ChessBase Reviews

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CDs, DVDs, Software Part 18

The first two CDs from ChessBase in this issue cover general training themes.

Intensive Course Tactics 2 By George Renko

The first of these is the latest CD from George Renko and it is not a lightweight work. There are almost 3000 training positions and over 6300 training questions. The theme of the CD is Forced Variations. Such variations are known to be an important part of combinations.

After the initial introduction, there are six databases covering the themes: mate, mate or material, material, perpetual check, stalemate and special cases. These databases have between 26 and 64 examples and explain, still without training questions, important motifs. The number of such motifs is limited which makes it easier to learn them.

Once you can recognise them, your scope on the board should be improved. System requirements are Pentium 166, 32 MB RAM, Windows 98, ME, 2000, or XP. ChessBase Reader included!

Squares Strategy 1 By Alexander Bangiev

The second of these CDs is from another highly respected author, Alexander Bangiev. ChessBase’s introduction to the CD says:

"The Bangiev way of thinking is a strategy based on squares. This means that before every move, the piece set-up is checked out against quite specific pre-defined criteria. The method does not develop your memory, but rather your thought processes: you learn to understand the logic of the game by means of a few rules! In each phase of the game, you have to ask yourself the same restricted number of questions and then answer them. Once you have grasped the principle you can always find the best move yourself."

In this respect, it is clear that the aim of the CD is to develop in players the ability to develop a thinking process whereby one can logically work out the best moves in any given position.

With so much emphasis given these days on learning long lines in standard openings, I think that many players would benefit from this approach. It certainly has the potential to make your games more rewarding if you can work out for yourself why a particular move may be good or bad. System requirements are Pentium 166,32 MB RAM, Windows 98, ME, 2000, or XP. ChessBase Reader included!

Queen’s Gambit Orthodox Defence By Thomas Henrichs

The final new CD in this issue is a traditional openings CD and these are always useful for correspondence players.

This is the first published work by IM Thomas Henrichs and covers ECO codes D31, D35 and D36, involving early exchanges on d5 (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.Nf3 c6 6.cxd5) where White avoids the Cambridge Springs Variation.

The CD contains over 31,000 games of which about 800 are annotated. 155 of these are annotated by the author. The main database begins with 16 text files where the author introduces the reader to the opening and covers the themes: Minority Attack, Attack in the Centre, Castling on Opposite Sides and Setting up an Outpost with Ne5 and f2-f4. Variations are also indexed in the text files and this gives easy access to the annotated games.

There is also an excellent training database with about 100 questions to test your skill and knowledge of the opening. I sometimes find it useful to look through these training questions first to get an idea which areas I might want to concentrate on in the main lessons.

System requirements are Pentium 166,32 MB RAM, Windows 98, ME, 2000, or XP. ChessBase Reader included!

By the time you receive this Magazine ChessBase 9 will have been released as it is coming out on the 8th of October 2004. I will cover it in the next issue. New in ChessBase 9.0: new database browser, hyperthreading support, integrated player index, tournament index, source index, annotator index and team Index, new opening key layout, automatic opening reference, new HEUMAS (Heuristic Move Assistant), game history, fast real 3D, board supported, threat animation, improved search, Chess Media System (teaching videos with synchronized chess boards) integrated, improved correspondence chess features and much, much more...