My
Secret Weapon: 1.b3
by Wesley So
2017
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail
info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 34.90
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Core, 2 GB RAM, Windows 7 or 8.1, DirectX11, graphics card with 256 MB
RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows Media Player 9, ChessBase 14/Fritz 16 or
included Reader and internet access for program activation.
Recommended: PC Intel i5 (Quadcore), 4 GB RAM, Windows 10, DirectX11,
graphics card with 512 MB RAM or more, 100% DirectX10-compatible sound
card, Windows Media Player 11, DVD-ROM drive and internet access for
program activation.
The chess who likes to avoid long memorizing of moves but prefers his
opening knowledge on more logical sense of understanding.
Often there are tricky transpositions to genius Grandmaster Wesley So
reveals in a very instructive way of understand the secrets of the move
1.b3,maybe one of the most interesting opening systems available to the
modern player of today.
This is the perfect choice for the player reversed openings as the
Nimzo or Queens Indian but this is all well explained as how to make
advantage of the powerful white bishops.
All material is covered in nine heavy loaded video files,tree plus an
extra
database from over 140 entries.
A fine example of play is: Fischer,Robert James - Tukmakov,Vladimir B
[A01]
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires (1), 19.07.1970
1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.c4 Nf6 4.e3 Be7 5.a3 0-0 6.d3 d5 7.cxd5 Qxd5 8.Nc3
Qd6 9.Nf3 Bf5 10.Qc2 Rfd8 11.Rd1 h6 12.h3 Qe6 13.Nd2 Nd7 14.Be2 Kh8
15.0-0 Bg6 16.b4 a6 17.Rc1 Rac8 18.Rfd1 f5 19.Na4 Na7 20.Nb3 b6 21.d4
f4 22.e4 Nb5 23.Bg4 Qf6 24.dxe5 Nxe5 25.Bxc8 Rxc8 26.Rd5 1-0,Karsten
Müller wrote in his book Bobby Fischer: Fischer plays the whole
game in the spirit of the hyper modernists, and shows that he is a
universal player.
Video running time is two hours and 50 minutes.
Conclusion: Grandmaster Wesley So
presents here a detailed coverage of the move 1.b3!
My
Black Secrets in the Modern Italian
by Wesley So
2017
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail
info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 34.90
Minimum: Dual
Core, 2 GB RAM, Windows 7 or 8.1, DirectX11, graphics card with 256 MB
RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows Media Player 9, ChessBase 14/Fritz 16 or
included Reader and internet access for program activation.
Recommended: PC Intel i5 (Quadcore), 4 GB RAM, Windows 10, DirectX11,
graphics card with 512 MB RAM or more, 100% DirectX10-compatible sound
card, Windows Media Player 11, DVD-ROM drive and internet access for
program activation.
The great Wesley So talks to his college IM Oliver Reeh,
explaining his personal experiences as Black in the Modern Italian, a
opening that looks so innocents but is
loaded with deadly traps!
This all is well explained with 10 video files,tree and a extra
database of
157 entries!
Pleas see how the young Jorden van Foreest handles this opening: Van
Foreest,Jorden (2557) - Lorparizangeneh,Shahin (2449) [C54]
Moscow Aeroflot op-A 15th Moscow (4), 04.03.2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d3 0-0 6.Nbd2 d6 7.c3 a6 8.Bb3
Be6 9.Bc2 h6 10.h3 Re8 11.Re1 Ba7 12.Nf1 d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Ng3 Qd6
15.Nh4 Qe7 16.Nhf5 Qf6 17.Qh5 g6 18.Nxh6+ Kf8 19.Qf3 Qxf3 20.gxf3 f5
21.d4 exd4 22.Bb3 Na5 23.Rxe6 Rxe6 24.Bxd5 Re1+ 25.Nf1 Rd8 26.Nxf5 Re5
27.Bh6+ Ke8 28.Ng7+ Kd7 29.Be4 Rh8 30.Bf4 Re7 31.Bg5 Rxg7 32.Bf6 Rgg8
33.Bxh8 Rxh8 34.cxd4 Rxh3 35.Ne3 Nc6 36.Kg2 Rh8 37.d5 Ne5 38.f4 Bxe3
39.fxe5 Bf4 40.e6+ Kd6 41.Bxg6 Be5 42.Bf7 Rh2+ 43.Kf3 Bxb2 44.Re1 Bf6
45.Kg3 Rh6 46.Rb1 Bh4+ 47.Kg2 Rf6 48.f3 Rf5 49.Rxb7 Rxd5 50.f4 Rb5
51.Ra7 Ra5 52.Kh3 Bf2 53.Ra8 Be3 54.Kg3 Ra4 55.f5 Bg5 56.Bh5 Ra3+
57.Bf3 Be7 58.Rg8 Rxa2 59.Rg6 Ke5 60.Rg7 Bd6 61.Kg4 Rh2 62.e7 Rh8
63.Kg5 Bb4 64.Bc6 Bd2+ 65.Kg6 Rh6+ 66.Kf7 Rf6+ 67.Kg8 1-0.The
grandfather of Jordan was a very strong player too,and there is even a
book from him: “Een hulde aan Jhr.Dr.Dirk van Foreest door Lodewijk
Prins,Tijdstroom Lochem 1942.But his grandfather preferred in his time
the good old Evans Gambit!
Video running time is a little over 3 hours.
Must say that the analyses from Wesley So are from a very high level of
play!
Conclusion: Wesley So provides the
user here with a innocent looking but deadly weapon!
ChessBase
Magazine issue 182
2017
February/March 2018
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail
info@chessbase.com
ISSN 1432-8992
Price Euro 19.95
System requirements
Minimum: Dual Core, 2 GB RAM, Windows 7 or 8.1,
DirectX11, graphics card with 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows Media
Player 9, ChessBase 14/Fritz 16 or included Reader and internet access
for program activation. Recommended: PC Intel i5 (Quadcore), 4 GB RAM,
Windows 10, DirectX11, graphics card with 512 MB RAM or more, 100%
DirectX10-compatible sound card, Windows Media Player 11, DVD-ROM drive
and internet access for program activation.
The main tournament files is good for 916 entries and
where a small 44 of them are more than excellent analysed!
A fine example of this all is:
Sutovsky,Emil (2683) - Caruana,Fabiano (2799) [B19]
Douglas IoM op Douglas (6), 28.09.2017
[Sutovsky,E]
This game was played in round six of the magnificent and extremely
strong chess.com Isle of Man tournament. We were both on 4/5 - hardly a
surprising result for Fabiano, and very decent for myself. Still I had
no reason to rest on my laurels, especially while you don't get any
laurels with +3 score in an Open tournament, even as strong as the one
we were playing. Both of us were in a fighting mood - I had White, and
a very good record in our classical encounters before, whilst Caruana
is Caruana, and he was possibly feeling - it is a good chance for him -
after all, what could be a better pairing than to face an ambitious but
objectively weaker player?
1.e4 c6 A rare choice for him, but I managed to guess it correctly. The
Caro-Kann might sometimes be boring, but according to Kasparov - there
is no better weapon to meet a musketeer, who is out for a big tussle.
Not sure I still qualify for D'Artagnian, but there is also Porthos
with the similar body build, and the famous motto "I fight because I
fight"... 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Cunning choice. I usually opt for 3.e5, but I
was sure that Fabiano would be well-prepared there, and opted for a
more solid move. So far. 3...dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 e6
[7...Nd7 is the main one, but the move made by Caruana is not only
possible, but leads to potentially sharper positions.] 8.Ne5 Bh7 9.Bd3
Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nd7 11.Bf4 Another move here is 11.f4 - but I had tried it
once against Eljanov - without any success, and knew that Fabiano would
be ready to meet it. After the bishop's move, my opponent started
thinking for the first time in this game. 11...Qa5+ [11...Nxe5 12.Bxe5
Nf6 is also possible, but Black usually tends to include ...£a5+
in these setups, as long as White has to reply with c2-c3.] 12.c3 Ngf6
And here he thought for even longer. The main theory is
12...¤xe5 13.¥xe5 ¤f6, when Black usually equalises
with precise play. But Fabiano either wanted to provoke me, or he
simply thought there is no point to allowing my bishop to e5 - and
after due consideration made the inferior move, which leaves White with
more options. 13.0-0 [13.Nc4 Qd5 14.0-0 was another, option, but
13...£d8 was a move I didn't like, hence I decided not to force
the matters so far and to complete my preparations, as Black can't
release the pressure.] 13...Be7 [13...Nxe5 14.dxe5 would favour White -
that's why they take on e5 before developing the knight from g8.]
14.Nc4! And now it's time to ask the black queen about her intentions.
14...Qd5 [14...Qd8 15.Nd6+ Bxd6 16.Bxd6 is not as bad as it looks, but
White is better here, even if the engines are not over-enthusiastic.
But that's a kind of +0.25 I will take any day. Any time. Against
anybody.] 15.Ne3 Too impatient. A simple 15.¦fe1 would be better
for White, and even significantly better, if we ask its majesty. But I
thought 15.¤e3 is a nice idea - if he goes back to a5, I can
repeat once and then consider other moves, and if he goes to b5...
15...Qb5 16.c4 Qa5 [16...Qa6 is stronger. I thought 17.¦ad1
followed by eventual d4-d5 (possibly after removing the queen from
exchange) is very good for White, however engines suggest Black is
holding here. Not that I am entirely convinced, but probably it is
correct. The move made by Fabiano seems logical, and the queen on a5
looks nice, but here I have the powerful continuation which I had in
mind before playing 15.¤e3.] 17.b4! Qd8 Played after a prolonged
thought. Objectively it might be not the strongest, but other
possibilities seemed more dangerous for Black: [17...Bxb4 18.c5 0-0
19.Rab1 looks just lost, but even if Black can survive somehow, it is
not human to opt for the line.;
17...Qxb4 18.Rfb1 Qa4 19.Rxb7 looks very unpleasant;
17...Qa4! probably the strongest. Now White has several tempting
options, but there is no decisive breakthrough. However the queen on a4
is just out of the game, so Caruana's decision to get it back is fully
understandable.] 18.d5 Nf8! Brilliant defensive resource. White can
obtain a huge advantage here with the most precise play, and I knew it
was a case, as the logic of chess simply requires that, but working out
the exact sequence turned out to be an insurmountable task. 19.h5! The
first step is correct. Restricting his knight, sacrificing a pawn is
correct, but when he reroutes the knight with 19...exd5 I didn't find
the only way to obtain a winning position. No surprise - it was very
difficult one.
20.Nef5 [20.Rad1!! Ne6 21.Be5 0-0 22.Ngf5! was the way, and I briefly
considered it - as well as another dozen of options, but it was nearly
impossible to understand, that it is precisely here, when all the lines
work - the main one being 22...Bxb4 (22...Re8 I wasn't sure about a
move of this kind - looks like White has nothing better than a total
exchange, but 23.cxd5! cxd5 (23...Nxd5 24.Bxg7!) 24.Bxf6! Bxf6 25.Nxd5
Kh8 26.Qc4! Rc8 27.Qg4 and White's domination secures a decisive
advantage.) 23.cxd5 Nxd5 24.Qb3!! Bc5 25.Nxd5 cxd5 26.Rxd5 Qg5
(26...Qb6 27.Qg3!) 27.Nxg7! Nxg7 28.Bb2 Qg4 29.Rxc5 and White should be
able to convert it, although the technical part won't be easy. Now, how
was I supposed to find it? Not quite clear to me.
I have loads of seemingly good and very good possibilities on move 20.
No Kotov theories work here. Each candidate move requires a lot of time
to calculate and access properly - how to deal with that even given the
fact that the clocks are not ticking anymore? No answer. I think the
art of choosing a move in a complex position like that deserves a
separate book. But who would write it? It is much easier to assign
100-200 puzzles, to check them with the computer, to meat it up with
some words, and to deserve the appreciation of thousands. Much easier
than to deal with the really deep topics. Well, that is how the
invisible hand of the market works. So, we are left with our modest
ability to calculate, evaluate and rely on our intuition... But there
is a good side of it - imagine we were playing a game, where everything
can be explained, learned and memorized?] 20...Ne6 21.Be5 0-0 22.Nxh6+
This looked good, although I didn't see a win here. And there is no
win. White plays logically, but Black is in time to parry all the
threats and equalise. Move 20 was really the turning point. 22...gxh6
23.Nf5 Ng7 Human choice. [Another option is 23...dxc4 and here I
planned 24.Qc2! with the killing threat of ¦ad1. Too good to be
true. He can't play ...£d3, as the bishop on e7 is hanging, but
after the only move a) 24.Nxh6+ Kg7! 25.Nf5+ Kh7! subtle one - I was
sort of proud seeing it during the game. Now 26.Qb1 (26.Qc2 Qd3)
26...Qd3 leads to a big advantage for black, who returns a piece but
liquidates to a very good ending.; b) 24.Qg3+ Kh7 25.Rfd1 Nd5 and there
is no mate, and no piece.; 24...Ng4! 25.Rad1 Nxe5 the simplest
(25...Qe8 26.Ba1!! now it looks very bad for him, as 26...¥f6 loses
to 27.£c4, but the computer suggests Black can hold with
26...¥g5!! Maybe.(26.Bb2 Bf6! now my queen has to protect the
bishop, hence there is no better way than 27.f3 Ne3 28.Nxe3 Bxb2
29.Qxb2 Qe7 and Black holds) ) 26.Rxd8 Bxd8 27.Nxh6+ Kg7 28.Nf5+ and
here the brave 28...Kf6 leads to a dynamic equality or a draw after
29.Nh4! Bc7 (29...Kg7 30.Nf5+ Kf6) 30.Qf5+ Ke7 31.Re1 Rad8 32.Rxe5 Bxe5
33.Qxe5 Rd5 34.Nf5+ Kd7 35.Qf6 c3! 36.Ne3 Rxh5 37.Qxc3=] 24.Nxh6+ Kh8
25.Nf5 There was another option: [25.Qf3 but I noticed 25...¤d7
(all other moves make little sense, although Black should not lose
after 25...dxc4 as well) 25...Nd7 26.Bxg7+ Kxg7 27.Nf5+ Kh8 28.cxd5 and
stopped around here, not trusting my compensation. Correct judgment -
even if Black has still to play a couple of good moves to consolidate.
28...Bxb4 very cool. 29.dxc6 bxc6 30.Qxc6 Nf6 and White will suffer.]
25...dxc4! Strong one. I saw that I regain a piece there, and was under
the illusion - it would be good for me. But in fact it is just equal.
Fabiano made the decision to take on c4 very quickly - kudos to his
intuition, as this is the only way to keep the balance, although during
the game it was not evident. It has to be said that I also relied
largely on my intuition while sacrificing a piece. The attempts to
supply it with the concrete lines were partly successful, but I can't
really say I controlled it all. Well, I could pretend I did - but you'd
better don't trust those commentators who claim they saw it all from
the beginning!
26.Qf3 Qd3 27.Qxd3 cxd3 28.Nxe7 Nfxh5 Now White has several ways to
regain the pawn on d3, but I could not be really selective - being down
to the last couple of minutes to reach move 40... 29.g4 Rfe8 Only move,
but a sufficient one. 30.Rae1 Kh7! 31.Bxg7 Kxg7 32.gxh5 Kf6 33.Re3?
[33.Nxc6 bxc6 34.Rxe8 Rxe8 35.Rd1 Rd8 36.Kf1 is just a draw, as I am in
time to get to d2, but I panicked in a time trouble, and ended up in a
bad endgame.] 33...Rxe7 34.Rxd3 Re5 35.Rf3+ [35.Rd6+ is still a fairly
easy draw, but with my king exposed it seemed too dangerous to send the
shielding rook far away.] 35...Ke6 36.Rh3 Rh8 37.h6 Rg5+ 38.Kh2 Rg6
39.Re1+ Kd7 40.Rd1+ Kc7 41.h7 Rg7 Finally we made it to the
time-control. Is it lost or can White hold with the best play? I still
don't have an answer. What I know for sure, that at some point I was
losing, but Fabiano missed it. Did I miss the stronger defence - sure.
Was it good enough to hold? I don't have an answer yet - probably I
will need to dedicate a separate commentary/article to the ensuing
endgame. Meanwhile I will just point out for you the critical junctures.
42.Rdd3! [42.Rd4 Rgxh7 43.Rxh7 Rxh7+ 44.Kg3 but I disliked 42...b5, and
thought it might be useful to have the rook on the third rank there.]
42...b5 [42...Rgxh7 43.Rxh7 Rxh7+ 44.Kg3 Rg7+ (44...Rh5!? 45.Rf3 Rg5+
46.Kf4 Rb5 and now I have both 47.a3 and 47.a4, and maybe both of them
are sufficient to draw, but it could be that both of them are losing.)
45.Kf4 Rg2 46.Rf3 was the line I expected. Probably White should hold.]
43.Rdf3! Rgxh7 44.Rxh7 Rxh7+ 45.Kg3 Kb6 46.Rf6! Rh1 47.Rxf7? [47.f4!
that probably was the way to draw. Not allowing the unpleasant
intermediate check which happened in the game. 47...Rg1+ 48.Kf3 and
when the pawn race starts my king will control the vitally important
f2- and f1-squares.] 47...Rg1+! 48.Kh4 [48.Kf4 Ra1 49.Ke5 Rxa2 50.f4
Re2+ 51.Kd4 Rd2+ 52.Ke5 a5 and Black is probably winning.] 48...Ra1
49.f4 Rxa2 50.f5 a5 [50...Ra4 51.f6 Rxb4+ 52.Kg5 Rb1 is also winning as
confirmed by the engines.] 51.bxa5+ Rxa5 52.Rf8 b4 53.Kg4 Kc7? Engines
claim, that both 53...¢b7 and 53...¦a7 win - and that is
true. It is just not very simple to understand why. No, there are no
mysterious moves like it happens with 6-7 pieces tablebases, but the
lines are still rather complex. That said, Caruana's choice is still
far from the best, as White now has two ways to draw it. 54.f6 Kd7
55.Rc8! Nice one, but the simple 55.f7 ¢e7 56.¦c8
was also enough. 55...Ke6 Draw agreed. I enjoyed the game - although it
left more questions than answers. And even after annotating it, it
feels like some treasures remain hidden. I'd suggest to anyone working
on rook endgames to take a close look on this ending - not waiting for
my article to appear. After all, it is only your own work that really
counts! ½-½.
A other hot item are the so called theory surverys as: Postny: Reti
Opening A09 (Recommendation for Black)
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.b4 Bg4,Ris: Benko Gambit A57 (Recommendation for
White)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a5 5.Nc3 axb5 6.e4 b4 7.Nb5 d6,Papp:
Sicilian B49 (Recommendation for White)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.a3
b5,Karolyi: French C02 (Recommendation for Black)
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Ne7,Szabo: French C18 (Recommendation for
Black)
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Ba5 6.b4 cxd4 7.Qg4 Kf8,Breder:
Petroff Defence C42 (Recommendation for White)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7
8.Nbd2,Marin: Ruy Lopez C87 (Recommendation for Black)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 d6 7.c3
Bg4,Breutigam: Anti-Grünfeld D00 (Recommendation for White)
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.Nb5,Schandorff:
Anti-Grünfeld D02 (Recommendation for White)
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.0-0 d5 6.c3,Kuzmin: Queen's
Gambit D35 (Recommendation for Black)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 and at
last:Quintiliano: Catalan E05 (Recommendation for Black)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 b6
Other columns are Williams:Move by Move,Rogozenco:The
Classic,Grivas:Fide training
course,Marin:Strategy,Reeh:Tactics,Müller:Recent rook
endings,Knaak:Recent opening traps and several Opening videos as Daniel
King with Grand Prix Attack,Mihail Marin Queens Gambit and Lawrence
Trent with the Italian game.
Included is a smashing booklet in two languages German and English!
Conclusion: This what every chess players needs to have on his or hers
computer!
