1/17/2017 – The Berlin Defence gives White a hard nut to crack – after 5.d4 White has trouble proving any advantage. Top Latvian GM Alexei Shirov proposes a different approach: play 5.Re1 and you will get a symmetrical position that is not boring at all. With a whole range of grandmaster games Shirov shows that White can indeed develop pressure and seize the initiative, and that the position is full of subtleties. His latest DVD gives you a first-class weapon against the Berlin and helps you to be at least one step ahead of your opponent.
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Alexei Shirov: How to crack the Berlin Wall with 5.Re1
The Berlin Defence which arises after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 gives White a hard nut to crack, and the solidity of the line led to its nickname “Berlin Wall”. The mainline 5.d4 in particular leads to positions in which White has had trouble to prove any advantage.
On this DVD top Latvian GM Alexei Shirov proposes a different approach. He recommends to play 5.Re1 which leads to a symmetrical position that, according to the author, is not boring at all. With a whole range of grandmaster games Shirov shows that White can indeed develop pressure and seize the initiative, and that the position is full of subtleties.
Other players also noted the move 5.Re1 as an option against the Berlin and it is no coincidence that this line was played in the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin in New York 2016.
On this DVD you get an insight into how top grandmasters and chess professionals do opening research, and how theory continually develops in modern tournament chess. Of course you also get a first-class weapon against the Berlin which helps you to be at least one step ahead of your opponent.
Suitable for advanced club and tournament players.
Video running time: 4 h 30 min (English)
With interactive training including videofeedback
EXTRA: Database with 50 model games
Including ChessBase Reader
Price: €29.90; €25.13 without VAT (for customers outside the EU); $27.14 (without VAT)
15-minute introduction to Alexei Shirov's new DVD on cracking the Berlin Wall
Alexei Shirov
Alexei 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 1990s a comet-like rise brought the young Latvian to the world top within the shortest time. At the age of 22 he already had reached an Elo rating of nearly 2750 and belonged to the absolute world 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.
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The Nimzo-Indian has stood the test of time for over a century: Still a top choice for elite players today, from Magnus Carlsen to Praggnanandhaa, it remains one of Black's most reliable ways to fight for real chances against 1.d4 2.c4 3.Nc3.
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4!? is an opening idea well worth considering. Black immediately threatens to double the pawns on c3 in the style of the Trompowski or Sicilian Grand Prix attack.
Italian Game Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains 8571 top class games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 479 are annotated.
Videos: Nico Zwirs discusses the Sicilian with 2…e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qe3 Nf6 6.Nc3. Mihail Marin examines Sindarov’s 6.Ne5 in the Queen’s Pawn Defence. Plus the ‘Lucky bag’ featuring 41 analyses by Berg, Ftacnik, Gupta and many others.
If you're looking for a dynamic alternative to the Slav, Queen's Gambit Declined, or other mainstream systems, the Chigorin Defence offers exactly what modern tournament players need.
€34.90
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Alexei Shirov: How to crack the Berlin Wall with 5.Re1
