CHESSBOOK REVIEWS

Latest book reviews of 1 January  2014
BOOKS REVIEWS BY JOHN ELBURG.

Wilhelminalaan 33 

7261 BP RUURLO 

The Netherlands.
John Elburg


                                 Chess Books & Magazine's

Attack & Defence by Jacob Aagaard
2013
Quality Chess
304 pages
Price €24,99
ISBN 978-1-907982-69-9



Again there is a lot to learn from the master of explanation Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard,who has the unique talent to transform, important
 chess strategies as in this book: Attack and Defence into instructive words.
The material is packed into eleven  sections where I found useful explanations on important  subjects as Prophylaxis,Kill
zone,Evolution,Kil zone and more.
A large part of this book is divided to tough exercises but with highly instructive explanations as for example on the move
order: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5 3.Na4 Bxf2+ 4.Kxf2 Qh4+ 5.Ke3 Qf4+ 6.Kd3 d5 7.Kc3 and taken from the game Maurits
Wind – Thomas Winckelmann,corr 1993.
Going throw these exercises will help you to develop a clear structured method of thinking, which will help you to become a
player of master strength.
Included is the brilliant game Aronian,Levon (2802) - Anand,Viswanathan (2772) [D46]
Tata Steel-A 75th Wijk aan Zee (4), 15.01.2013
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qc2 Bb7 11.a3 Rc8
12.Ng5 c5 13.Nxh7 Ng4 14.f4 cxd4 15.exd4 Bc5 16.Be2 Nde5 17.Bxg4 Bxd4+ 18.Kh1 Nxg4 19.Nxf8 f5 20.Ng6 Qf6
21.h3 Qxg6 22.Qe2 Qh5 23.Qd3 Be3 0-1,where Aagaard writes: A delightful end to one of the best attacking games of the
21st century.It is of course disappointing that the black rook did not make a star appearance in the end,and instead has to watch
the queen and minor pieces decide the game;but this include all the pieces in the attack was always meant to be understood
intelligently. Mate comes first and only idiots will try to make it sound like we don’t understand this.
By the way the brilliant 19….f5 was found by Anand over the board.
Conclusion: A superb learning book!

Playing the French by Jacob Aagaard & Nikolaos Ntirlis
2013
Quality Chess
464 pages
Price €24,99
ISBN 978-1-907982-36-1



The two authors, computer expert Nikolaos  Ntirlis and Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard come here with a deeply made move to move
 repertoire book based for Black on the McCutcheon
: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.e5 h6 6.Bd2 Bxc3 7.bxc3 Ne4 8.Qg4 Kf8 9.Bd3 Nxd2 10.Kxd2 and the well known
 Tarrasch Variation 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5.
Between these lines lay a wealth of alternatives, discoveries and video suggestions, from Openings DVD’s as the two well known
 killer DVD’s from Simon Williams.
Dead is the Milner Barry Gambit: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bd7 8.0-0 Nxd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4
10.Nc3 a6 11.Qe2 Ne7 12.Kh1 Nc6 13.f4 Nb4 14.Rd1 Bc5 15.Bxa6 Qf2 16.Qxf2 Bxf2 17.Bb5 Bxb5 18.Nxb5 Rxa2 19.Rxa2 Nxa2
20.Bd2 Kd7 21.Ra1 Rc8 22.Na3 b5 23.Rxa2 b4 24.g3 bxa3 25.bxa3 Bd4 and black is going to have two connected passed pawns,while
white’s passed a pawn can easily stopped..
Both authors give as alternative 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bd7 8.0-0 Nxd4 9.Nbd2!? Ne7
10.Nxd4 Qxd4 11.Nf3 Qb6 12.Be3 Qd8 13.Ng5,This is the recommendation for white in The Modern French,but the two authors
write:But in my opinion it only gives white compensation,not an advantage.
The situation is highly unclear,but not at all bad for black.
Popular in Greece is the line 1.e4 e6 2.b3 but after
2…d5 3.Bb2 dxe4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.g4 Bd7 6.Bg2 Bc6 7.g5 Nd5 8.Nxe4 h6 9.g6 f5 10.Ng3 Nf4 11.Bxc6+ Nxc6 12.Qf3 Nxg6
13.Qh5 Qg5 it is black who has all the fun.
Not so good is 3….Nf6 4.e5 Ng8 5.d4 c5 6.c3 and white has an Advance Variation with the rather useful b2-b3 and Bb2 as extra
moves.White can follow up with Nf3,Bd3 and 0-0 with good chances of an edge.
Conclusion: A very important reference work on the French!


A Vigorous Chess Opening Repertoire for Black
Tackling 1.e4 with 1…e5
by Or Cohen
2013
New in Chess
http://www.newinchess.com/
319  pages
Price € 23,95
ISBN: 978-90-569-1439-4



The Fide master Or Cohen does not only provides you in this book with a well thought repertoire after the moves  1.e4e e5,but also helps you to
become an expert on the Russian game.
The main part of this book {part 2} well counted 219 pages, is completely divided
to the Petroff Defence.
Cohen gives a complete repertoire detailed pictured and overfilled with latest developments, and often based on his own experiences, which makes
 this book very special.
Dangerous is for example the move order: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5 5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.Nxd7 Bxd7 7.Nc3 this move has been played
 recently in the past two years and I could not find this tricky move in the book from Sakaev.
The once feared Cochrane Gambit is waved away with the moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7 Kxf7 5.d4 c5 6.dxc5 d5 7.e5 Ng4
8.Bc4 Bxc5 9.Qxd5+ Qxd5 10.Bxd5+ Kf8 11.Nc3 Nxe5 12.Bf4 Nbc6 but more tricky is 5.Nc3!
Lines as 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Qd2 don’t bring much but black must be aware how to
handle it,after 7…0-0 8.Qf4 Cohen comes with the suggestion 8…d5!
Against the King’s Gambit Cohen goes for 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5 3.Nf3 d6 4.c3 Bb6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Nf6
7.Nc3 Nc6 8.e5 dxe5 9.fxe5 Nd5 10.Bg5 f6 11.exf6 Nxf6 12.Qe2+ Qe7 13.d5 Qxe2+ 14.Bxe2 Ne7 15.Bb5+ Bd7
16.Bxd7+ Nxd7 17.0-0-0 h6 with a even game.
This all is well  explained at the hand of 108 model games.
Conclusion: This repertoire book is overloaded with creative ideas!

Aron Nimzowitsch 1928-1935 Annotated Games & Essays
by Aron Nimzowitsch, Rudolf Reinhardt
2013
New in Chess
http://www.newinchess.com/
414  pages
Price € 34,95
ISBN: 978-90-569-1416-5


Rudolf Reinhardt 1937-2006 has compiled and collected every game and article  that the great Nimzowitsch has played and written after 1928.
Often it comes with original notes,where many them  have never seen English text before.
In some way Reinhardt’s collection starts where Nimzowitsch’s second volume of Chess Praxis ends.
One of these small and forgotten tournaments in this book is the Nordic Chess Congress of Copenhagen 1934.
In September 1934 Skakbladet reports on the course of the tournament:
The fight for first place and the Congress championship developed a mighty struggle between Nimzowitsch and Lundin
.As expected,each won in the first two rounds,Nimzowitsch against Rasmussen and Lie,Lundin against Hage and Enevoldsen.
The third round was difficult for both,as Nimzowitsch played Stoltz and Lundin played Krause.
Stoltz,Goesta - Nimzowitsch,Aaron [E32]
Nordisk Skakforbund Copenhagen (3), 20.08.1934
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.g3 0-0 7.Bg2 e5 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.0-0 Bxc3 10.Qxc3 Qe7 11.b3 Bg4
12.Bb2 Rfe8 13.h3 Bf5 14.Nh4 Bd7 15.Kh2 Rad8 16.Rad1 e4 17.Rd5 Qf8 18.Nf5 Nxd5 19.Nh6+ Kh8 20.cxd5 Nb4
21.Nxf7+ Qxf7 22.Qxb4 Qxd5 23.Qc3 Qf7 24.Qxc7 Be6 25.Qa5 b6 26.Qb4 Bd5 27.Bd4 Rc8 28.Qd2 Kg8 29.Rd1 Bb7
30.h4 h6 31.Bh3 Rcd8 32.Qe3 Bc8 33.Bg2 Bg4 34.Rd2 Qe6 35.Bb2 Rxd2 36.Qxd2 Qd7 37.Qf4 e3 38.fxe3 Bxe2
39.Bd4 Bb5 40.Bh3 Qe7 41.Bf5 Bc6 42.Qg4 Qf7 43.h5 Re7 44.Qg6 Qxg6 45.Bxg6 Be8 46.Bxe8 Rxe8 47.a4 Rc8 48.g4 Rc1 49.a5 bxa5 50.Bxa7 Rb1 0-1.
This game received the shared brilliancy price of 100 kroner,together with Stahlberg – Andersen.
Nimzowitsch later wrote: One of the most difficult games I’ve played in the last year,
rBut there are more from these small tournaments in this book,which Nimzowitsch played at the end of his life,so as his match
against Stahlberg,where Nimzowitsch explaines:After the first half of my match against Stahlberg,I was clearly in the led with 2  ½ -1 ½ points.
By no means had I played uniminatively and otherwise I did’t  appear to be in danger.I didn’t feel entirely confident in my handling of the
opening,but it seemded that I was able to amply compensation for this grievance with my better technique.
But in the second half of the match I was disabused of this notiob.It turned out my weakness in the opening was greater than supposed,and
that I was in no way the superior player in terms of technique.Thus,I lost the fifth game in the opening,but the sixth and seventh because I
fell short tactically in the defence.In the sixth game I committed a gross error in a clearly drawn position and had to resign immediately.
In Stahlberg’s playing style I was struck most of all by a new {for him} and very fortunate mix of methodical positional play and a breezy
way of knuckling down.
Enjoyabe for all Nimzowitsch fans is the chapter: Various articles by Nimzowitsch,where I found readable contributions as Attack or
Defence,The self criticism of the fighter,Lasker’s all encompassing playing style,The almost combinational game,The type of drawing
player a la Capablanca as a modern game of deception,The mistake and sin of omission,On the significance of prophylaxis to chess strategy and chess psychology,Is Simplicity beutifull,The Russian game style of old and now,How grandmasters train,In memory of Michael Chigorin and Nimzowitsch plays King’s Gambit!
Included is a chapter on Numzowitsch as a Simulateous player where I found the following beauty: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.g4 Bd7
5.h4 Na6 6.h5 Qc7 7.f4 Nh6 8.f5 0-0-0 9.Bxa6 Qa5+ 10.Nc3 Qxa6 11.Bxh6 gxh6 12.Qe2 Qb6 13.0-0-0 e6 14.f6 Kb8 15.a3 Qa5
16.Rh3 Rc8 17.Nb1 c5 18.dxc5 Qxc5 19.Rc3 Qb6 20.Rxc8+ Bxc8 21.Nf3 Bc5 22.c3 Be3+ 23.Kc2 Bd7 24.b3 Bb5 25.Qe1 Rc8
26.a4 Bd7 27.Rd3 Bc5 28.Qd2 Bf8 29.Nd4 a6 30.Qe3 Qa5 31.Kb2 b5 32.b4 Qc7 33.a5 Kb7 34.Na3 Be8 35.Nac2 Bd7
36.Nb3 Be8 37.Rd4 Bd7 38.Nd2 Be8 39.Nf3 Bd7 40.Na1 Be8 41.Nc2 Bd7 42.Qd2 Be8 43.Ne3 Bd7 44.Rf4 Kb8 45.Qd4 Kb7
46.Nd2 Be8 47.Rf1 Bd7 48.Nf3 Be8 49.Rc1 Bd7 50.Rc2 Qd8 51.Qd3 Rc4 52.Nxc4 bxc4 53.Qxh7 Be8 54.Qg8 and
black resigns,Nimzowitsch – Linblad Simultaneous game Arhus 27-10.1932 where Nimzowitsch played against 26 players +21=4-1.
Conclusion: This book gives you the feeling that Nimzowitsch has written it!   


Chess DVD's

Houdini 4 Pro
2013
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 99.90
System requirements: Minimum: Pentium III 1 GHz, 2 GB RAM, Windows Vista, XP (Service Pack 3), 7/8, DirectX9, 256 MB graphics card, DVD-ROM
drive, Windows Media Player 9 and Internet access for program activation, access to Playchess.com, Let’s Check and program updates.
Recommended: PC Intel i5 (Quadcore), 4 GB RAM, Windows 8.1, DirectX10, 512 MB graphics card, 100% DirectX10-compatible
sound card, Windows Media Player 11, DVD-ROM drive and Internet access for program activation, access to Playchess.com,
Let's Check and program updates



A little more expensive than deep Fritz4 but Houdini 4 is at the moment  the strongest chess engine that money can buy.
The engine, written by the Belgian Robert Houdart, is known for finding moves that no other engine is able too.
For example see the possibility of  the improved “tactics mode” which changes Houdini 4 into a tactical monster.
Pleasant   to mention is that it supports the new Syzygy tablebases, which represent the complete analysis of all endgames up
to 6 pieces.
This is gold for all who are interested to find the best possible move.
This engine is able to support up to 32 processor cores and 256 GB of hash memory and that makes it really  incredible.
For example look at the following game from Bobby Fischer: Keres,Paul - Fischer,Robert James [D00]
Candidates Tournament Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade (15), 03.10.1959
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.Nbd2 c5 5.c3 cxd4 6.cxd4 d5 7.Bxb8 Rxb8 8.Qa4+ Bd7 9.Qxa7 Ne4 10.e3 Nxd2
11.Nxd2 e5 12.Nb3 0-0 13.Qc5 Rc8 14.Qb4 Re8 15.Be2 exd4 16.Nxd4 Qh4 17.Qxb7 Bxd4 18.Qxd7 Bxb2
19.Rd1 Bc3+ 20.Kf1 d4 21.exd4 Qe4 22.Qg4 Qc2 23.g3 Qxa2 24.Bb5 Qd5 25.Bxe8 Qxh1+ 26.Ke2 Rxe8+ 27.Kd3 Be1 0-1,
Houdini 4 has no problem to find 20…h5! but Deep Fritz4 could not find it!
Houdini 4 comes with the new Deep Fritz 64-bit program interface (+ 32 bit program interface) Online access to the world’s largest analysis
 database “Let’s Check”, with over 200 million extensively analyzed positions.Access to ChessBase engine cloud Premium membership to
a rustenPlaychess.com (6 months) Database with over 1.5 million games etc.
Conclusion: There is no better investment!

Mega Database 2014
2013
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 159.90
System requirements
1 GHz Pentium PC, Windows 8, Windows 7/Vista/XP, 512 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, ChessBase 11 or 12, Internet connection required for online updates.


MegaDatabase2014 comes with over 5.7 million games {exactly counted 57924434} and all taken from the year 1560 –2013.
Over 67,500 games cover excellent annotations from some of the best players in the world,all with ChessBase opening classification,which is good for over 100,000 key positions
These key positions give direct access to players, tournaments, middlegame themes, and endgames.
Mega 2014 also holds a new edition of the playerbase  but it requires ChessBase 12.
The player index now contains over  293,000 entries,350000 names and 33000 pictures.
Incl. Online Mega-Update 2014: With ChessBase 11 or 12 you can download games for Mega 2014 for the whole year, a total of approximately 200,000! That means your Mega 2014 will remain up to date from January to December.
Here a example of play: Carlsen,Magnus (2861) - Sokolov,Ivan (2663) [C78]
Tata Steel-A 75th Wijk aan Zee (6), 18.01.2013
[Carlsen,M]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.d3 Bc5 8.a4 0-0 9.Bg5 [The complications that arise after Die Komplikation, die nach 9.Nc3 Na5 have been working well for Black, as far as I know. The text is a more positional approach, aiming for a slight advantage. entstehen, haben für Schwarz gut funktoniert, soweit ich weiß. Der Text ist eine positionellere Herangehensweise, die auf einen kleinen Vorteil abzielt.] 9...h6 10.Bh4 d6 11.c3 Qe7 Ivan went for this after a bit of thought. I assumed the plan was to go ¤d8-e6 at some point, while staying flexible and keeping the option of going g5 at the appropriate juncture. Dies wählte Ivan nach ein wenig Nachdenken. Ich vermute, der Plan war, ¤d8-e6 an irgendeiner Stelle zu spielen und dabei flexibel zu bleiben und sich die Möglichkeit zu g5 im passenden Moment vorzubehalten.
12.Na3 This is just awful, especially in combination with my next move. Das ist einfach schrecklich, vor allem in Kombination mit meinem nächsten Zug. [12.Nbd2 would have been the sane choice. wäre die gesunde Wahl gewesen.;
12.Kh1 was played in one of the three games that reached this position. It probably makes more sense than what I did. wurde in einer der drei Partien gespielt, die diese Stellung erreichten. Es ist vermutlich sinnvoller als das, was ich tat.] 12...Na5 Of course.
Natürlich. 13.Bc2 [I had assumed that Ich hatte angenommen, dass 13.axb5 Nxb3 14.Qxb3 would work out for me, but Black actually has several good options here, including the simple für mich funktionieren würde, tatsächlich aber hat Schwarz hier sogar mehrere gute Möglichkeiten, darunter das einfache 14...Rfb8 15.Qc2 (15.bxa6 Bxe4 16.Qd1 Bxf3 17.Qxf3 g5 18.b4 Bb6 and ...¦xa6 und ...¦xa6) 15...Bxa3 16.Rxa3 axb5 and Black is absolutely fine. und Schwarz steht absolut ordentlich.;
13.Ba2 was another option, but after the simple war eine andere Option, aber nach dem einfachen 13...Bxa3 14.bxa3 c5 it appeared to me that Black would have too easy a game, with c4 coming up, so I decided to keep the tension at the cost of two tempi. schien mir, dass Schwarz, mit bevorstehendem c4, zu leichtes Spiel haben würde, daher beschloss ich, auf Kosten zweier Tempi die Spannung aufrechtzuerhalten.] 13...b4 14.Nb1 g5 15.Bg3 Nh5 Obviously, Black is doing well now. However, the white position still has some long-term potential, especially based on the potentially offside knight on a5 (spoiler alert: it did not make another move in the game). Offenkundig steht Schwarz jetzt gut. Allerdings hat die weiße Stellung dennoch langfristiges Potential, vor allem basierend auf dem potentiell abseits stehenden Springer auf a5 (Spielverderberalarm: Er machte in der Partie keinen Zug mehr). 16.Nbd2 Ba7 17.Re1 bxc3 18.bxc3 Nxg3 19.hxg3 Qf6 20.Qe2 Rfb8 21.Rab1 Bc8 22.Nf1 It seems that White is not really worse here, but it was only after the next move that I really started to hope for something more. Es scheint, dass Weiß hier nicht wirklich schlechter steht, aber erst nach dem nächsten Zug begann ich tatsächlich, auf etwas mehr zu hoffen. 22...Rxb1 In slight time pressure Ivan decided to simplify. However, the double rook exchange loses crucial time, allowing me to get in ¤e3 and d4. In slight time pressure Ivan decided to simplify. However, the double rook exchange loses crucial time, allowing me to get in ¤e3 and d4. [22...Be6 or most other sensible moves would have been absolutely fine. oder die meisten anderen vernünftigen Züge wären absolut in Ordnung gewesen.] 23.Rxb1 Rb8 24.Rxb8 Bxb8 25.Ne3 Ba7 [25...Nc6 26.Nh2 with ¤g4 to come would also have been unpleasant. mit ¤g4 im Fahrwasser wäre ebenfalls unangenehm gewesen.] 26.d4 This is the point. I have time to develop an initiative before he can bring the knight and bishop back into play. Das ist der Punkt. Ich habe Zeit, eine Initiative zu entwickeln, bevor er Springer und Läufer wieder ins Spiel bringen kann. 26...g4 This just allows the second knight to jump in. Dies erlaubt nur dem zweiten Springer, ins Spiel einzugreifen. [26...exd4 27.cxd4 Bxd4 28.Nd5 is no good either, but taugt ebenfalls nichts, aber;
26...c6 would still have been reasonably solid. wäre noch immer halbwegs solide gewesen.] 27.Nd5 Qd8 28.Nh4 c6 [28...exd4 29.Nf5 spells disaster for Black. bedeutet Unheil für Schwarz.] 29.Ne3 h5 [29...exd4 30.Nhf5 is similar to the previous note. ist ähnlich der vorigen Anmerkung.] 30.Nhf5 Qf6 31.Qd3 Bb6 32.Bb1 Kf8 33.Ba2 Bc7 I've achieved everything I wanted , but it's still not easy to break through, as attempts to play on the kingside with f3 or f4 did not appear convincing at all. I decided that I probably needed to attack a6 somehow, possibly after including d5 ...c5. Ich habe alles erreicht, was ich wollte, aber es ist immer noch nicht leicht durchzubrigen, denn Versuche, mit f3 oder f4 am Königsflügel zu spielen, schienen keineswegs überzeugend. Ich entschied, dass ich wahrscheinlich irgendwie a6 angreifen müssen, womöglich nach dem Einschub von d5 ...c5.
34.Qb1 Ke8 35.Qb4 Now the bishop is going to d3, and the queen to e2 or f1. Jetzt geht der Läufer nach d3, und die Dame nach e2 oder f1. 35...d5 A tempting move, especially in time-trouble, but now the centralised white pieces will rule. Ein verlockendere Zug, vor allem in Zeitnot, aber jetzt werden die zentralisierten weißen Figuren herrschen. [However, passive defence was also unpromising, for instance Passive Verteidigung war allerdings auch nicht verlockend, zum Beispiel 35...Kf8 36.Bb1 Ke8 37.Bd3 Kf8 38.Qb1 Kg8 39.d5 c5 40.Qf1 Bd7 41.Bxa6 Bxa4 42.Bb5 Bb3 43.f3 gxf3 44.gxf3 and the black kingside is helpless, with all the minor pieces stranded on the queenside. und mit allen Leichtfiguren am Damenflügel gestrandet, ist der schwarze Königsflügel ist hilflos.] 36.Bb1 exd4 37.cxd4 dxe4 38.Bxe4 Be6 This loses, but it is hard to suggest anything better.
Das verliert, aber es fällt schwer, etwas Besseres vorzuschlagen. 39.Qc5 Kd7 40.d5 cxd5 41.Nxd5 Bxd5 42.Qxd5+ Kc8 43.Ne3 Material is still equal, but the difference in activity and king safety is simply too huge. Das Material ist noch ausgeglichen, aber der Unterschied in punkto Aktivität und Königssicherheit ist einfach zu riesig. 43...Qa1+ 44.Kh2 Qxa4 [44...h4 was the one move I needed to calculate, but it is not too hard to see that after war der einzige Zug, den ich berechnen musste, aber es fällt nicht allzu schwer zu sehen, dass nach 45.Qa8+ Kd7 46.Bf5+ Ke7 47.Nd5+ Kd6 48.Nxc7 hxg3+ 49.fxg3 Kxc7 50.Qc8+ Kb6 51.Qd8+ Ka7 52.Qxa5 Qh8+ 53.Kg1 Qd4+ 54.Kf1 White easily escapes the checks and wins. Weiß mühelos den Schachs entkommt und gewinnt.] 45.Qa8+ Kd7 46.Nd5 This one is just lazy. I played it fairly quickly, assuming that ...¥d8, which he did in fact play, was the only move. Der ist einfach faul. Ich spielte ihn recht schnell in der Annahme, dass ...¥d8, was er in der Tat auch spielte, der einzige Zug war. [46.Bf5+ Ke7 47.Qa7 Qc6 48.Qd4 Centralisation! And the threat of ¤d5 is lethal. Zentralisation! Und die Drohung ¤d5 ist tödlich.] 46...Bd8 [46...Qc6 would have allowed Black to fight on for a while, as there is no clear-cut win. hätte Schwarz erlaubt, eine Weile weiterzukämpfen, denn einen klaren Gewinn gibt es nicht.. 47.Qh8 Qe6 48.Qxh5 Kd6;
46...Qd4 47.Qf8 Qe5 48.Qxf7+ Kc6 49.Nf6+ Kb5 50.Bd3+ Kc6 51.Nxh5 would also have prolonged the resistance. hätte den Widerstand ebenfalls verlängert.] 47.Bf5+ Ke8 48.Qc8 This one he evidently missed. There is no defence to ¥d7+ followed by ¤f6+, so he resigned. Das hatte er offenbar übersehen. Es gibt keine Verteidigung gegen ¥d7+ nebst ¤f6+, daher gab er auf. 1-0.
Conclusion: Must have material!

Fritz Powerbook 2014
2013
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 49.90
System requirements
Pentium PC, 32 MB RAM, Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Fritz 12 or 13, DVD drive.


Fritz PowerBook 2014 holds over 21 millions opening positions, all taken from 1,5 million high class tournament
 games,where  all the relevant information is stored.
As  all the moves that have been played in the position, by players of what average rating, with what success and
performance results.
All the games from which the Fritz PowerBook 2014 were derived are also included on this DVD.
Included on this  DVD is  a small but very exclusive book with the strongest Grandmaster games  (ELO >= 2550)
 from the past 100 years,which is good for over 2 million positions.
Conclusion: Change your Fritz or ChessBase into a openings monster!

The Sicilian Dragon Vol. 1: Main Line with 9. Bc4  by Peter Heine Nielsen
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 idea’s man Grandmaster Pieter Heine Nielsen comes in part one of a series of two with a detailed coverage of
the Sicilian Dragon,one of the most controversial lines in chess  as for example we can see in the following model
game: Kotronias,Vasilios (2615) - Anagnostopoulos,Dimitrios (2515) [B78]
GRE-ch Athens (7), 1996
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Ne5
11.Bb3 Rc8 12.h4 h5 13.Bh6 Bxh6 14.Qxh6 Rxc3 15.bxc3 Qa5 16.Kb1 b5 17.Ne2 Qa3 18.Nf4 Nc4
19.Nd3 d5 20.e5 Nh7 21.Qc1 Qa5 22.Nf4 e6 23.Bxc4 bxc4 24.Qd2 Ba4 25.Ka1 Rd8 26.Ne2 Qc7
27.f4 Nf8 28.Nd4 Nd7 29.g4 hxg4 30.h5 g5 31.f5 1-0.
9.Bc4 is a popular continuation which characterized a stage of development which was introduced
by Smyslov against Rabinovich in the Leningrad v Moscow tournament of 1939,as a way
of avoiding the centre complications of 9.0-0-0 d5 which will be handled in part two.
All important strategies and latest developments are well explained Pieter Heine Nielsen,
But some memorizing is necessarily if you want to play lines as these:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7
10.0-0-0 Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.h4 h5 13.Kb1 Nc4 14.Bxc4 Rxc4 15.Nb3 Qb8 16.Bd4 Rfc8
17.Qe2 e5 18.Be3 b5 19.Na5 b4 20.Nxc4 bxc3 21.b3 Bb5 22.Ka1 Bxc4 23.bxc4 Qb2 and check mate!
A extra database of 200 entries included!
Running time 4 hours 20 min.

The Sicilian Dragon Vol. 2: All Lines except 9.Bc4 by Peter Heine Nielsen
2013
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In this DVD Pieter Heine Nielsen goes for lines without the move 9.Bc4 as for example 9.0-0-0 where black can go for exciting
alternatives too, as for example the pawn sacrifice 9…d5 that was introduced in 1937 by the Russian player Alexander Konstantinov.
In some lines white gets two rooks for the queen but as Pieter Heine Nielsen instructively explains, the initiative lays by black.
As fine model game is:
Salamanca,Juan David (1497) - Arismendi Polanco,Efrain Steven (1668) [B76]
Puerto Boyaca op Puerto Boyaca (6), 29.04.2012
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 d5 10.Nxc6 bxc6
11.exd5 cxd5 12.Nxd5 Nxd5 13.Qxd5 Qc7 14.Qxa8 Bf5 15.Qxf8+ Kxf8 16.Rd2 h5 17.Be2 Kg8 18.Rhd1 Qxh2
19.Bf1 Qc7 20.b3 Qc3 21.Rd8+ Kh7 22.Bd3 Bxd3 23.R8xd3 Qb2+ 24.Kd2 Qxa2 25.Bd4 Bh6+ 26.Be3 Qa5+
27.Ke2 Qe5 28.Kf2 Bxe3+ 29.Rxe3 Qb2 30.Re2 Kg7 31.Rd7 e6 32.Kg3 a5 33.Ra7 Qc3 34.Rxe6 Qxc2
35.Rea6 Qxb3 36.Rxa5 Qb2 37.Rd7 Qb8+ 38.Kh3 h4 39.Rg5 Kh6 40.Rg4 g5 41.Rxf7 Qb1 42.Kh2 Qb8+
43.Kh3 Qb1 44.Kh2 Qb8+ 45.f4 Kg6 46.Rd7 Kf6 47.Rd4 Qb6 48.fxg5+ Kg6 49.Rdf4 Qc7 50.Kh3 Qc3+
51.Rf3 Qe1 52.Rf6+ Kg7 53.Rxh4 Qh1+ 54.Kg3 Qe1+ 55.Kg4 Qe4+ 56.Kh3 Qe3+ 57.Rf3 Qe6+ 58.Rg4 Qe1
59.g6 Qh1+ 60.Kg3 Qe1+ 61.Kh2 Qe5+ 62.Rff4 Qh5+ 63.Kg3 Qe5 64.Kh2 Qh5+ 65.Rh4 Qe5 ½-½.
A interesting alternative runs: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6
9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Nxd5 cxd5 13.Qxd5 Qc7 14.Qc5 Qb7 15.Qa3 Bf5 16.Bd3 Rab8
17.b3 Qc6 18.Bxf5 Qc3 19.Bd3 Rfd8 20.Bc5 a5 21.Rhe1 Rxd3 with winning play!
Included is a Hugh database of 150 entries.
Running time is 4 hours 35 min,and the eye catching CB 12 Reader is included.
Conclusion: Super material packed in highly instructive video feedback files!

The solid Slav Defence
by Nicholas Pert
2013
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The Slav is characterized by the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 and holds more defensive abilities than any other 1.d4 ….defence!
Grandmaster Nicholas Pert has managed to pack a wealth of instructive video lines in this DVD as the game
Wood Green - Pert,N Athanaeum Estes Park, 03.12.2009
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.Qe2 Bg6 10.e4 0-0 11.Bd3 Bh5 12.e5 Nd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Qe3 Be7 15.Ng5 Bxg5 16.Qxg5 Bg6 17.Bxg6 hxg6 18.Qg4 Rc8 19.Ra3 Rc4 20.Bg5 Qb6 21.Rd1 Nxe5 22.Qh4 f6 23.Rh3 fxg5 24.Qh7+ Kf7 25.dxe5 Ke7 26.Rf3 Rxf3 27.gxf3 Kf7 0-1, or Olsson,L (2352) - Pert,N (2493) [D15]
European Teams Gotheburg, 2005
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 b5 6.e5 Nd5 7.a4 e6 8.axb5 Nxc3 9.bxc3 cxb5 10.Ng5 Bb7 11.Qh5 g6 12.Qg4 Be7 13.h4 h6 14.Ne4 Qd5 15.f3 a5 16.h5 g5 17.Be2 Nd7 18.0-0 b4 19.Bd1 b3 20.Ba3 Bxa3 21.Rxa3 f5 22.Nd6+ Qxd6 0-1.
Various possibilities are well explained on this  DVD and seen the large amount own input makes this DVD superb!
Running time 5 hours 20 min (English) 
Included is a extra heavy loaded Slav database from 100 games.
Conclusion: Top class ChessBase Material!

Know the Terrain Vol.6: Isolated Queen's Pawn
by Sam Collins
2013
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Price Euro 29.90
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Grandmaster Sam Collins doe not overloaded with masses of theory but explains at the hand of latest played games the strategies of
the isolated queen’s pawn, and associated structures.
Interesting to mention are the so related sacrifices that we see in these kind of structures as the  h4-h5 and Bxh6 sacrifices, but also the
Rxe6 exchange sacrifices are well explained by Sam Collins.
Here one of Collins video games: Vallejo Pons,Francisco (2693) - Nabaty,Tamir (2559) [D20]
EU-ch 13th Plovdiv (4), 23.03.2012
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 e5 4.Bxc4 exd4 5.exd4 Bd6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.Qe2+ Qe7 8.Qxe7+ Kxe7 9.0-0 Be6 10.Re1 Kd7
11.Ne5+ Bxe5 12.dxe5 Bxc4 13.exf6 gxf6 14.Nc3 c5 15.Bf4 Nc6 16.Red1+ Ke6 17.b3 Ba6 18.Rd6+ Kf5 19.Nd5 Nd4
 20.Rxf6+ Ke4 21.f3+ Kd3 22.Rd1+ Kc2 23.Rd2+ Kb1 24.Nc3+ Ka1 25.a4 1-0
The isolated queen’s pawn structure can be found back in lines as the Nimzo Indian, Queen’s Gambit Accepted, Semi-Tarrasch,
Caro-Kann, Slav, c3-Sicilian, French Tarrasch, Bogo Indian and Petroff.
Here a nice Nimzo structure:
Carlsen,Magnus (2835) - Kramnik,Vladimir (2801) [E36]
Moscow Tal Memorial 7th Moscow (1), 08.06.2012
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 d5 7.e3 b6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bd3 Ba6 10.Bxa6 Nxa6
11.Qd3 Qc8 12.Ne2 c5 13.b3 cxd4 14.Qxd4 Nc5 15.Qd1 Qa6 16.Nf4 d4 17.b4 dxe318.bxc5 Qa5+ 19.Kf1 Rad8
20.Qc2 Qb5+ 21.Ke1 Qa5+ 22.Kf1 Qb5+ 23.Ke1 Qa5+ ½-½.
Included is a extra database from 4574 games  and the video running time:4 h 35 min (English).
Conclusion: Collins helps you to understand chess!

Chess Endgames 14 - The golden guidelines of endgame play
by Dr. Karsten Müller
2013
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E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 29.90
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This DVD forms the final part of Karsten Müller’s monumental series on the endgame,
where he provides the user with endgames as pawn endings to endings with rook and minor piece against rook and minor piece.
But a good old fashion bishop ending is included too as we can see in the following model game: 03.03 Short,N (2698) - Rublevsky,S (2693) [A28]
13th Karpov GM Poikovsky RUS (1), 28.09.2012
[Müller,Karsten]
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qb3 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 Qe7 7.Be2 d5 8.0-0 d4 9.exd4 exd4 10.Qa3 Qxa3 11.bxa3 Bf5 12.Re1 0-0-0
13.Bb2 Rhe8 14.Bf1 Be4 15.Ng5 Bg6 16.Rxe8 Rxe8 17.Nf3 Ne4 18.d3 Nc5 19.Nxd4 Nxd3 20.Nxc6 Nxb2 21.Nxa7+ Kd7 22.Nb5 c6
23.Nd4 Kc7 24.Rc1 Ra8 25.f4 Rd8 26.Nb3 Rd1 27.Kf2 f6 28.Rxd1 Nxd1+ 29.Ke2 Nc3+ 30.Ke3 Bb1 31.Nc5 g6 32.Kd2 Ne4+ 33.Nxe4 Bxe4
34.c5 Bd5 35.Kc3 Bxa2 36.Bd3 Be6 37.a4 Kd7 38.Kd4 Bb3 39.a5 Ke6 40.Be4 Kd7 41.g4 Ba4 42.h4 Ke7 43.g5 Bb5 44.Bg2 Kf7 45.Bh3 Kg7
46.Bc8 Ba6 47.Ke4 Kf7 48.f5 Kg7 49.Kf4 Kf7 50.fxg6+ hxg6 51.Ke4 Kg7 52.gxf6+ Kxf6 53.Kf4 Kf7 54.Ke5 Ke7 55.Bg4 Bc4 56.Bf3 Bd3
 57.Bg4 Bc4 58.Bd1! [58.Bf3?! Bd3] 58...Be6 [58...Bd3 59.Ba4 Ba6 (59...Kd7 60.Kf6 Kc7 61.Bb3 Kb8 62.Bf7 Ka7 63.Bxg6 Be2 64.Kg5 Ka6
65.Bf5 Kxa5 66.Bg4 Bd3 67.h5 b5 68.cxb6 Kxb6 69.Bf5+-) 60.Bc2 Kf7 61.Kd6 Kg7 62.Be4 Kh6 63.Bxc6 bxc6 64.Kxc6 Kh5 65.Kb6 Bc8
66.a6+-] 59.Bc2! Bf7 60.Bd3 Be8 61.Be4 Bf7 62.Bxc6 [62.Bxc6 bxc6 63.a6+-] 1-0
Fascinating stuff brought together by one of the greatest endgame experts of this time.
The first part of this DVD is loaded with useful advises as “do not rush” and the rook belongs behind passed pawns and not in front of it.
For example see the following rook ending from Alekhine: 07.01 John,Walter - Alekhine,Alexander [A06]
DSB-17.Kongress Hamburg (11), 1910
[Karsten Müller]
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.e3 Nc6 4.b3 Bg4 5.Be2 e6 6.Bb2 Nf6 7.0-0 Qc7 8.a3 Bd6 9.h3 h5 10.Nbd2 cxd4 11.exd4 Bf4 12.Re1 Bxf3 13.Nxf3 g5
14.Ne5 0-0-0 15.g3 Nxe5 16.gxf4 Ng6 17.fxg5 Ne4 18.Bc1 Nf4 19.Bf1 Nxg5 20.Re3 Rhg8 21.Kh1 f6 22.Qd2 Ne4 23.Rxe4 dxe4 24.Qxf4 Qc3
25.Rb1 Qe1 26.Qc7+ Kxc7 27.Bf4+ e5 28.Rxe1 exf4 29.Rxe4 f3 30.Kh2 Rg7 31.Rf4 Rdg8 32.h4 Rg4 33.Rxf3 Rxh4+ 34.Bh3 Rxd4 35.Rxf6 Rd2
36.c4 Rg7 37.c5 Rb2 38.b4 Rb3 39.Rf8 Kc6 40.Bg2+ Kb5 41.Rb8 Ka4 42.Ra8 Kxa3 43.Rxa7+ Kxb4 44.c6 Rxg2+ 45.Kxg2 bxc6 46.f4 Kc4
47.f5 Rb5 48.Rc7 Kd5 49.Rh7 Ke4 50.Rh6 c5 51.Rxh5 c4 52.Rh4+ Kd3 53.Rh3+ Kd2 54.Rf3? Häufiger Fehler laut Nunn in Nunn's Chess Endings 2.
[54.f6 Flexibilität 54...c3 (54...Rf5 55.Rf3 Rxf3 56.Kxf3 c3 57.f7 c2 58.f8Q c1Q=) 55.Rh8 Rf5 56.Rd8+ Kc1 57.Rd6 c2 58.Kg3=] 54...c3 55.Rf2+
Kd3 56.Rf3+ Kd4 57.f6 [57.Rf4+ Kd3 58.Rf3+ Kc4 59.Rf4+ Kb3 60.f6 c2 61.Rf1 Kb2 62.f7 Rb8 63.f8Q Rxf8 64.Rxf8 c1Q-+] 57...c2
58.f7 [58.Rf4+ Kc3 59.Rf3+ Kb2 60.Rf2 Kb1 61.Rxc2 Kxc2 62.Kg3 Rf5-+] 58...c1Q 59.f8Q Qd2+ 60.Rf2?! [60.Kg3!? Qg5+ 61.Kh3 Qh5+
62.Kg2 Qg4+ 63.Rg3 Rb2+ 64.Qf2+ Rxf2+ 65.Kxf2 Qf4+ 66.Rf3 Qd2+ 67.Kf1 Ke4-+] 60...Qg5+ 61.Kh3 [61.Kh1 Qh5+ 62.Rh2 Rb1+
63.Kg2 Qg4+ 64.Kf2 Rb2+ 65.Ke1 Qg1+ 66.Qf1 Rb1+ 67.Kd2 Qe3+ 68.Kc2 Qb3+ 69.Kd2 Qb2#] 61...Qh5+ 62.Kg3 [62.Kg2 Rg5+ 63.Kf1 Qd1#] 62...Rg5+ [62...Rg5+ 63.Kf4 Qg4#] 0-1
Video running time: 7 hours 27 min and available in two languages German and English.
Conclusion: Super endgame material!

Power Play 20: Test Your Attacking Chess
by Daniel King
2013
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E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 29.90
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The ChessBase movie star Grandmaster Daniel King comes with a smashing attacking’s  DVD based on killing kings attacks, pleasantly
  packed in highly instructive video files where the user is invited to play and win.
Included is also a impressive attacking base from 50 entries where I found this game from Jan Timman,who became later the second best
 of the world but here he goes down:
Rogoff,Kenneth (2410) - Timman,Jan H (2410) [B08]
Malaga Malaga (5), 1971
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Be2 Nf6 5.Nc3 0-0 6.0-0 Bg4 7.Be3 Nc6 8.a4 e5 9.d5 Ne7 10.a5 a6 11.Qd2 Bd7 12.Ne1 Ne8
13.f3 f5 14.g3 Nf6 15.Nd3 Rf7 16.Ra3 Qf8 17.Rb3 Bc8 18.Kg2 h6 19.Qe1 g5 20.Bd2 g4 21.Nf2 h5 22.fxg4 hxg4 23.Rb4 c5
24.Rc4 f4 25.gxf4 exf4 26.Bxf4 Ng6 27.Bg3 Nh5 28.Nd3 Ngf4+ 29.Nxf4 Nxf4+ 30.Bxf4 Rxf4 31.e5 dxe5 32.Bd3 Bd7
33.Qe4 Bf5 34.Qe2 Re8 35.Bxf5 Rxf5 36.Rxg4 Rxf1 37.Qxf1
Qd6 38.Qf5 Rf8 39.Qg6 Qxg6 40.Rxg6 Rf4 41.Ne2 Rf7 42.Ng3 Kh7 43.Rb6 Bh6 44.Ne4 Be3 45.Re6 Kg7 46.Rxe5 Bd4
47.Rg5+ Kh6 48.d6 1-0.
Running time 4 hours 40 min.
For the German readers is a special download file.
Conclusion: Smasshing!              


ChessBase Magazine issue 157
2013
December/January
 http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
ISSN 1432-8992
Price Euro 19.95  




The main file of this DVD {Tournaments} is good for 380 entries where a small 27 of them cover excellent annotations as we can see in the following game:
So,Wesley (2706) - Van Wely,Loek (2693) [E46]
Hoogeveen Unive Crown 17th Hoogeveen (1), 20.10.2013
[Stohl,I]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Nge2 Rubinstein's original intention. [Two rounds later Van Wely as White played the second and long-term more popular main continuation 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0-0 dxc4 8.Bxc4 cxd4 9.exd4 b6 10.Qe2 Bb7 , but the tension quickly petered out into a well-known draish endgame after 11.Rd1 Nbd7 12.d5 Bxc3 13.dxe6 Bxf3 14.gxf3 fxe6 15.bxc3 Qc7 16.Bxe6+ Kh8 17.Qc4 Qb7 18.Bxd7 Nxd7 19.Qd5 Qxd5 20.Rxd5 Nc5 21.Be3 Rxf3 22.Re1 Ne6 23.Rd7 (23.a4 Rf7 24.a5 h6 25.axb6 axb6 26.Bxb6 Nf4 27.Ra5 Rb8 28.Bd4 Rb2 29.Ra7 Rxa7 30.Bxa7 Rc2 31.Bd4 Kh7= Topalov,V (2793)-Aronian,L (2813)/Stavanger/2013/) 23...Kg8 24.Bxb6 axb6 25.Rxe6 Rxa2 26.Re8+ Rf8 27.Ree7 Rfxf2 28.Rxg7+ Kf8 29.Rxh7 Rg2+ 30.Kh1 Kg8 31.Rh3 Rge2 32.Rd1 Kf7= Van Wely,L (2693)-Adams,M (2753)/Hoogeveen/2013/] 5...d5 6.a3 Be7 7.cxd5 exd5 Opts for a Carlsbad structure. [The text-move is more usual than 7...Nxd5 8.Bd2 Nd7 9.g3 b6 (Not necessarily ideal, Black has better results with 9...N5f6!? 10.Bg2 e5") 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.Bg2 Bb7 (11...Nf6 12.0-0 Ne4 13.Rc1 Bb7 14.Qc2 Rc8 15.Rfd1 Bd6 16.Bb4 Qf6 17.Nc3 Nxc3 18.Qxc3 c6 19.Bxd6 Qxd6 20.b4 Rc7 21.a4 Bc8 22.a5 Ba6 23.Ra1 Bb5 24.Rdc1 Re8 25.axb6 axb6 26.Bf1² Ponomariov,R (2734)-Kramnik,V (2807)/Wijk aan Zee/2003/ - see the notes to this game by Ftacnik in CBM 93.) 12.Bb4 Nf6 13.0-0 Re8 14.Rc1 c6 15.Bxe7 Rxe7 16.Re1 Qd6 17.Nf4 Bc8?! 18.Qa4 Rc7 19.f3 Be6 20.e4 dxe4?! 21.fxe4 Qd7 22.d5!± /+-,Carlsen,M (2864)-Anand,V (2786)/Moscow/2013/ - see the notes by Krasenkow in CBM 155.] 8.Nf4 a5 Black limits his opponent's queenside options, but in this line White only rarely employs the minority attack (as in Tomashevsky-Karjakin) and more often than not tries to play in the centre (as So did later on), or on the kingside (see Meza-Lafuente below). Therefore the text-move is only one of many plausible options: [8...Re8 9.Bd3 Bd6 10.0-0 Bxf4 11.exf4 Nc6 12.Ne2 Ne4 13.Be3 Bf5 14.Rc1 Qd7 15.Bb5 Nd6 16.Qa4 Nxb5 17.Qxb5 Rab8 18.Ng3 a6 19.Qa4 Rbc8 20.Nxf5 Qxf5 21.Rc5 Red8 22.Rfc1 h5 23.h3 Rd7 24.Rxc6!? bxc6 25.Rxc6 Ra8 26.b4© /=,Sasikiran,K (2660)-Karjakin,S (2772)/WCup Tromso/2013/;
8...c6 9.Bd3 Na6 (9...Re8 10.0-0 Bd6 (or 10...Nbd7 is the more usual set-up.) ) 10.b4 Nc7 11.Bd2 a6 12.0-0 Nb5 13.a4 Nxc3 14.Bxc3 Bd6 15.b5 Ne4 16.Be1 axb5 17.axb5 Rxa1 18.Qxa1 Re8 19.bxc6 bxc6 20.f3 Bxf4 21.exf4 Nd6 22.g4 f5 23.h3 Nc4 24.Qc1 Be6 25.Bf2 Qd7 26.Re1 g6= Tomashevsky,E (2709)-Karjakin,S (2782)/Kiev rpd/2013/;
8...b6 9.Be2 Bb7 10.Bf3 c6 11.0-0 Bd6 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 Nd7 15.g3 Nf6 16.Bg2 Qd7 17.Nh5 Nxh5 18.Qxh5 c5 19.dxc5 Bxg2 20.Kxg2 Bxc5 21.Rd1 Qc6+ 22.Qf3 Qxf3+ 23.Kxf3 Rfd8= Svetushkin,D (2570)-Movsesian,S (2711)/Bundesliga/2009/] 9.Bd3 c6 10.0-0 Na6 11.f3 Nc7 12.Bd2N This simple developing move is in fact a novelty. White sensibly coordinates his forces, preparing (or awaiting) further action. [12.g4 Ne6 13.Nfe2 h5 14.h3 Bd6 15.Qe1 g6 16.Kg2 c5 17.Qf2 Bd7 18.a4 Bc6 19.Bd2 Qd7÷ 20.f4? hxg4 21.f5 gxh3+ 22.Kh1 Ng7 23.Qh4 Be7 24.fxg6 fxg6 25.Qh6 Qg4µ Meza,H (2318)-Lafuente,P (2524)/La Plata/2009/;
12.Kh1 Ne6 13.Nce2 c5 14.b3 b6 15.Bb2 Nxf4 16.Nxf4 Bb7 17.a4 Bd6 18.Bb5 Qe7 19.Re1 Rfd8 20.Qd3 Ne8 21.Qc3 Qg5 22.Rac1 Qh6 23.Qd2 Nc7 24.Bf1 Ne6³ Prusikin,M (2571)-Naiditsch,A (2663)/GER-ch Bad Koenigshofen/2007/;
Until now White tried mainly 12.Bc2 c5 (12...Ne6!? 13.e4 dxe4 14.Nxe6 Bxe6 15.fxe4 Bg4 16.Qd3 Bh5 17.Kh1 Bg6 18.Be3 b5 19.Qe2 b4 20.e5 bxc3 21.exf6 Bxf6 22.bxc3 Re8= Yang,D (2498)-Shen,V (2425)/Saint Louis/2012/) 13.Na4!? (13.Qe2 b5 (13...Ne6÷; 13...b6!?) 14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.Rd1 Ba6 16.Qf2 Bb7 17.Bd2 Re8 18.Nce2 Ne6 19.Nd3 (19.b4!? axb4 20.axb4 Bd6 21.Bd3²) 19...Bb6 20.Nd4 Rc8 21.Bc3 Ba6 22.Kh1 Rc4 23.Bb3 Rc7 24.Rac1 b4!? 25.Nxe6 Rxe6" Koneru,H (2614)-Hou,Y (2575)/Rostov on Don/2011/) 13...Na6!? (13...cxd4 14.exd4 Rb8 (14...Nb5? 15.Qd3 Na7 16.Nc3 g6 17.Bb3 Bf5 Kuzmin,G-Kortschnoj,V/Sochi/1970/ 18.Qd2±; ¹14...Ne6= /².Kortschnoj) 15.Be3 Re8 16.Re1 Bd6 17.Qd2 Bd7 18.Nc5 Bb5 19.Bf2 b6 20.Ncd3 Rxe1+ 21.Rxe1 Nce8 22.Ne5 Rc8 23.Bf5 Rc7 24.g4f Swapnil,S (2475)-Parligras,M (2602)/Dubai/2013/) 14.dxc5 Nxc5 15.Nc3 Be6 16.Nb5 Bd7 (16...Qb6 17.Nd4 Nfd7 18.Rb1 Rfc8 Zakhartsov,V (2560)-Karavade,E (2398)/Pardubice/2013/ 19.b4! axb4 20.axb4 Na6 21.Ndxe6 fxe6 22.Nxd5!±) 17.Nd4 Ne6 18.Nfe2 Qc7 19.Nf5 Bc5 20.Bd2 Nf4 21.Ned4 Ng6 22.Rc1 Qb6 23.b4 axb4 24.axb4 Bxd4 25.Nxd4 Ne5 26.Bb3 Rfe8 27.Qe2 Ba4= Bernadskiy,V (2527)-Sjugirov,S (2635)/St Petersburg/2013/] 12...c5 The standard advance, which will soon lead to the liquidation of all central pawns. While this might not be a bad thing in itself for Black, he had other continuations, leading to more complex play: [12...Bd6;
12...Re8;
12...Ne6] 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.Kh1 Ne6 [14...Re8 15.e4²;
14...Bd6 15.Rc1 (15.Qb3!?) 15...Bd7 16.Na4!?÷ /²(16.Nce2 Re8) ] 15.e4 White opens the position while his forces are still somewhat more active. Although this is not a permanent factor, his dynamic piece-play is quite dangerous and Black must tread carefully. 15...dxe4 [15...d4 16.Nce2² (16.Nb5!?) ] 16.Nxe4 Bd4 17.Qc2 h6 [17...Nxf4 18.Bxf4 Nd5 19.Bg5! Qb6 (19...f6 20.Rad1) 20.Nc3 Bxc3 21.bxc3 h6 22.Rfb1 Qc6 23.Bd2 Be6 24.c4 Nf6² /=] 18.Rad1 [18.Ne2!? Be5 19.Rad1²] 18...Bd7 [¹18...Nxf4!? 19.Bxf4 Qb6 A sample line is 20.Nd6 Qxb2 21.Qa4 Bc5 22.Qc4 (22.Ne4 Bd7 23.Nxf6+ Qxf6 24.Qe4 g6 25.Bxh6 Rfc8") 22...Bxd6 23.Bxd6 Be6 24.Qf4 Rfd8 25.Rd2 Nd5 26.Qe4 Nf6!=] 19.Ne2! Rc8 20.Qb1 Be5 21.Bc3 White chooses a simple way, minimising any risk by exchanging Black's most active piece. [More doubled-edged, but perhaps more promising was 21.f4!? Bc7 22.Nxf6+ Qxf6 23.Bc3 Qe7 24.Rf3 (24.f5?? Qh4) 24...Rfd8 25.Re1² (25.Rg3²) ] 21...Bxc3 22.N2xc3 Bc6?! Allowing the following sortie is dangerous. [Black gets close to full equality with ¹22...Nxe4 23.Bxe4 (23.Nxe4 Qc7 24.Nd6 Rcd8) 23...Nc5 24.Bh7+ (24.Bf5 Bxf5 25.Qxf5 Qg5=) 24...Kh8 25.Bc2 Qb6!? 26.b4 (26.Nd5 Qb5=) 26...axb4 27.axb4 Ne6"] 23.Nd6! Rc7 [23...Qxd6?? 24.Bh7+] 24.Rfe1?! This hesitant move repays the favour. [¹24.Bc4! Rd7 (24...Qe7 25.Qf5±) 25.Nxf7 Kxf7 and the engine recommends the merciless 26.Bxe6+!? (26.Rfe1 Re8 27.Qf5 g6 28.Bxe6+ Kg7 29.Qb1² is a human choice) 26...Kxe6 27.Qg6 Rxd1 28.Rxd1 Qc8 29.b4 Be8 30.Re1+ Kd7 31.Qd3+ Kc7 32.Rd1 Kb8 (32...Nd7 33.Qe3! Rf5 34.g4+-) 33.Qd6+ Ka7 34.Qxf8 Qxc3 35.Qxg7±] 24...Nd4!? [24...Nf4÷] 25.Nc4 Qa8 The queen will be misplaced here, Black had other and probably better options: [A crazy tactical line runs 25...Re7!? 26.Rxe7 Qxe7 27.Nxa5 Bxf3 28.gxf3 Nxf3 29.Be4 Ng4 30.Bxf3 Nf2+ 31.Kg2 Nxd1 32.Qxd1 Qg5+=; 25...Rd7 26.Ne5 Re7";
25...Nxf3!? 26.Bh7+ Nxh7 27.Rxd8 Rxd8©] 26.Ne5 Rd8 [26...Re7 27.Bc4 Rxe5 28.Rxe5 Nxf3 29.Re2 (29.gxf3? Bxf3+ 30.Kg1 Qa7+ 31.Kf1 Ng4-+) 29...Qb8 30.gxf3 Bxf3+ 31.Kg1²;
26...Re8!? . 27.Bc4? Nxf3 28.Nxf3 (28.gxf3 Rxe5!) 28...Bxf3 29.Bxf7+ Rxf7³] 27.Bc4 Be8 [White has improved his bishop, as 27...b5? 28.Nxc6 Rxc6 29.Bxb5² /± just drops a pawn.] 28.Ne4² Nh5 29.Qd3?! This exposes White's queen. It's difficult to play flawless chess with so many active pieces around! [¹29.Rd2!?²] 29...b5?! [29...Nc6! resolves Black's problems after 30.Qc3 (30.Nd6 Nxe5 31.Rxe5 Nf6) 30...Nxe5 31.Qxe5 Rxc4 32.Nd6 Rxd6 33.Rxd6 Nf6 34.Rxf6 gxf6 35.Qxe8+ Qxe8 36.Rxe8+ Kg7=] 30.Ba2 b4 [30...Nc6 31.Qxb5±] 31.Bb1 Bb5? This is almost certainly the decisive error. Black could have still fought on with the strongest [¹31...f5! T 32.Qe3! Qd5 (32...fxe4 33.Rxd4 exf3 34.Ba2+ Kh8 35.Nxf3,) 33.Nc3!? bxc3 34.bxc3 Qb3²] 32.Qe3 Ne6 [32...Qd5 33.f4! (33.Nc3 bxc3 34.bxc3 Qc5 35.cxd4 Qc3²) 33...Ba4 34.Rd3! (<34.Rd2 Bc2) 34...Bb5 (34...Bc2 35.Bxc2 Rxc2 36.Nf3-+) 35.Rd2 Be2 36.axb4 axb4 37.Bd3!?+-] 33.Nd6+- Now the defence collapses, as Black can't hold f7. 33...Ba4 [33...Be8 34.Nexf7 Bxf7 35.Nxf7 Rxd1 36.Nxh6+! Kf8 37.Rxd1+-] 34.Nexf7 Nhf4 [34...Bxd1 35.Qxe6+-] 35.Nxd8 Qxd8 36.Rd2 Now and in the following moves White already has more than one way to score. [36.g3 Bxd1 37.Rxd1 Rc6 38.gxf4 Rxd6 39.Qxe6+!+-] 36...bxa3 37.Ba2 Qf6 38.Qxa3 Bc6 39.Bxe6+ [39.Qxa5+-] 39...Nxe6 40.Qa2 Bxf3 The last desperate fling. [40...Bd7 41.Rde2 Kh7 (41...Kh8 42.Qxa5+-) 42.Qb1+ Kh8 43.Ne8!+-] 41.gxf3 [41.Rxe6 Bd5 42.Re8+ Kh7 43.Qb1++-] 41...Qxf3+ 42.Rg2 [42.Kg1+-] 1-0.
But there is more as a Tele Chess file from 8046 entries.
Included on this DVD are the following opening surveys: Michal Krasenkow: Dutch A85 1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.h4, Schipkov: Dutch A85 1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d6 4.Bg5, Szabo: Sicilian B85 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e6 7.0-0 Be7 8.f4 0-0 9.Be3 Nc6 10.a4 Qc7 11.¢h1 Re8 12.Bf3 Bd7 13.Nb3, Schandorff: Sicilian B97 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb6 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.e5 h6, Karolyi: Ruy Lopez C80 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Bc5, Stohl: Ruy Lopez C88 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 b4, Postny: Grünfeld Defence D90 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.h4, Sumets: Grünfeld Defence D94 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3 0-0 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Bc4, Arnaudov: Tango E04/E10 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.Bg2 dxc4, Illingworth: Catalan E05 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.Nxc6 Qe8 10.Nxe7+ Qxe7, Antic: Bogoindian E11 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 0-0 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 d5 7.e5 Nfd7 8.Bd3 c5 9.h4 and at last Marin: Nimzoindian E59 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Qc7 11.Bd3 e5 12.Qc2.
Other columns are King:Move by Move,Reeh: Tactics,Müller:Endgames,Rogozenko: Strategy,Knaak Opening trap and some smashing Opening Videos.
Included is a eye catching booklet in two languages.
Conclusion: A must have product!