Prvni mezinarodni sachovy turnaj v
Praze 1908 by Jan Kalendovsky & Zdenek Zavodny
2008
428 pages
Price €40,00 included postage
For information zzavodny@upcmail.cz
Zavodny Zdenek {owner of the SNZZ magazines as Moravec
under the Microscope-EG studies, and devoted chess publisher} was
so kind to send me this lovely printed
tournament book of the Prague 2008 tournament book, that was won by
Duras and Schlechter, followed by players as Vidmar, Rubinstein,
Teichmann, Maroczy, Leonhardt, Marshall,Salwe,
Janowski,Mieses,Spielmann,von Bardeleben etc.
This book carries all the 223 games from this tournament and that is
included the B group and of course all these games are deeply
analysed with a large amount of {Czech} text.
Included are also a lot of biographical sketches and stories about the
heroes and players of this tournament.
To be honest I was astounded about the play of the count Curt von
Bardeleben who played against Leonhard with black the moves: 1.e4 g6
2.d4 Bg7 3.c3 d6 4.f4 e5!
Yes Suttles played this set-up 62 years later against Kurajica but he
understood the strategies much better than poor Bardeleben did
who sadly enough committed suicide by jumping out of a window in
1924.
His life and death were the basis for the main character of the novel
The Defense by Vladimir Nabokov.
And what do you think about the stunning move: Von Bardeleben,Curt -
Alapin,Simon [C21]
Prague Prague (19), 1908
1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Nf6 6.e5 Ng4 7.e6!?
Unfortunately the count lost this game too,7… f5 8.exd7+ Bxd7 9.Nf3
Qe7+ 10.Kf1 Nc6 11.Nbd2 0-0-0 12.h3 Qc5 13.hxg4 fxg4 14.Rc1 gxf3
15.Qxf3 Ne5 16.Bxe5 Qxe5 17.Rh5 g5 18.Rb1 Bc6 19.Qg4+ Kb8 20.Rxg5 h5
21.Qf3 Qd6 22.Ne4 Qd4 23.Ba6 Bxe4 24.Rxb7+ Ka8 25.Qb3 Bc5 26.Rf5 Rb8 0-1
But please see that Bardeleben could have saved the game with 14.Nh4
and black last move is very weak,with 26…Rhg8 or 26…Qa1+ it is
checkmate in 13 moves!
Interesting to mention is that Bardeleben played matches against some
of the greatest players of all time as Emanuel Lasker {1890} and
Alexander Alekhine {1908}.
The quality of this hardcover work is impressive and when you compare
it for example with the Olms reprints than I prefer this work,seen the
excellent quality of the photo’s and diagrams.
Included is a foreword from GM David Navara, GM Karel Mokry,Vlastimil
Fiala and a lot of,studies, unknown games as simultaneous exhibitions.
Conclusion: A chess treasure!
Matten
Schaakverhalen
2008
New in Chess
http://www.newinchess.com/
127 pages
Price €11,95
ISBN 978 90 5691 2543
Matten is a new Dutch magazine written for all who are
interested to
read about the world of chess, and there unique personalities, as
for
example the stories in this issue about the chess legend Bobby Fischer.
The Dutch Jan Gerritsen describes in his article “Terug naar
Reykjavik”the lasts years of Bobby Fischer.
Bobby lived alone in a flat in the centre of Reykjavik, and enjoyed not
only soul and blues music but also the book antiquarian Boki,where
Fischer had a own chair where he liked to read Russian chess books and
American comics.
The atmosphere of this shop reminded him at the book shops in Brooklyn
as he once said to the owner Bragi Kristjonsson.
Fischer could find it alos very well with his nabour Gardar Sverrisson
who
took him out fishing.
Normally you don’t find any chess moves in Matten but there is a photo
and game from Max Euwe who lost in a simultaneous play in eleven moves
from Theo Olof; 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bg4 5.Ne5 e6 6.Nxg4
Nxg4 7.e4 h5 8.cxd5 Nxf2 9.Kxf2 Qf6+ 10.Kg1 e5 11.dxe5 Bc5+ and
Euwe resigned.
Other contributions that touched me are Ton Sijbrands: De Bobby Fischer
van het dammen,{the Bobby Fischer of the checkers}Het
Notatieformulier,{Game note from Smyslov}Invloeden van Botwinnink{ The
influence of Botvinnink}this man was the hero of Jan Timman and Other
times {Andere tijden}from Karel van de Weide,who honestly speaks
with Erwin l'Ami for all who don’t recognize him he is strong Dutch
Grandmaster who can still walk unrecognised over the street.
Conclusion: A fascinating read!
Alvis Vītoliņš
by Zigurds Lanka,Edvins Kengis,Jan Klovans and Janis Vitomskis
2008
Dodot gutais neatnemams
183 pages
Price unknwon
ISBN 978-9984-821-18-4
Alvis Vītoliņš only lived for 51 years when he ended his life by
jumping of onto the frozen ice of the Gauja river from a railway bridge
in 1997.
This book from Alvis Vitolins holds around 23 of his best games and
that are one for one brilliant played game,s because Vitolins played
chess as a god,and if
he was not forced to take his medications against schizophrenia he
certainly would have become
one of the greatest players of all time.
Alvis Vītoliņš learned chess at the age of 6.At early age he showed
great promise as his game against Vaskans of the 1960 Latvian Junior
Championship show
us: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be3 Be7 7.g4 a6
8.g5 Nfd7 9.Qd2 b5 10.a3 Bb7 11.0-0-0 d5 12.exd5 Nb6 13.Ndxb5 Nxd5
14.Nxd5 Bxd5 15.Qc3 axb5 16.Qxg7 Kd7 17.Qxf7 Kc6 18.Bg2 Bxg2 19.Rxd8
Bxd8 20.Qxe6+ Kb7 21.Rd1 Bc6 22.Qf7+ Bc7 23.Bf4 Na6 24.Bxc7 Nxc7 25.h4
Rhf8 26.Qxh7 Rxf2 27.Qe7 Re8 28.Qc5 1-0
Vītoliņš loved sharp play and he brought the old Cochrane gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Pf3 Pf6 3.Pxe5 d6 4.Pxf7 back on the road and this line is
carefully analysed in this book as his inventions in the poisoned pawn
variation where he found a brilliant knight sacrifice against his
opponent Gavrikovs,1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5
e6 7.f4 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.f5! Nc6 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.e5
.dxe5 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Ne4 Be7 16.Be2 h5 17.Rb3 Qa4 18.Nxf6!!
This game is carefully analysed as all the other 23 games in this
lovely made book.Alvis Vītoliņš has won seven times the Latvian
Championship and there
is even a book The Vitolins Variation: Scheveningen 6.Bb5+!?
A fine example of this line is game 11{Vitolinsh,Alvis (2415) -
Eingorn,Vereslav S (2270) [B80]
URS-ch sf Daugavpils, 1978 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3
e6 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.Qe2 Qc7 8.Be3 Nc6 9.0-0-0 a6 10.Bxc6 Bxc6 11.Nxc6 Qxc6
12.f3 Be7 13.g4 0-0 14.Kb1 b5 15.Qd2 Nd7 16.Ne2 Ne5 17.Nd4 Qb7 18.b3 a5
19.Qe2 Rfb8 20.Bc1 a4 21.g5 Nc6 22.Nxc6 Qxc6 23.b4 Rd8 24.a3 Rac8 25.h4
Qc4 26.Rd3 d5 27.e5 Rd7 28.Qd2 Rdc7 29.Rh2 Qc6 30.Bb2 Bd8 31.h5 Qe8
32.f4 g6 33.f5 gxf5 34.g6 fxg6 35.hxg6 Rg7 36.gxh7+ Kh8 37.Rxd5 Bg5
38.Qd4 exd5 39.e6 Rcc7 40.Qe5 Qd8 41.Bd4 f4 42.Rh5 f3 43.Rxg5 f2
44.Rxg7 f1Q+ 45.Kb2 Rxc2+ 46.Kxc2 Qc4+ 47.Kd2 1-0}
of this book which is good for 6
pages of full
text!
Conclusion: A gift for all fans of the
phenomenal playing Alvis Vītoliņš!
The greatest ever chess opening ideas
by Christoph Scheerer
2008
Everyman
Chess
http://www.everymanchess.com
368 pages
Price $25,95
ISBN 978-1-85744-561-9
IM Christoph Scheerer {previously Wisnewski} takes you back in
time with a selection greatest ever played opening ideas starting far
back in 1475,with the game F.de Castellvi against N.Vinyoles,Valencia
1475 {1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3
7.Qxf3 e6 8.Qxb7 Nbd7 9.Nb5 Rc8 10.Nxa7 Nb6 11.Nxc8 Nxc8 12.d4 Nd6
13.Bb5+ Nxb5 14.Qxb5+ Nd7 15.d5 exd5 16.Be3 Bd6 17.Rd1 Qf6 18.Rxd5 Qg6
19.Bf4 Bxf4 20.Qxd7+ Kf8 21.Qd8# 1-0}
Interesting enough this was not a real game,Francesc de Castellvi and
Narcis Vinyoles were members of a well known literary circle in
Valencia and the game is a poem {Scachs d’amor}conceived as a chess
game.
This is also the first game that is mentioned in the Mega Database from
ChessBase,and it ends with the hot of the press game,between Topalov
and
Kramnik,Wijk aan Zee 2008.
This game as the other 91 of this book are all deeply analysed with a
lot move to move annotations as for example the smashing game between
Federov and Ivanchuk,again a Wijk aan Zee game: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3
g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.d4 this move gets from Scheerer around two and a
half pages of text!
Fascinating is the line: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 Nf6
6.Nxg4 Nxe4 7.d3 Ng3 8.Bxf4 Nxh1 9.Qe2+ Qe7 10.Nf6+ Kd8 11.Bxc7+ Kxc7
12.Nd5+ Kd8 13.Nxe7 Bxe7 and black has won three pieces for the queen
and ought to have the advantage, Staunton.
One of the earliest examples which supported this assesseent was the
game Baucher – Morphy,Paris 1858.
8.0-0 is the infamous Rice gambit.Its inventor,the German-born American
businessman man Isaac Leopold,financed many themed tournaments and
matches to order to promote his idea,but the ultimate conclusion is
that white has no way to claim any advantage:8..Bxe5 9.Re1 Qe7 10.c3
Nh5 11.d4 Nd7 12.dxe5 {the hardly better 12.Bb5 Kd8 13.Bxd7 Bxd7
14.Rxe5 Qxh4 15.Rxh5 Qxh5 16.Bxf4 Re8 was the starting position of a
five game thematic match between Frank Marshall and WillemNapier in
London 1905,in which black scored a tremendous 41/2-1/2}12…Nxe5 13.b3
0-0 14.Ba3 Nf3+! 15.gxf3 Qxh4 16.Re5! and now black can force a draw
with 16…Qg3 or go for more with 16…Bf5.
Dead is after Scheerer the good old Möller attack: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3
Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Nxe4 8.0-0 Bxc3 9.d5
Bf6 10.Re1 Ne7 11.Rxe4 d6 12.Bg5 Bxg5 13.Nxg5 h6 14.Qe2 hxg5 15.Re1 Be6
16.dxe6 f6 17.Re3 c6 18.Rh3 Rxh3 19.gxh3 g6!
And after 20.Qd2 d5 21.Qc3 Nf5 22.Bd3 Qe7 23.Bxf5 gxf5 24.Qf3 0-0-0
25.Qxf5 Rd6 when black returned the pawn to bring his king to
safety,thereby retaining endgame advantage { Scheerer}
But Tony Delabre,Tony did manage to win in this position
against Nicolas Hogrel,(2054),Montigny le Bretonneux op Montigny le
Bretonneux (6), 01.11.2007,1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4
exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Nxe4 8.0-0 Bxc3 9.d5 Bf6 10.Re1 Ne7 11.Rxe4 d6
12.Bg5 Bxg5 13.Nxg5 h6 14.Qe2 hxg5 15.Re1 Be6 16.dxe6 f6 17.Re3 c6
18.Rh3 Rxh3 19.gxh3 g6 20.Qf3 Qa5 21.Re3 Qf5 22.Qd1 0-0-0 23.Be2 Kb8
24.b4 Qd5 25.Qa1 Rf8 26.b5 c5 27.Bf3 Qd4 28.Qb1 c4 29.Re4 Qd3 30.Qxd3
cxd3 31.Rd4 Rd8 32.Rxd3 d5 33.Kf1 Kc7 34.Ke1 Kd6 35.Re3 Nf5 36.Ra3 Ra8
37.Kd2 Kxe6 38.b6 a5 39.Rc3 Ra6 40.Rc5 Ne7 41.Rb5 Kd6 42.a4 Kc6 43.Kc3
Rxb6 44.Rxa5 Ra6 45.Rxa6+ bxa6 46.Kb4 a5+ 47.Kxa5 Kc5 48.Ka6 Nc6 49.Kb7
Na5+ 50.Kc7 d4 51.Kd7 d3 52.Ke6 Nc4 53.Kxf6 d2 54.Kxg5 Ne5 55.Be2 Nd3
56.f4 Nf2 57.Kxg6 Nxh3 58.Kf5 Kb4 59.Ke5 Nxf4 60.Kxf4 Kxa4 61.h4 1-0
All together Christoph Scheerer has managed to create a balance of
history and latest theory in a unbelievable readable book.
Impressive is the five page bibliography!
Conclusion: A must for chess lovers!
Pawn Sacrifice!
Winning at chess the adventurous
way
by Timothy Taylor
2008
Everyman
Chess
http://www.everymanchess.com
368 pages
Price $24,95
ISBN 978-1-85744-565-7
International master Timothy Taylor,author of the well known
book on the Bird opening, and film director digs in this latest
Everyman book on pawn sacrifices.
Taylor has categorized all kind of pawn sacrifices in this
book, as King Attack,Line Attack,Development,Pawn Cracker
,Obstructive,Preventive,Two Bishops,Vacating,Charge up,Endings and
confusion.
The author has borrowed much of Spielmann’s classification material
known from his famous book The art of sacrifice in chess.
This work has inspired Taylor a lot and many of Spielmann’s ideas come
back in this book from Taylor.
Throw this book you shall find a smashing collection of 67 models games
and that is included the game of Taylor his wife who made with some
lessons from her husband a 300 elo jump!
Between these game are 15 games from the legendary chess genius Mikhail
Tal probably the greatest tactics of all time.
From Taylor we can learn that is worth to be creative and don’t fear to
throw now and than a pawn in the battle!
A fine example of creative play in this book is the game Tal –
Fischer,Candidates tournamaent,Zagreb 1959: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7
4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Nf3 e5 7.d5 Nbd7 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 a6 10.0-0 Qe8
11.Nd2 Nh7 12.b4 Bf6 13.Bxf6 Nhxf6 14.Nb3 Qe7 15.Qd2 Kh7 16.Qe3 Ng8
17.c5 f5 18.exf5 gxf5 19.f4 exf4 20.Qxf4 dxc5 21.Bd3 cxb4 22.Rae1 Qf6
23.Re6 Qxc3 24.Bxf5+ Rxf5 25.Qxf5+ Kh8 26.Rf3 Qb2 27.Re8 Ndf6 28.Qxf6+
Qxf6 29.Rxf6 Kg7 30.Rff8 Ne7 31.Na5 h5 32.h4 Rb8 33.Nc4 b5 34.Ne5 1-0
Taylor writes after move 20.Qxf4! The computer wants to play 20.Qxe7
Nxe7 21.Rxf4 with equal material and a clear advantage in the endgame
due to black’s weak pawn structure.The machine thinks Tal lloses half
of his advantage on this move,and the other half on the next
{that is ,going from about =1 to 0,5 to equal}.
Meanwhile Tal does not even mention the queen trade in his notes,and
gives the second pawn sacrifice {the coming,and equally unapproved 21
Bd3}an exclamation mark!
What are to make of this?
Author’s opinion: I have to go with Tal.Anyone who has looked at
Petrosian-Fischer,Portoroz International 1958 {Game 3 in My Sixty
Memorial games,played just a year before the current game}knows that
defeating Fischer in the endgame just because he has isolated f and h
pawns is no easy task!
Even Petrosian couldn’t accomplish it.
Instead, black is suddenly faced with a desperate defensive task as Tal
sacs first one,than a second pawn,than a piece! Yes,the computer cab
find some sort of defence, but even Fischer falls to sacrificial shock,
And with this all this turmoil for black,Tal is in his element!
This book does not hold any openings even that the games 18,Maldonado –
Taylor,US Open,Los Angeles 2003: 1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 cxd4
5.cxd4 Nc6 6.Nf3 e5.
Game 32,Hector – Madsen,Copenhagen 1996:1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e5 Nfd7
4.e6!
and game 34: Grynszpan – Pavlovic,Lugano 1989: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3
Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.e5! hold important types of opening
sacrifices!
Conclusion: Buy it for the creative input from Taylor!
How to
crush your chess opponents by Simon Williams
2008
Gambit Publications Ltd
http://www.gambitbooks.com
E-mail info@gambitbooks.com
111 pages
Price $ 24,95
ISBN 978-1-904600-99-2
GM Simon Williams learns you in this book at the hand of 30
model games the keys to a successful attack based on calculation and
intuition.
These 30 games are all based on move to move annotations and all
divided in the following chapters: Opening to middlegames, Keeping the
initiative, Harmonizing the weak point, Changing the tempo, All in! and
Playing to your strengths.
In the game Naiditsch – Gustafsson,European Ch,Dresden 2007,we lean
that we must think for your self and don’t follow blind recommendation
from the books as for example the Informator.
After:1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0
8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.Re1 Bd6 13.g3 Bf5 14.d4
Qd7 15.Be3 Rae8 16.Nd2 Bg4 17.Qb1 Bf5 18.Bc2?,Williams writes:
Apparently this move,at the time the games was played, was recommended
in the latest Informator as a way to get a slight advantage.
In actual fact,it seems that this move leads to a forced win for
black-bad timing for Naiditsch indeed! 18.Qc1 has been tried as a
winning attempt, but black’s counter is still adequate; for
example,….Re6 19.Nf3 Bg4 20.Ng5 Rg6 21.f3 Bxf3! 22.Bxf3 Bxg3! With a
brilliant attack,Shabalov-Aronian,Calvia Olympiad 2004.
18….Bxc2 19.Qxc2 f5 Black needs to open up white’s king or get a pawn
on f3,which will be a permanent thorn in white’s side.All of a
sudden,you can see just how useful the rook on f8 will be.
20.c4 still blindly following the recommended plan,but watch how
quickly white’s position falls apart.20…bxc4 21.Nxc4 f4 22.Bd2 f3! This
is the new move,even through it is perfectly logical.Black wants to put
the queen on h3 and than give mate on g2!
The other suggestions given in Informator lead to an edge for white;
for example,22….Qh3 23.Qd3 Bc7 24.Rxe8 Rxe8 25.Re1 and 22…Bc7 both with
a small advantage.
23.Qd3 White’s idea to meet 23….Qh3 with 24.Qf1,stopping the mate on
g2.Is there any way black can stop white’s queen from reaching f1?
23….Re2!! That’s the one!This brilliant rook move blocks the white
queen from reaching the f1 square.
Interesting to mention is game 9 where Williams had to defend the
Budapest Gambit with white: Williams,Simon Kim (2411) - Miezis,Normunds
(2530) [A52]
NOR-ch op Oslo (7), 09.04.2004
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.e4 Nxe5 5.f4 Ng6 6.Nf3 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 d6 8.h4
Qf6 9.f5 Ne5 10.Bg5 Nxf3+ 11.Qxf3 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Qe5 13.0-0-0 f6 14.Rd5
Qe7 15.Bf4 Nd7 16.c5 Nxc5 17.Rxc5 dxc5 18.Bc4 b5 19.Bd5 Rb8 20.e5 Rb6
21.Re1 Kd8 22.Rd1 Ke8 23.Re1 Kd8 24.Qd1 c4 25.exf6 Qa3+ 26.Kb1 Bxf5+
27.Be4+ Bd7 28.fxg7 Re8 29.Bxh7 Rxe1 30.g8Q+ Re8 31.Qgd5 1-0
Instructive are the words after move 8.h4!?:It is doubtful whether this
is entirely correct but it does put black on the back foot and it
forces him to play accurate moves from a early stage.Most players are
happy to roll of their first dozen moves or so moves from theory,yet
when players are forced to think for themselves they are already placed
under pressure.
By the way Viktor Moskalenko suggests in his book The fabulous Budapest
Gambit the move 8…Qe7 with counter play but here I trust Williams more
with the moves:8…Qe7 9.Bd3 Bg4 10.h5 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Nh4 leads to a mess
with chances for both sides of the board.
Conclusion: A very enjoyable attacking book!
The
art of attacking chess by Zenon Franco
2008
Gambit Publications Ltd
http://www.gambitbooks.com
E-mail info@gambitbooks.com
255 pages
Price $ 31,95
ISBN 978-1-904600-97-8
GM Zenon Franco the well known chess teach from Spain provides you in
this latest Gambit book with a wealth of attacking strategies as
attacking the king in the centre, attacking positions with the kings
situated on opposite wings, attacking the castled king, expliting
temporary advantages, Horwitz bishops and miscellaneous themes as the
power of the f5 knight.
This all is instructively packed in 33 heavy annotated games where GM
Zenon Franco is so kind to include 77 extra exercises all to see if you
have understood his explanations.
Rudolf Spielman once wrote”I can comprehend Alekhine’s combinations
well enough,but where he gets his attacking chances from and how he
infuses life into the very opening – that is beyond me”.
Going throw this book will help you to understand the secrets of
attack,as for example game 23,Bologan- Movsesian,Sarajevo 2005: 1.d4 d5
2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Qc2 e6 6.Nbd2 Nbd7 7.b3 Be7 8.Bb2 0-0 9.Bd3
h6 10.0-0 c5 11.Rad1 b6 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Qc7 14.d5 exd5 15.cxd5 Nxd5
16.Bc4 Nb4 17.Rxd7 Qxd7 18.Qc3 Qg4 19.Nfg5 Qxg5 20.Nxg5 Bf6 21.Qf3 Bxb2
22.Nxf7 b5 23.Nxh6+ Kh7 24.Qxf8 bxc4 25.Qxc5 1-0.
This game is analysed by Franco with nearly six pages of text and that
for a 25 game move game!
This game is brought under the section” Horwitz Bishops” Aron
Nimzowitsch defined the ” Horwitz Bishops” as”two bishops raking two
adjacent diagonals and thus together bombarding the enemy’s castled
position.
Franco writes: The Horwitz Bishops are menacing and dangerous,but are
of course no guarantee of succes,or even of an attack.
Interesting are the words from Franco to the game Polgar –
Karpov,Hoogeveen 2003 {1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5
6.Bd3 Be7 7.0-0 Nc6 8.c4 Nb4 9.Be2 0-0 10.a3 Nc6 11.cxd5 Qxd5 12.Nc3
Nxc3 13.bxc3 Qd6 14.Rb1 b6 15.Re1 Be6 16.Bd3 Rae8 17.Rb5 Na5 18.Rbe5
Nc6 19.R5e2 Bd7 20.d5 Na5 21.Ne5 Bf6 22.Bf4 Bxe5 23.Bxe5 Qxa3 24.Re3
Qc5 25.Bxh7+ Kxh7 26.Qh5+ 1-0};
As we have started,the Horwitz bishops are not the exclusive birthright
of closed openings based on 1.d4,nor it is essential that one side
quickly developments his bishops his bishops on the b1-h7 and a1-h8
diagonals {or their black counterparts}
They can also arise from openings that you would not exspect,as in the
followinggame,where a world champion lowered his guard and overlooked
the power of the bishops that are the subject of our chapter.
By the way this game is covered with 4,5 pages of text and for all who
are wondering where the great Karpov went wrong,Franco gives the
interesting line 17..a6!,since Polgar’s first idea with 18.Ng5 is not
very dangerous in view of 18….Bxg5 {not 18…axb5? 19.Rxe6! FXE6 20.Bxh7
Kh8 21.Qh5 and wins}19.Rxg5 Bb3! 20.Qd2 Na5! And the attack has
vanished; in the post-mortem both players reached the conclusion that
black has a reasonable position.
And that is much more than the few notes from Huzman in the ChessBase
magazine and Polgar in the Informator!
Conclusion: I have seen seldom a more
instructive than this work from
Franco!
The wisest things ever said about chess by
Andrew Soltis
2008
Batsford Ltd, London
http://www.Batsford.com
304 pages
Price $21.95
ISBN 978-1-906388-00-3
GM Andrew Soltis has collected a small 288 enjoyable chess
sayings illustrated with annotated positions and readable
note,s as for example the wise words the chess legend Tal: A game is
not over until the clocks are stopped.
Mikhail Tal cited this adage to emphasize that won games don’t win them
selves.But Salo Flohr could bring it very nice too:”A game is
considered won only when the opponent announces his resignation.
A other chess saying from Tal is:Drink your coffee when it’s your
opponent’s move.
With these words,Mikhail Tal warned against allowing anything to
interfere with your normal thought thought process at the board.His
normal process,after his opponent had moved,was to recheck the
variations he previously calculated.However he cited a cautionary tale
against Bobby Fischer at the Candidates tournament of 1959.
Interesting are the words from Jan Hein Donner”Self – confidence and
strong nerves are more important in chess than ideas.
Donner said this in his book the King and said it explained why Lasker
was greater than Tarrash and Capablanca was superior to
Rubenstein.Confidence and optimism helps you deal with the strain of
play.
All material is divided into 17 different chapters as
ttack,Calculation,Defence,Endgame,Evaluation,Mistakes,Move
Selection,Openings,Pawns,Pieces,Psychology,Sacrifice,Strategy,Studying,Tactics,Technique
and Tournament tactics.By the way no chess board is needed all
positions can easy be solved out the book.And that makes this book a
perfect companion!
Pleasant in use is the included index of quoted players by number.
Conclusion: A good read is insured!
Chess
Informant
issue 101
2008
Beograd
http://www.sahovski.com
362 pages
Price GBP 20.50
ChessInformant 101 features a selection of 459 annotated games and
516 game fragments which makes a total of nearly 1000 latest
novelties all taken from the period September 1 till
December 31 of 2007.
This work starts with the best game of the preceding volume and that is
Nielsen – Ivanchuk,La Habana 2007: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.Nc3 cxd4
5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.g3 Ne4 7.Qd3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Nc5 9.Qf3 d6 10.Ba3 0-0 11.Rd1
Qa5 12.Nb5 Bd7 13.Bb4 Qxa2 14.Bxc5 dxc5 15.Nc7 Ba4 16.Rc1 Nc6 17.Nxa8
Qa3 18.Qe3 Na5 19.f3 Nxc4 20.Qf4 b5 21.Rb1 Qxc3+ 22.Kf2 Nd2 23.Re1 Rxa8
24.Bg2 c4 25.Qc7 Qd4+ 26.e3 Qd8 27.Qe5 Rc8 28.Qc3 Qd3 29.Qa5 c3 30.Re2
Nb3 31.Qxa7 c2 0-1
For the excellent comments of Ivanchuk please also Informator 100/418.
The most important theoretical novelties goes to the game Eljanov –
Karjakin,Foros 2007 {1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Nc3 b5 6.c5
Nbd7 7.a3 a5 8.Bd3 e5 9.dxe5 Ng4 10.e6 fxe6 11.Nd4 Nxc5 12.Be2 Nxf2
13.Kxf2 Bd6 14.g3 0-0+ 15.Kg2 Bd7 16.Bd2 e5 17.Nb3 Ne6 18.Bg4 a4 19.Nc1
Qg5 20.h4 Qg6 21.h5 Qg5 22.Rh4 e4 23.Qe1 Nc5 24.Bxd7 Nxd7 25.N1e2 Ne5
26.Qh1 Nf3 27.Qh3 Qf6 28.Nf4 Nxd2 0-1},and the extra included
theoretical survey from Paunovic is superb!
Going throw this Informator I was impressed where the editorial of the
Informator did manage to dig up material as for example the novelty of
the game Friedel – Becerra Rivero,(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6
5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7
12.Nbd2 exd4 13.cxd4 Nc6 14.d5 Nce5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.f4 Ng6 17.Nf3 f5
18.e5 dxe5 19.fxe5 Bb7 20.d6 Bh4 21.Re2 Bg3 22.b4 Bxf3!}from Internet!
Yes this game have seen no database before!
Fascinating are the notes from the brilliant playing Navara who
outplayed Timman at Karlovy Vary 2007,this game is good for 3,5 pages
of text!
The best of Chess Informant goes to Artur Jussupov with a selection of
his best games,The most important theoretical novelties,Excellent moves
and combinations plus a fantastic collection endgames.
Aleksandar Matanovic describes in a two page article the great Robert
James Fischer,”Fischer was on his own from his first steps in chess.He
spent the entire Portoroz tournament wearing the same sweater.His first
chess book wa in Russian.Nobody to cheer for him,and then there were
the pampered ones on the other side: Petrosian,Korchnoi,Spassky,Tal…Was
that al the root of everything?”
Conclusion: The most important chess
publication of this moment!
Chess DVD's
Endgame
for experts by
Rustam Kasimdzhanov
2008
Fritztrainer endgame
On DVD!
ChessBase
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail
info@chessbase.com
Price € 29,99
System requirements:
Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM,Windows XP or Windows
Vista, Windows Media Player 9.0, DVD drive.
The phenomenal Rustam Kasimdzhanov explains you in these 23 media
files his secrets of endgame play,all well explained in a small 3.5
hour video course.
There is a lot to learn from the Uzbekistan old world champion, at
first the material comes from his own endgame experiences and that
makes a Hugh difference than running throw somebody else his endings.
Usually Kasimdzhanov needs around two video files to explain everything
that you need to know about the strategies of his endings..
Impressive is his win against Adams, Adams,Michael (2731) -
Kasimdzhanov,Rustam (2652) [B51]FIDE-Wch k.o. Tripoli (7.7), 13.07.2004
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.0-0 Bd7 5.Re1 Nf6 6.c3 a6 7.Ba4 b5 8.Bc2
Rc8 9.a4 g6 10.axb5 axb5 11.d4 cxd4 12.cxd4 Bg4 13.Nc3 b4 14.Ne2 Bg7
15.d5 Bxf3 16.gxf3 Ne5 17.Ba4+ Nfd7 18.Nd4 0-0 19.f4 Nc4 20.Nc6 Rxc6
21.dxc6 Nc5 22.Qe2 Nb6 23.Bb5 Nb3 24.Ra6 Nd4 25.Qd3 Na8 26.Ra4 Nc7
27.Rxb4 Qb8 28.Rxd4 Bxd4 29.Qxd4 Qxb5 30.f5 Rc8 31.Bh6 Ne8 32.e5 Rxc6
33.exd6 Rxd6 34.Qe5 Qxe5 35.Rxe5 Rd7 36.Rc5 f6 37.fxg6 hxg6 38.Be3 Rb7
39.Bd4 Kf7 40.Kg2 Nd6 41.Bc3 e5 42.Ra5 Nc4 43.Ra1 Rb6 44.b4 Nd6 45.Rb1
Ke6 46.Bd2 f5 47.Be3 Rb7 48.Bc5 Ne4 49.Rd1 Rc7 50.Bb6 Rc6 51.Ba7 Ra6
52.Be3 f4 53.Bc1 Ra4 54.Re1 Kf5 55.Bb2 Rxb4 56.Bxe5 f3+ 57.Kxf3 Kxe5
58.Kg4 Kf6 59.f4 Nf2+ 60.Kg3 Nd3 0-1
Psakhis wrote after this game:A glorious finish of the knight march.
Please also see the latest Megadatabase.
Wilhem Steinitz understood as no other the power of the bishop pair and
the game Kasimdzhanov - Baklan,Vladimir,Neckar op-A 8th Deizisau (7),
11.04.2004 is a nice example of long range play.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0-0 dxc4 8.Bxc4
Qe7 9.Qe2 Nc6 10.Rd1 h6 11.Ne5 Rd8 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.a3 Bxc3 14.bxc3 e5
15.a4 exd4 16.cxd4 cxd4 17.Ba3 Qe8 18.Rxd4 Rxd4 19.exd4 Be6 20.Ba6 Qd8
21.Qe5 Qb6 22.Bf1 a5 23.Qc5 Qb7 24.Bd3 Bd5 25.Rb1 Qd7 26.f3 Be6 27.Qe5
Qe8 28.h4 Nd5 29.h5 f6 30.Qe4 f5 31.Qe5 Qf7 32.Re1 Bd7 33.Qd6 Re8
34.Re5 Rxe5 35.dxe5 Nf4 36.e6 Nxe6 37.Bc4 Kh7 38.Bb2 Qf8 39.Qxf8 Nxf8
40.Bc3 Be6 41.Bd3 Bb3 42.Bxa5 g6 43.hxg6+ Kxg6 44.g4 Bxa4 45.Bxf5+ Kf7
46.Bd2 Kg7 47.Kf2 Bb3 48.Kg3 Ne6 49.Kh4 Nd4 50.Be4 c5 51.Bf4 Bd1
52.Be5+ Kf7 53.Kg3 Bb3 54.Bd6 Ne2+ 55.Kf2 Nc3 56.Bf5 c4 57.Bf4 Nd1+
58.Ke1 Kg7 59.Be5+ Kf7 60.Bd4 c3 61.Ke2 Kf8 62.Bg6 Bd5 63.Bc2 Nb2
64.Bxc3 Nc4 65.Bg6 Kg8 66.Kf2 Nd6 67.Kg3 Nf7 68.f4 Nd6 69.Kh4 Bf3
70.Be5 Nf7 71.Bf6 Bd1 72.Kh5 Bf3 73.Bd4 Bd1 74.Bf5 Nd6 75.Bd3 Kf7
76.Be5 Ne8 77.Bg6+ Kf8 78.Bc3 Ke7 79.Bb4+ Kd8 80.Bc3 Ke7 81.Bf5 Nd6
82.Bb4 1-0
Conclusion:Buy it if you want to
improve your endgame skills!
Alexei Shirov My best
games with Black
2008
Fritztrainer opening
On DVD!
ChessBase
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail
info@chessbase.com
Price € 32,90
System requirements:
Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM,Windows XP or Windows
Vista, Windows Media Player 9.0, DVD drive.
GM Alexei Shirov the first player ever to reach the 2700 level before
the age of 20 provides you on this Fritztrainer opening DVD a
collection of his ever best games with black and that is included his
great successes of the 2007 World Cup of Khanty Mansiysk,where
Shirov reached so easy the finale.
Shirov is the master of explanations and does not worry about to throw
his chess secrets on the road.
Some will remember his openings DVD on the Sveshnikov and Shirov still
plays this line!
But his sharp analyses are more than latest developments no Shirov
explains all the necessarily understanding of the game,and that means
as for example in the following game everything about pawn
weaknesses.
Akopian,Vladimir (2713) - Shirov,Alexei (2739) [B30]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk (4.1), 03.12.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0-0 Nge7 5.b3 a6 6.Bxc6 Nxc6 7.Bb2 b5 8.c4
bxc4 9.bxc4 Rb8 10.Bc3 d6 11.Na3 e5 12.Nc2 g6 13.Ne3 Bh6 14.Qa4 Bd7
15.Rfb1 Bxe3 16.fxe3 Nd4 17.Qxa6 Ne2+ 18.Kf2 Nxc3 19.dxc3 Ke7 20.Nd2
Ra8 21.Qb7 Qa5 22.Qb2 Rhb8 23.Qc2 Rxb1 24.Nxb1 Rb8 25.Nd2 Qa4 26.Rc1
Qxc2 27.Rxc2 Ba4 28.Nb3 Bc6 29.Nd2 Ba4 30.Nb3 h5 31.Ke1 h4 32.Kd2 Bc6
33.Kd3 f5 34.exf5 gxf5 35.Rf2 Ke6 36.Ke2 Ra8 37.Ke1 Ra4 38.g3 hxg3
39.hxg3 Be4 40.Rh2 Rxc4 41.Kd2 Ra4 42.Kc1 c4 43.Na1 Ra8 44.Rd2 Rg8
45.a4 Rxg3 46.Nc2 Bxc2 47.Rxc2 Rxe3 48.a5 Kd7 49.a6 Kc7 0-1
Interesting are his honest words about the position after move 21,where
Fritz thinks the position is even but Shirov is clear back has all the
chances but he also says I am not sure I could beat the computer in
this position.
Shirov's positional pawn sacrifice led to a position with a great
compensation for Black.Where doesn't have any good squares
for the knight.
A other instructive example from the World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk is the
Sveshnikov game:
Karjakin,Sergey (2694) - Shirov,Alexei (2739) [B33] World Cup
Khanty-Mansiysk (6.3), 11.12.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6
8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 Bg5 12.Nc2 0-0 13.a4 bxa4 14.Rxa4
a5 15.Bc4 Rb8 16.b3 Kh8 17.Nce3 g6 18.h4 Bxh4 19.g3 Bg5 20.Qe2 f5 21.f4
exf4 22.gxf4 Bh4+ 23.Kd1 Rb7 24.Qh2 g5 25.Ba6 Rxb3 26.Kc2 Bxa6 27.Kxb3
fxe4 28.fxg5 Qb8+ 29.Rb4 axb4 30.Qxh4 bxc3+ 31.Kxc3 Qa7 32.Qxe4 Ne5
33.g6 Bd3 34.Rxh7+ Qxh7 35.Qxe5+ dxe5 36.gxh7 Bxh7 37.Ng4 Rc8+ 38.Kb4
e4 39.Ngf6 Bf5 40.Nh5 Bg4 41.Ng3 Bf3 42.Nf5 Rc1 43.Nc3 Kh7 44.Kc4 Rc2
45.Kd4 Kg6 46.Ne3 Rd2+ 47.Ke5 Rd3 48.Ned5 Rd2 49.Nxe4 Ra2 50.Nf4+ Kh6
51.Ne6 Ra5+ 52.Kf4 Bd1 53.Nd4 Kg6 54.Nc3 Bh5 55.Ne4 Rd5 56.Ke3 Rd8
57.Nc6 Re8 58.Kd4 Ra8 59.Ne5+ Kg7 60.Nd6 Kf6 61.Ne4+ Ke6 62.Nc5+ Kf5
63.Nc6 Re8 64.Nb4 Rd8+ 65.Ke3 Be8 66.Nbd3 Bb5 67.Nb4 Rh8 68.Nbd3 Rh3+
69.Kd4 Rh4+ 70.Ke3 Rc4 71.Nb3 Re4+ 72.Kd2 Rh4 73.Kc3 Ke4 74.Nd2+ Kd5
75.Nb4+ Kd6 76.Nc2 Rh3+ 77.Kb2 Kd5 78.Na3 Ba4 79.Nc2 Kc5 80.Kc1 Rd3
81.Ne1 Rc3+ 82.Kb2 Kb4 83.Nb1 Rb3+ 84.Kc1 Rh3 85.Nc2+ Kc4 86.Ne1 Rh1
87.Kd2 Rh2+ 88.Ke3 Bd1 89.Nd2+ Kd5 90.Nef3 Re2+ 91.Kf4 Re8 92.Kg3 Rf8
93.Kg2 Bxf3+ 94.Nxf3 Ke4 95.Nd2+ Kd3 96.Nf1 Rf6 97.Ng3 Rf4 98.Nh5 Rf8
99.Ng3 Ke3 100.Nf1+ Ke2 101.Ng3+ Ke1 102.Ne4 Rf7 103.Ng3
½-½
Interesting are the words from GM Rogozenko in the latest Openings ECO
DVD from ChessBase , Thanks to the tablebases the evaluation of this
position is clear: Black can win in ...208 moves! However, the best
play for both sides is incomprehensible for a human logic and therefore
I see no sense to analyze such an endgame here at all.
Moreover, things are even more complicated: according to the existing
FIDE rules the weaker side can claim a draw if for 50 (or for some
positions 100) consecutive moves there is no piece capture or pawn
moves. So basically in the next part Black can win only if White makes
bad mistakes. Karjakin defended well and thus Shirov had to agree to a
draw in the end.
But to be honest the instructive words from Shirov in this
position are even more interesting!
You shall not easy find comments like these in a chess book but on the
other hand this game is unique in many ways.White knights where
unbelievable strong!
A facinating game!
Conclusion: A top
DVD!
ChessBase Magazine
extra issue 123
May 2008
Fritz trainer video with Alexei Shirov
ChessBase
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail
info@chessbase.com
ISSN 1432-8992
Euro 12.99
Some times it is difficult to say to buy the latest ChessBase magazine
CD for the games or the excellent made video file from Alexei Shirov
from his game against Alekseev from the Tal Memorial of the
Moscow 2007 tournament.As Shirov explains it was a tournament with
it’s ups and downs.But again there is a lot to learn from the
annotations from Shirov.The master file on this CD is good for 19998
clean games where tournaments as Dos Hermanas (rapid) belongs to the
absolute top of this heavy loaded file.
But between the lines there is a lot of fun as for example the
following game:Perez Garcia,Rodney (2427) - Ramos Moreno,Francisco Jose
(2111) [C40]
Malaga op 11th Malaga (4), 25.02.2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Nxg6 Nf6 6.Qh4 Nc6 7.Nxh8 Nd4
8.Bd3 Qe7 9.Nc3 Qg7 10.Qg3 Qxh8 11.exf5 Be7 12.0-0 Bd7 13.Re1 Nc6
14.Bb5 0-0-0 15.d3 Rg8 16.Qh3 h5 17.Bd2 Qh7 18.Bc4 Rg4 19.Be6 Nd4
20.Bxd7+ Kxd7 21.f3 Rg7 22.Rac1 Kd8 23.Ne4 Nxe4 24.fxe4 Bf6 25.Bc3 Rg4
26.Kh1 c5 27.Bxd4 cxd4 28.c3 dxc3 29.bxc3 Qe7 30.d4 Bg5 31.Rcd1 Bf4
32.e5 Qg5 33.g3 Bxg3 34.Rg1 Bf4 35.Rxg4 hxg4 36.Qg2 g3 37.f6 Qh5 38.Rf1
1-0
Ofcourse white had to try 8.Bc4! but the brave Moreno did manage to win
with the Latvian Gambit too.
Tscharotschkin,Michael (2272) - Ramos Moreno,Francisco Jose (2111) [C40]
Malaga op 11th Malaga (6), 27.02.2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nxe5 Nf6 4.exf5 Qe7 5.Qe2 d6 6.Nc4 Bxf5 7.Qxe7+ Bxe7
8.Ne3 Bg6 9.Bc4 Nc6 10.0-0 0-0-0 11.c3 d5 12.Bb3 d4 13.Be6+ Kb8 14.Nf5
d3 15.b4 Bxf5 16.Bxf5 Rhe8 17.Na3 g6 18.Bh3 Nd5 19.g3 Bf6 20.Nc4 Ncxb4
21.Rb1 Nc6 22.Ba3 Ne5 23.Nxe5 Rxe5 24.c4 Nb6 25.Bb2 Nxc4 26.Bxe5 Bxe5
27.Rfd1 c5 28.Be6 Nb2 29.Re1 Bf6 30.Bb3 b5 31.Re6 Bh8 32.Re7 c4 33.Rxh7
Bd4 34.Rh4 cxb3 35.Rxd4 Rxd4 36.Rxb2 a5 37.Rxb3 b4 38.Kg2 a4 39.Rb1 Kc7
40.Kf1 Kc6 41.Rc1+ Kd5 42.Rc8 b3 43.axb3 axb3 44.Re8 Kc4 45.Re3 Rd5
46.f4 Rb5 47.Re8 Kb4 48.Rc8 Rd5 49.Rc1 Rd8 50.g4 b2 51.Rb1 Kb3 52.f5
gxf5 53.gxf5 0-1
Conclusion: Important reference
material!
Chess Informant 101 on CD
2008
Beograd
http://www.sahovski.com
Price £ 20.50
Chess Informant 95 printed boek +
CD is only £ 27.50
All games of the Informator are safely packed in this
eye-catching standalone program Chess Informant Expert Lite.
With this program you can do nearly everything what other professional
database programs offer us as searching clipboard, chess engines, pgn
files,etc.
The program works very smoothly and you can access the Informator games
in a outstanding way.
For example the survey from Paunovic opens in a smoothly way and it is
fun to play throw all his opening files.
The same with the above mentioned rook endgame from Timman.
As for example open the section studies, click on the diagram and
suddenly you are doing self tests! And if you ask me it is even better
than any printed book!
Conclusion: More than a
replacement!
