6/11/2012 – Openings are king again this month's Chess Cafe reviews, with two trainers on openings, and one middlegame strategy trainer on diagonals and files. The first is Nigel Davies' Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack which, according to reviewer Steven Dowd is "for any player who wants to try an opening where plans and ideas trump memorized lines." He calls it 'a phenomenal trainer'.
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Looking for a realistic way to play for a win with Black against 1.e4 without taking unnecessary risks? The Taimanov Sicilian is a reliable system, and hence one of the best options out there!
€49.90
Andrew
Martin: The Open Ruy Lopez
Review by Steven B. Dowd
Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack (DVD) by Nigel Davies, ChessBase, Playing
time: 4 hours 40 min. $30.95 (ChessCafe Price: $24.95)
Whenever you see the name Nigel Davies attached to a chess product these days,
you can expect a high level of quality on all fronts. In the case of a trainer
that means objective, "just deep enough" analysis; an emphasis on
ideas, and a good presentation style. Every Davies trainer I have reviewed has
met these standards, and this is no exception.
Davies calls the line 1.Nf3, followed by 2.b3, the Nimzowitsch Attack; and
1.b3 the Larsen Opening. He notes that the opening complex has been "rather
neglected by the theoreticians." I would believe that is because it is
the type of opening that is hard to pin down in terms of "lines,"
but it is well-used by players who want to innovate. Larsen himself called it,
as I remember from the pages of his column in Chess Life in the 1970s,
the "Baby Orang-Utan."
This is an opening that is used both by attacking players (Ljubojevic, Planinc,
Minasian, and Fischer) and positional players (Petrosian, Taimanov, and Bagirov),
and it is a fun opening to play.
Davies shows the pluses and minuses for both sides here. It is not one of those
"snake-oil" trainers where the presenter does his best to convince
you that the opening is great by showing only victories for one side. I've always
believed that the best approach for Black, if he wants to win, is to adopt the
classic approach of occupying the center with pawns on the dark squares. However,
after viewing Davies' commentary, this sort of approach, which does nothing
to contest White's dark-square control, must be wrong:
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1.e4
1,184,215
54%
2421
---
1.d4
958,932
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
286,327
56%
2441
---
1.c4
184,722
56%
2443
---
1.g3
19,884
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,598
54%
2428
---
1.f4
5,953
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,906
50%
2384
---
1.b4
1,790
48%
2378
---
1.a3
1,250
54%
2406
---
1.e3
1,081
49%
2409
---
1.d3
969
50%
2378
---
1.g4
670
46%
2361
---
1.h4
466
54%
2382
---
1.c3
439
51%
2425
---
1.h3
289
56%
2420
---
1.a4
118
60%
2461
---
1.f3
100
47%
2427
---
1.Nh3
92
67%
2511
---
1.Na3
47
62%
2476
---
Please, wait...
1.Nf3d52.b3Nf63.Bb2Bf54.e3Nbd75.c4e66.Nc3The most active set-up according to Davies.
White will exchange on d5 at some point. If the recapture is with e-pawn, then
White has a central pawn majority and a possible minority attack on the c-file,
as occurs in the game. If he recaptures with the c-pawn, White can be first
to use the open c-file.c67.Be2Bd68.0-0Qe7Probably not the best move,
but we already have a position that is not so easy for Black to play. To diverge
from GM Davies' analysis, this reminds me very much of a New York system against
the Reti (for Gary Lane's excellent overview of this system see his January
2005 column), but the slight differences in position mean it just won't work
as well.If Black plays8...0-0here, and then9.cxd5cxd5we have
a motif that occurs often:10.Nb5and ifBb8then11.Ba3Re812.Nd6and the bishop-pair is lost.But if8...Be7then a knight to the rim9.Nh4!and the bishop-pair is again lost. What appears to be an innocuous
position is not.We can rewind back to move eight8...h69.cxd5and
allow Black to play the other recaptureexd5but then10.d3!to blunt
Black's bishop on f5 and to play for a later e4, taking advantage of his central
pawn-majority. A minority attack with a3 and b4 is also possible in conjunction
with this.9.cxd5exd5If9...cxd5we have a continuation similar to
the above10.Nb5!Bb8and now11.Ba3is even more unpleasant, as it
hits the black queen and gives White an almost winning advantage.10.Rc1Ne511.Nd4Bd7Can you see why11...Bg6is bad? Again12.d3already
threatens f4 and f5, winning the bishop. But this necessary passive retreat
allowed Nimzowitsch to win the bishop-pair and carry off an instructive minority
attack.12.Qc2Ng613.Nf5Bxf514.Qxf5Ba315.Qc2Bxb216.Qxb20-017.Na4Rfe818.Qd4Qe519.Qxe5Rxe520.Nc5Re721.b4a622.a4Ne423.Nb3Nd624.Ra1Rae825.Rfc1Ne526.b5axb527.axb5Nxb528.Bxb5cxb529.Rc5Rd730.Rxb5Nc631.Nc5Rc732.Nxb7Rb833.Nd6Rd834.Nf5g635.Ng3Ne736.d4Rdc837.Nf1Rc238.g4R8c739.Rb8+Kg740.Raa8g541.Ng3Kf642.Nh5+Ke643.Ng7+Kd744.Rd8+Kc645.Ne8Rb746.Rd6+Kb547.Rf6Rb648.Rxf7Ng649.Ra1Rbc650.Rb1+Kc451.Rxh7Nh452.Rc7Rxc753.Nxc7Nf3+54.Kg2Nd255.Rd1Ne456.Rf1Nd257.Ne6Nxf158.Kxf1Kd359.Nxg5Rc1+60.Kg2Ke261.Nh3Kd362.Kf31–0
And those are just a few ideas he presents with that very instructive game.
Here is one of his own, a victory for the black side, where White tries to play
hyper-aggressively. He provides extensive analysis of alternate lines here for
White and Black. I give only brief annotations directly related to the game.
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Position not in LiveBook
Please, wait...
1.Nf3Nf62.b3d53.Bb2c64.e3Bg45.h3Bxf36.Qxf3Nbd77.g4Better is probably7.g3according to Davies.7...e58.g5Ne49.h4Bb4In retrospect,9...Bd6might be better, but at the time Davies
preferred this idea.10.Bh3Now the protection of the e5-pawn is a problem.Qe710...0-0would have been his preference, but then11.Qf5!is hard
to answer. So he recalls his "King's Gambit fare" from his youth and sacrifices
a central pawn - a courageous decision, with the idea of opening up the position
with ... f6.11.Bxd7+Qxd712.Bxe50-013.a3Ba514.b4Bc715.Bxc7Qxc716.Qf4 A dubious decision, according to Davies, as the endgame is better
for him, even though he is temporarily a pawn down. It certainly shows that
just any queen exchange when a pawn up won't do, you have to plan those carefully.
Black keeps piling on the pressure, even after winning back his pawn. Please
play this one out to the helpless and hopeless end, the final position is worth
a look.Qxf417.exf4Rae818.Kf1f619.d3Nd620.Nc3fxg521.fxg5Nf522.Kg2Nd423.Rac1Rf424.Kf1Ref825.Nd1Nf526.Rh3Nxh427.c4d428.Rc2Nf329.Re2Rg430.Rh1Rf531.g6Rxg632.Nb2Kf733.c5Rfg534.Rc2Re635.Re2Rh60–1
And that is just a smattering of the rich fare Davies provides. For any player
who has reached the level where they have a basic positional understanding,
and wants to try an opening where plans and ideas trump memorized lines, this
is a phenomenal trainer.
My assessment of this product: Excellent (six out of six
stars)
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Focus on the Sicilian: Opening videos on the Najdorf Variation with 6.h3 e5 7.Nb3 (Luis Engel) and the Taimanov Variation with 7.Qf3 (Nico Zwirs). ‘Lucky bag’ with 38 analyses by Anish Giri, Surya Ganguly, Abhijeet Gupta, Yannick Pelletier and many more.
Throughout the video course, Sasikran shows various examples from his career to explain sacrifices for initiative, an attack, a better pawn structure and much more.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
The Trompowsky is especially suited for faster time controls as you don‘t have to memorise endless lines of theory, and you push your opponent out of their comfort zone after your second move.
€49.90
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