CHESSBOOK REVIEWS
Latest book
reviews of 1 April 2020
Wilhelminalaan 33
7261 BP RUURLO
The Netherlands.
John
Elburg
Chess
DVD's
UltraCorr 2020
www.chessmail.com
E-mail hardingt@tcd.ie
The basic price for a downloaded copy
is 55 Euro
Just on sale, Tim Harding’s latest UltraCorr
2020 download which has gone over two million correspondence games
{found around 2111300 games!}, and holds
over more than 190000 extra
games
compared with the previous 2019 edition.
On the ChessMail site I did read about a possible final edition
but I hope that Tim continues in the future with his Ultra
game project because no
other database does reach Harding’s high level
of research and excellent made game references.
Pleasent to mention are the Hugh amount of extra
included LSS CC games that are very hard to find,but I belive that
Ortwin Paetzold made them some
time ago available together with a brand
new update of his website.
If we compare it with the ChessBase Corr 2020 database from over 180
euro than the decision is easy made,Harding is over 135 euro cheaper
and offers a small 524000 more games.
But above all Tim Harding’s Ultra Corr files holds much more annotated
games,and many of these comments to the game come from his former
ChessMail
publications.
Interesting to mention are the first correspondence chess games from
the chess genius Alekander Alekhine,where Carlo Alberto Pagni from
Italy even once wrote a small booklet about it,Alexander Alekhine and
correspondence chess Italy 1996.
Some of these first correspondence games will only be found on the
UltraCorr files as the followings game, where Alekhine was only 10
years old: Urusov,Nikolay Valerievich - Alekhine,Alexander A [C33]
6th Shakmatnoe Obozrenie 1902-3 corr, 1902
[S&V #46; NIC 8/96]
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 d5 4.Bxd5 Qh4+ 5.Kf1 g5 6.g3 fxg3 7.Qf3 g2+
8.Kxg2 Nh6 9.Qg3 Qxg3+ Three years later, Alekhine preferred
9...¤g4 against Urusov. 10.hxg3 c6 11.Bb3 f6 12.d4 Nf7 13.Nc3
Be7 14.Bd2 Bg4 15.Rf1 Nd8 16.e5 fxe5 17.dxe5 h5 18.Ne4 Nd7 19.Nd6+ Bxd6
20.exd6 Ne6 21.Nf3 0-0-0 22.Nxg5 Nxg5 23.Bxg5 Rde8 24.Be7 Rh7 25.Rf4
Reh8 26.c3 Be2 27.Be6 Rh6 28.Bh3 R6h7 29.Re1 Bg4 30.Bxg4 hxg4 31.Bh4
Rh6 32.Rd1 Rg6 33.Rdd4 Rhg8 34.b4 a6 Urusov withdrew from the
tournament 0-1.
For some noteworthy sources we can suppose that Alexander Alekhine
together with his brother Alexsei took part in correspondence chess
tournaments from 1902.
But strange enough these games are very hard to find in published books
on Alekhine as for example Skinner
& Verhoeven Alexander Alekhine’s
Chess Games 1902-1946,MacFarland & Company 1998.
Conclusion: Impressive made and overloaded with latest novelties!
ChessBase Magazine issue 194
March - April 2020
ChessBase
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail
info@chessbase.com
ISSN 1432-8992
Euro 19.95
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
The main file of this well loaded magazine is good for 1249 entries,
where a small 30 of them are more then excellent analysed, for
example please see the following game from the Dutch chess talent
Jorden Van Foreest,who is not afraid to throw his openings secrets away
to the readers of this magazine:
Van Foreest,Jorden (2644) -
Dubov,Daniil (2683) [B22]
Tata Steel-A 82nd Wijk aan Zee (3),
13.01.2020
[Van Foreest,Jorden]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 I prepared the Alapin variation for this
tournament hoping it would catch my opponents off guard. Dubov is a
renowned expert in the Sveshnikov, and Rossolimo, while the Alapin is
seldom seen at high level. 3...Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 c4 7.Bc2 d5
8.exd6 Qxd6 9.0-0 g6 Up to this point we are following main theory.
Instead of the text move, 9...Bg4 was played by Carlsen and Anand
amongst others. The text is slightly less popular but also seen
frequently. 10.Na3 Bg7 11.b3 White has to challenge the c4 pawn, it
clamps down the white forces on the queen-side. Once gotten rid of the
nuisance, white can aim to build a strong centre. 11...cxb3 12.axb3 0-0
13.d4 Bg4 14.h3 Bxf3 15.Qxf3 e5 16.Nb5 We have reached move 16 in the
game, but still there have been a number of games played. Dubov chose
the most popular and logical move. However, I believe it not to be the
most accurate one. 16...Qd7 [16...Qd5! I think this move, aiming for an
endgame, is better.] 17.Rd1! A strong move, leaving Black a difficult
choice. 17...a6 With this move Black initiates a small tactical
sequence, which turns out favourable for White. I believe 17. ..exd4
would still have been good enough for equality. [17...exd4 18.Nxd4 Nxd4
19.cxd4 It may seem that White has a very pleasant position due to the
advantage of having the bishop pair in an open position. Yet, with a
couple of strong moves Black can still maintain the balance: 19...Rfe8!
20.Be4 Re6! Nnext is ...Rae8 and Black seems to have just enough
activity. 21.Bxb7?! It is unwise to take the pawn, since after
21...Rae8 both threats of ...Rf6 and ... Re1+ are difficult to deal
with.] 18.d5 [18.dxe5? Nxe5!-+ is not advisable.] 18...Nb4 The point of
Black's previous move. [18...axb5 19.Rxa8 Rxa8 20.dxc6 Qxc6 21.Be4 With
2 strong bishops for White, the black position is very unpleasant
here.] 19.Na3 Playing it simple. [19.cxb4 This is possible, but I was
not sure about the complications after both 19... e4 and even
19...Qxb5.] 19...Nxc2 20.Nxc2 Tactical events have come to an end. It
is clear that if White manages to coordinate his pieces and push c3-c4
he will be on top. It is up to Black to create counterplay, but this is
very hard, mainly because the knight b6 is seriously out of the game.
20...Rac8 [20...e4 trying to disrupt White's plans is ineffective:
21.Qe3! Nxd5 22.Qc5 Rad8 23.Ne3 loses a piece for Black.] 21.c4 After
some consideration I decided it was worth giving up the exchange, since
in return White gets wonderful positional compensation. 21...f5
Although it is an obnoxious choice, I think my opponent should have
decided to take the exchange since in the game my pawns will steamroll
forward and Black finds it difficult to get anything in return.
[21...e4 22.Qxe4 Rfe8 23.Qf4 Bxa1 24.Nxa1 is a line I calculated during
the game. Although White is definitely better, nothing is clear yet.]
22.Ba3 Rf7 23.Rac1 Re8 24.c5 e4 25.Qe2 Nc8 This is quite a sad square
for the knight, but there wasn't anything better. [25...Nxd5 26.Qc4
loses the knight.] 26.Qc4 Na7 A clever idea, attempting to get the
knight back into the game via b5. 27.Nd4 f4 28.Ne6 Nb5 By this point I
knew my position should be winning. Still Black has chances of creating
a mess because of his far advanced pawns on the kingside. 29.Bb4
[29.Nxg7! would have been the best way to finish black off. I was about
to go for it, but then I noticed a defence, or so I thought. 29...Nxa3
30.c6 bxc6 31.dxc6 Qc8 I saw the correct winning line after 31...Qxd1
but here I was not sure how to win. Hence I went for 29.Bb4. It turns
out I missed an easy way: (31...Qxd1+ 32.Rxd1 Nxc4 33.Nxe8 Nb6 34.Rd8
wins for White.) 32.Qxf7+! Kxf7 33.Nxe8 Kxe8 34.c7 and with Rd8+ next
White is completely winning.] 29...e3 My opponent sensibly tries to
complicate matters, since in the long run my strong pawns will be
decisive. 30.Ng5 I decided to go for the most direct idea, thinking it
was basically game over with Black losing material in every line.
However, I had missed the very inventive idea Dubov came up with.
[30.fxe3 fxe3 31.Rf1 In hindsight I would say this would have been a
more practical way of playing, limiting the black counterplay.]
30...exf2+ 31.Kxf2 Qf5! 32.Nxf7 Re4 The sequence of 31...Qf5 followed
by 32...Re4 had escaped my attention. Even though I am a full rook up
it is not so easy to deal with the counterplay Black has created. 33.c6
After some thinking I went for this interesting move sacrificing my
queen but trying to promote my c-pawn. [33.Qc2 is the computer
suggestion, and with the evaluation of +6 we can be sure White is
winning. During the game it was not all that clear to me what was going
on though. 33...Kxf7 34.c6! The only move to win. 34...Nd4 (34...bxc6
35.Qxc6 Rxb4 36.Qb7+ Kg8 37.d6 is also winning for White.) 35.cxb7!
Nxc2 36.b8Q Rxb4 37.Qc7+ Kg8 38.Qxc2 is a nice line, in which White
promoted to a new queen and dealt with Black's threats.] 33...Kxf7?
[33...Rxc4! Simply capturing the white queen would have made things
much more complicated for me, especially considering I was planning on
recapturing 34.bxc4 here which turns out to be a severe mistake:
34.bxc4 (34.Rxc4! is probably still winning.) 34...f3 35.cxb7 fxg2+
36.Kg1 was the line I saw during the game, thinking the pawn is
unstoppable. 36...Qf4! I had missed this move, stopping the pawn from
queening, and threatening ...Bd4+. Suddenly Black would be very much
back into the game.] 34.cxb7 Rxc4 35.bxc4?! Not the most exact way, but
it should still be good enough for the win. [35.Rxc4! This
counter-intuitive recapture would have been immediately winning, the
key difference being that the rook defends a lot of important squares
along the fourth rank, making it impossible for Black to create any
counterplay against my king. 35...Qe5 36.Re1! Qb2+ 37.Kf1 Be5 38.Rc8+-]
35...Qe5?! After this, there will be no more chances. [35...Be5! was
the last chance of creating a mess. Nevertheless White is still winning
after 36.cxb5 f3 37.Rc4! Once again the rook on the 4th rank proves
very useful, covering all check's from the black queen. 37...axb5
38.g4! Qf6 39.Re4+-] 36.cxb5 Qb2+ [36...Qe3+ 37.Kf1 f3 38.Rc7+ Kf6
39.Bc3+ Kf5 40.Rf7++-] 37.Kf1 Be5 38.d6 f3 39.gxf3 Qb3 40.Ke2 Qe6
41.Rc7+ Time control has been reached, and there should be many ways to
win. I chose the most straightforward one. 41...Kf6 42.b8Q Bf4+ Black
has a few checks, but the white king will find shelter, after which the
huge material surplus will tell. 43.Kd3 Qd5+ 44.Kc2 Qa2+ 45.Kc3 Be5+
46.Kd3 Qb3+ 47.Ke2 1-0.
A other hot item are the included Opening Video,on the Queen’s Gambit
Declined,1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7
7.Be2,Vienna Game 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 nxe4 5.d3 and at
last the Anti Reti 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 nc6 3.g3 Bg4.
A other hot items are the included openings:
11 opening articles with new recommendations for your repertoire await
you:
Romain Edouard: English 1.c4 e5 2.d3
Roven Vogel: Caro-Kann with 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3
Petra Papp: Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Bd3 e6 7.f4
Alexander Seyb: Sicilian Najdorf with 6.a3
Viktor Moskalenko: French 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 with Black playing
c5-c4
Renato Quintiliano: Two Knights Game 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5
Robert Ris: Ruy Lpez 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Bc5 6.c3 0-0 7.d4 Ba7
Krisztian Szabo: Ruy Lopez Anti-Marshall 8.a4 d5!?
Robert Hungaski: Queen’s Gambit Accepted 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 e5
Evgeny Postny: Grünfeld Defence 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 and 7.Ne2
Lars Schandorff: Queen’s Gambit Ragozin with 9.Tc1
Other columns are Williams: Move by Move,Rogozenco:The
Classic,Marin:Only queens and rooks,Reeh: Tactics,Knaak:Topical opening
traps and at last Karsten Müller with one of the best endgame
contributions of this moment!
Included is a smashing booklet in two languages!
Conclusion:The one and
only professional made chess magazine!