3/13/2012 – Do you know the option "Theoretical weight" in our database program? Steven Dowd shows theory fans how to use just a few clicks to scour games from recent tournaments for TNs. "Based on games I knew had important TNs, I found that the database handled it with great accuracy for the most part," he writes, giving the program 6/6 stars in his latest Chess Cafe review.
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Too Much Chess, Even for Me!
First up this month is more on my latest favorite toy: ChessBase 11. Then a
look at the latest ChessBase Magazine, and finally two trainers: one
on converting a win and another on the Nimzo-Indian. Normally I watch each trainer
at least three times before writing my review; however, there was so much material
on ChessBase Magazine #146, I had to soften that approach. It was too
much chess (at least in a short time period!) even for a long-time chess nut
like me!
To begin I will note a frustrating bug. When copying games from one database
to another, if you copy the games and then close the source database before
pasting them into the target database, the games will not copy. The source database
has to stay open. I understand this bug has already been reported to ChessBase
and I hope it is being worked on.
One of the newest features of CB11 is one that theory fans will love; an option
called theoretical weight, in which TNs are classified by CB11. Based on games
I knew had important TNs, I found that the database handled it with great accuracy
for the most part. In some cases you will have to know (or keep playing through
the database) to find the novelty. You can do this in an opening by clicking
on "Reference." For a theoretical novelty in an opening I knew well,
I found that the game Rhine-Sprenkle, Midwest Masters 1981, is still the top
theoretical novelty in the Nimzowitsch Sicilian. That is the famous game from
the Informant and Nunn's Beating the Sicilian; it is also
Game #218 in 1000TN!!. I
used the database of games in the Tiviakov trainer (reviewed below) and found
some interesting ideas for use in my own games as well.
Let's look at the games from the recently completed Bunratty Masters as an
example:
At the very right is the column for theoretical weight; you can see the various
dots with different shading and sizes. The larger and darker the dot, the greater
the theoretical weight. When I click on that column, the games are arranged
by their theoretical importance:
And you can see, there were not many theoretical innovations (the dots only
get progressively lighter and smaller after the few examples above). By going
through the Adams-Short game, and keeping the "Reference" window open,
you will find that the TN was White's 9.bxa5:
Previously 9.b5 was preferred (which still looks better to me). My thought
is that 9.bxa5 was probably a psychological ploy, but then again, many TNs are.
However, my purpose here is to show the "theory mavens" how to scour
games from recent tournaments for TNs. Anyone who follows modern theory closely
will find this a very useful tool, and even those of us who play more offbeat
openings will find it useful in identifying games with novelties.
My assessment of this product: Excellent (six out of six
stars)
Nick Murphy shows you how to handle ChessBase 11 with ease
How to learn the functionality without looking into the manual? Nick Murphy
explains how to use the new interface. Just click on the video image to start
listening.
How do you play the Queen's Gambit Accepted? Does White have promising variations or can Black construct a water-tight repertoire? The Powerbook provides the answers based on 300 000 games, most of them played by engines.
The Queen's Gambit Accepted Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 11827 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 240 are annotated.
Rossolimo-Moscow Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 10950 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 612 are annotated.
The greater part of the material on which the Rossolimo/Moscow Powerbook 2025 is based comes from the engine room of playchess.com: 263.000 games. This imposing amount is supplemented by some 50 000 games from Mega and from Correspondence Chess.
€9.90
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