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Latest book reviews of 1 February 2024

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The Netherlands.
           John Elburg
                                                                                                                       Chess DVD's

ChessBase Magazine issue 217
January/February 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 files of this excellent files ChessBase Magazine is good for 1583 entries where a small 36 are more than excellent analysed.
A fine example of play is: Deac,Bogdan Daniel (2701) - Yakubboev,Nodirbek (2616) [C53]
FIDE Grand Swiss Douglas (7), 01.11.2023
[Deac,Bogdan Daniel]
1.e4 This was the 7th round, the day after the break. I chose to play the Italian opening. Dies war die 7. Runde, der Tag nach der Pause. Ich entschied mich, die italienische ErÃffnung zu spielen. 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.0-0 a5 7.Re1 Ba7 8.Na3 [8.Nbd2 0-0 9.h3 Be6 10.Bb5 Ne7 11.d4 Ng6÷] 8...0-0 9.h3 Ne7 10.d4 Ng6 11.Be3 Bd7!? [11...c6 12.Bf1 Qc7÷] 12.Qc2 [12.Bd3 Re8 13.Qc2 Bc6 transposition to the game führt zur Partie.] 12...Bc6 13.Bd3 Re8 14.Nb5 exd4 [It's more interesting to keep the tension with Interessanter ist das Aufrechterhalten der Spannung mit 14...Bb6!? 15.Rad1 (15.dxe5 Nxe5 16.Nxe5 dxe5 17.Bxb6 cxb6÷) 15...exd4 (15...Nxe4 16.dxe5 Nc5 17.Bg5 Qb8 18.exd6 Bxf3 19.dxc7 Rxe1+ 20.Rxe1 Bxc7 21.Nxc7 Qxc7 22.Bxg6 (22.gxf3 Nxd3 23.Qxd3 h6©) 22...hxg6 23.gxf3 Ne6©) 16.Bxd4 Nf4 17.Bxb6 cxb6÷] 15.Bxd4 Bxb5 16.Bxb5 c6 17.Bf1² Here my position looks better because of my bishop pair Hier sieht meine Stellung wegen meines Läuferpaares besser aus 17...Ne5 [17...Bxd4 18.cxd4²] 18.Nd2 h5 19.Rad1 Qe7 [19...Qc7 20.Bxa7 Rxa7 21.Nb3 Ng6 22.Nd4²;
19...b5 20.a4 bxa4 21.Qxa4²] 20.Bxa7 [20.f4 Ned7 21.Bxa7 Rxa7 tr tr] 20...Rxa7 21.f4 Ned7! [21...Ng6 22.Nc4 d5 23.Qf2 dxc4 24.Qxa7+-] 22.Nc4 [22.Kh2!! It's very hard to play Kh2 in this position because it's not a concrete move like Nc4. Kh2 ist in dieser Stellung sehr schwer zu spielen, weil es kein konkreter Zug wie Sc4 ist. 22...Raa8 (22...Nc5 23.Nc4+-) 23.Nc4 d5 24.exd5 Qxe1 25.Rxe1 Rxe1 26.dxc6 bxc6 27.Be2 Re8 28.Bf3±] 22...d5 23.Qf2 [23.exd5 Qc5+ 24.Qf2] 23...Qc5 24.exd5 Rxe1 [24...Qxf2+ 25.Kxf2 Rxe1 26.Rxe1] 25.Rxe1 Qxf2+ 26.Kxf2 cxd5 27.Nd6 [27.Ne3! Nb6 28.Rd1 Ra8 29.Rd4 (29.g4 hxg4 30.hxg4 Na4 31.Rb1 Ne4+ 32.Ke1 Nb6÷) 29...Re8 30.Kf3±] 27...Kf8 28.Kf3 Nc5 29.g4 hxg4+ 30.hxg4 b6 31.Rd1 [31.Bb5!?] 31...Rd7 32.Nf5 Ne6 33.Bb5 Rd8 34.Rh1 Ng8 35.Rh8 d4 36.Bc4 dxc3 [36...a4 37.Bxe6 dxc3 38.bxc3 fxe6 39.Nd4 Re8²] 37.bxc3 Rd2 38.g5 Rc2?! [38...b5! Best practical move in this position as it creates more counter-play later in the game. Bester praktischer Zug in dieser Stellung, da er später in der Partie mehr Gegenspiel ermÃglicht. 39.Bxe6! (39.Bxb5 Rc2!! Almost impossible to find Rc2 with low time on the clock. Fast unmÃglich, Tc2 mit wenig Zeit auf der Uhr zu finden (39...Rxa2 40.Nh6 gxh6 41.gxh6 Rh2 42.h7+-) 40.Nd6 Rxc3+ 41.Ke4 Ke7 42.Nf5+ Kf8²) 39...fxe6 40.Nd4 g6 (40...b4 41.Nxe6+ Kf7 42.f5+-) 41.Rh7±] 39.g6 Rxc3+ 40.Ne3 Nd8 41.Ke4 b5 42.Bd5 Rc1 43.f5 Rg1 44.Kf4 In this position black is paralyzed and my plan is to come with my knight to e5 in dieser Stellung ist Schwarz gelähmt und mein Plan ist, mit meinem Springer nach e5 zu kommen 44...a4 45.Ng4 Rd1 46.Ke4 Re1+ 47.Kd4 Rd1+ 48.Kc5 Rxd5+ [48...b4 49.Ne5 b3 50.axb3+-] 49.Kxd5 fxg6 50.fxg6 b4 51.Ne5 b3 52.axb3 axb3 53.Nd7+ Ke7 54.Rxg8 Kxd7 [54...Ne6 55.Nc5 Nf4+ 56.Ke4 b2 57.Rxg7+ Kd6 58.Rb7+-] 55.Rxg7+ Ke8 56.Ra7 1-0
Included are the following opening videos!
Rustam Kasimdzhanov: Scotch Four Knights
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Nxe4
Luis Engel: Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Rg1 – Part 2
1.e4 c5 2.Sf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Sxd4 Sf6 5.Sc3 a6 6.Rg1
Mihail Marin: Ruy Lopez - Norwegian Defence
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Na5
Plus 11 opening surveys: Robert Ris: English Four Knights with 4.d4
Petra Papp: Modern Benoni 6.e4 g6 7.f4 (Part II)
Patrick Zelbel: Caro-Kann Two Knights 3...Bg4 4.d4
Romain Edouard: Closed Sicilian with 6.Be3 e5
Krisztian Szabo: Sicilian Sveshnikov with 7.Nd5
Evgeny Postny: Sicilian Four Knights with 8...Bb7
Sergey Grigorians: French Steinitz Variation 8.Ne2
Lars Schandorff: Scotch Gambit 4...Nf6 5.e5 Ne4
Alexey Kuzmin: Berlin Defence with 4.d3 Ne7!?
Spyridon Kapnisis: Tarrasch Defence 4...c5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 Be6
Yago Santiago: Catalan with 4...Nc6!? 5.Bg2 Bd6!?
Other contributions are: Fundamental Endgame Knowledge – Part 7: “Pawn endgames with pawns on both wings”
In the introductory video,our endgame expert Dr Karsten Mueller presents the most important techniques. Then it's your turn in two interactive training videos! Mueller also presents a selection of Richard Rapport's most beautiful endgames (video introduction + analyses).
And more like Strategy,Tactics,The Analysis,All in One,Practical tips for the tournament player,Traps and more!
Included is a two language eye catching booklet!
Conclusion: This is super material!

Time Management in Chess
by  Regina Theissl-Pokorna
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


Regina Theissl Pokorná (née Pokorná; born 18 January 1982) is a Slovak-Austrian chess player holding the title Woman Grandmaster (WGM)
And provides the user of this DVD with a impressive over 7 hours video coverage about time limits and the techniques to handle this all in a winning way.
Time is ticking,and  panic is rising is the dilemma of every chess player.As Theissl Pokorná explains there are other important factors, like insufficient opening preparation, perfectionism, missing self- confidence etc.
She organized this course into 2 parts. In the first part  she digs on the methods and techniques that will help you to avoid time trouble, such as: strict opening repertoire, using chess intuition wisely, identifying critical moments, deciding between several possible moves, prophylactic thinking and how to avoid perfectionism in chess. In the second part, the focus lies on the moments in time trouble. How players of different strength and experience solve their problems at the board, but also why many of them (incl. strong grandmasters) fail on this matter.
Interesting topics are : looking for chances in a worse position and finding the best ways out of it; how and why to keep emotions under the control.
But first the Contents:
Introduction
PDF - Introduction
PDF - Factors
Shengelia vs Sebenik, 2019
Intuition
What is chess intuition?
Introduction
Smyslov vs Panov
Mikhalchishin vs Chernin
Theissl-Pokorna vs Zhukova
Theissl-Pokorna va Reizniece
Aronian vs Anand
Alekhine - Junge
Exercise 1: Aronin vs Kholmov
Exercise 2: Theissl-Pokorna vs Janetschek
Exercise 3: Krivec vs Theissl-Pokorna
Exercise 4: Keres vs Smyslov
Critical moments
Identifying time-critical moments during the game
Introduction
Alekhine vs Rubinstein
Karpov vs Korchnoi
Theissl-Pokorna vs Maric
Benjamin vs Gulko
Fischer vs Spassky
Exercise 1: Carlsen vs Nakamura
Exercise 2: Maroczy vs Rubinstein
Exercise 3: Motylev vs Polgar
Candidate moves
How to decide between several (candidate) moves?
Introduction
Ehlvest vs Georgiev
Speelman vs Kasparov
Van Wely vs Piket
Yildiz vs Pokorna
Exercise 1: Karjakin vs Kramnik
Exercise 2: McShane vs Carlsen
Exercise 3: Korchnoi vs Karpov
Exercise 4: Toshkov vs Russek Libni
Prophylactic thinking
Prophylactic Thinking
Introduction
Spielmann vs Nimzowitsch
Rubinstein vs Salwe
Carlsen vs Nakamura
Gulko vs Panno
Ivanovic vs Sveshnikov
Exercise 1: Carlsen vs Anand
Exercise 2: Lukin vs Yuneev
Exercise 3: Sax vs Partos
Exercise 4: Manik vs Motuz
Exercise 5: Smyslov vs Panov
Exercise 6: Reshevsky vs Kavalek
Perfectionism
Perfectionism in Chess
Introduction
Study Nalbandyan
Keres vs Filip
Freiman vs Kan
Pokorna vs Igla
Alekhine vs Saemisch
Exercise 1: Study
Exercise 2: Kholmov vs Jakobsen
Exercise 3: Pokorna vs Seps
Exercise 4: Schiffers vs Steinitz
Inferior position
Looking for chances in an inferior position
Introduction
Galliamova vs Korchnoi
Spassky vs Fischer
Motuz vs Pile
Theissl-Pokorna vs Schwabeneder
Hagarova vs Seleljo
Exercise 1: Hou Yifan vs Muzychuk
Exercise 2: Filip vs Darga
Exercise 3: Chekhover Study
Exercise 4: Polugaevsky vs Zakharov
Exercise 5: Gulko vs Vaganian
Exercise 6: Reshevsky vs Lombardy
Changes in the pawn structure
Avoid unnecessary changes in pawn structure
Intro
Aronian vs Grischuk
Pokorna vs Meier
Fine vs Najdorf
Larsen vs Portisch
Exercise 1: Nepomniachtchi vs Dreev
Exercise 2: Vitiugov vs Volokitin
Exercise 3: Heredia Serrano vs Theissl-Pokorna
Converting into (pawn) endgames
Decisions to convert positions into (pawn) endgames
Introduction
Evans vs Reshevsky
Sax vs Szell
Smyslov vs Tal
Atalik vs Motuz
Exercise 1: Ponomariov vs Kramnik
Exercise 2: Navara vs Tkachiev
Exercise 3: Smyslov vs Reshevsky
Exercise 4: Matisons vs Alekhine
Complicated positions
Complicated and complex positions
Introduction
Polugaevsky vs Averbakh
Hagarova - Vavruska
Schleining vs Theissl-Pokorna
Sadilek vs Shengelia
Navara vs Kulaots
Nikolova vs Theissl-Pokorna
Exercise 1: Kramnik vs Aronian
Exercise 2: Indjic vs Shengelia
Exercise 3: Udovcic vs Bilek
Emotions
Keeping emotions under control and Objectivity
Introduction
Fischer vs Larsen
Najdorf vs Tal
Shengelia vs Miton
Shengelia vs Sutovsky
Reizniece vs Theissl-Pokorna
Hagarova vs Bauma
Theissl-Pokorna vs Vega Gutierrez
Exercise 1: Ftacnik vs Shengelia
Exercise 2: Shengelia vs Gazik
Exercise 3: Sasikiran vs Bartel
Exercise 4: Bisguier vs Stein
Best Practice
Bonus clips
Explanation
Openings
Best practice 1
Best practice 2
Conclusion: Very educative and a must for all!

Endgame essentials you need to know Vol.1 & Vol 2
by  Surya Ganguly
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


M Surya Ganguly joins IM Sagar Shah and drawing from his colossal experience, shares in a impressive over 8 hours video entertainment some uncommon endgame wisdom.
The material mostly features positions with rook against rook and a pawn, and starts by covering the fundamentals: Lucena, Philidor, and Vancura.
But it quickly enters with rare seen endgames.
The first volume of Demystifying Endgames deals with the essentials of rook versus rook and pawn endings,Shekhar Ganguly presents several guideposts to navigate through the techniques of these theoretical endings.
In the second volume, Sagar Shah brings more positions - many from top-level Grandmaster games in the game simple to improve your understanding of important endgame concepts.
Included besides the fundamentals are a impressive amount of exercises to test your endgame skills and that makes these DVD’s so educative!
Conclusion: So educative!