slight
advantage.
The book is well produced with hard cover and it insures the white
player with a wealth of creative ideas!
Conclusion: A must for all 1.c4 players!
The
Grünfeld Defence by Boris Avrukh
Volume one
& two
2011
Quality Chess
349 pages & 261 pages
Price € 24,99
ISBN 978-1-906552-75-6
The long awaited repertoire book for black on the
Grünfeld from Boris Avrukh is out, and it has even become
two volumes from 349 and 261 pages,for the price of €24.99 each.
Of course this is a lot of money and less fortune chess player could
consider a other repertoire book from
Yelena Dembo,Everyman Chess 2007,but this work is far not so
compressive as these two heavy weights from Avrukh.
In volume one Avrukh goes for the Fianchetto Variation: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4
g6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6,Russian Variation: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6
3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 Kf8 7.e4 Nc6,included with all the
5.Qb3,Bf4 and Bg5 lines,as well as all white’s minor lines as rare
third moves: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3.
Volume two holds all lines where white plays an early 4.cxd5.These two
books are based on games and analyses.The Grünfeld has been a
favourite of
world champions as Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov.
Nigel Davies once wrote in his book the Grünfeld Defence: If the
Grünfeld goes wrong black still has a position,if a Benoni goed
wrong he’s dead.
The most direct challenge to the Grünfeld is the Exchange
Variation which is covered in volume two: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5
4.cxd5 Nxd5
5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Rb1 0-0 9.Be2 cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11.Bd2
Qxa2 12.0-0 Bg4 13.Bg5 h6.
Interesting to mention is that Avrukh recommends after14.Be3 Nc6 15.d5
the move 15…Na5,and he writes this must be the
correct decision. Yes this is much better than what Danin Alexandre
played against Luke McShane: McShane,Luke J (2616) - Danin,Alexandre
(2519) [D85]
Moscow Aeroflot op-A 9th Moscow (9), 17.02.2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5
8.Rb1 0-0 9.Be2 cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Qxa2
12.0-0 Bg4 13.Bg5 h6 14.Be3 Nc6 15.d5 Ne5 16.Rxb7 e6 17.d6 Rfd8 18.Re1
Bxf3 19.gxf3 Qa3 20.f4 Rxd6 21.Qc1 Qxc1
22.Rxc1 Nd3 23.Rcc7 Rf8 24.e5 Rd5 25.Bxd3 Rxd3 26.Bc5 Rc3 27.Bxf8 Rxc7
28.Rxc7 Bxf8 29.Rxa7 Kg7 30.Kg2 Bc5
31.Rc7 Bb6 32.Rc6 Bd4 33.Kf3 Ba7 34.Rc7 Bb6 35.Rc6 Ba7 36.Rc2 Bb6
37.Ke4 Bd8 38.Kd4 Be7 39.f3 Ba3 40.Kc4 Kf8
41.Kb5 Ke8 42.Kc6 Bf8 43.Ra2 h5 44.Ra4 Bg7 45.Kc5 Ke7 46.Ra7+ Ke8
47.Ra8+ Ke7 48.Kd4 Bh6 49.Ke4 Bg7 50.Rg8 Bf8
51.h3 Bh6 52.Ke3 Bf8 53.Kd4 Bh6 54.Ke4 Bf8 55.f5 exf5+ 56.Kd5 Bh6
57.Rb8 Bg5 58.Rb7+ Kf8 59.e6 fxe6+ 60.Kxe6 Kg8
61.Rb4 Bd2 62.Rc4 Kg7 63.Rc7+ Kh6 64.Kf6 h4 65.Rc8 Bg5+ 66.Kf7
Be3 67.Re8 Bd2 68.Re2 Bc1 69.Rg2 Bg5 70.Rg1 Kh5
71.Kg7 Bh6+ 72.Kf6 1-0.
Included are a lot of latest correspondence games and that makes
a openings book really dangerous!
In my opinion has manage to delve deeply into the secrets of the
Grünfeld!
Conclusion:This book will help you to understand and win with
the Grünfeld!
The Grandmaster
Battle Manual by Vassilios Kotronias
2011
Quality Chess
349 pages
Price € 25,99
ISBN 978-1-906552-52-7
Throw the years have seen several battle manuals but
not one has impressed me more than this work from the Greece
Grandmaster Vassilios Kotronias.
This book is so much more than a collection well analysed games from
Kotronias and his companions.
Personal I love in chess originality and this man Kotronias is original
with his chapters as for example Geometry & Co:A creativity
outlet to success.
The purpose of this chapter as Kotronias writes is to provide the
reader with evidence of the usefulness of geometrical motifs
and offer hints on how to discover them. As I am not a
mathematician, I will rush to disclaim any responsibility for any
misapprehensions my handling
of the subject may cause.
A fine example of combine zigzagging with the theme of interference and
a classical mating pattern: Kotronias,Vasilios (2598) - Sedlak,Nikola
(2564) [C41]
SCG-chT 4th Vrnjacka Banja (6), 06.05.2006
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Bf4 0-0 7.Qd2 c6
8.0-0-0 b5 9.f3 b4 10.Na4 Bd7
11.b3 d5 12.g4 dxe4 13.fxe4 c5 14.Nf5 Bxa4 15.Qxd8 Bxd8 16.bxa4 Nc6
17.e5 Nxg4 18.Bg2 Ngxe5
19.Rhg1 Rc8 20.Bxc6 Nxc6 21.Rxg7+ Kh8 22.Rd6!! 1-0,and well analysed
with nearly 3 pages of text.
A other beautiful example is: Kotronias,Vasilios (2510) - King,Daniel J
(2560) [B12]
New York WFW New York, 1990
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 Qb6 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 e6 7.Nge2 Nd7
8.0-0 Ne7 9.a4 c5 10.a5 Qc6 11.dxc5 Nxe5
12.Qg3 N5g6 13.Nd4 Qxc5 14.Be3 e5 15.Ndb5 Qc6 16.a6 b6 17.Rad1 d4
18.Qh3 Nc8 19.Bxd4 Nd6 20.Rfe1 Nxb5
21.Bxe5 Be7 22.Nxb5 0-0 23.Nd4 Qc5 24.b4 Qc4 25.Nf5 Bxb4 26.Qh6 1-0,and
this game made world tour,please see the winning queen move 26.Qh6!
Very instructive is also chapter 5,Facing lower rated opponents: Being
effective against them is often the key to success and will lead
to gaining a few rating points and a decent prize.
Kotronias writes: In general, if a player is 100-150 points higher
rated than his opponent, he is probably superior to him in pure chess
knowledge.
I could say with a great amount of certainty that the stronger player
enjoys the following advantages:
1.Deeper understanding of a wide spectrum of pawn structures.
2.Intuitive ability to sence the right moment to change the character
of the game.
3.Superiority in defending.
4.Deeper understanding of dynamic factors.
5.Better endgame technique.
On the other hand, the weaker player quite often excels at the
following :
Preparing and memorizing long lines, especially if he is young and
ambitious.
2.Calculating absolutely forced variations {without branches}in attack
or a conflict that is not related to his king’s safety.
3.Playing bold and annoying moves on general grounds; most of the time
these unpretentious moves are second best,but not easy to refute.
A good advise from the author is: Young and tactical players should be
lured into an ending at the first good opportunity.
Conclusion: Kotronias truly helps you to get more out of your chess!
Tactimania by Glenn Flear
2011
Quality Chess
264 pages
Price € 21,99
ISBN 978-1-906552-98-5
Grandmaster master Glenn Flear provided the reader in this
exercise book with a hugh collection chess tatctics all taken from
Flear his own
games,and some from his wife Christine Flear Leroy who is also a
famous woman chess player.
Glenn Flear is a very strong chess player in 1986 he won the very
Strong 1986 event ahead of some great players as
Short,Chandler,Nunn,Ribli,Polugaevsky,Portisch,Spassky,Vaganian,Speelman,Larsen
etc.
To round off the happy occasion, he married five-time French Ladies'
Champion Christine Leroy during the event.
The creative input with eye catching illustrations come from son James
who is a computer artist.
To find the winning combiantions is no easy walk throw,but going throw
these exercises will
help you to increase you chess skills!
All facets of the game a important turn from the ambitous Flear,for
example see his endgame win on the great
Bent Larsen,good for one page of instructive text, and with 40 points
of more you can even make a GM performance.
Conclusion:This exercice work will certainley help you to increase your
chess skills!
Invisible Chess Moves by
Emmanuel Neiman &
Yochanan Afek
2011
New in Chess
http://www.newinchess.com/
240 pages
Price € 19,95
ISBN:
978-90-5691-368-7
Emmanuel Neiman and Yochanan Afek deals in this interesting written
book
with the subject of missed moves.
In chess certain moves are harder to spot for a human being than other
moves.
For example a Grandmaster misses a backward rook move often than a
forward one,strange but throw.
Most chess moves are made along vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines
as the authors explain,
It is useful to pay attention when several pieces are on the same line,
because this is a pontential motif for combinations.
This is even more important when the king and queen are involved.
Going throw this book you will find Hard to see moves,Quiet moves,
Geometrically invisible moves, Invisible moves for
positional reasons, Invisible moves for psychological reasons etc.
A instructive example of hard to see moves is the following game
between Taimanov and Pougaevsky: URS-ch27 Leningrad (13), 1960
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qa4+ Nbd7 5.Nc3 e6 6.e4 c5 7.d5 exd5 8.e5
d4 9.Bxc4 dxc3 10.exf6 Qxf6 11.Bg5 Qc6 12.0-0-0 cxb2+ 13.Kxb2 Be7
14.Rhe1 f6 15.Bb5 Qb6 16.Kc1 fxg5 17.Bxd7+ Kf8 18.Rxe7 Kxe7 19.Qe4+ Kd8
20.Bf5+ Kc7 21.Qe5+ Kc6 22.Rd6+ Kb5 23.Qb2+ 1-0.12.0-0-0!! is winning
on the spot.
In the two latest games with this variation, this possibility was not
spotted by two strong players.
In Marzolo – Brethes,Vandoeuvre 2008 draw and Arutinian –
Gelazonia,Tbilisi 2007,but 1-0 on
move 21,both players opted for the casual 12.Qb3,after which 12…f6 is
unclear.
A other instructive example comes from the Dutch player Hans Böhm:
Bohm,Hans (2300) - Kortschnoj,Viktor (2665)
Moscow Moscow, 1975
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bd2 0-0 7.e4 Nb6
8.Be3 Bg4 9.Be2 Bxf3 10.gxf3 Qd7
11.h4 Nc6 12.d5 Ne5 13.Qb3 c6 14.f4 Ng4 15.dxc6 bxc6 16.Rd1 Qc8 17.h5
Rb8 18.hxg6 hxg6 19.Bd4 e5
20.Bc5 exf4 21.Bxf8 Bxf8 22.Bxg4 Qxg4 23.Ne2 f3 24.Ng3 Bg7 25.Rd3 Nd7
26.Qd1 Rxb2 27.Qxf3 Qxf3
28.Rxf3 Bd4 29.0-0 Rxa2 30.Rb3 Ne5 31.Kg2 Ng4 32.Rc1 Rxf2+ 33.Kh3 Ne5
34.Rb7 Ra2 35.Rf1 Kg7
36.Rd1 c5 37.Rc7 Ra3 38.Rf1 Nf3 39.Kg2 time/ 0-1,but after 13.Bxb6 axb6
14.f4 Nc6 15.dxc6 Bxc3+ 16.bxc3 Qxc6
17.Qd3 Rfd8 18.Qe3 Ra3 19.Rh3
white has a big advantage, and must be winning.
Yochanan is an Israeli chess composer who lives in the Netherlands and
Emmanuel Neiman is a Fide master.
Conclusion: One of those books that
every chess player must have read!
