ChessBase DVDs – The Battleground of Ideas

by ChessBase
1/7/2012 – This month in Chess Cafe Steven B. Dowd is reviewing opening, middlegame, and endgame DVDs by ChessBase, starting with Sergei Tiviakov's Scandinavian. "This is one of those rare trainers that actually gives insight into the grandmaster's lab" he writes, adding that for counter-punchers who like activity as Black the opening is perfect and the six-star DVD too good to pass up.

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Tiviakov's Scandinavian

By Steven B. Dowd

Scandinavian with 3...Qd6 (DVD), Sergei Tiviakov, ChessBase, Playing Time: 4 hours 16 minutes (two databases) $34.95 (ChessCafe Price: $28.95)

This trainer is interesting, idea-packed, and thorough. The package insert boldly states that this system may well be called the Tiviakov system, and that may well be true – after all, the Benko Gambit was, once upon a time, called the Benoni Countergambit. The DVD contains a database of Scandinavian games, and another database of games by the author, of which many were unpublished. ChessBase calls this a bit of "added sweetener," but I wish all DVDs offered something of this sort. It is a great way to plunge into study – let a grandmaster tell you what he thinks of an opening, and then go study games by him and others to see whether the opening really meets your needs.

I do suppose it is an added sweetener in that the DVD is so well done. The presenter speaks English with an accent, but with great command, and is a good presenter to boot. There are none of the irritating editorial flubs you too often find on these trainers – none of the others reviewed here will pass muster on that account, unfortunately – and the author captivates you from the start and doesn't let up until the end.

There are fourteen chapters here. The first three cover what to do if White doesn't play 3.Nc3. This part is a bit short, but this is understandable, given the content. You may need a supplemental text on the Scandinavian if you intend playing this opening.

It was a game Tiviakov played as white in 2005 that opened his eyes to the potential of this system:

Tiviakov,Sergei (2678) - Almeida,Omar (2462) [B01]
Open Internacional del Solsones, 2005
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 a6 6.g3 Bg4 7.h3 Bh5 8.Bg2 Nc6 9.0-0 0-0-0 10.Bf4 Qb4 11.d5 e6 12.a3 ½-½

You don't need to be a grandmaster or to fire up your engine to see that White is in a terrible way after only twelve moves – in fact, this position is objectively already lost. Black can happily ignore Marshall's old admonition to never grab the b2-pawn with the queen and sail to victory. Tiviakov admits he was lucky that his opponent accepted the draw here.

Interestingly, though, Black does not usually play this aggressively in this system. Often you get something similar to a Caro-Kann (Black plays ...c6), sometimes with a fianchettoed king's bishop, and waits for the counter-punch. If White gets too aggressive, some of the positions resemble weaker versions of a Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, with its concomitant positional weaknesses. But Black's position is always solid and never overextended.

My favorite game was the following:

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1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.g3 Bg4 7.Bg2 e6 8.0-0 Be7 9.Bf4 Qd8 10.h3 Bh5 11.g4 Bg6 12.Ne5 Nfd7 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.Ne4 Nf6 15.Nc5 The knight appears to be well-outposted, and only a patzer would try to drive it away with 15...b6?, correct? b6‼ The exclamation points are all mine, although Tiviakov admits he was quite proud of this move, as it showed a deep insight into the position. That's not bragging, it is absolutely correct. I have always enjoyed GM innovations that look like what Tarrasch used to call Stumperzug (a duffer's move); the text gives up the c6-pawn, and with check, no less. 16.Bxb8 Rxb8 17.Bxc6+ Kf8 18.Na6 Rc8 The point of the sacrifice is now clear. Not only has White given up an active bishop, h3 is now hanging, and if White wants to keep this pawn, he has to worsen the position of his knight to a much weaker "outpost" on a6 - and again, as the great Tarrasch noted (English transliteration), "Knight on the rim? - Future is dim!" 19.Bg2 Nd5 The idea of course is to outpost his knight on f4, a formidable square from which to commence operations all over the board. 20.c3 Nf4 21.Qf3 Bd6 22.Rfe1 g5 The idea is not only to consolidate the knight's position, but to consider doubling the rooks after ...g6. But he also had to consider that he needs to sacrifice a second pawn here. But he still has no worries. 23.Re3 g6 24.Qb7 Kg7 25.Qxa7 Re8 Here Black gives up the idea of doubling rooks to play on both sides of the board. 26.Qb7 Re7 27.Qe4 Ra7 28.Nb4 Bxb4 29.cxb4 Rc4 30.Ra3 Rac7 With his terrible pawns and awkward position, despite being two pawns up, White is practically lost here. The rest of the game follows without comment. 31.Rc3 Kh7 32.Rxc4 Rxc4 33.Rd1 Rxb4 34.b3 Qc7 35.Bf1 Nd5 36.Qe1 b5 37.Qd2 Qe7 38.Re1 Qa7 39.Rd1 Qe7 40.Bg2 Nf4 41.Kf1 e5 42.Qe3 Qa7 43.dxe5 Qxa2 44.Bd5 Qc2 45.Qd2 Qxd2 46.Rxd2 Kg7 47.f3 Kf8 48.Kf2 Nxh3+ 49.Ke3 Nf4 50.Kf2 Ke7 51.Rd1 Nxd5 52.Rxd5 Rxb3 53.Rd6 b4 54.Rb6 Rb1 55.Ke3 b3 56.Kf2 b2 57.Kg2 Kd7 58.Kh2 Kc7 59.Rb3 Kc6 60.Kg2 Kd5 61.Rb5+ Ke6 62.Kh2 Rf1 63.Rxb2 Rxf3 64.Kg2 Rf4 65.Kg3 Kxe5 66.Rb5+ Kf6 67.Rb6+ Kg7 68.Rb7 Rd4 69.Ra7 Rd3+ 70.Kg2 Rc3 71.Kf2 Rc4 72.Kf3 Rf4+ 73.Kg3 Kh6 74.Ra8 f5 75.gxf5 gxf5 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Macieja,B2600Tiviakov,S26860–12008B01Remco Heite3

This is one of those rare trainers that actually gives insight into the grandmaster's lab, and how he formulates ideas in the opening. If you are a patient counter-puncher who likes activity as black, in an opening your opponents probably won't know very well, you need to consider this DVD and opening. It is too good to pass up.

My assessment of this product: Excellent (six out of six stars)

Sampler from Sergei Tiviakov – Scandinavian


Sample lecture: Sergey Tiviakov - Scandinavian with 3...Qd6

Sergei Tiviakov, born in 1973 in Krasnodar (Soviet Union), was a member of the Smyslov school and gained the titles of World Youth Champion at the U16 and U18 levels. In the PCA World Championships he reached the Candidates' Matches in 1994; in the same year he represented Russia in the Chess Olympiads. Although he has considered himself a professional chess player since 1989, Tiviakov also finished a degree in agricultural economics. Since 1997 Tiviakov has been living in Groningen and has become a naturalised citizen of the Netherlands. With his new home country he won the title in the European Teams Championships in both 2001 and 2005, and was victorious in the championship of the Netherlands in 2006 and 2007. Tiviakov celebrated his biggest success in 2008, when he won the Individual European Championship.


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