Misha Tal once confessed, he didn’t relish playing matches, seeing the same opponent day after day. But he loved the hurly-burly of the tournament hall and taking on a new opponent every round! Just for this reason he would have enjoyed the recently concluded European Championship at Plovdiv, though I don’t know how he would have managed with rules like “no smoking”.
This issue of ChessBase magazine devotes considerable space to the Plovdiv marathon, with 348 players and 11 rounds, offering 1877 games.
It was a dramatic contest with changing fortunes, several leading grandmasters suffering unexpected defeats in the hands of younger players.
Eventually the tournament was won by Dmitry Jakovenko, who beat the leader Fressinet in the last round to take the trophy with 8.5/11.The decisive encounter is annotated by Jakovenko himself in this issue.
There are also games from recent tournaments like Bundesliga 2011-2012 and Russian Team Championship. Curiously, it’s a different event that receives more attention here: the Zürich Chess Challenge, a friendly match between Kramnik and Aronian.
Most of the games were hard-fought and the match ended with honours even (3:3). In this issue they are annotated by several hands, with Kramnik himself analyzing his victory against his talented opponent. However, there is one game that appears to have escaped the attention of annotators. It was played in rather exceptional circumstances. The fourth game had ended in a draw before the prescribed minimum of 30 moves or three hours. So according to match rules a rapid game had to be played (not counted in the final score).
An imaginative performance by Aronian. But what went wrong with Kramnik? Insufficient attention to his b3- bishop proved to be his undoing. He could have taken better care of the piece with 13.Bd5!? (Shipov’s idea) or 15.Rab1 (Mikhalevski’s suggestion). In the middle game also he had his chances with 24.Ne4! and again with 26.Ne5! Once he missed them, it was Aronian all the way.
This brings me to the other sections of the Magazine. There are 11 videos in this issue. Among them I would single out Shirov’s presentation on the French Winawer 7.Qg4 Qc7 Variation and the Sicilian Rossolimo (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5). Alexie knows his stuff, having lit fire on both sides of the board!
Going by Shirov’s analysis, it appears that 8.Bd3 sets quite a few problems for Black in this variation (7.Qg4 Qc7) But the merits of other option 7…cxd4 still remain an open question, especially after 8.Bd3. Nevertheless, it’s a treat to listen to Shirov.
There are 13 detailed opening surveys on CBM 148, ranging from the Caro-Kann to the King’s Indian. For reasons of space I have not done them justice here. Apart from these surveys, there are also exercises in opening traps, middle game tactics and endgame technique. Dr. Karsten Müller is the master of ceremonies for the latter.
GM Karsten Müller (right), seen above with GM Rainer Knaak, editor
of ChessBase Magazine
Müller is rightly regarded as one of the greatest experts on the final phase of the game. Here is a pearl from his selection of endgame positions.
Overall, this DVD has 2954 games of which 95 are deeply annotated.
Commmended for the serious player.
P.S.: The European Championship was not without its share of controversy:
