CHESSBOOK REVIEWS

Latest book reviews of 1 August 2024

Wilhelminalaan 33 

7261 BP RUURLO 

The Netherlands.
           John Elburg

                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                       Chess DVD's


Master Class Vol.17 - Boris Spassky
by  Dorian Rogozenco, Dr. Karsten Müller, Mihail Marin and Oliver Reeh
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
2024
 Price Euro 34.90
Windows 7 or higher
Minimum: Dual Core, 2 GB RAM, 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.
MacOSX  only available as download! Minimum: MacOS "Yosemite" 10.10



It is a great pleasure for me to announce this Master Class DVD on the great Boris Vasilievich Spassky (Russian: Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский, romanized: Borís Vasíl'yevich Spásskiy; born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. Spassky played three world championship matches: he lost to Tigran Petrosian in 1966; defeated Petrosian in 1969 to become world champion; then lost to Bobby Fischer in a famous match in 1972.
This all is covered in a impressive video running time of 8 hours and 22 minutes (English)
Interactive tactics test with video feedback
“Spassky Powerbooks”: Spassky’s opening repertoire as a variation tree
Tactical training with 20 games.
But first the index:
Introduction
Short biography
Opening
Introduction
Repertoire White
Repertoire Black
The Leningrad System in the Nimzo Indian Defence
The King's Gambit
The Sicilian Defence
Ruy Lopez - White
Ruy Lopez - Black
Strategy
Introduction
Petrosian-Spassky, Wch Game 4 1969
Sokolov-Spassky, Candidates 1985
Spassky-Geller, Candidates 1968
Spassky-Robatsch, Bundesliga 1984
Tactics 1-10
Spassky - Smyslov 1953
Spassky - Taimanov 1955
Spassky - Ragozin 1956
Spassky - Witkowski 1959
Spassky - Bronstein 1960
Spassky - Marsalek 1960
Spassky - Ciric 1962
Spassky - Zinn 1962
Spassky - Shofman 1962
Spassky - Nikolaevsky 1963
Tactics 11-20
Spassky - Forintos 1964
Spassky - Unzicker 1966
Spassky - Timoscenko 1967
Spassky - Langeweg 1967
Spassky - Kortschnoj 1968
Spassky - Petrosian 1969
Spassky - Fischer 1970
Spassky - Averkin 1973
Spassky - Portisch 1977
Timman - Spassky 1983
Tactics 21-24
Huenerkopf - Spassky 1984
Hodgson - Spassky 1985
Andruet - Spassky 1988
Spassky - Prie 1991
Endgames
Powerless queen
The queen's revenge
Miracle escape
Beating Karpov with Q+N vs Q
Rook endgame technique part 1
Rook endgame technique part 2
Rook endgame technique part 3
Double rook endgame technique
The famous mystery of the poisoned pawn h2
The bishops are hard to beat
Spassky's strong bishops
Do Knights really like all closed positions ?
Breaking the wall
Beating Garry Kasparov
Bonus
All Games
Training Questions
Spassky book with White
Spassky book with Black
ChessBase Magazine #214
Karsten Müller's favorite Spassky Game: Spassky vs Fischer (1), Rejkjavik 1972
Strategy: All-rounder Boris Spassky
Try to find the moves of Spassky yourself: Gurgenidze-Spassky
Try to find the moves of Spassky yourself: Korchnoi-Spassky
Spassky's initiative in the endgame
Magazine Extra Database
According to reports, Spassky was hospitalised in a Moscow medical institution after suffering a stroke in 2010. He was first treated at a Moscow hospital, but his family then had him transferred to a hospital in France.
In an interview with a Russian publication, which Spassky Jr. claims was made up, his father is quoted as saying he had been "isolated" in France since 2010 and could not go to police, while his relatives gave him large quantities of sedatives which led to skin diseases. Spassky also said he had been deprived of both his Russian and his French documents, but with the help of his friends and the Russian embassy, he had managed to fly home this August.
However, Spassky's son gives a different account of the events in the Figaro interview. He said that a woman named Valentina Kuznetsova came to visit his father at the French hospital. She had an aggressive manner and stopped the family members from talking with Spassky in private. She was also extremely offensive towards them. Some time after Spassky came home from the hospital, he disappeared without a trace.
Three weeks after his father's disappearance, Spassky Jr. learnt that he was in a Moscow hospital and was being attended by Kuznetsova.
After he married Marina Shcherbachyova in 1976, he relocated to France, while still maintaining the right to play for the USSR.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Conclusion: Spassky was one of the most creative world champions

Middlegame Secrets Vol.4 - The Secrets Lives of Knights
by  Jan Markos
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
2024
 Price Euro 34.90
Windows 7 or higher
Minimum: Dual Core, 2 GB RAM, 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.
MacOSX  only available as download! Minimum: MacOS "Yosemite" 10.10



The Slovak chess grandmaster Jan Markos, coach, and author explains in a small 4 h and 39 minutes the secrets of Knight play,maybe it is better to talk about the power of the knights.
First a view inside: Introduction
Knight dominating the Bishop
Knight dominating the Bishop 1: Van Wely vs Karjakin, Wijk aan Zee 2012
Knight dominating the Bishop 2: Navara vs Caruana, Reggio Emilia 2010
Knight dominating the Bishop 3: Anand vs Van Wely, Wijk aan Zee 2001
Knight dominating the Bishop 4: Navara vs Hracek, Ostrava 2010
Knight dominating the Bishop 5: Markos vs Gustafsson, Graz 2010
A Knight's Best Friend
Passed Pawn 1: Markos vs Korchnoi, Pulvermuehle 2006
Passed Pawn 2: Carlsen vs Karjakin, Wijk aan Zee 2012
Passed Pawn 3: Spassky vs Petrosian, Wch Moscow 1969
Knight behind the Pawn Chain
Knight behind the Pawn Chain 1: Cheparinov vs Stellwagen, Amsterdam 2005
Knight behind the Pawn Chain 2: Gelfand vs Morozevich, Moscow 2014
Knight behind the Pawn Chain 3: Antal vs Markos, Pardubice 2007
Knight Behind the Pawn Chain 4: Naiditsch vs Timman, Dortmund 2002
Restricting the Knight
Restricting the Knight 1: Swiercz vs Idani, Maribor 2012
Restricting the Knight 2: Yu Yangyi vs Ju Wenjun, Gibraltar 2017
Restricting the Knight 3: Aronian vs Naiditsch, Karlsruhe 2018
Restricting the Knight 4: Markos vs Kulhanek, Czech Team Championship 2009
Restricting the Knight 5: Kasparov vs Shirov, Horgen 1994
Outposts
Outposts 1: Larsen vs Svidler, Bad Homburg 1998
Outposts 2: Ding Liren vs Grischuk, Ekaterinburg 2021
Outposts 3: Nijboer vs Harikrishna, Wijk aan Zee 2001
Outposts 4: Markos vs Sluka, Czech Team Championship 2014
Outposts 5: Karjakin vs Fedoseev, World Cup 2021
The Art of Spotting Outposts
The Art of Spotting Outposts 1: Kramnik vs Ribli, Groningen 1993
The Art of Spotting Outposts 2: Markos vs Caletka, Slovak Team Championship 2017
The Art of Spotting Outposts 3: Smyslov vs Zuidema, Hamburg 1965
The Art of Spotting Outposts 4: Bacrot vs Tiviakov, Wijk aan Zee 2006
The Art of Spotting Outposts 5: Bobotsov vs Petrosian, Lugano 1968
Exercises
Database
Practice Positions
Position 1
Position 2
Position 3
Position 4 (against a bad Knight)
Position 5
Position 6
Conclusion: This is high level knight work!

The surprising 3.d3 against the Caro-Kann
by  Fabien Libiszewski
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
2024
 Price Euro 34.90
Windows 7 or higher
Minimum: Dual Core, 2 GB RAM, 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.
MacOSX  only available as download! Minimum: MacOS "Yosemite" 10.10



The famous chess grandmaster and trainer Fabien Libiszewski covers in small 3 hours and 25 minutes a completer defence with 3,d3 against the Caro-Kann Defence,a line that black will hate!
First a overview:
Introduction
Model Games
Anderson - Tempone
Anderson - Franco Ocampos
Carlsen - Ostmoe
Theory
1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d3
3... Nf6 and 3... e6
3... g6
3... Qc7 and 3... Nd7
3...Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3
3...Bg4 4.h3 Bh5
Endgame after 3...dxe4 4.dxe4 Qxe1 5.Kxe1 Bg4
Endgame after 3...dxe4 4.dxe4 Qxe1 5.Kxe1 Nf6
Conclusion
Exercises
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Exercise 9
Exercise 10
Exercise 11
Practice Positions
Position 1 (3...g6 Variation)
Position 2 (3...Nbd7 Variation)
Position 3 (3...Qc7 Variation)
Position 4 (3...Qc7 Variation)
Position 5 (3...dxe4 Endgame Variation)
Position 6 (3...dxe4 Endgame with 5...Bg4 Variation)
Position 7 (3...dxe4 Endgame with 5...Bg4 Variation)
Repertoire Training
Description
3...Bg4
3...dxe4 Endgame
3rd move alternatives
3...Qc7 and 3...Nd7
Bonus
Analysis
Conclusion: This is high level offline play!

ChessBase Magazine issue 220
July/August 2024
ChessBase
 http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
ISSN 1432-8992
Euro 21,90
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 on this DVD is good for 513 entries where a small 37 of them are more than excellent analysed.
A fine example of play is: Gukesh,Dommaraju (2746) - Volokitin,Andrei (2660) [A34]
London Classic 13th London (3), 03.12.2023
[Mueller,Karsten]
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Nc7 6.b3 e5 7.Bb2 Be7 8.Rc1 0-0 9.Ne4 b6 10.Bxe5 Bb7 11.Ba1 Qc8 12.g4!? Very creative. The pawn will have a great future. Sehr kreativ. Der Bauer wird eine groÃYe Zukunft haben. 12...Ne6?! This is very artificial. Das ist sehr künstlich. [12...Nc6 is more natural. ist natürlicher.;
Of course not Natürlich nicht 12...Qxg4? 13.Nf6+ Bxf6 14.Bxb7±] 13.Nh3 Nc6 14.e3 [14.0-0!?] 14...Nb4 15.0-0 Nxa2 16.Rb1 Nb4? Black does not have time for this retreat. Schwarz hat keine Zeit für diesen Rückzug. [Bringing the queen's rook into the game with Den Damenturm ins Spiel zu bringen mit 16...Qd7 17.f4 Rad8 was called for to limit the damage as now war erforderlich, um den Schaden zu begrenzen, denn nun kann 18.f5? (White should play spielten sollte WeiÃY 18.g5 Bxe4 19.Bxe4 Qxd2 20.Qf3 Nc3 21.Bxc3 Qxc3 22.Nf2 and his initiative compensates the pawn. und seine Initiative kompensiert den Bauern.) can be met by beantwortet werden mit 18...Bxe4 19.Bxe4 Ng5 and Black is better. und Schwarz steht besser.] 17.f4! A strong attacker comes following the saying f for forward. Ein starker Angreifer kommt nach dem Sprichwort v wie vorwärts. 17...f6 18.Qf3? This is too slow. Das ist zu langsam. [The direct Das direkte 18.f5 Ng5 19.Nhxg5 fxg5 20.f6 gxf6 21.Rf5 gives White a very strong attack, e.g. gibt Weiß einen sehr starken Angriff, z.B. 21...Qe6 22.Nxg5 fxg5 23.Bxb7 Rab8 24.Qf3+-] 18...Bc6 19.f5 Nc7? Here the knight is too far away from the king defense. Hier ist der Springer zu weit von der Königsverteidigung entfernt. [19...Ng5 20.Nhxg5 fxg5= was forced. war erzwungen.] 20.g5 The battering ram opens the gates of Black's castle. Der Rammbock Ãffnet die Tore zur schwarzen Burg. 20...fxg5 [20...Ne8 does not defend due to verteidigt nicht wegen 21.Qh5 Nd3 22.gxf6 Nxf6 23.Nxf6+ Bxf6 24.Ng5 Bxg5 25.Qxg5 Rf7 26.e4 Qb7 27.Rf3 Bxe4 28.Rxd3+-] 21.Qg3 h6 22.f6 The battering rams just keep coming. Die Rammböcke kommen immer wieder. 22...gxf6 [22...Bxf6 can even be met by kann sogar beantwortet werden mit 23.Nxf6+ gxf6 24.Nxg5 hxg5 25.Rxf6 Ne6 26.Rbf1 Bxg2 27.Qxg2 Qc6 28.Qg4 Rae8 29.Rg6++-] 23.Bxf6 Bxe4 24.Nxg5! It is typical that a knight sacrifice opens the roads for the long range pieces. Es ist typisch, dass ein Springeropfer den Weg für die Langstreckenfiguren öffnet. 24...Bxf6 25.Rxf6 Rxf6 [25...Bxb1 26.Nf7+ Kh7 27.Rxh6#] 26.Nxe4+ Kh8 [26...Kf7 is met by wird beantwortet mit 27.Nxf6 Kxf6 28.Rf1+ and Black's king is too open, e.g. und Schwarz' König ist zu offen, z.B. 28...Ke7 29.Qh4+ Kd6 30.Rf6+ Ne6 31.Qf4+ Ke7 32.Rf7+ Ke8 33.Qf6+-] 27.Nxf6 Qf5 [27...Qf8 28.Bxa8+-] 28.Rf1 The rook joins the attack and it is over. Der Turm schließt sich dem Angriff an und es ist vorbei.[28.Bxa8 Qxb1+ 29.Kg2+- wins as well by the way. gewinnt übrigens auch.]  1-0.
By the way there is a new column:
"The Fortress" by Dorian Rogozenco and Karsten Müller's video course "Endgame Basics".
But there is more:Well over 6 hours of video entertainment with Luis Engel, Rainer Knaak, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Jan Markos, Mihail Marin, Karsten Mueller, Oliver Reeh, Robert Ris and Dorian Rogozenco – 2024 Candidates Tournament: analyses by Giri, Gukesh, Firouzja, Praggnanandhaa and Vidit, plus video: Dorian Rogozenco shows the decisive moments of the tournament - "Special" on Gukesh: CBM authors show their favourite games of the youngest ever World Champion challenger, an exclusive collection of 24 annotated games.
Opening videos:
Rustam Kasimdzhanov: Sicilian Rossolimo Variation
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6
Luis Engel: Siclian Najdorf Variation
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5
Mihail Marin: Delayed Jaenisch Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 f5 5.d4 exd4
Opening surveys:
Alexey Kuzmin: Reti with d4 and an early Ne5
Evgeny Postny: English 6...Nd3+ 7.Ke2 Nf4+ 8.Kf1
Spyridon Kapnisis: Alapin 2...d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 and 5...Bf5
Petra Papp: Accelerated Dragon with 8...a5 9.0-0
Marin Lorenzini: Philidor Hanham Variation 8...exd4
Balasz Csonka: Berlin Defence with 13.Bd3
Sergey Grigoriants: Open Spanish 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 d4
Krisztian Szabo: Jobava London System 4.e3 Bg7 5.h4!?
Yago Santiago: Semi-Slav 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Qc2!?
Lars Schandorff: King's Indian Classical System 7...b6
Others are: Current opening traps,"Move by Move","Modern Classics""All in One"Markos: "Practical tips for the Tournament Player": Ulf Andersson
Reeh: “The king is the goal!”and at last Mueller: "Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" – Part 10: Knight + Pawn vs. Pawn(s)
Plus an eye catching booklet is two languages!
Conclusion:Must have chess material!