CHESSBOOK REVIEWS

Latest book reviews of 1 May 2013
BOOKS REVIEWS BY JOHN ELBURG.

Wilhelminalaan 33 

7261 BP RUURLO 

The Netherlands.
John Elburg


                                 Chess Books & Magazine's

Grandmaster Repertoire 12 - The Modern Benoni by Marian Petrov
Quality Chess
304 pages
Price €24,99
ISBN 978-1-907982-59-0

The Bulgarian Benoni expert Grandmaster Marian Petrov provides the reader of this book with a impressive move to move repertoire book on
the Modern  Benoni where the author is not afraid to cover more than one line.
In the Mikenas Flick Knife attack the author thinks that black is able to survive in the line with: 8…Nbd7; 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5
5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Bb5+ Nbd7 9.e5 dxe5 10.fxe5 Nh5 11.e6 Qh4+ 12.g3 Nxg3 13.hxg3 Qxh1 14.Be3 Bxc3+ 15.bxc3 a6
16.exd7+ Bxd7 17.Bxd7+ Kxd7 18.Qg4+ This move, a suggestion of the Spanish GM Miguel Illescas 18….f5 19.Qf3 Qxf3 20.Nxf3 Rhe8!
 This move is much better than the move 20…Rae8 that Rowson played against Palliser,Blackpool 2005.
 21.Kf2 Re4 22.Bxc5 Rc8! 23.Bd4 Kd6 24.Rd1 Kxd5 25.Ng5 Ree8 26.Nxh7 Kc4 27.Ng5 Rc6 28.Rb1 b5 29.a4 bxa4 30.Rb4+
Kd3 31.Rxa4 and it looks that white id only a little bit better.
The move 8.Bb5+ has driven numerous Benoni players away from the pure 2…c5 3.d5 e6 but with this book from Petrov they can easy return to it!
John Watson did not even mention any line with 8…Nbd7!? in his book on the Benoni!
The most reliable of blocking the bishop check is 8….Nfd7 and after the populair move order:
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Bb5+ Nfd7 9.a4 0-0 10.Nf3 Na6 11.0-0 Nc7
12.Bd3 a6 13.Re1 Re8 14.Be3 Rb8 15.Bf2 b5 16.axb5 axb5 17.e5 Petrov comes with the interesting novelty 17… c4!
As we can learn from Petrov that the Benoni is a dynamic attacking defence and it is not strange that Bobby
Fischer used it as a playing for a win defence against Boris Spassky in the 1972 World Championship match!
Conclusion: This is a very important book on the Benoni!


Soviet Middlegame Technique by Peter Romanovsky
Quality Chess
416 pages
Price €23,99
ISBN 978-1-907982-48-4

Peter Arsenievich Romanovsky born  29 July 1892, St Petersburg – 1 March 1964, Moscow was a Russian chess International
Master, International Arbiter, and author.
This brand new release from Quality Chess is an updated work of  Chess Middlegames: Combinations, and Chess Middlegames: Strategy, both published
 in 1929 when Romanovsky was Soviet Champion,and a English translation came out in 1990  by American Chess Promotions.
Romanovsky played in the famous Mannheim 1914 chess tournament (the 19th DSB Congress),this tournament began on 20 July and
stopped on 1 August 1914 when World War One broke out.
During the worst period of the Siege of Leningrad  in winter of 1941–42, a rescue party reached his home. They found Romanovsky
half-conscious from starvation and cold. The rest of his family had frozen to death.
All the furniture in the house had been used for firewood. A chess manuscript which had been in preparation by Romanovsky was also lost at this time.
Romanovsky fianally recreated his improved book in 1960.
The creativity of Romanovsky lays in his instructive words and brillaint played games as for example the fololowing game:
Taimanov,Mark E - Bannik,Anatoly [E80]
URS-ch25 Riga, 1958
1.c4 Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 e5 6.Nge2 Nc6 7.d5 Ne7 8.Be3 c5 9.g4 h5 10.g5 Nh7 11.Nc1 a6 12.Qd2 Rb8
13.Rb1 b6 14.b4 Rb7 15.a4 Nf8 16.a5 cxb4 17.Rxb4 bxa5 18.Rxb7 Bxb7 19.c5 dxc5 20.Nb3 Nd7 21.Na4 0-0 22.Nxa5 Ba8
23.Bxa6 f5 24.gxf6 Rxf6 25.Be2 Qf8 26.0-0 Nc8 27.Nb3 c4 28.Nbc5 Nxc5 29.Nxc5 Qe8 30.Ra1 Nd6 31.Ne6 Bb7 32.Qb4 Bf8
33.Bc5 Rxe6 34.dxe6 Qc6 35.Rc1 Ba6 36.Qb6 Qxb6 37.Bxb6 Nc8 38.Bd8 Bc5+ 39.Kg2 Nd6 40.Bc7 Kg7 41.Rd1 Ne8
42.Bxe5+ Kf8 43.Ra1 Bc8 44.Bxc4 1-0 and good for 4 pages of text.
Included are tactical masterpieces as Hampe - Meitner,Philipp [C25]
Vienna Vienna, 1870
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5 3.Na4 Bxf2+ 4.Kxf2 Qh4+ 5.Ke3 Qf4+ 6.Kd3 d5 7.Kc3 Qxe4 8.Kb3 Na6 9.a3 Qxa4+ 10.Kxa4 Nc5+
11.Kb4 a5+ 12.Kxc5 Ne7 13.Bb5+ Kd8 14.Bc6 b6+ 15.Kb5 Nxc6 16.Kxc6 Bb7+ 17.Kb5 Ba6+ ½-½,funny enough 142 years
later the game was repeated:
Mostbauer,Florian (1998) - Mostbauer,Maximilian (1952) [C25]
Steyr op Steyr (6), 01.09.2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5 3.Na4 Bxf2+ 4.Kxf2 Qh4+ 5.Ke3 Qf4+ 6.Kd3 d5 7.Kc3 Qxe4 8.Kb3 Na6 9.a3 Qxa4+ 10.Kxa4 Nc5+
11.Kb4 a5+ 12.Kxc5 Ne7 13.Bb5+ Kd8 14.Bc6 b6+ 15.Kb5 Nxc6 16.Kxc6 Bb7+ 17.Kb5 Ba6+ 18.Kc6 Bb7+ ½-½.
Not 17.Kxb7? Kd7 18.Qg4 Kd6 and white is mated.
In 1954, the Soviets withdrew their application for Romanovsky to receive the Grandmaster title, which had been based on his
first place in the 1927 USSR championship. But because anti-Stalinist Fedor Bogatyrchuk (Bohatirchuk) had shared the title in
1927, and he was no longer recognized in the USSR as the result of his having defected, the USSR Chess Federation did not want to
give the GM title to Bohatirchuk, so they withdrew the application for Romanovsky as well.
Conclusion: One of those super instructive learning books!


Grandmaster Preparation - Strategic Play (hardcover) by Jacob Aagaard
Quality Chess
304 pages
Price €29,99
ISBN 978-1-907982-29-3

Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard digs in this beautiful made hard cover book into the world of calculation, prophylaxis, pattern recognition, positional analyses and more.
This all is well explained at the hand of excellent analyses, game clippings, complete games and exercises.
A fine example game of prophylaxis is the following which reminds me at the great Nimzowitsch:
Salgado Lopez,Ivan (2635) - Strikovic,Aleksa (2559) [C41]
POR-chT Porto (1.3), 21.07.2012
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.a4 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.a5 Rb8 9.Qe2 b5 10.axb6 axb6 11.d5 cxd5 12.exd5 Bb7
13.Ra7 Qc8 14.Bd2 Ra8 15.Rfa1 Rxa7 16.Rxa7 Qb8 17.Ra1 Rc8 18.b4 g6 19.Bb3 Bf8 20.Ng5 Bg7 21.Nge4 Nxe4 22.Nxe4 Nf6
23.Nxf6+ Bxf6 24.Qb5 Qc7 25.Ra7 Kg7 26.Be3 Bd8 27.Bxb6 Qxb6 28.Qxb6 Bxb6 29.Rxb7 Bd4 30.Kf1 Ra8 31.Rc7 Ra1+
 32.Ke2 Rb1 33.Rc6 e4 34.b5 Ra1 35.b6 Ra8 36.b7 Rb8 37.Rc7 1-0,by the way Aagaards mentions that 17.Ra3!! is the move.
A near perfect of piece organization and handling of dynamics is the following game of Baadur Jobava: 1.b3 Nf6 2.Bb2 g6 3.Bxf6 exf6
4.c4 Bg7 5.Nc3 f5 6.Rc1 0-0 7.g3 Re8 8.Bg2 f4 9.gxf4 Qh4 10.Kf1 Bxc3 11.Rxc3 Qxf4 12.h4 d6 13.h5 Nc6 14.Nh3 Qd4
15.e3 Qf6 16.Nf4 Ne7 17.Qf3 Qg5 18.Bh3 c6 19.Bxc8 Raxc8 20.hxg6 hxg6 21.Nh5 f5 22.Rd3 Kf7 23.Nf4 Rcd8
24.Rh7+ Kf6 25.Qd1 a deadly check from the corner is on it’s way. 1-0 ,Jobava -  Mamedyarov Beijing Rapid 2012.
After 6.Rc1 Aagaard writes: Although this position looks quite orignal,it has occurred in 28 games.This is the first time it has
been played at the absolutely top level,but still it is astonishing how widely chess theory is beginning to develop in the 21st century, with
obscure openings occurring in bucket load of games.
Conclusion: One of those book that help you to become a player of  master strength!


Chess Strategy: Move by Move by Adam Hunt
2013
Everyman Chess
http://www.everymanchess.com
415  pages
Price € 23,95
ISBN 978-1-85744-997-6

Seldom I have seen a chess book that is so enjoyable to take up, as this strategy book from Adam Hunt who is an strong international master from
Oxford with two grandmaster norms.
The secret of this book lays not only in the highly instructive notes but also the supb. game collection of a impressive 113 games.
This all is well packed with useful key points and above all readable words.
The aim lays by club players and juniors but I would like to recommend this book also for chess trainers, because there is a lot to learn from Adam Hunt his words.
Fascinating is the following shortcut: Pendurin,Evgeniy (2155) - Bakutin,Aleksey (2311) [C57] Donskoj Donskoj (3), 16.09.2005
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Kg1 Qh4 8.g3 Nxg3 9.Qe1 Qxc4 10.Nxh8 Ne2+ 11.Kf2 Qf4+ 12.Kxe2
Nd4+ 13.Kd3 d5 14.Rf1 Bf5+ 15.Kc3 Nb5+ 16.Kb3 Qc4# 0-1.
Hunt comes from a famous chess family his sister Harriet in currently ranked as the top woman chess player in England.
Conclusion: Highly instructive.

The Colle: Move by Move by Cyrus Lakdawala
2013
Everyman Chess
http://www.everymanchess.com
416  pages
Price € 21,95
ISBN 978-1-85744-996-9

Cyrus Lakdawala presents the reader a Colle repertoire  opening which runs with moves as 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 c5 5.c3 Nc6
 6.Nbd2 Bd6 7.0-0 0-0 or it can even be reached throw the Tarrasch French as we can see in the following struggle between Karpov and
Korchnoi: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Ngf3 Nc6 6.Bb5 Bd6 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.0-0 Nge7 9.Nb3 Bd6 10.c3 Bg4 11.Nbd4 0-0
12.Be2 Re8 13.a3 4th match game Moscow 1974.
Interesting to mention is the following game from Lakdawala against  the Pirc set-up:
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nd2 g6 3.e4 d6 4.Ngf3 Bg7 5.c3 0-0 6.Bd3 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Nc4 Bg4 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Nd7 12.Rd1 Qe7
13.Ne3 Nb6 14.b4 a5 15.b5 Nd8 16.a4 Ne6 17.Ba3 Nc5 18.Bc2 Rfd8 19.Bb3 Rxd1+ 20.Rxd1 Rf8 21.Nd5 Nxd5 22.Rxd5 b6
23.Bxc5 bxc5 24.Qd3 Bh6 25.Rd7 Qg5 26.g3 Qc1+ 27.Kg2 Qb2 28.Qc4 Be3 29.Rxf7 1-0, Lakdawala – Wooten,San Diego
2012,funny enough on the black side Lakdawala prefers a set-up with
1.Nf3 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.d4 d6 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 Nf6 6.Bd3 0-0 7.0-0 Nh5!.
The Colle is a simple opening to learn and leads to middlegames where white has a good plane as we can see in the following
game: Browne,Walter S (2530) - Larsen,Bent (2625) [B13]San Antonio San Antonio (8), 29.11.1972
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Nf6 6.Bf4 Bg4 7.Qb3 Qc8 8.Nd2 e6 9.Ngf3 Be7 10.0-0 0-0
11.Ne5 Bh5 12.Qc2 Bg6 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.Nf3 Nh5 15.Be3 Qc7 16.g3 Rac8 17.Qe2 a6 18.Rae1 Rfe8 19.Bc1 Nf6 20.Ng5 Bd6
21.f4 Nd7 22.Nf3 Nf8 23.Ne5 Ne7 24.Kg2 f6 25.Nf3 Rb8 26.h4 b5 27.a3 Nc6 28.Qc2 Ne7 29.Qe2 Qc6 30.Rh1 a5 31.h5 b4
32.cxb4 axb4 33.a4 Qxa4 34.Nh4 gxh5 35.Qxh5 Rec8 36.f5 Qb3 37.fxe6 Nxe6 38.Qh7+ Kf7 39.Qh5+ Kf8 40.Ng6+ Ke8
41.Rxe6 Kd7 42.Rxe7+ Bxe7 43.Qf5+ 1-0.
Lakdawala writes: the reason I suggest the Exchange Caro as our main line are it is easier to learn and play than the
Panov Botvinnik,the position is a bit closer to what you are used in Colle,and third looking at my students games over the years,I have noticed
that the Exchange line is deadly for white at club level.
Conclusion: The reader will find excellent plans in this book!

The Dark Knight System: A repertoire with 1...Nc6 by James Schuyler
2013
Everyman Chess
http://www.everymanchess.com
224  pages
Price € 19,95
ISBN 978-1-85744-995-2


Fide master James Schuyler invites you in this book to a study of the Dark Knight System where it does not make any difference
if white plays 1.e4,d4,c4 or even 1.Nf3 you simple touch your knight on b8 and smash in on c6.
Some lines as 1.d4 Nc6 2.Ng3 d6.3.c4 g6! 4.d5 Nb8 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.e4 Nf6 7.Be2 0-0
are King’s Indian related after,this position can also arise from the King’s Indian Defence: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6
5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 Nc6!? 7.d5 Nb8.
Interesting to mention is 1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.dxe6 fxe6 5.Nc3 b6 6.Nf3 Nf7 7.Bc4 Bb7 8.Qe2 a6 9.Bb3 Bb4 10.0-0 Nf6
11.Rd1 Qe7 12.e5 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Ne4 14.Rd4 Nxc3 15.Qd3 Nd5 and black is fine.9…Nf6?! was played in
Crouch – Karpatchev,Cappelle la Grande 1993,which objectively favour white.
But you can also find some crazy variations as: 1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.f4 Ng6 4.h4 e6 5.h5 N6e7 6.c4 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nf5 8.Qd3 Bc5
 9.e4 Ng4 10.exf5 Nf2 11.Qg3 Nxh1 12.Qxg7 Qh4+ 13.Kd2 Rf8 14.Nge2 Nf2 15.Nb5 Bb6 16.d6 Qxh5 17.fxe6 Ne4+ 18.Kc2 Nxd6
 and it ends usually in black’s favour.
If you can play 1…Nc6 than the Light Knight Attack is a interesting alternative:1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 but after 2..c6 or 2…e6 is
difficult to get black out of his comfort zone.
You can not play the Dark Knight against 1.b4 and 1.b3 so Schuyler suggests 1…g6 and for example 1.b3 g6 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.e4 Bg7!? 4.Nd5
4.c4 Nf4!? Schuyler writes: This move is provocating and strong.White can keep advancing pawns,with tempo in some cases,but he will not
be able to control the territory he will become weak in an area of the board I like to call the “deep centre” –d3,e3 and the surrounding squares.
After 6.g3 Ne6 7.d4 d6 8.d5?! Nc5 9.b4 Otherwise the knight is very powerful in conjunction
 with Bf5.9…Ncd7 10.f4 0-0 11.Nf c6! 12.Qb cxd5 13.cxd5 dxe5 14.fxe5 a5 15.bxa5 Nc5.
Against the Sokolsky: 1.b4 g6 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nf3 0-0 5.e3 d6 6.d4 Nbd7 7.Be2 e5 8.0-0 e4 9.Nfd2 Re8 and against the Bird Schuyler
suggests a set-up with 1.f4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.e3 d6 4.d4 Nd7.
Against 1.c4 there are more Dark Night possibilities: 1.c4 Nc6 2.Nc3 e5 3.g3 f5 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.d3 Bb4 6.Bd2 0-0 7.Nf3 e4 and good for five pages of text.
Conclusion: One of those exciting openings books!

Chess DVD's

ChessBase Magazine issue 153
2013
April
 http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
ISSN 1432-8992
Price Euro 19.95  

Again a thrilling ChessBase Magazine with some super tournaments as Wijk aan Zee, Zürich, Gibraltar and Baden-Baden.
Altogether good for over 500 high quality games, where a small amount of them carry excellent annotations.
Pleasant to have on your hard drive are the openings surveys as: Breutigam: Trompowsky Attack A45 1.d4 Sf6 2.Lg5,Sumets: Caro-Kann Panov Attack B14
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.cxd5 exd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bd2 Nc6 9.Bd3 0-0 10.0-0 Be7 11.Qe2,Kritz: Sicilian B32
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 a6 6.Nd6+ Bxd6 7.Qxd6 Qf6,Rotstein: Sicilian B48 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4
4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 Nf6,Stohl: Sicilian B51
1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7,Moskalenko: French C11 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nf3 c5,Kuzmin: Slav Defence D10 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6
3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Bf4 Nc6 5.e3,Skembris: Slav Defence D16 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 c5,Krasenkow: Queen's Gambit D38 1.d4 d5
2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd2,Schandorff: Semi-Slav D44
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 Nbd7 11.exf6 Bb7 12.g3 c5 13.d5 Qb6
14.Bg2 0-0-0 15.0-0 b6 16.Na4,Postny: Semi-Slav D46
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.a3 Bd6 10.0-0 0-0 11.Qc2 Rc8,Marin: Bogo-Indian E11
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 c5 5.Bxb4 cxb4 6.g3 0-0 7.Bg2 d6 8.0-0 Nc6.
Eye catching are the high quality video files as the Opening Videos from Leonid Kritz on the Chebanenko Slav :1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6
4.e3 b5 6.b3 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 e6 9.Bd3 Bb4 10.Bd2 Qa5 11.Rc1 and Robert Ris on the caro-Kann 1.e4 c6 2.Ne2 d5 3.e5.
Other Columns are King: Move by Move,Reeh: Tactics,Müller: Endgames,Rogozenco: Strategy and Knaak Opening Trap.
And I nearly forgot to mention a super Tele chess file from over 8000 entries!
Included is a well made  booklet of 50 pages,written in two languages.
Conclusion: Must have material!

ChessBase Tutorials Openings # 05: Flank Openings
2013
 http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 29.90 
Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard


The well known openings expert, Lars Schandorff handles with smashing video files on this download, the Reversed Dragon, the English
Four Knights, the Botvinnik System and some exciting alternatives and  Adrian Mikhalchishin does the Symmetrical English with the
moves 1.c4 c5,and the great  Daniel King shows you in two videos systems in which Black does not go for the above mentioned lines.
Covered are also in instructive video files Dutch Defence, King’s Indian Attack,Bird Opening,the Larsen
System (1.b3),Sokolsky Opening (1.b4) but alsoBlack Knights' Tango, the Van Geet Opening (1.Nc3), the Grob Attack (1.g4) and the English Defence.
These video files are great to develop a understandable understanding of the played lines.
Conclusion: Great material to get involved with openings theory!

Chess Endgames 12 - Rook vs Knight
by Dr. Karsten Müller
2013
 http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 29.90 
Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard

The great endgame professor Grandmaster Karsten Müller digs in the world of unbalance
endgame material and handles on his latest,12th DVD the techniques of rook against knight, rook and knight against two knights ,two rooks against
 rook and knight, rook against bishop and knight, rook and bishop against bishop and knight ,rook against two knights.
All clearly explained in highly instructive video files,where the running time is a impressive 5 hours and 38 minutes.
Fascinating is for example the following game from Shirov: Lenderman,Alex (2614) - Shirov,Alexei (2718) [A07]
Chigorin Memorial 20th St Petersburg (8), 03.11.2012
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 Nd7 4.0-0 e5 5.d4 e4 6.Ne5 Be6 7.c4 c6 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.Nc3 Bd6 10.Nxd7 Qxd7 11.f3 f5 12.fxe4 fxe4
13.Qb3 Ne7 14.Bg5 Nc6 15.Nb5 Bb8 16.Qa3 a6 17.Rf2 h6 18.Raf1 Ne7 19.Bxe7 Qxe7 20.Qa5 Qd7 21.Nc3 Bc7 22.Qb4 Bd6
23.Qb3 Be7 24.e3 Rc8 25.Qd1 h5 26.Na4 Qb5 27.Rc2 Rxc2 28.Qxc2 h4 29.gxh4 Rxh4 30.b3 Qd7 31.Qf2 Qc7 32.Qg3 Qxg3
33.hxg3 Rh6 34.Nc5 Bc8 35.Rc1 Kd8 36.Na4 Bd6 37.Rxc8+ Kxc8 38.Nb6+ Kd8 39.Nxd5 Bxg3 40.Bxe4 Bd6 41.Bg2 Ba3
42.Nf4 g5 43.Nd3 Rh7 44.e4 a5 45.d5 Rc7 46.e5 Rc2 47.d6 b5 48.b4 Bxb4 49.Nxb4 axb4 50.e6 g4 51.Be4 Re2 52.Bf5 g3
53.e7+ Ke8 54.Bd3 Re1+ 55.Kg2 Re5 56.Bg6+ Kd7 57.Bf7 Re3 58.Kh3 1-0,but also Spassky,Boris V (2660) - Fischer,Robert James (2785) [B09]
World Championship 28th Reykjavik (17), 22.08.1972
1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Bd3 Qxc5 8.Qe2 0-0 9.Be3 Qa5 10.0-0 Bg4 11.Rad1 Nc6
12.Bc4 Nh5 13.Bb3 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Qxc3 15.f5 Nf6 16.h3 Bxf3 17.Qxf3 Na5 18.Rd3 Qc7 19.Bh6 Nxb3 20.cxb3 Qc5+
21.Kh1 Qe5 22.Bxf8 Rxf8 23.Re3 Rc8 24.fxg6 hxg6 25.Qf4 Qxf4 26.Rxf4 Nd7 27.Rf2 Ne5 28.Kh2 Rc1 29.Ree2 Nc6
30.Rc2 Re1 31.Rfe2 Ra1 32.Kg3 Kg7 33.Rcd2 Rf1 34.Rf2 Re1 35.Rfe2 Rf1 36.Re3 a6 37.Rc3 Re1 38.Rc4 Rf1
39.Rdc2 Ra1 40.Rf2 Re1 41.Rfc2 g5 42.Rc1 Re2 43.R1c2 Re1 44.Rc1 Re2 45.R1c2 ½-½ is a fascinating example.
Pleasant to mention is that all video files are available in two languages, German and English.
And Karsten Müller speaks perfect English!
Conclusion: There is no better way to improve you endgame knowledge than with Karsten Müller!

Secret weapon four knights game
by Valeri Lilov
2013
 http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 27.90 
Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard 

The bright Valeri Lilov covers with instructive explanations the good old Four Knights game as we can see in the following example from
Gallagher, Gallagher,Joseph G (2532) - Sbarra,Marco (2204) [C48]
Geneve op2 Geneve (2), 01.04.2005
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bc5 5.0-0 0-0 6.Nxe5 Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6 8.f4 Nc6 9.e5 Be7 10.exf6 Bxf6 11.d5 Nb4
12.Bc4 d6 13.Ne4 Bf5 14.Ng3 Qd7 15.Nxf5 Qxf5 16.c3 Na6 17.g4 Qd7 18.g5 Bd8 19.Be3 Nc5 20.Qf3 b5 21.Be2 f5
22.Rae1 Re8 23.Bxc5 dxc5 24.d6 Rb8 25.Qd5+ Kh8 26.Bd3 c6 27.Qxf5 1-0.
Till move eleven  Gallager was following good old Teichmann but 11.d5 is much better than 11.Ne2? Teichmann,Richard - Mason,James [C48]
London London (2), 1893
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bc5 5.0-0 0-0 6.Nxe5 Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6 8.f4 Nc6 9.e5 Be7 10.exf6 Bxf6 11.Ne2 d5
12.f5 Bd7 13.Rf3 Re8 14.c3 Nxd4 15.Nxd4 Bxd4+ 16.Qxd4 Bxb5 17.Bh6 f6 18.Rg3 Re7 19.Qg4 Qd7 20.h3 Rae8
21.b3 Kh8 22.Bc1 d4 23.Qf3 Re1+ 24.Kh2 Rf1 0-1.
Indeed the Four Knights was very populair before World War I and players like Tarrasch,Schlechter,Maroczy,Janowski and Alekhine
played it regualary,but around 190 it lost it’s appeal.
but with the book from Nunn New Ideas in the Four Knights it came slowly back to life.
Please also see The Four Knights Game from Andrey Obodchuk New in Chess 2011.
Included on this DVD are the Scotch Four Knights,the Belgrade Gambit and the Glek Variation. Video running time is 4 hours 14 min.
Conclusion: The Four Knights is more than excellent explained by Valeri Lilov!
    
Know the Terrain Vol. 4: The advance French structure
by Sam Collins
2013
 http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 27.90 
Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard


Sam Collins digs in this highly instructive made DVD, into the world of the French Advance structure,Collins does not overload the reader with a
wealth of memorizing lines but simple explains.
The closed structure is slower and ideas and understanding it are  much more important than simple knowing a lot of games with it.
Going throw these lessons will help to understand the key concepts of the French Advance which come back in many other lines as we can
see in the following game: Kogan,Artur (2569) - Tiviakov,Sergei (2546) [E15]
Politiken Cup Helsingor (10), 27.07.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 c6 5.Bg2 d5 6.0-0 Be7 7.Nc3 Bb7 8.Nd2 0-0 9.e4 Na6 10.e5 Nd7 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.Nf3 Nc7
13.Re1 b5 14.h4 b4 15.Ne2 a5 16.Bg5 Ba6 17.Qc2 Nb6 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.Ng5 g6 20.Nf4 Rac8 21.Rad1 a4 22.Qb1 Nc4
23.Bf1 a3 24.Nh5 Nxb2 25.Nf6+ Kg7 26.Bxa6 Nxa6 27.Ngxh7 Rh8 28.Rc1 Rxc1 29.Rxc1 b3 30.Rc3 bxa2 31.Qxa2 Nc4
32.Ng5 Rb8 33.Qe2 Rb2 34.Nh5+ Kf8 35.Nh7+ Ke8 36.Qd1 Qb4 37.Ng7+ Kd8 38.Qf3 a2 39.Qxf7 a1Q+ 40.Kg2 Rxf2+
41.Qxf2 Qab2 42.Nxe6+ Ke7 43.Rxc4 0-1.
Nimzowitsch brought a lot of new ideas in the Advance and it is known that the great Steinitz liked to played it too.
Included is a extra file with over 1200 entries where I found the following beauty from the legendary: Tal,Mihail (2635) - Hecht,Hans Joachim (2515) [C06]
Nice ol (Men) fin-A Nice (3), 17.06.1974
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.c3 c5 6.Ngf3 Nc6 7.Bd3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Nb6 9.a3 Bd7 10.b3 a5 11.Bb2 a4 12.b4 Na7
13.Qe2 Be7 14.h4 h5 15.Rh3 g6 16.Rg3 Rc8 17.Ng5 Bxg5 18.Rxg5 Qe7 19.Nf3 Kd8 20.Rc1 Rxc1+ 21.Bxc1 Kc7 22.Qc2+ Kb8
23.Qc5 Qxc5 24.dxc5 Nc4 25.Rg3 Nc6 26.Bxc4 dxc4 27.Ng5 Be8 28.Rc3 Ka7 29.Bf4 Ne7 30.Rxc4 Bc6 31.f3 Rf8 32.Bc1 Nf5
33.Rf4 Rd8 34.Nxf7 Rd3 35.Nd6 Rd5 36.Bb2 Ka6 37.g4 Nxd6 38.exd6 Rd3 39.Ke2 Rb3 40.Bc1 e5 41.Rf7 e4 42.gxh5 exf3+
43.Kd2 f2 44.Rxf2 gxh5 45.Rf5 Kb5 46.Rd5 1-0.
Collins is great expert on this line,so please see his book The French Advance,Everyman Chess 2007.
Video running time: 3 hrs. 36 min.
Conclusion: Truly there is no better way to learn the structures of the French Advance!

The English Defence
by Dejan Bojkov
2013
 http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 27.90 
Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard

The great Dejan Bojkov does not only provide the reader with an excellent explanation of the strategies and tactics of the English Defence but presents it all
with a Hugh amount of theoretical knowledge, all on Grandmaster view!
All material is packed into 20 heavy loaded video files which are good for over 5 hours video entertainment.
In video six I found the following lines: 1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.d5 Ba6 4.e4 [4.Nd2;
4.b3 Qf6;
4.Qa4 Nf6 (4...exd5 5.cxd5 Qe7 6.Bd2 Nf6 7.Nc3 Bb7 8.e4 Nxd5) 5.Nc3 Bd6 6.e4 exd5 7.exd5 (7.cxd5 Bxf1) 7...Qe7+ 8.Be3
(8.Nge2; 8.Be2 c6) 8...Ng4] 4...exd5 5.exd5 [5.cxd5 Bxf1 6.Kxf1] 5...Nf6 6.Nc3 [6.a3 Bd6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.Nc3 Re8+ 9.Nge2 c6
10.0-0 cxd5 11.cxd5 Bb7] 6...Bb4 7.Qe2+ [7.Bd2 0-0;
7.Bd3 0-0 (7...Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 0-0 9.Be3 Re8 10.Nf3 Ng4) 8.Nge2 c6 9.0-0 cxd5 10.Nxd5 ns (10.cxd5) 10...Nxd5 11.cxd5 Qf6]
7...Be7 [7...Qe7] 8.Qc2 [8.Bf4 0-0 9.0-0-0 Re8 10.Qc2 d6 (10...Bb7 11.Nf3 a5 12.Kb1 Na6) 11.Nf3 c5 12.Bd3 (12.dxc6 Nxc6
13.Be2 Rc8) 12...Nbd7 13.g4 Nf8 14.h3 Bb7] 8...c6 9.Bd3 [9.Bf4 cxd5 10.cxd5 Bxf1 (10...Bb4 11.Bxa6 Nxa6) ] 9...cxd5 [9...Bb7
10.dxc6 Nxc6] 10.cxd5 Bb7 11.Bc4 Na6 12.Nf3 Nb4 13.Qb3 Rc8 14.0-0 Qc7 15.Nd2 0-0 16.a3 Na6 Line.
The fans of Tony Miles will be pleased with lines as: 1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.d5 Qh4 4.e3 Nf6 5.a3 [5.dxe6 fxe6;
5.Nf3 Qh5 6.Nc3 Bb7 (6...Bb4) ;
5.Nc3 Bb4] 5...Bb7 6.Nf3 [6.Nc3 exd5 7.cxd5 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3 Bxd5 10.Qxc7 Nc6] 6...Qh5 7.dxe6 fxe6
8.Be2 Qg6 [8...Bd6 9.0-0 Bxf3] 9.Nh4 [9.0-0 Bd6] 9...Qh6 10.Bf3 Nc6 11.g3 g5 12.e4 [12.Ng2 g4 13.Bxg4
 (13.Be2 Ne5 14.0-0 Nf3+ 15.Bxf3 Bxf3) 13...Nxg4 14.Qxg4 Ne5] 12...Ne5 13.Bg2 Qg7 14.f4 [14.Nf3 Nxf3+ 15.Bxf3 g4 16.Bg2 Nxe4;
14.Bxg5 Qxg5 15.f4 Qg7 16.fxe5 Ng4] 14...gxh4 15.fxe5 Ng4 16.Bf4 0-0-0 17.Nc3 Bc5 18.Qd2 Nxe5 19.b4 h3 Line.
Conclusion: A classic battle manual!

1.e4 - How to tame the Alekhine, Scandinavian and Pirc
by Viktor Bologan
2013
 http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 29.90 
Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard

Grandmaster Viktor Bologan helps you in this DVD to tackle the Pirc,Alekhine and Scandinavian Defence.
For example against the Pirc Bologan the Austrian Attack: 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.e5 Ng4
 8.e6 fxe6 9.Ng5 Bxb5 10.Nxe6 Bxd4 11.Nxb5 Qa5+ 12.Qd2 Bf2+ 13.Kd1 Ne3+ 14.Ke2 Qxb5+ 15.Kxf2 Ng4+ 16.Kg3 Qd7
17.Re1 Nh6 18.Qc3 Nf5+ 19.Kf2 Rg8 20.Qh3 h6 21.Qb3 Rh8 22.Qd3 h5 23.Bd2,Alekhine is handled with the move 3.Nf3
 for example we can reach lines as 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 e6 6.h3 Bh5 7.c4 Nb6 8.exd6 cxd6 9.Nc3 Be7
10.d5 0-0 11.dxe6 fxe6 12.Nd4 Bf7 13.0-0 Nc6 14.Be3 e5 15.Nf5 Nxc4 16.Nh6+ gxh6 17.Bxc4 Bxc4 18.Qg4+ Bg5 19.Qxc4+ Kh8
20.Rad1 Bxe3 21.fxe3 Rxf1+ 22.Qxf1 Qe7 23.Ne4 Rd8 24.Qb5.
Against the Scandinavian we feel again the touch of a grandmaster: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bd2 Bg4
7.Nb5 Qb6 8.c4 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Qxd4 11.Qxb7 Qe4+ 12.Qxe4 Nxe4 13.Be3 e6 14.g3 f5 15.Bg2 0-0-0
16.Bxe4 Bb4+ 17.Ke2 fxe4 18.Rhd1.
Included throw all files are instructive alternatives as the move 3…Qd6, 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 Nf6
5.Nf3 a6 6.g3 Bg4 7.Bg2 Nc6 8.0-0 0-0-0 9.d5 Nb4 10.h3 Bh5 11.Bf4 Qc5 12.Be3 Qd6 13.Qe2 Nfxd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5
15.Rad1 Qe6 16.g4 Bg6 17.Ng5 Qe5 18.Rxd5 Rxd5 19.f4 Qd6 20.f5 h6 21.Ne4.
These alternatives are very useful to beat club and tournament players,pleasant to mention are the explanations of the played strategies.
Conclusion: One of those super made ChessBase Openings DVD’s!