CHESSBOOK REVIEWS 
Latest book reviews of 1 August 2003
BOOKS REVIEWS BY JOHN ELBURG.Wilhelminalaan 33n.elburg@consunet.nl
7261 BP RUURLO
The Netherlands.
Chess Books
Leningrader system by Stefan Kindermann
2002
ChessGate
http://www.chessgate.de
Price Euro 20.80
ISBN 3-935748-03-5
There are all kind of openings books but honestly said I have seldom seen a openings book with so much personal input as this repertoire one from GM Stefan Kindermann on the Leningrader system.
The author enjoys to explore rare and sometimes even lesser known lines as for example 1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.0-0 0-0 6.c4 d6 7.Nc3 Qe8 8.d5 a5!? Indeed many shall be surprised that Kindermann goes back to this seldom played move above the main line 8…Na6 a line that he even recently has recommended in his own chess video on the Dutch no Kindermann has explored when up when he was working on this manuscript some serious weaknesses in this line after 9.Rb1! c5 10.dxc6 bxc6 11.b4 Bd7 11.a3 Nc7 12.Bb2 Ne6 14.c5! which gives black serious problems after 14…dxc5 15.Ne5! or 14…Ne4 15.Qb3 !
No Kinderman prefers a more positional approach of the Leningrader with his prophylaxis move 8…a5 where the reader is invited to explore many new lines where the most of them have never seen print before.
Included between these analyses are excellent contributions from players as Artur Jussupow and Christopher Lutz where we must not forget the historical assistant from the great gambit expert Stefan Bücker.
Besides the most important lines as with 8.d5 a5 9.Nd4,9.Ne1,Bd2 there are also many interesting side lines covered as 8.Nd5,9.Ne1 and 9.Qb3 where the author is not satisfied with a overview of most important ideas but prefers to dig for the definitive truth!
Pleasant are in this work are the large amount of early deviations and interesting side lines as the Staunton gambit which is not only very detailed covered with it’s seventeen pages but above all you shall find moves that are covered in no other book before!
It would not surprise me if we feel between these lines the influence from Bücker and his Kaissiber magazine but I can insure you these contributions are highly enjoyable.
The Leningrader system is not a easy opening to play but it is one of those few openings where you can go from move one for a win!
Conclusion: A superb. written openings book!
Bobby Fischer rediscovered by Andrew Soltis
2003
Batsford Ltd, London
http://www.Batsford.com
287 pages
Price $ 24.95
ISBN 0-7134-8846-8
Even that the cover of this book is some way confusing because it is difficult to explain how Fischer is rediscovered because the great man from the sixties and seventies has never been really away but this latest work from AndrewSoltis on the great chess genius Fischer with a amassing collection of 100 analysed games covering the period 1956 – 1992 is in one word impressive.
Not only is every game covered with a very interesting introduction text but all Fischer’s ever best played games are in this book, even that there is really nothing new on Fischer’s games the annotations from Andrew Soltis are very compressive and pleasantly turned by the author into the context of that time.
For example after the openings moves 1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 Fischer – Tukmakov Buenos Aires 1970, One of the standard opening references of the time, Euwe’s 12-volume Theorie der Schach Eroffnungen devoted on a quarter of a page to 1.b3 and stopped its analyses here with the comment “Black stands very satisfactory ” and now it is difficult to imagine that Tukmakov was already lost on move nineteen!
Interesting in this work from Soltis is also his personal experiences with Fischer and of course the question where did Fischer live from in the middle sixties?
Fischer asked for that time and gotten the astronomical sum of $250,- for each simultaneous exhibition he gave but after 1965 he rarely gave any simultaneous exhibitions at all!
Conclusion: Even for those who have Fischer’s Sixty Memorial games this work from Soltis stays highly recommended!
Tony Miles 'It’s Only Me', compiled by Geoff Lawton
2003
Batsford Ltd, London
http://www.Batsford.com
287 pages,
Price $ 27.95
ISBN 0-7134-8809-3
Tony Miles has written throw his life a few chess books but never one about his best games and that makes this latest release a little said that we had to wait for his death that a collection best games from Tony Miles was published.
The author has compiled from Miles entire chess career hundred of articles and games where the reader shall find all kind of games and losses but also his unforgettable win against Karpov with his surprising St.George opening all under Miles his original context “I heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening”
Pleasant to mention are the original sources that where used as some original notes as written from the 12 year old Tony Miles “I played every night for a year until I got bored” where Miles faces for the first time the Sicilian Dragon an opening which he later enthusiast adopted him self and where he even wrote a very interesting openings book about it.{Sicilian Dragon Yugoslav attack by Miles & Moskow Batsford 1979}
A majority of the annotations from this book are taken from Tony Miles’s chess column as the New Statesman which he conducted from 1976 to 1981, a period which Miles developed him self in to a world leading chess player.
In addition there are a collection excellent analysed games in this book that have never seen text annotations in word before as from the games from Tilburg 1984 one of Tony’s finest ever played tournament victories.
Miles was a player that inspired many chess players throw over the world with his original play, a competitive professional who loved chess above everything else.
All three co-authors from Birmingham where all close friends of Tony Miles,Geoff Lawton,Mike Fox and Malcolm Hunt who all knew Tony from schoolboy to the time of his death in 2001.
Conclusion: A fascinating work!
Winning with the Trompowsky by Peter Wells
2003
Batsford Ltd, London
http://www.Batsford.com
240 pages
Price $22.95
ISBN 0-7134-8795-x
The Trompowsky attack 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 is one of those openings that is popular under club players as professional grandmasters, all largely inspired by the Tromp cracks as Julian Hodgson and Michael Adams.
This latest work from GM Peter Wells digs deeper than any other book that I ever saw on this opening before, from Joe Gallagher The Chess Press 1998 we already learned the most important strategies and tactics but from Wells we could eventual easy win simple direct from the book.
The material is compressive covers an excellent collection of 52 in painstaking depth,where Wells enjoys to give his novelties and secrets
away to his readers.
Conclusion: Personal I found it a pity that there are nearly no correspondence games in it but the whole work is written by a long time Trompowsky player who is impressive generous with his original analyses!
French Defence 3.Nd2 by Lev Psakhis
2003
Batsford Ltd, London
http://www.Batsford.com
288 pages
Price $ 22.95
ISBN 0-7134-8825-5
A brand new compressive study from the former Russian chess champion Lev Psakhis on the Tarrasch defence, which is the first of a ambitious planed three volume on the French defence.{The second volume will analyse the exchange and advance variation and some rare lines as 2.d3 and 2.Qe2 where the third volume will be completely devoted to the classic line with 3.Nc3.}
Nearly I would say the old days with the high quality openings books from Batsford are back with this excellent made move to move study from Lev Psakhis.
The material is not only very compressive but covers also a lot of latest played 2002 material where the author is not afraid to show his own assessments to the covered theory surveys all based at the hand of a small but intense collection of 38 latest played games.
To find your way throw this book is quite difficult not only throw the complex of lines but there is not really a good index in the book that helps you to find your way in it so I hope that the publisher improves it some where with the upcoming volumes!
Also it would be pleasant in the upcoming volumes to see a biography simple to keep abreast of all latest developments.
The Tarrasch variation allows white to avoid the pin with ..Bb4 and is favoured there for by players who prefer to play on safe and funny enough the great Robert Fischer played it only once in his career and lost tragically in no time against the surprising strong playing Robert Byrne!
Conclusion: A very well made up to date openings book!
Chess without Borders,the life and games of ICCF IM Sture Nyman
by John Knudsen
2003
Writers Club Press
160 pages
Price $15.95
ISBN 0-595-27021-2
The order page is http://www.correspondencechess.com/knudsen/noborder.htm
From the American correspondence chess master John Knudsen I received this self published chess book covering the life and chess career from the Swedish correspondence chess master Sture Nyman.
Besides the career of Sture Nyman there is interesting collection of 227 games where a small 30 of them cover excellent annotations. {Where I must say that ICCF IM Allan Savage has done a impressive work on these annotated games!}
Of course it is surprising to see a biography from not so famous chess player but Knudsen must have been very impressed about the playing skills of Sture Nyman.
For example Sture took part in three ICCF World Championships reaching as high as fourth place in one. Interesting enough after Kon Grivainis Sture Nyman was also a WCCF GM,see Winning correspondence Chess,Caissa editions 1997,but Nyman his WCCF career is not covered by the author at all, probably Knudsen did not want to spend one line on the former WCCF chess organisation.
Less known is that Nyman also played with great players as Mieses and Bent Larsen, strangely enough I am missing in this book Nyman his famous Froms gambit game that Larsen once published in his famous Selected Games of Chess,Bell & Son 1969.
Very nice in this book are the nine photographs {News paper quality} where many shall enjoy the rare photo made in the middle sixties from Sture Nyman and the young Bent Larsen!
There is a story that Larsen was one time locked up in Sture’s bathroom but this story has not been confirmed!
Conclusion: A must for every chess book collector
Small encyclopaedia of chess openings
2003
Beograd
http://www.sahovski.co.yu
E-mail info@sahovski.co.yu
Price GBP 23.50
ISBN 86 7297 051
After it’s first release in 1999 the small eco of chess openings has established it self as handy one volume openings book where you find in no time a quick overview from the most important played openings lines.
This second edition is not only expanded with 64 more pages but the whole work has been completely rewritten and updated with a impressive large amount of new material.
Better said opening lines that are popularised by our leading masters and grandmasters, for example openings as the Latvian gambit ECO code C40 is nearly not of interest for a player that prefers this opening as his of hers pet line even that the editorial team of the Informator
has managed to expend this opening from seven to eight sub lines, no than is a popular line as the open Spanish with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 (C67}is ten times better covered because it went from 18 to 49 lines and that is a really important upgrade.
A other worth mentioning line in this second edition is E63 which went from 15 to 83 lines but please don’t ask me about the latest developments in the Wilkes Barre variation because I only found one sub line with Howell – David, Groningen 1995 referencing
to Informator 66/278.
Conclusion:This latest updated small ECO of chess openings is at this moment the best made and most up to date single volume on chess openings!
Chess Strategy in action by John Watson
2003
Gambit Publications Ltd.
http://www.gambitbooks.com
E-mail info@gambitbooks.com
288 pages
Price$ 24.95
ISBN 1-901983-69-2
In 1998 IM John Watson wrote his highly awarded Secrets of modern chess strategy a book that discussers all the latest strategy advances since Nimzowitsch wrote his amassing work my System.
As in Secrets of modern chess strategy Watson likes to explore new concepts of play and I must admit in this latest work on strategy Watson has managed to explain in a very instructive way the latest evolutions in chess mainly based at the hand of large collection intensively analysed games from outstanding creative players as Shirov and Morozevich.
The theoretical material of the book is mainly divided in to three major parts with first the Theory and practice combine; Modern understanding of pawn play; The pieces in action and than as last best the collection of 35 outstanding games.
Many times the author is not afraid to explore and explain new ways of understanding as the relative new value of the queen where Watson discusses the possibility to sacrifice a queen for example against a poorly pair of bishops and two simple pawns based on Fischers keen evolution that the bishop stands as 3 ¼ but be aware this is not a easy task.
The reader shall find between these games a large amount of Sicilian games or as the author describes it humorously as Sicilian madness, mainly filled with moves that we would have considered 20 years ago as completely unplayable but in this book we can learn that the modern master of today can nearly play everything..
As Watson describes it as that anything might work if you give it a chance, ugly or counter intuitive as it might be This approach has been assisted often in an indispensable way by the introduction of computer analytical engines.
Included in this book is a impressive bibliography where the author made some excellent use of high quality sources as Hardings magnificent work 64 Great Chess Games and Stohl overloaded Instructive Modern Chess Masterpieces from Gambit ltd.
Interesting to mention is that Watson greatest intellectual debt in preparation where the excellent made electronic middle contributions from Peter Wells in the excellent made ChessBase magazines!
The last game in this book is a tribute to Nimzowitsch as Watson describes it as the great genius of middlegame strategy where the reader can follow one of Nimzowitsch his favourite bayonet attacks and well against Olson,Watson suggests that Olson did not play
at all in Copenhagen 1924 but I am afraid that the publisher simple forgot to include Olson in the cross tables of My System,in Aaron Nimzowitsch Ein Leben Für Das Schach from G.H.Marten there is a complete cross table with a smiling Olson between it!
Conclusion: A superb.written chess strategy book where even the great Nimzowtsch would have been proud about!
Chess endings made simple by Ian Snape
2003
Gambit Publications Ltd.
http://www.gambitbooks.com
E-mail info@gambitbooks.com
144 pages
Price $ 19.95
ISBN 1-901983 97 8
The first 91 pages of this book are concentrated to all kind of endgame techniques that a practical player really needs to know as for example the mating progress of bishop and knight where the defender must try to retreat a corner that is not controlled by the bishop.
The English correspondence chess master Ian Snape explains all kind of these basic endgame techniques at the hand of a collection easy to learn endgame patterns, where the second half of this book is divided to the testing part where you must be prepared to handle a collection of 100 practical endgame exercises simple to see if you have learned from the theory section.
Conclusion: A simple and easy to understand endgame book where the reader shall find all the necessarily endgame basics!
The Queens’s Indian by Jouni Yrjölä & Jussi Tella
2003
Gambit Publications Ltd.
http://www.gambitbooks.com
E-mail info@gambitbooks.com
288 pages
Price $ 23.95
ISBN 1-901983-90-0
In this latest Gambit book the two Finnish chess cracks discuses the possibilities of the Queens’s Indian defence a opening that was originally invented by the “hypermoderns” as Aaron Nimzowitsch in the early twentieth century.
Some say as joke that Karpovs style is exactly likes this opening correct and safe so the reader can imagine where she or he is going for.
The whole material of this heavy weight is divided in to eleven chapters where the reader shall find in the introduction chapter enough explanation to understand the typical pawn formations as the cramped Hedgehog positions.
Chapter one of this book starts with the so called Miles variation that runs after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Bf4 that both authors correctly call after the late Tony Miles who employed the variation constantly during the 1970s and 1980s.
Even that the Miles line is not popular at this moment it is well covered in this book with a excellent 6 pages and that is more than the three games that I found in the Queens Indian defence book from Jacob Aagaard.{Everman chess 2002}
The most pages of this book (58} go to the more populair Petrosian main line that runs after 4.a3 Bb7 5.Nc3 and where black’s main option is to increase his influence in the centre with 5….d5.
Interesting enough when Kasparov was a still a boy he blew with this line the strongest GM’s from the board but now it is regarded as one of the many possibilities.
The material from both authors is compressive and covers a lot of latest 2002 en even 2003 material but unfortunately there is no bibliography.
Conclusion: An excellent cover of the Queen’s Indian defence!
Chess CD's
Understanding Chess Strategy by A.Raetsky
2003
Le due Torri - via della grada, 9
I-40122 Bologna Italy
(Tel.)+39.051-522.433
(Fax)+39.051-550.501
http://www.chess.it
http://www.chessmultimedia.com
Price Euro 23,50
Technical requiements are Windows 95/98 or later.
Pentium 166 Mhz,32 MB Ram.
A new multi media made spoken chess book from Le due Torri where the chess master Alexander Raetsky explains the first steps of chess strategy with all it's open files,long diagonals,weak pawns,blocade attack,prophylaxis etc,
all covered in a easy way of hearing!
First you follow the spoken lessons,than with one click on the mouse and you have the wanted position on a well presented chess board.
where you can analyse the position with the help of the excelent made database program Arena 0.92
There is a good help file and I must admit it is necessarily, because there are maybe to many possibilities that a user easy could get lost but with new you can simple start playing chess against this program, where even Shuffle chess is even a option!
As I mentioned in the review from Chess multimedia Volume 1 chess endings from Yuri Averbakh the integrated database with different UCI engines as SOS_Arena and Ruffian who belong to the absolute best of the not commercial chess engine list.
To see if you have learned from the Chess Strategy CD it is possible to do some excellent self tests with ELO and statistics.
Conclusion: Playing around with these Chess Multimedia CD’s is a adventure on it’s self!
ChessBase magazine issue 94
June
2003
ChessBase http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
ISSN 1432-8992
Price Euro 19,90 per issue
Annual subscription costs Euro 99,70
Again a well filled ChessBase magazine where I found all together over the 7545 games!
But first to the main database which is good for exactly 1518 entries where a 450 of them carry excellent annotations as from top players as Huebner 10 games,Karsten Mueller 23 games,Shablov 10 games,Kortchnoj two games,Finkel 30 games etc.
A other heavy loaded file on this CD is the ICCF telechess file with 3804 entries and where a small 60 of them are very well analysed.
The eight theoretical surveys cover the following openings: Amar opening {1.Nh3!? by Jerzy Konikowski}, Pirc Defence 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Bd3 Na6 7.0-0 c5 8.d5 {By Michael Roiz and 8….Rb8 seems an acceptable alternative for black}
French Defence C11 with 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.Nf3 0-0 8.Bc4 {By Alex Finkel}Latvian gambit by Peter Leisebein where the author concentrates on the exciting 3.Bc4 line which is not best choice for white but it belongs to one of the most interesting possibilities for Black!
.The attached database covers a impressive collection of 1652 games!{ Where Leisebein did analyse special for this file a small 16 Svendeborg lines with the interestings lines 7.Qxg6 and 7.Qxh8.}
A topic is the Bird variation in the Scotch {C45}with 1e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6 6.c3 Qg6 from Evgeny Postny which was first introduced a small 130 years ago! {The attached database has a good collection of 71 games.}
A other survey from Postny is here the Ruy Lopez Variation {C83} where the author concentrates on the classical line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 D5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Be7 10.Be3 0-0 11.Nbd2 Which is good for 88 games}
And where the last two surveys go to Catalan E05 {1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 Be4 12.Qd1 c5 from Zoltan Ribbli} and the modern line of the King’s Indian {E97} with 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Nh5 from the young Israeli Boris Avrukh.
Other databases are: Strategy, Tactics, Endgame and Fritz Forum where you can play throw all the computer games of the annual chess tournament in Leiden which was won by the Dutch program the King!
The multimedia report of this issue goes to Anna DergatschovaDaus who took her video camera to the Amber rapid and blindfold tournament of Monaco 2003.
Included is a 30 page booklet with a interesting contribution from Robert Hübner “Reflections
On the match Kasparov – Deep Junior and John Nunn explains how to build your own super computer!
Conclusion: These ChessBase magazines are a excellent source for unique chess material!
ChessBase Magazine extra issue 94
July 2003 ChessBase http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
ISSN 1432-8992
Euro 12.99
This ChessBase extra magazine game collection is good for exactly 9295 games but on these “extra” ChessBase CD’s you shall not find any comments to the games at all but simple the latest played games compiled together by the editorial team from ChessBase and that is in this case all the games that they could find around the period June and July of this year starting with the Argentina championship under fourteen and ending with the New York masters championship!
As regular reader of the free Twic files I could import in my database from the 9295 games 3474 brand new ones!
Included besides the free ChessBase reader is a AVI file from 453 MB covering the summer chess festival in Hamburg.
Conclusion: Excellent quality chess games and allways a few more than the free TWIC files!
ChessBase Monograph Paul Morphy Genius and Myth
2003
ChessBase http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 24.99
The life story of Paul Morphy probably the most famous chess player of all time
because he was a player who understood more from the game than any other player of his time,for example Morphy once played in London 1859 five games simultaneously against a group of players who could be described as among the best of that time, these games and more can be found on this interesting made monograph CD on the legendary Morphy is in my opinion the best coverage on Morphy games that is ever released.
Not only there is a excellent Morphy database of a small 500 games where a small 100 of them carry excellent annotations from GM Karsten Müller {45 games} & Rainer Knaak {53 games}but if we compare it with for example the highly wanted book on Morphy
from Dr.E.Wildhagen “Weltgeschichte des Schachs” part 6 than I only can say the author that time was very glad to compile a collection of only 249 games.
The biography part on this CD comes from Thomas Eichhorn and his four intensive written text files can be considered as very good very but of course David Lawson’s The Pride and Sorrow of Chess. New York, McKay 1976 stays the standard work on Morphy’s life.
The ChessBase CD features also a special tactics database “Morphy selected combinations”
which is good for 90 self tests! {Again mainly but excellent annotated by Karsten Müller!}
By the way if you decide to buy this interesting CD please don’t forget to play throw the games from Barnes whose name maybe unknown to many of us but he was the player who won more games from Morphy than anyone else ever did.
Conclusion: An excellent coverage Morphy games!
English 1.c4 e5 by Mihail Marin
2003
ChessBase http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 29.99
This latest ChessBase trainings CD from the Romanian national chess champion GM Mihail Marin covers all 1….e5 systems of the English opening also known as the reversed Sicilian, known under the ECO codes A20 till A29.
Where all the material is split-up in 3 Hugh master files
which are good for a total number of 69.412 games, where a 1910 of them are covered with all kind of notes.{From good to excellent.}
Besides the exclusively annotated Marinnotes I found also a lot of ChessBase own material as there commercial databases and well known ChessBase magazines.
Included is also a trainings file from 46 games and a heavy loaded CTG key from over 65 MB.
Conclusion : With this CD you really have all the games that are ever played with the English
1….e5 opening!
Comprehensive chess endings {Included in this DVD package are the famous Nalimov Endgame tablebases.}
2003
Convekta Ltd.
http://www.ChessAssistant.com
E-mail: support@chessassistant.com
Price Euro 59.00
When I installed Compressive chess endings on my computer I was quite impressed
not only I saw the original heavy loaded five printed book volumes from GM Yuri Averbakh integrated in the well known abridged version of Chess Assistant 7 on my computer together with an extra list of 2952 very instructive endgame positions,
a Capa data file with 500.000 endgame positions, a extra database base with master evaluations, a direct tree and the well known Chess Openings book but above all the highly wanted Nalimov endgame tablebases with all the 3-4 and 5 endgame pieces are included in this endgame package.
Some time ago Dr.John Nunn extracted the most important tablebases information from Ken Thompson databases in his well made Secrets of Pawn less endings but Convekta has included the whole Nalimov endgame tablebases of 290 files in this endgame package, and that is in one word amassing to see such a large amount of endgame material on your computer which is easy to access with one click of your mouse.
The chess engines that are included in this package are the well known Crafty & Dragon indeed no world champions but they do there job for the most of us in a perfect way but if you prefer to work with ChessBase or Fritz than link the Nalimov tablebases to your ChessBase product click menu tools options tablebases and it runs.
Interesting to mention is that you can copy the tablebases into different directories, patitions or even hard disks.{Because this is very useful when the 6 piece tablebases are commercial available because they shall occupy around 100 Gigh and that is nearly nothing if you compare in with the Nalimov tablebases of 7.5 Gigh.
Unfortunate when you have installed the tablebases and linked them to the playing engines, that you shall see that the engines are being loaded into your computer memory are suddenly much slower than you where used too so please don’t worry this is quite normal, probably you could consider this as a price for using tablebases there for I would suggest if you don’t need them switch them simple of.
Pleasant to mention is that when you install Comprehensive Chess Endings on your computer the set-up offers you to install the tablebases as well.
Original the first endgame books from Yuri Averbakh where published in the middle fifties but the first English edition was published in 1983 – 1987 by Pergamon chess.
For this latest computer release of Comprehensive Chess Endings all previous editions of the printed endgame books from Averbakh have been computer checked verified with the Nalimov endgame tablebases and improved where it was necessarily special the shortcomings that where discovered by readers are of much interest, also two supplementary articles from GM Sergey Shipov & IM Maxim Notkin have been included where all together about 200 endgame positions have been corrected.
Conclusion: The endgame books from GM Yuri Averbakh are wonderful integrated in this Chess Assistant light version together with all the extra’s as the Nalimov endgame tablebases a unbelievable powerful endgame tool which offers you the opportunity to handle nearly every possible 3-4-5 piece endgame position and better to handle than any printed endgame book!
Chess Video’s
Bashing the Sicilian with Bb5: volume one by Murray Chandler
2003
Bad Bishop LTD
P O Box 32699
London W14 OJH
England
e-mail info@badbishop.com
http://www.badbishop.com
Bashing the Sicilian with Bb5: volume two by Murray Chandler
2003
Bad Bishop LTD
P O Box 32699
London W14 OJH
England
e-mail info@badbishop.com
http://www.badbishop.com
To learn a chess opening from a video tape can be very relaxing just sit lazy down in front of your TV and switch on the video and see GM Murray Chanler explaining the first import steps of the move 3.Bb5 or well called the Rossolimo opening, which is a very pleasant way to avoid some complicated lines as the Sveshnikov.
The author concentrates in volume one with the moves that arise after 3…. Qb6 ,3….Qc7, 3….Nf6 and 3….e6 & …g6 all together pleasant analysed by the author under the aim of simple to learn and easy to understand.
Of course Chandler is not for nothing a GM and gets what you can expect from a professional
and that is of course some exciting improvements between the lines! The running time of this video lays around a good 90 minutes.
Volume two covers again the move 3.Bb5 but than after 2…d6 the so called Moscow variation once used by Ivanchuk to beat Kasparov! Now Chandler concentrates on various responses as 3…Nc6, 3….Nd7 and 3….Bd7 good for 15 instructive games and two hours of your pressures time and I can insure you it is worth it!
Interesting to mention is that 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qd4 Nc6 5.Bb5 is a well known transposition to the Bb5 Sicilian.
Conclusion: These video tapes are a very pleasant way of learning openings
but a alternative as a DVD would be great for those who prefer there computer above the old fashion video recorder!
Chess Magazines
British Chess Magazine No. 7
Volume 123
July 2003
Price: £3.25
E-mail: BCMChess@compuserve.com
http://www.bcmchess.co.uk
The fourth Karpov International did took place in the cold Siberia and it was Brazilian Grandmaster Giovanni Vescovi who travelled
all the way from Brazil to take part and report on this top class action where the temperature easy could go down under to –40C!
More warmer in this BCM issue a old fashion detail theory survey from James Vigus on the Pirc defence and well with it’s dangerous 150 attack,where the story of this opening goes back to the late eighties when a group of English players where searching for a original way of tackling the Pirc defence.
Some players as Adams,Dunnington,Emms and Hebden had out standing success with this so easy to understand attacking system.
Other special contributions are Congress Diary {With Oxford University Congress} Chess questions answered by Gary Lane {A guide to attacking chess}The best defence in difficult positions might be reckless defence!, Letters to the editor,Bosna Sarajevo,4NCL Divisions,Book reviews etc!
Conclusion: This issue covers a super interesting survey on the 150 attack!
ChessMail issue 5/2003
http://www.chessmail.com
E-mail editor@chessmail.com
Chess Mail Limited, 26 Coolamber Park
Dublin 16 Ireland
Basic Subscription 40 Euros.
{For eight issues.}