CHESSBOOK REVIEWS

Latest book reviews of 1 November 2024

Wilhelminalaan 33 

7261 BP RUURLO 

The Netherlands.
           John Elburg

                                                                                                                   Chess DVD's

Revealing Modern Grandmaster Secrets Vol. 1 & 2
by  Nicholas Pert
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
2024
 Price Euro 69.90
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

Invest 12 hours of your time and step into the world of chess mastery with this impressive course, from the great Nicholas Pert “Revealing Modern Grandmaster Secrets.” And dig into the strategies, insights, and techniques of modern grandmaster play.
Learn the strategic foundations and advanced ideas,A powerful strategy is to avoid the most common replies and instead use offbeat variations to limit your opponent’s knowledge.
By mastering this technique, you’ll confidently outmanoeuvre your opponents early on and set the stage for a winning game. Master the techniques of Attacking the King, seize the Initiative
Take control of the game with proactive, dynamic play. Learn the secrets of maintaining and exploiting the initiative.
In the second part you will find: Modern Grandmaster Secrets Vol. 2 – Calculation, Countering & Defence, Positional Play and the King.
 Elevate Your Calculation Skills Sharpen your mind with advanced calculation techniques. Learn to visualise the board like a grandmaster and make decisions with confidence and accuracy.
Perfect Your Positional Play!
All with interactive training including video feedback
Extra: Training with ChessBase apps – Play key positions against Fritz on various levels
Conclusion The perfect companion to mastership!

ChessBase Magazine issue 221 Extra
October  2024
ChessBase
 http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
ISSN 1432-8992
Euro 14,90
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, 10

This issue starts with smashing opening videos from Ivan Sokolov
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nge7 5.c3 f6!? and Fabien Libiszewski 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.N1c3 a6 7.Na3 Be6 8.Nc4 Rb8.
The main file is good for 53896 entries but all  without comments,for the analysed games please see the excellent lucky bag file with 45 detailed analyses.
A fine example of this all the following win from Max Warmerdam,
Max Warmerdam  (2636) - Rapport,Richard (2752) [A40]
Bundesliga 2324 Germany (15.8), 28.04.2024
[Krasenkow,Michal]
1.d4 e6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 g6 4.e4 d6 5.Bd3 Bg7 6.h3 It is hardly necessary to prevent ...Bc8-g4 in advance. [After 6.Nf3 exd5 7.cxd5 Bg4?! 8.Qa4+ Nd7 (8...Bd7 9.Qb3) 9.Nfd2! Black's g4 bishop gets into trouble.; 6.Nc3 is possible, too.] 6...exd5 7.exd5 A solid option. [7.cxd5 Ne7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.0-0 a6 10.a4 f5 11.Nc3 Nd7 leads to a well-known position, in which Black gets counterplay, e.g. 12.exf5 Nxf5 13.Ng5 Ne5 14.Be4 Nd4 15.f4 Nf7 16.Nxh7!? Kxh7 17.Qh5+ Kg8 18.Bxg6 Nh6 19.g4 Ndf5 20.gxf5 Bxf5÷ Lazarev,V (2500)-Chatalbashev,B (2520)/San Benedetto op 1999 (6)/1-0] 7...Nd7 8.Nf3 Qe7+ White tries to avoid "normal" positions after [8...Ngf6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Nc3 , which are quite grim for him.] 9.Qe2 White gladly trades queens against this aggressive opponent. [9.Be2 could be met with 9...f5!? , e.g. 10.0-0 Ngf6 11.Re1 0-0 12.Nc3 Ne4 13.Nxe4 fxe4 14.Bd3 Rxf3! 15.gxf3 Ne5 with big complications.] 9...Qxe2+ [9...Ne5?! 10.0-0 Nxd3 11.Qxd3 Bf5 12.Qb3] 10.Kxe2 Ne5 11.Nxe5 Bxe5 12.Nc3² White's space advantage guarantees him a small edge in any case. 12...Bd7 13.Bd2 f5 14.f4 Bd4 [14...Bg7 was quieter.] 15.Kf3 Nf6 16.Ne2!? White accepts the challenge. Black's d4 bishop is trapped. 16...Ne4!? [16...Bxb2 17.Rab1 Ba3 18.Rxb7± a5 19.Bxa5] 17.Be1 [17.Nxd4 Nxd2+ 18.Ke3 Nxc4+ (18...Ne4!?) 19.Bxc4 cxd4+ 20.Kxd4 Kf7 - Black should not lose here.] 17...Bg7 [17...Bxb2 18.Rb1 Bf6 19.Rxb7 Bc8 20.Rb3 Kf7 21.g4²] 18.Bxe4 fxe4+ 19.Ke3! White's king takes a dominating position in the centre. 19...Bxb2 [19...0-0 20.Bc3! is quite pleasant for White. Black goes for a position with opposite-coloured bishops, which is, however, unfavorable for him, too.] 20.Rb1 Bd4+?! [20...Bf6 21.Rxb7 Bc8 22.Rb3 0-0 (<22...Ba6 23.Bc3!) 23.Bc3 Bh4!? 24.g3 Bd8 was probably a better option: Black kept a bishop pair, which could become active in future.] 21.Nxd4 cxd4+ 22.Kxd4 0-0-0 23.Bb4 Kc7?! [¹23...Ba4] 24.Rhe1?! Not willing to take a risk, White misses an excellent opportunity: [24.Bxd6+! Kxd6 25.Rxb7 Rhf8 (25...Ke7 26.Re1 Kf6 27.Rxe4± is quite unpleasant for Black so he should rather give the bishop back hoping to survive in the rook ending) 26.c5+ Ke7 27.c6 Rxf4 28.Rxa7 Rf2 29.Rb1! Kd6 (29...Rd2+ 30.Kxe4 Kd6 31.Rxd7+ Rxd7 32.cxd7 Kxd7 33.Rb7+ Kd6 34.Rxh7 Rxg2 35.a4 Ra2 (35...Re2+ 36.Kd4 Rd2+ 37.Kc4) 36.Ra7 Re2+ 37.Kd4 Rd2+ 38.Kc4 Rc2+ 39.Kb3±) 30.Rxd7+ Rxd7 31.cxd7 Kxd7 32.a4 Rxg2 (32...Ra2 33.Kxe4 Rxa4+ 34.Ke5) 33.Ra1 with good winning chances] 24...b6 If Black protects his e4 pawn, then the bishop sacrifice gains in strength: [24...Rde8 25.Bxd6+! Kxd6 26.Rxb7; 24...Rhe8 25.Bxd6+ Kxd6 26.Rxb7 Ke7 27.Rxe4+ Kf6 28.Rxe8 Bxe8 29.Rxa7 , and White should win.] 25.Rxe4 Rde8 26.Rbe1 Rxe4+ 27.Rxe4 Re8 [27...Rf8!?] 28.Rxe8 Bxe8 That's what Black hoped for. Opposite-coloured bishops, only one pawn down - should be a draw, right? The problem is, however, his d6 pawn, fixed on a dark square - a "second weakness", in addition to White's future passed pawn on the kingside. 29.g4 Bd7 [29...b5 30.c5 dxc5+ 31.Kxc5 Bf7 32.Ba5+ Kd7 is not something Black would be glad to defend. Still, it is probably drawish. Here are some possible lines, a thorough analysis is needed to reach the final conclusion: 33.a3 Bg8 34.Bb4 Bf7 35.Kd4 Bg8 36.Ke5 Bf7 37.d6 (37.f5 gxf5 38.gxf5 Bh5! 39.Kf6 Bf3 40.d6 Be4 41.Kg5 h6+ 42.Kxh6 Bxf5 43.h4 Ke6 44.Kg7 Bg4 45.Kg6 a5 46.Bc5 Bf5+ etc.) 37...Bc4 38.Kf6 (38.f5 gxf5 39.gxf5 Bd3 40.f6 Bg6 41.Kd5 Bf7+ 42.Kc5 a6 43.Kb6 Be8 44.Kxa6 Ke6!=) 38...Bf1 39.h4 Bh3 40.g5 Be6 41.Kg7 Bf5 42.Kxh7 a5 43.Bxa5 (43.Bc5 Kc6) 43...Kxd6 44.Be1 Ke6 45.h5 gxh5+ 46.g6 Bb1 47.Kh6 Kf5 48.Bg3 h4 49.Bh2 Kf6=] 30.Ke4 Ba4 31.Kd3 Bd7 32.Ke4 Ba4 33.Kd3 Bd7 34.Kd4 h5? Wrong! It was better to wait: [34...Bc8] 35.f5! hxg4 [35...gxf5 36.gxh5 Be8 37.h6 Bg6 38.Ke3 Kd7 39.Kf4 Ke7 40.Kg5 Bh7 41.a4? f4 42.Kxf4 Bd3 43.Kg5 Kf7 44.Bxd6 Bxc4 45.Be5 Bd3 46.d6 Ke6 47.d7 Kxd7 48.Kf6+-] 36.f6 Be8 37.hxg4 This position is winning for White as his king breaks into the kingside. 37...a6 [37...Kd7 38.Ke4 Bf7 39.a4 a6 40.Kf4+-; 37...g5 38.Bd2 Bg6 39.Bxg5 doesn't change much: White's king later goes to e3-f4-g5.] 38.Ke4 b5 Desperation. 39.cxb5 axb5 40.Kf4 Bf7 41.Kg5 Kd7 42.a3 Ke8 43.Bxd6 Bxd5 44.Kxg6 1-0.
Conclusion: Very important reference material!