CHESSBOOK REVIEWS

Latest book reviews of  November/December  2017
BOOKS REVIEWS BY JOHN ELBURG.

Wilhelminalaan 33 

7261 BP RUURLO 

The Netherlands.
John Elburg





                                                                                                           Chess Books

Extreme Chess Tactics by Yochanan Afek
2017
Gambit Publications Ltd
http://www.gambitbooks.com
E-mail info@gambitbooks.com
143 pages
Price £16.99
ISBN 978-1-911465-12-6


The phenomenal Yochanan Afek, grandmaster of compositions provides the reader of this well written book with a amazing collection studies, and real
time positions.
Spectacular  is the game,Alekhine – Tenner Cologne 1911,
1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.d3 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bg4 7.Na4 exf4 8.Nxc5 dxc5 9.Bxf4 Nh5 10.Be3 Ne5 11.Nxe5 Bxd1 12.Bxf7+ Ke7
13.Bxc5+ Kf6 14.0-0+ Kxe5 15.Rf5#  But the black player claims in 100 instructive games of Alekhine by Fred Reinfeld 1958,
that this game in question was played to a draw and the variation given in his book by Alekhine was merely incidental to some post-mortem analysis!
In big lines this book follows the structures of John Nunn’s best-selling Learn Chess Tactics,where in each chapter a theme is introduced and a
number of examples are explained.
Chapter 16 hold a collection instructive exercises with neither hints nor any indication of the themes simple to see if you have understood
the lessons of  Yochanan Afek!
Conclusion: There is no better way to develop your tactical skills than with this super read from Yochanan Afek!   

The chess attacker's handbook by Michael Song & Razvan Preotu
2017
Gambit Publications Ltd
http://www.gambitbooks.com
E-mail info@gambitbooks.com
175 pages
Price £16.99
ISBN 978-1-911465-16-4


The two Canadian juniors with Grandmaster level Michael Song & GM Razvan come, with a astounding attacking manual based on highly interesting topics as Attacks
 in Endgames, Prophylaxis, Attacking the un castled king, Attacks on colour, Charging the h-pawn forward, Isolated d-pawn positions etc.
A fine example of Prophylaxis play is the game  Timman – Karpov,London 1984 where Karpov found a magnificent way to continue his attack, and well with the
brilliant move 19…Ka8!!
{1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4 Ba6 9.Qe4 Nb6 10.Nd2 0-0-0 11.c5 Bxf1 12.cxb6 Ba6 13.bxa7 Kb7
14.Nb3 f6 15.f4 fxe5 16.fxe5 Re8 17.Bf4 Qh4+ 18.g3 Qh5 19.Rc1}
Song writes: Sidestepping all the attacks, while black will maintain a very strong initiative.
Karpov handled such positions almost flawlessly. By stripping white of any hope of counterplay against the black king.White is left to perish with his own king fatally exposed.
A large amount of instructive text covers the alternative move 19…..g5,where Song explains,”Although objectively speaking,19….g5 is just as good as
Karpov’s 19….Ka8,black is in no danger and his position plays itself,whereas white struggles to keep the game afloat.
In comparison, after 19…g5,black has to rely on scary-looking moves such as 22…Ka8! That are hard enough to play over the board,let alone to find in calculation”.
The material of this book is divided in 14 chapters,all pleasantly mixed in classic and modern.
Included are uncountable exercises!
Conclusion: Never seen a book that is so well explained!  

A World of Chess: Its Development and Variations through Centuries and Civilizations by
Jean-Louis Cazaux and Rick Knowlton
2017
McFarland & Company,Inc.,Publishers Box 611
Jefferson,North Carolina 28640.
http://www.mcfarlandpub.com
408 pages
Price $49.95
ISBN: 978-0-7864-9427-9


Chess is a two-player strategy board game played on a chessboard, a checkered gameboard with 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid,but both
authors of this heavyweight, the scientist Jean-Lous Cazaux and his companion Rick Knowlton start with the chess of the Arabian nights:”Our exploration begins as a search for the source of the game.The journey leads along the dusty caravan trails of the East, to a time when Iran shone as one of the world’s supreme super powers,centered in the city of Ctesiphon {near modern Bagdad}.
It is widely understood that the Arabs brought chess to Europa during the High Middle Ages.
The Muslims had learned the game from the Persians,but quickly made it their own,bringing it to every corner of the vast Arab Empire.
Art and literature show that the chess of that time was widely practiced and highly esteemed.
How old is the game of chess? It has long been a matter of speculation,ranging from perhaps a few centuries back to millennia immemorial.
But the oldest actual treatise we have, explaining the rules of the game, dates back only to the ninth century.
That treatise is created to the Arabs,in the court of the calips of Bagdad,who learned the game from the Persians during the seventh century
conquests.The Persians,in return,had a legendary account of learning the game from an Indian envoy,before the year 600.
“Shatranj” is still the Arabic word for chess in the modern world,but we use it here to indicate the older form of chess.
The material of this book is packed in the following chapters:Part I.Chess of the Arabian Nights,Part II.Chess in the land of Monsoons,Part III.Gunpowder of the Chinese board,Part IV.Generals and Mercenaries of the Rising sun,PartV. Evolution and Revolution in Europa,Part VI.Chess out of the box and PartVII with the Origins of chess.
Interesting and eys catching is Star Treks “Tri-D Chess” but the first attempt for a three dimensional chess  comes from the famous chess player
Lionel Kieseritzky,who is credited with Cubic Chess London 1851.However,no material trace of this has everbeen foundto confirm the invention.
Bobby Fischer is credited as the inventor of chess 960,but inventor may be a too strong word,as the idea of modifying the initial array was investigated
 long before the American champion took an interest in it.
This impressive account of the history of chess comes with 400 illustrations and a impressive bibliography.
Conclusion: Certainly one of the most interesting reads on the history of chess!  
                                              Chess DVD's    

The Hedgehog - a universal system against 1.c4 and 1.Nf3
by  Yannick Pelletier
2017
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 29.90
System requirements:Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard


The Swiss grandmaster  Yannick Pelletier provides the user of this DVD in three languages the secrets of the so called Hedgehog,refering to a specific formation which black’s c-pawn is exchanged for white’s d-pawn and black’s minor pieces are developed as in a Queens Indian.
There for this opening has the reputation to be cramped, defensive and difficult to attack.
A fine example of play is: Larsen,Bent (2595) - Andersson,Ulf (2610) [A34]
Tilburg (7), 10.10.1982
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.g3 e6 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.d4 [6.d3 d4 7.Ne4 Nxe4 8.Bxe4 Be7 9.Bg2 (9.Nf3 f5) 9...0-0 10.Nf3 Nc6] 6...cxd4 7.Qxd4 [7.Nb5 Qa5+] 7...Nc6 8.Qd3 [8.Qa4 d4 9.Ne4 (9.Bxc6+ bxc6 10.Qxc6+? Bd7) 9...Bb4+ 10.Bd2 Bxd2+ 11.Nxd2 0-0 12.Ngf3 Re8;
8.Qd1 d4 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Bxe4 Bb4+ 11.Bd2 Qe7] 8...Nb4 9.Qd1 d4 10.Ne4 d3 11.exd3 Nxd3+ 12.Ke2 [12.Kf1 Be7³] 12...Nxc1+ 13.Qxc1 [13.Rxc1 Bg4+ 14.f3 Bd7] 13...Bg4+ 14.f3 Bd7 15.Nc3 Bc5 16.Nh3 Qe7+ 17.Kf1 0-0 18.Nf2 Rfe8 19.g4 Rac8 20.Qe1 Qd6 21.Qd1 Qb6 22.Nd3 Bd4 23.Rb1 Qa6 24.Qd2 Bxc3 25.bxc3 Bb5 26.Rxb5 Qxb5 27.Kf2 Qb6+ 28.Kg3 Rcd8 0-1.
Found on this DVD 20 impressive made video files and 11 extra made quiz files plus a extra game file of over 218 entries where the most of these games cover excellent annotations of Pelletier him self!
Running time is 5 hours and 46 minutes!
Conclusion: One of those superb made ChessBase openings DVD’s!

The Tactical Chigorin
by  Simon Williams
2017
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 29.90
System requirements:Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard


The master of attack Grandmaster Simon Williams digs in a impressive way in the good old Chogorin,a opening  where black is prepared to trade his bishop for
a knight in order to maintain a certain amount of piece pressure.
A hero of the line goes to the great Alexander Morezevich as we can see in the following model game which is well
analysed by Simon Williams: Ljubojevic,Ljubomir (2570) - Morozevich,Alexander (2678) [D07]
Amber-blindfold 12th Monte Carlo (4), 18.03.2003
1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.cxd5 Qxd5 4.e3 e5 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bd2 Bxc3 7.bxc3 Nf6 8.c4 Qd6 9.d5 Ne7 10.Qb1 0-0 11.e4 Nd7
12.Bb4 Nc5 13.Nf3 b6 14.Qb2 f5 15.Qxe5 Nd3+ 16.Bxd3 Qxb4+ 17.Nd2 Ng6 18.Qd4 c5 19.dxc6 Nf4 20.e5 Qb2
21.Qxf4 Qxa1+ 22.Bb1 Re8 23.0-0 Qxe5 24.Qxe5 Rxe5 25.Nf3 Rc5 26.Re1 Ba6 27.Ne5 g6 28.Bc2 Re8 29.f4 Bxc4
30.Ra1 Rexe5 31.fxe5 Rxc6 32.Ba4 b5 33.Bb3 Kf7 34.Rd1 Ke6 35.Rd8 a5 36.Re8+ Kd5 37.Rb8 Kxe5 38.Kf2 Kd4 39.Rb7 h6 40.Bd1 b4 41.Ra7 Rc5 42.Rd7+ Kc3 43.Rd6 Rd5 0-1.
The openings files are covered in 24 instructive and well explained 24 video plus 11 extra self test to see if you have understood
the lessons from Williams.
Plus here is an extra Chigorin file of 60 entries all packed in 6 hours and 19 minutes video entertainment!
Conclusion: Williams is truly a master of explanation!

Strike first with the Scandinavian
by  Christian Bauer
2017
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 29.90
System requirements:Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard


Grandmaster Christian Bauer explains in three languages, French, English and German everything that you need know how to play in a tactic way the Centre Counter Defence
as we can learn from our experienced teacher, this opening is easy to learn and easy to play!
Just invest the plus 5 hours into it and you are able to out play many players with it as the Dutch van Wely once did:
Sutovsky,E (2687) - Van Wely,L (2691) [B01]
40th Olympiad Open Istanbul TUR (9.6), 06.09.2012
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.Bd2 Bf5 7.Ne5 Nbd7 8.g4 Be6 9.f4 0-0-0 10.Qf3 Nxe5 11.dxe5 Rxd2 12.exf6 Rxc2
13.Bd3 Rxb2 14.Rc1 exf6 15.0-0 h5 16.g5 fxg5 17.Nd1 Bc5+ 18.Kh1 g4 0-1.
Included are 31 video files,plus extra exercises and a  extra player base of 78 entries!
Conclusion: Powerful explained!

Houdini 6 Standard
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 79.90
System requirements
Minimum: Pentium III 1 GHz, 2 GB RAM, Windows 7/8, DirectX9, graphics card with 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows Media Player 9 and internet access. Recommended: PC Intel i5 (Quadcore), 8 GB RAM, Windows 10 or 8.1, DirectX10, graphics card with 512 MB RAM or more, 100% DirectX10- compatible sound card, Windows Media Player 11, DVD-ROM drive and internet access.


The new Houdini 6.02 is not only unbelievable fast but it also calculates must faster than all my other chess engines on my computer, and that is included my older favourite  Komodo 11!
Houdini 6.02 finds endgame advantages as no other,and above all this engine has kept his special {creative?}style of play.And that makes him,the perfect endgame specialist!
There is with Houdini6.02 no waiting around in Chessbase14,this engines runs directly and does what joy expect from it!
Position evaluation, search, time management and use of the endgame tablebases have been largely improved.
The standard engine can support up to 8 processor cores and 4 GB of hash memory but if you spend a little more,Houdini 6 Pro can support up to 128 processors and 128 GM of hash memory!
I am aware that the new Houdini is only 60 Elo points stronger but I have the feeling to deal with a new dimension on chess!
Houdini 6.02 comes with Fritz 15 user interface,
Premium membership for playchess.com and your ChessBase Account (6 months),And Online access to the world’s largest analysis database, “Let’s Check”, with    over 200 million deeply analysed chess  positions (Good for 6 months)
Houdini is a UCI chess engine developed by Belgian programmer Robert Houdart. It is influenced by open source engines IPPOLIT/RobboLito, Stockfish, and Crafty. Earlier versions are free for non-commercial use (up to version 1.5a), but later versions (2.0 and onwards)are commercial.
Conclusion: This engine will give you the time of your life!         

Corr Database 2018
2017
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 189.90
System requirements: Pentium PC, 32 MB RAM, Windows 10, 8 or 7 and Fritz 13, 14, 15 or ChessBase 14, 13 or 12 and DVD drive.

This well produced Correspondence Database is  good for over 1.4 million games,and that is again a small 150000 games more than it’s previous edition.
All games are played between 1804 and 2017,and this DVD for example includes all games of the correspondence chess world championships.
One of the greatest correspondence players of all time goes to the legendary  CJS Purdy,the first world champion is correspondence chess,the story
is that Purdy did not loose a game of correspondence chess between 1937 and 1952!
Interesting to mention is that Purdy was educated at the Cranbook School in Tasmania and one of his classmates was future film star Errol Flynn!
When we compare this DVD with Tim Harding his UltraCorr-X game file than Harding wins it on price, games and references to the games!
Included on this DVD is a correspondence chess players base {506MB} from around 522.000 entries.
Conclusion:The database is very well made!

ChessBase Magazine issue 180
2017
October/November 2017
 http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
ISSN 1432-8992
Price Euro 19.95


The cover of this latest ChessBase magazine goes to the come back of the  greatest player of all time,Garry Kasparov!
Again a super main file from over 630 entries where many of them hold excellent made annotations as for example the following game :Ding,Liren (2777) - Giri,Anish (2772) [C54]
Wenzhou m Wenzhou (2), 09.08.2017 [Stohl,I]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 The popularity of the Giuoco Piano remains unabated, with various move-orders being refined and explored in depth. Last year I commented on Anand-Giri, Moscow Candidates 2016 and Karjakin-Navara, Baku olm 2016; Carlsen also mostly prefers immediate castling. I'll follow up on my earlier notes from CBM 172 and 175 respectively. [However, despite the numerous transpositional options, there can be some differences between the text-move and 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 , when Black is at a crossroads: In CBM 176 we analysed Topalov-So, London 2016, which went 5...a6 a) 5...0-0 I have mentioned 6.0-0 a1) 6.a4 a5 (6...a6 is less committal, after 7.0-0 d5!? 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Re1 Bg4 10.h3 Bh5 11.Nbd2 Nb6 12.Ba2 Qxd3 13.a5 Bxf3 14.Nxf3 Qxd1 15.Rxd1 Nc8 16.b4 Ba7 17.Re1 Black returned the pawn and readily equalised with 17...Nd6 18.Nxe5 Nxe5 19.Rxe5 Rfe8 20.Rxe8+ Rxe8 21.Kf1 Ne4 22.Bd5 c6= Anand,V (2786)-So,W (2812) Stavanger 2017) 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 Be7 9.Nbd2 d6 10.Bg3 Nh7 11.0-0 Kh8 12.Qb3 Qe8 13.Rfe1 Bf6 14.Nf1 Ng5 15.Nxg5 Bxg5 16.Ne3 Ne7 17.d4 f6 18.f3 Rb8 19.Bf1 Bxe3+ 20.Rxe3 Bd7 21.Ree1 b5 22.axb5 Bxb5 23.Qa3 Bxf1 24.Rxf1 Qb5 25.Rf2 f5 26.Rd2 fxe4 27.fxe4 Ng6 28.h3 Karjakin,S (2773)-Anand,V (2783) Saint Louis blitz 2017 28...Qc6 29.d5 Qb6+ 30.Bf2 Rxf2! 31.Rxf2 Nf4 32.Qxa5 Ne2+ 33.Kf1 Ng3+=; a2) 6.Bg5 h6 (6...d6 7.Nbd2 h6 8.Bh4 g5? is unlikely to be repeated, after 9.Nxg5! hxg5 10.Bxg5 Kg7 11.Qf3 Be6 Carlsen,M (2840)-Karjakin,S (2785) Wijk aan Zee 2017 12.Bd5!± White would have a powerful attack. For details see the notes in CBM 177 by G.Meier.) 7.Bh4 is well met by 7...Be7 8.Bg3 (8.Nbd2 d6 9.a4 Nh5!? 10.Bg3 Nxg3 11.hxg3 Nb8 12.Nf1 c6 13.Ne3 Na6 14.g4 Nc7 15.Nf5 d5 16.Bb3 Bf6 17.Qe2 Ne6 18.g3 Re8 19.Kf1 b6 20.Kg2 Bb7 21.Rh2 c5" Vachier Lagrave,M (2783)-Kramnik,V (2789) Leuven rpd 2017) 8...d6 9.Nbd2 Na5 (9...g6 10.a3 Nh5 11.Nf1 Kh7 12.Ne3 f5 13.exf5 gxf5 14.d4 f4 15.Nh4 Nxg3 16.Qc2+ Kh8 17.Ng6+ Kg7 18.Nxf8 Qxf8 19.fxg3 fxe3 20.Rf1 Bf6 21.Qe4 exd4 22.Bd3 Qf7 23.0-0-0 e2 24.Qh7+ Kf8 25.Qxh6+ Ke7÷ Salem,A (2633)-Inarkiev,E (2727) Moscow 2017; 9...Nh5 10.Nxe5!?²) 10.Bb5 Nh5! (10...a6 11.Ba4 b5 12.Bc2 c5 13.Nf1 Bb7 14.Ne3 Re8 15.0-0 Bf8 16.Re1 Rc8 17.Bh4 c4 18.Nd2! g5 19.Bg3 d5 20.exd5 Nxd5 21.dxc4 Nf4 22.cxb5 axb5 23.Be4 Nd3 24.Bxd3 Qxd3 Anand,V (2783)-Le,Q (2739) Saint Louis blitz 2017 25.Ng4±) 11.0-0 (11.d4 Nxg3 12.hxg3 exd4= /î?®) 11...Nxg3 12.hxg3 a6 13.Ba4 b5 14.Bc2 c5 15.Re1 Be6 16.d4 Qc7 (¹16...exd4! 17.cxd4 Bg4") 17.d5 Bd7 18.b3 Nb7 19.Qe2 Rfc8 20.a4 c4 21.b4 a5?! (21...g6=) 22.axb5 axb4 Anand,V (2783)-Dominguez Perez,L (2739) Saint Louis blitz 2017 23.b6!f; 6...d5!? Last year, here an important game went 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.a4 (8.Nbd2 Nb6 9.Bb5 Bd6 10.Re1 Bg4 11.h3 Bh5 12.Ne4 f5 13.Ng3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 Qd7 15.Bd2 a6 16.Bxc6 Qxc6 17.Qxc6 bxc6 18.c4 Na4 19.Bc1 Rad8 20.Nf1 Nc5µ Nepomniachtchi,I (2751)-Karjakin,S (2773) Saint Louis blitz 2017) 8...Nb6 9.Bb5 Ne7 10.Nxe5 c6 11.Bc4 Bd6 12.a5! Bxe5 (12...Nxc4!? 13.Nxc4 Bc7©) 13.axb6 Qxb6 14.Re1 Qc7 15.Qh5 Bd6 16.Nd2 Nd5 17.Ne4 Be6 18.d4 Rfe8 19.Nxd6 Qxd6 20.Bd3 Nf6 Anton Guijarro,D (2660)-Howell,D (2684) Minsk 2017 21.Qf3 Bg4 22.Bf4!² For details see the notes in CBM 179 by Roiz.;
b) After 5...d6 White can already play 6.0-0 without hesitation, possibly transposing into lines from our game.(6.a4 a6 7.Bg5 - 5...a6) ; 6.a4 d6 7.Bg5 (The bishop sortie doesn't promise White an advantage, but 7.0-0 is Kramnik-Navara again, after 7...Ba7 8.Re1 0-0 9.h3 we transpose into our game!) 7...Ba7 8.Nbd2 h6 9.Bh4 So played 9...g5 (A viable alternative is 9...Qe7 10.b4 (10.0-0 g5 11.Bg3 Nd7 12.d4 h5 13.h4 g4 14.Ne1 exd4 15.Nd3 dxc3 16.bxc3 Nce5 17.Nf4 c6 18.Ba2 Nc5 19.Nc4 Nxc4 20.Bxc4 Nd7 21.Nd3 Ne5 22.Nxe5 dxe5 23.a5 Be6 24.Bxe6 Qxe6 25.Rb1 Qe7 26.Qb3 0-0-0 27.Bxe5 Rh6 28.Bf4 Re6= /î?®, Demchenko,A (2645)-Ragger,M (2656) Linares 2017) 10...Bd7 11.Rb1 g5 12.Bg3 Nh5 13.b5 axb5 14.axb5 Na5 15.Bd5 Nxg3 16.hxg3 Qf6 17.Qe2 0-0 18.Nh2 c6 19.bxc6 bxc6 20.Ba2 Kg7 21.Ndf1 Rfb8 22.Ne3 Bxe3 23.Qxe3 Be6 24.Qe2 Bxa2 25.Rxb8 Rxb8 26.Qxa2 Qe6= /î?®, Salem,A (2638)-Giri,A (2775) Geneve 2017) 10.Bg3 0-0 11.0-0 Nh7!? and even later Black did well with this idea: 12.h3 (12.Kh1 Kh8 13.b4 (13.d4 exd4 14.Nxd4 Nxd4 15.cxd4 f5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.Qb3 Bxd4 18.Qxb7 Rb8 19.Qxa6 h5 20.f4 Rxb2 21.Rad1 h4 22.Bf2 Bg7f Swiercz,D (2647)-Bacrot,E (2695) chess.com INT rpd 2017) 13...f5 14.exf5 Bxf5 15.b5 Ne7 (¹15...Na5!?) 16.bxa6 (16.Nxe5!?©) 16...bxa6 17.d4 e4 18.Ne1 Bg6 19.Nc2 Nf6 20.Ne3 a5 21.Bb3 Qd7÷ Sethuraman,S (2619)-Yu,Y (2750) Fufeng 2017) 12...h5 (12...Kh8!? 13.d4 g4 14.hxg4 Bxg4 15.Be2 (15.dxe5!? Nxe5 16.Be2÷) 15...Rg8 16.Kh1 Qf6 17.d5 Ne7 18.Bh4 Ng5 19.Nh2 Bc8 20.Bg4 Qg6 21.Bh5 Qg7 22.g3 Bh3µ Salem,A (2656)-Ding,L (2760) Sharjah 2017) 13.Ne1 (Topalov played 13.d4 ) 13...g4 14.h4 Kg7 (14...Ne7!?÷ /î?®) 15.d4 f5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.Nb3 exd4?! (¹17...Nf6!÷) 18.Nxd4 Nxd4 19.cxd4 Qf6 20.Nc2 Rae8 21.Ne3 Be4 22.Qb3 Bxd4 23.Rad1 (23.Bd5!²) 23...Bc5? (23...Bxe3 24.fxe3 Qe7÷) 24.Nd5 Bxd5 25.Rxd5, Bartel,M (2641)-Brkic,A (2569) Zurich 2016] 4...Nf6 5.d3 0-0 In this game Giri sucessfully opposed the light-squared bishop with î?§e6, but this is not a universally valid method: [5...d6 6.c3 Be6?! 7.Bxe6 fxe6 8.b4 Bb6 9.Nbd2 a6 10.a4 Qd7 11.Ba3 Ba7 12.b5 Na5 13.Bb4 Bb6 14.Rb1 0-0 15.d4 exd4 16.cxd4 axb5 17.axb5 Rfd8 18.Qe2 d5?! (18...c5 19.bxc6 Nxc6 20.Bc3f) 19.e5 Ne4 20.Nxe4 dxe4 21.Qxe4 Qd5 22.Qc2 Qc4 23.Rfc1 Qxc2 24.Rxc2± Fedoseev,V (2726)-Wang Yue (2699) Dortmund 2017 Black has no compensation for his pawn, moreover his minor pieces are misplaced.] 6.h3 Ding wants to limit Black's options. [For 6.c3 d5!? see above(Naturally Black also has the restrained 6...d6 ) ] 6...d6 This is the main alternative. [However, even 6...d5 doesn't deserve unequivocal condemnation: 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Re1 (8.a4 f6 9.Nbd2 Be6 10.Nb3 Be7 11.Re1 Kh8 12.Bd2 Bg8 13.d4 Carlsen,M (2832)-Karjakin,S (2781) Paris rpd 2017 13...Bd6=) ¹8...Be6!? (8...Re8?! 9.Ng5 (or even 9.d4!? gives White a notable pull.) ) 9.c3 (9.Nbd2 Bb6 10.Bb3 f6 11.Nc4 Qd7 12.Qe2 Rad8 13.c3 Rfe8 14.Nxb6 cxb6 15.Bc2 Kh8 16.Kh1 Bf5 17.Kg1 g5 18.Nh2 Nf4f Van Foreest,L (2350)-Gustafsson,J (2628) Germany 2017; 9.Nxe5? Nxe5 10.Rxe5 Bxf2+!µ) 9...Bb6 10.Bb3 f6? Karjakin,S (2785)-Aronian,L (2780) Wijk aan Zee 2017 (10...Re8 11.Ng5 Qf6÷) 11.c4!+-] 7.c3 a6 8.a4 Ba7 9.Re1 Ding ignores the bishop sortie and goes for a manoeuvring struggle. [9.Bg5 h6 10.Bh4 g5 11.Bg3 (But 11.Nxg5 is unconvincing: 11...hxg5 12.Bxg5 Kg7 13.Qf3 Rh8 14.Nd2 Kg6 (14...Qe7!? and White must still prove his compensation.) 15.Be3 Kg7 16.Bg5 Kg6 17.Be3 Kg7 18.Rae1 (White wants more than repetition after 18.Bg5 ) 18...Be6?! (18...Bxe3 19.Qg3+ Kf8 20.fxe3 Rh6³) 19.Qg3+ Kf8 20.Bxe6 fxe6 21.Bxa7 Rxa7 22.f4 Rg8 Nepomniachtchi,I (2767)-Fressinet,L (2672) Doha rpd 2016 23.Qf2©) 11...Nh5 12.Bh2 Nf4 (12...Ng7 13.Kh1 Kh8 14.d4 exd4 15.cxd4 f5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.Nc3 g4 18.hxg4 Bxg4 19.Be2 Bxf3 20.Bxf3 Qh4 21.Ne2 Nxd4 22.Bxb7 Rab8 23.Bxa6 Rxb2 24.Ra3 ½, Johnson,B (2269)-Gabris,V (2343) email 2010 24...Nxe2 25.Bxe2 Rxf2 26.Rh3 Qg5=) 13.Bxf4 gxf4 14.Nbd2 Qf6 15.Kh2 Bd7 16.a5 Kh8 17.Qe2 Rg8 18.b4 Ne7 19.Rg1 Rg7 20.Ra2 Rag8 21.Qf1 Ng6 22.Bb3 c6" Semmler,R (2212)-Mueller,A (2130) email 2011] 9...h6 Giri already played this standard move in 2017. [Recently in St Louis Black tested the less usual 9...b5!? 10.Bb3 (10.Ba2 b4 11.Bg5 (11.d4 bxc3 12.bxc3 Re8 13.Be3 h6 14.Nbd2 Na5 15.Rb1 Be6 16.Qc2 Bxa2 17.Qxa2 Bb6 18.Qc2 Nd7 19.Qd3 Qe7 20.Rb2 Nc6 21.Qc4 Na5 22.Qd3 Nc6 ½, Karjakin,S (2773)-Aronian,L (2809) Saint Louis 2017) 11...Rb8 12.Nbd2 h6 13.Bh4 Be6 14.Bc4 g5 15.Bg3 Na5?! (15...Bxc4 16.Nxc4 Re8÷) 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.d4 bxc3 18.bxc3 Nh5 19.Bh2 exd4 20.cxd4 Nc6 21.Rc1 Qd7 22.Re3 Rb7 23.Nb3 e5 24.Nxe5 dxe5 25.Qxh5 Kh7 26.Rec3 Nxd4 27.Bxe5 Rxf2 Harikrishna,P (2737)-Mamedyarov,S (2800) Geneve 2017 28.Nc5!+-) 10...b4!? (10...h6 11.axb5 axb5 12.Be3 Bd7 13.Bxa7 Rxa7 14.Nbd2 Rxa1 15.Qxa1 Nh5 16.Nf1 Qf6 17.Qd1 b4 18.d4 bxc3 19.bxc3 Nf4 20.Ne3 Qg6 21.Kh2 Re8 (21...exd4 22.cxd4 Nb4") 22.Ba4!² So,W (2810)-Nakamura,H (2792) Saint Louis 2017) 11.a5 Rb8 12.Nbd2 Be6 13.Bc2!? (13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.Nc4 Qe8 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.Rxe3 Qg6 17.Ncd2 Nh5 18.Qf1 Rb5 19.Kh2 Qh6 20.Kg1 Qg6 21.Kh2 Qh6 22.Kg1 Kh8 23.d4 Nf4 24.h4 g5! 25.hxg5 Qh5 26.Qc4 exd4 27.cxd4 Nxa5 Jakovenko,D (2703)-Aronian,L (2809) Geneve 2017 28.Qxc7 Rxg5 29.Nxg5 Qxg5 30.Rg3"; 13.Bc4 Qc8 14.Bxe6 Qxe6 15.Nc4 Rb5 16.Be3 Bxe3 17.Nxe3 bxc3 18.bxc3 Rxa5 19.Rxa5 Nxa5 20.Qa4 ½, Shankland,S (2676)-Tari,A (2593) Khanty-Mansiysk 2017 20...Nb7=) 13...h6 14.Nf1 d5 (14...b3 15.Bb1 d5 16.exd5 Qxd5 17.Be3 Bxe3 18.Nxe3 Qd6 19.Ra4 Rb5 Anand,V (2783)-Nakamura,H (2792) Saint Louis rpd 2017 20.d4!÷ /î?¯) 15.exd5 Nxd5 16.Bd2 b3 17.Bb1 Qd6 18.Qe2 Rbe8 19.Ra3 f5 20.Nxe5 Bd7 (20...Bc5!?) 21.d4 Nxd4 22.cxd4 Bxd4 23.Rxb3 Vachier Lagrave,M (2791)-Aronian,L (2809) Saint Louis 2017 23...Bxe5";
Black has lately faced some problems after the other main move 9...Ne7 10.d4 Ng6 11.Nbd2 c6 (11...h6 - 9...h6 & 10...î?¨e7) 12.Bf1 (12.Bd3 Re8 13.Bc2 h6 14.Nf1 exd4 15.cxd4 c5 16.d5 b5 17.axb5 axb5 18.Ng3 Bd7 19.Be3 Bb6 20.Rxa8 Qxa8 21.b4 Qa7 22.Qa1 Qc7 23.Bxh6 cxb4 24.Bxg7 Qxc2 25.Qxf6 Kramnik,V (2808)-Carlsen,M (2832) Stavanger 2017 25...Bxf2+ 26.Kh2 Qc3² /î??) 12...Re8 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.Qc2 b5 15.b4 Be6 16.Nb3 Qe7 17.Bd2 h6 18.c4 Rac8 19.c5 Bb8 20.axb5 axb5 21.Ra6 Red8 22.Na5 Qe8 23.Bc3 Nh7 24.g3 Nhf8 25.Rb6 Kh7 26.Rxb8! Rxb8 27.Nxe5© /î?S, So,W (2812)-Karjakin,S (2781) Stavanger 2017] 10.Nbd2 Be6!? Black seeks active counterplay even at the cost of disrupting his pawn structure. [10...Ne7 11.Bb3 Ng6 12.d4 Re8 13.Bc2 Bd7 (13...b5 14.b4 Bb7 15.Bb2 Qd7 16.c4 exd4 17.cxb5 d3 18.Bxd3 Nf4 19.Bf1 Nxe4 20.Nxe4 Bxe4 21.bxa6 Qf5 22.Ra3!± Karjakin,S (2773)-Svidler,P (2749) Saint Louis 2017) 14.a5 c6 (¹14...Bc6!?) 15.dxe5! dxe5 16.Nc4 Qe7 17.Qd6 Qxd6 18.Nxd6 Re6 19.Rd1 Rb8 20.Kf1 Re7 21.Nc4 Rbe8 22.b3 Be6 23.Nb6 (23.Ba3!?²) 23...Bxb6 24.axb6 Rd7 25.Be3 Rc8 26.c4 Rxd1+ 27.Rxd1 c5 28.Ne1 1-0 (43) Vachier Lagrave,M (2791)-So,W (2810) Saint Louis 2017 28...Nf4!=;
10...Re8 11.b4 (11.Nf1 Be6 12.Bxe6 Rxe6= is too soft) 11...Be6 12.Bxe6 Rxe6 13.Qc2 (13.Nf1 Ne7 14.Ng3 Ng6 15.d4 Qd7 16.d5 Ree8 17.a5 c6 18.c4 cxd5 19.cxd5 Rac8 20.Qd3 Rc7 21.Bd2 Rec8 22.Nf5 Rc4 23.Rac1 Rxe4 24.Rxc8+ Qxc8 25.Nxd6 Rxe1+ 26.Nxe1 Qd7³ Vachier Lagrave,M (2796)-Carlsen,M (2832) Paris blitz 2017) 13...Qd7 a) again leads to Karjakin-Navara, where Black's defensive task is far from simple: 13...d5 14.Nb3 Ne7 15.exd5 Qxd5 16.c4 Qd6 17.Nc5!? Bxc5 18.bxc5 Qxc5 19.Ba3 Qa5 20.d4 Ng6 21.Bb2 e4N 22.d5 Ree8 23.Nd2 e3 24.Rxe3 Rxe3 25.fxe3 Qc5 26.Bd4 Qe7 27.Qf5 c5 28.Bxf6 Qxe3+ 29.Qf2 Qxf2+ 30.Kxf2 gxf6 31.Rb1 Rb8 32.Ne4 Ne5 33.Nxc5 Rc8 34.Nxb7 Rxc4 35.a5f Fressinet,L (2662)-Amin,B (2660) Sharjah 2017; b) 13...Ne7 14.d4!?N (More energetic than 14.Nf1 ) 14...Ng6 15.Bb2 c6 16.a5 Qe7 17.c4 exd4 18.Bxd4 Qc7 19.Bxa7 Rxa7 20.c5!f Ra8 21.cxd6 Qxd6 22.e5!± Areshchenko,A (2649)-Onischuk,A (2685) Khanty-Mansiysk 2017 î?� 22...Nxe5? 23.Rxe5 Rxe5 24.Nc4; 14.Nf1 Ree8 (14...d5 15.Be3! (15.Ng3 Rd8 16.Qb3 Ne7 17.c4 dxc4 18.dxc4 Nc6 19.Bb2 Qd3 20.Qc3 a5 21.bxa5 Bc5 22.Rab1 Bb4 23.Qxd3 Rxd3 24.Red1 Rxd1+ 25.Rxd1 Re8³ Sethuraman,S (2623)-Inarkiev,E (2723) Moscow 2017) 15...Bxe3 16.Nxe3 Rd8 17.b5 axb5 18.axb5 Ne7 19.c4 dxe4 20.dxe4 Ng6 21.Ra7f Anand,V (2786)-So,W (2812) Leuven blitz 2017) 15.Ng3!? (15.Be3 Bxe3 16.Nxe3 Nd8 17.Nc4 Ne6 18.a5 Rad8 19.Rad1 Nf4 20.Kh2 Qc6 21.Qb3 Ng6 22.Kg1 d5 23.exd5 Qxd5 24.d4 exd4 25.Rxd4 Qf5 26.Nce5 Nxe5 27.Rxe5 Qc8= Van Foreest,J (2551)-Tkachiev,V (2660) Stockholm 2016) 15...a5 (15...Ne7 16.a5 Rad8 17.c4 c6 18.Bb2 Ng6 19.d4 Bb8 20.Rad1 Qc8 21.Nf5 Bc7 22.Rc1 Qb8 23.d5 Nf4 24.g3 Ng6 25.Qd3 î?£, Chigaev,M (2531)-Sychev,K (2449) Moscow 2017; Now is maybe the right moment for 15...d5!?" ) 16.b5 Ne7 17.d4 Ng6 18.Be3 Qe6 19.c4 exd4 20.Nxd4 Qe7 21.Ndf5 Qe6 22.Bxa7 Rxa7 23.c5f Pruijssers,R (2529)-Michalik,P (2584) Germany 2014] 11.Bxe6 Accepting the challenge is probably the only way to fight for an edge. [11.b4 Nh5 12.Nf1 Qf6 13.Ne3 Bxc4 14.Nxc4 Nf4 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.fxe3 Ng6 17.b5 axb5 18.axb5 Nce7 19.Qb3 d5 20.Rxa8 Rxa8 21.Ncd2 c6 22.d4 Qd6" Carlsen,M (2832)-Giri,A (2771) Stavanger 2017] 11...fxe6 12.Nf1 [12.b4 Qe8!? (12...Nh5 13.Ra2!?N (13.Nf1 Nf4 14.Be3 Bxe3 15.Rxe3 Qf6 16.b5 Ne7 17.d4 Neg6 18.Kh2 axb5 19.axb5 Rxa1 20.Qxa1 Nh4 21.Nxh4 Qxh4 22.Qa2 exd4 23.cxd4 Leko,P (2693)-Kobalia,M (2628) Tallinn blitz 2016 23...Qg5 24.g3 Qxb5=) 13...Qf6 14.Nc4 b5 15.Ne3 Bb6 16.Ng4 Qe7 17.Be3 Bxe3 18.fxe3 Rab8 19.axb5 axb5 20.Ra6 Nd8 21.d4 exd4 22.cxd4 Nf7 23.Qc2 Nf6 24.Nxf6+ Qxf6 25.Rc6 Ng5" Anand,V (2786)-Carlsen,M (2832) Stavanger 2017) 13.Nf1 Nh5 14.Be3 Bxe3 15.Rxe3 Nf4 16.Rb1 b5 17.Ra1 Qg6 18.Ng3 Qf6 19.Ne2 Ng6 20.Qb3 Kh8 21.Rf1 Rab8 22.g3 Qf7 (22...Nf4! 23.gxf4 Qg6+f) 23.Nh2 d5 24.Rf3 Qd7 25.axb5 axb5 26.Kg2 Rxf3 27.Nxf3 Rf8 28.Neg1 Ra8 29.Rc1 Qd6 30.Ne1 Nge7 31.Ngf3 Ng8 32.Nc2 Nf6 33.Re1 Rf8 34.Na3 Rb8 35.Nc2 Rf8= Karjakin,S (2773)-So,W (2810) Saint Louis 2017 This game was played one day later than Ding Liren-Giri.] 12...Nh5 13.Be3N [13.d4 Qf6 14.Be3 Nf4 15.dxe5 Nxe5 16.Nxe5 Qxe5 17.Bxa7 Rxa7 18.Re3 Raa8 19.Nh2 Rf7 20.Nf3 Qc5 21.b4 Qh5 22.a5 Raf8 23.Nd4 Qxd1+ 24.Rxd1 e5 25.Nf5 Kh7 26.Ree1 g6= Wen,Y (2614)-Lin,C (2526) China 2016;
13.b4!? prevents the following move, but after 13...Qe8 we are back in Karjakin-So.] 13...a5!? 14.Bxa7 Rxa7 15.d4 Central expansion is usually laudable, but this allows the knight to f4, where it will be a nuisance. [Another move deserving attention was 15.g3! After 15...Qf6 16.N1d2 Qg6 17.Kh2 White will first consolidate his kingside and only then contemplate central or flank activity. However, the position remains balanced after 17...Raa8"] 15...Qf6 16.Re3 [16.dxe5 Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Qxf2+ (17...Qxe5!? 18.g3=) 18.Kh1 Qxf1+ 19.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 20.Qxf1 Ng3+ 21.Kg1 Nxf1 22.Kxf1 dxe5 23.Rd1© /=] 16...Nf4 17.h4 To prepare g3, White must soften his kingside. 17...Qg6 18.g3 Raa8!? Even though the doubled pawns could be real weakness in the future, Giri has sufficient trust in his piece coordination to keep his central outpost. [That said, even giving up the centre with 18...exd4 19.cxd4 Nb4÷ (or 19...Ra6!? is far from clear.) ] 19.dxe5 Nxe5 20.Nxe5 dxe5 21.f3 Rad8 22.Qc2 Nh5 23.Kh2 Rf6 24.Rd1 Rdf8! White's kingside is vulnerable, so Black retains the major pieces to create more pressure. 25.Rdd3 [25.Kg2 Rf4!³] 25...Qf7 26.Qd1?! White seeks play on the d-file, but it's ineffective and the text move just loses time. [It was safer to huddle closer to the » with 26.Qg2 However, Black still has 26...g5!? (26...Rg6 27.Qf2 Qe7 28.Rd1 and 28...Rxg3?! leads nowhere after 29.Nxg3 Qxh4+ 30.Kg2 Nf4+ 31.Kf1 Rf6 32.Ne2 Qh1+ 33.Qg1 Qh3+ 34.Ke1²) 27.hxg5 hxg5 (27...Rg6 28.Qd2 Rxg5 29.Rd8 Nxg3 30.Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Nxg3 Qf4 32.Qf2 Rxg3 33.Qxg3 Qxe3 34.Qxe5 Qf2+ 35.Kh3 Qxf3+ 36.Kh2³ /î?- should probably be enough for a draw.) 28.Kg1 g4 29.Nh2 gxf3 30.Rxf3 Qg6³ with nagging pressure.;
26.Qf2 g5f] 26...Rg6 27.Qe1 A sad necessity - active moves fail: [27.Rd7? Qf6 28.Qe1 Nxg3! (28...Rd8 29.Rxd8+ (29.Rxc7? Nxg3 30.Nxg3 Qxh4+ 31.Kg2 Rd1! 32.Qxd1 Qxg3+ 33.Kf1 Qg1+ 34.Ke2 Rg2+-+) 29...Qxd8=) 29.Nxg3 Qxh4+ 30.Kg2 Rg5!-+;
27.Rd8? Nxg3 28.Rxf8+ Qxf8 29.Nxg3 Qf4 30.Qe1 Qxh4+ 31.Kg2 h5 32.Qf2 (32.Rd3 Qg5-+) 32...Qf4 33.Kh3 Rxg3+ 34.Qxg3 Qxe3µ] 27...Qe7 28.Kh3? This allows a powerful sacrifice. [A far more resilient defence was ¹28.Qf2 Rxg3! a) 28...Nf6 29.Qe1 Nh5=; b) 28...Nxg3 29.Nxg3 Rf4 (29...Qxh4+ 30.Kg2) 30.Kg2 Rxh4 31.Rd1 Rh5 32.f4 (32.Rh1 Rxg3+ 33.Qxg3 Rg5µ) 32...exf4 33.Qxf4 e5 34.Qf3 Qh4 35.Qe2 Kh7©; 29.Nxg3 Qxh4+ 30.Kg2 Qg5! (30...Nf4+ 31.Kf1 Rf6 32.Ne2 Qh1+ 33.Qg1 Qh3+ 34.Ke1 Nxd3+ 35.Rxd3 Rxf3 36.Rd8+ Kh7 37.Rd7 Qh4+ 38.Kd2±) 31.Kf1 (31.Kh2 Rf4 32.Nxh5 Rh4+ 33.Qxh4 Qxh4+ 34.Kg2 Qxh5µ) 31...Nxg3+ 32.Ke1 Nh5³ (32...h5 33.Kd1 h4 34.Kc2") ;
28.Rd2? Nxg3! (28...Rxg3? 29.Nxg3 Qxh4+ 30.Kg1! Nxg3 31.Rh2 Qf4 32.Rh3-+) 29.Nxg3 Qxh4+ 30.Kg2 Rff6-+] 28...Rxg3+! 29.Nxg3 Nf4+ 30.Kh2 [30.Kg4?? Qf6 31.h5 Qg5#] 30...Qxh4+ 31.Kg1 Rf6 32.Rd8+ [The î?¤ can't escape from the danger zone: 32.Kf2? Qh2+] 32...Kh7 33.Rd2 Rg6 34.Rg2 h5! [34...Qh3? 35.Rh2 Qxg3+ 36.Qxg3 Rxg3+ 37.Kf2±] 35.Rh2 Giving up the knight prolongs the game. [35.Kf2 Qh3! 36.Qg1 h4-+;
35.b3 Nxg2 36.Kxg2 Qg5-+ (36...Qf4 37.Kh3 Rxg3+-+) ] 35...Rxg3+ 36.Kh1 Qg5 37.Qf1 h4 38.Re1 h3 39.Rd1 Qh5-+ 40.Rd7 [40.Rf2 Rg2 41.Rdd2 Qh4 42.Rc2 c5 43.b3 Kg6? 44.Ra2 Kg5 45.Rfc2 Qg3-+] 40...Qxf3+ [40...Rxf3 41.Qg1 (41.Rf2 Rg3) 41...Ng2-+] 41.Qxf3 Rxf3 42.Rhd2 Kh6 43.Rd8 [43.Rxc7 g5 44.Rdd7 Rf1+ 45.Kh2 Rf2+ 46.Kg1 Rg2+ 47.Kf1 (47.Kh1 Nh5!-+) 47...Kh5-+] 43...Kh5 44.Rh8+ Kg4 45.Rd1 Ne2 [45...Ne2 46.Rg8 g5 47.Rgd8 Rf2 48.R8d2 Kh4-+] 0-1.
Interesting to mention are the Openings files as Karolyi: English A29 (Recommendation for Black)
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Ne7 6.Nf3 Nc6, Schandorff: Caro-Kann B19 (Recommendation for Black)
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 e6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nf6, Papp: Sicilian B33 (Recommendation for White)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c4 Nd4, Quintiliano: Sicilian B38 (Recommendation for White)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 d6 8.Be2 0-0 9.0-0 Bd7 10.h3 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Bc6 12.Qc2, Kritz: Sicilian B61 (Recommendation for White)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 Bd7 7.Qd2 Rc8, Kosintseva: Sicilian B66 (Recommendation for White)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 h6 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Bf4 d5 11.Qe3, Kuzmin: Sicilian B92 (Recommendation for White)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qd3 Be6 10.Bd2, Stohl: Petroff Defence C42 (Recommendation for Black)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bf5, Szabo: Two Knights Game C56 (Recommendation for Black)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 d5 6.Bb5 Ne4 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.0-0 Bc5,
Ris: London System D02 (Recommendation for Black)
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 e6 6.c3 cxd4 7.exd4 Nh5 and Postny: Semi-Slav D43 (Recommendation for Black)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 g6.
Other contributions are Williams: Move by Move,Rogozenco:The Classic,Grivas:Fide Trainings course,Marin:Strategy,Reeh: Tactics,Müller:The duel between rook and bishop,Knaak:Recent opening traps and smashing Openings videos!
Included is a booklet in two languages!
Conclusion:This is must have material!  

ChessBase Magazine extra issue 180 Extra
November  2017
Videos by Adrian Mikhalchishin, Yannick Pelletier & Robert Ris.
ChessBase
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System requirements:
Minimum: Pentium III 1 GHz, 1 GB RAM, Windows Vista, XP (Service Pack 3), DirectX9 graphic card with 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows Media Player 9, ChessBase 12/Fritz 13 or included Reader and internet connection for program activation. Recommended: PC Intel Core i7, 2.8 GHz, 4 GB RAM, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, DirectX10 graphic card (or compatible) with 512 MB RAM or better, 100% DirectX10 compatible sound card, Windows Media Player 11, DVD-ROM drive and internet connection for program activation.


This heavy loaded issue comes with a unbelievable amount of 35.095 games,all played between August and September of this year!
But first of all my favourite Latvian Game: Nobre,Jailson Altair Barb (1732) - Deus Filho,Joaquim (1980) [C40]
Aldeia de Barueri op Aldeia de Barueri (5), 06.08.2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.exf5 e4 4.Nd4 Qf6 5.Nb3 d5 6.d4 Qxf5 7.Be2 Nf6 8.0-0 Qg6 9.Re1 Bd6 10.Nc3 c6 11.Bd2 0-0 12.f3 Bh3 13.Bf1 exf3 14.Qxf3 Bg4 15.Qe3 Bf5 16.Bd3 Bxh2+ 17.Kxh2 Ng4+ 0-1.
Included are some smashing video files from Adrian Mikhalchishin, Yannick Pelletier and Robert Ris!
Conclusion:There is no better way to keep abreast of latest devolpments!