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CDs, DVDs, Software Part 43

Fit for the French by Viktor Bologan

On this DVD Viktor Bologan presents his repertoire against the French Defence. The only way to combat this opening is to choose an aggressive plan and according to Bologan the best such plan starts with 3.Nc3.

The Moldovan grandmaster has had this continuation in his armoury for 20 years, since he was initiated into the secrets of this move by the top trainer Zigurds Lanka, and he has been extremely successful with it.

And he goes on to recommend only the main lines and once again his choice falls on the most aggressive ones, such as, for example, Qg4 in the Winawer lines. Video running time: 5hrs 20 min.

Viktor Bologan is a pupil of the top Moldovan trainer Vecheslav Chebanenko. For many years Bologan has been the number 1 in Moldova and has represented his country in nine chess Olympiads.

His greatest successes were in 2003, when he first of all won the Aeroflot Open and then the famous Dortmund Tournament, ahead of Kramnik and Anand.

The Moldovan has extensive experience as a trainer and has also published his first books.

The Marshall Attack by Jan Gustafsson

The Marshall Attack is one of the most dynamic replies Black has at his disposal against 1.e4. At the cost of a pawn, Black takes over the initiative from the get - go and goes after the white king.

Wrongly considered to be mainly a drawing weapon by some, this DVD offers many new ideas for Black, showing how to keep the queens on the board and to play for a win in almost all cases.

Unfortunately White is not obliged to enter the Marshall.

This is part 1 of a two-part series that will provide the viewer with a complete repertoire against 1.e4.

The disk deals with all white options after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0.

In 17 chapters with a total runtime of three hours and 45 minutes, all the subtleties of the Marshall and Anti-Marshall will be revealed. Video running time: 3 h 45m.

Corr Database 2011 by ChessBase

Corr Database 2011 is an extensive collection of correspondence games, featuring classical correspondence games played by mail as well as email games.

This is a must for all serious Correspondence Chess players. The games and annotations are top notch and will help improve your grade to no end.

Bamboozle Your Opponents With 1.g3 by Nigel Davies

Opening a game with 1.g3 appears rather quiet and unpretentious yet many of the greatest players in history have chosen to play this way. Bent Larsen, Victor Korchnoi, Leonid Stein and Pal Benko have all wielded this move with considerable success whilst in more recent times Mikhail Gurevich has been using it highly effectively.

The idea behind this opening is to leave White with the greatest possible flexibility for his pieces and pawns and indeed the game can transpose into openings as diverse as the Closed Sicilian, the King’s Indian Defence and the Catalan Opening. Yet White can also choose to tread new ground by adopting formations such as a reversed Leningrad Dutch, reversed Alekhine’s Defence or even a reversed Pirc or Modern Defence.

All of these formations contain far more poison with White’s extra tempo. On this DVD Davies explains key concepts and ideas behind these unique approaches, whilst also showing how White can transpose into more regular openings if he show chooses. This can provide many opportunities for throwing the opponent on his own resources as well as wrong footing him into something he does not know. Video running time: 4 hours.

Nigel Davies has been an International Grandmaster since 1993 and is a former British Open Quickplay and U21 Champion. Besides his playing accomplishments he is an experienced chess coach with an ability to explain chess ideas players of any level. He is an acknowledged expert on 1.g3 having played it on numerous occasions in his own games.

Chess Endgames 6 by Karsten Mueller

Karsten Mueller’s endgame course has already taken its place amongst the modern classics in the study of the endgame. Whereas the first 4 DVDs of his series were systematically organised according to the distribution of material, Volume 6 continues the explanation of general endgame principles begun in Volume 5. The principles dealt with in this DVD are domination and prophylaxis, don’t be over-hasty, zugzwang and schematic thinking.

Domination is the goal of methods involving restraint and restriction. Gradually keep on forcing your opponent on to the back foot – that is often the simplest route to victory. Strategies for the restraint of the individual pieces are demonstrated, with a lot of emphasis on keeping knights on a short leash.

Prophylaxis is an individual and extremely important way of thinking. You spot your opponent’s ideas and plans early on, so that you can take counter-measures in good time. The principle "don’t be over-hasty" is one that has to be observed not only in the ending. Let Karsten Mueller show you the conditions under which you should take heed of it and specifically how you should employ it.

Zugzwang, on the other hand, is a typical endgame phenomenon. Important techniques such as triangulation and the battle for reserve tempi are dealt with in detail. Schematic thinking is one of the few areas in which the human being is still superior to the computer.

But be careful! No amount of schematic thinking can ever replace concrete calculation, and every rule of thumb has its exceptions. This DVD will help you learn what you must watch out for. Video running time: 5 hours.

Sicilian Najdorf 6.Bg5 by Alexej Shirov

There are few opening systems which have been undergoing such a fast and furious renaissance as the 6.Bg5 Variation of the Najdorf System. Inspired by Radjabov’s victories over Anand and Karjakin in 2006, a great number of games have been played since then, meaning that the theory has developed enormously.

But even before then it stretched to such distant horizons that makes it all the more important to have someone who can explain the ideas which underlie the variations. That is exactly what Alexei Shirov does on his DVD.

His explanations are all the more valuable because they are delivered by a player who himself has been responsible for developing the theory of the Najdorf. The author also makes use of games played by others in lines where he himself has not played any. Video running time: more than 5 hours.

Alexej Shirov was born in Riga just like world champion Mihail Tal, and also his playing style reminds many chess fans of the young Tal. In the beginning of the 90ies, a comet-like rise brought the young Latvian to the world top within the shortest of time.

Being no older than 22 years, he already had an Elo rating of nearly 2750 and belonged to the absolute elite. Since then Shirov has been one of the best players in the world, delighting all chess fans with original and amazing ideas on the board.

The Slav and Semi-Slav Revisited by Alexej Shirov

The Slav and Semi-Slav revisited For Shirov the Slav and the Semi-Slav form one huge and common opening. Of course it is a mighty opening complex and the DVD cannot give a complete picture of it, but in the areas he chooses to highlight our author is an absolute expert and capable of giving the deepest possible insights into the secrets of this extremely solid opening.

First, Shirov deals with the pure Slav. A lot of his time is spent on the modern treatment of it with 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 e6, which Kramnik brought back into fashion and which since then has been employed by several world class players.

In the second part the author turns to the Semi- Slav. In his intro he explains the latest discoveries in the Shirov/Shabalov Attack with 7.g4.

Then come some games with a quiet setup for White (6.Qc2 or 6.Bd3), before at the close he presents three games in the Botvinnik System, a setup which obviously suits Shirov since in his great success in Sofia 2009 he was able to stand fast against Carlsen and Topalov with it. Video running time: 8 hours.

O'Kelly Sicilian by Andrew Martin

The variation 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 a6!? does not have an especially good reputation in the theory books. Competitive players can use this unjustified assessment to their advantage because the variation is entirely playable, as International Master Andrew Martin shows on this new Chessbase DVD.

With careful selection of variations, Black players can make the O’Kelly work and work well. In fact the O’Kelly was first played by Savielly Tartakower, but it was the repeated adoption of 2...a6 by O’Kelly de Galway after World War Two that gave the variation its name.

Club players will enjoy adding the O’Kelly to their repertoire and many opponents will be unfamiliar with the unusual problems that Black is posing. Video running time: 4 hours.

International Master Andrew Martin is 52 years old. He is a Senior FIDE Trainer and Manager of Coaching for the English Chess Federation. This is his 19th DVD for Chessbase.

ChessBase 11 by ChessBase

In the next issue of the Magazine I hope to be able to provide you with information on the Database program Chessbase 11. The last variation made great strides in video instruction for players so I am looking forward to even greater improvements.

In my opinion I have not yet found a greater program from which Correspondence Chess Players can research their games.

From past experience the improvements are so varied that it may take me a few Magazines to highlight the vast majority of them.