
Saturday, 11 August 2012
Chess Reviews 198: ChessBase Magazine #149
The latest issue of ChessBase Magazine dives straight into the recent Anand
vs. Gelfand World Championship match.
Rainer Knaak's measured editorial (always worth reading) doesn't dodge the
controversial aspects of the match. Flagging up the standard criticisms – ''Too
many draws, games not played out to a finish, too little entertainment'' – he
opines ''Most of the accusations are unjustified''. Knaak traces some of the
problems back to the last Candidates event, with the reliance rapid chess mini-matches
foreshadowing the Moscow match. While noting that such a safety first stance
was definitely not in evidence at the Tal Memorial tournament (given excellent
coverage in this issue), he concludes that future matches may benefit from playing
the rapid games first; ''then there is always someone who will have to play
for the win''.
It's an interesting idea but one which is unlikely to happen. A similar idea
has been mooted in the past for the world of football; play the penalty shoot-out
first and the real match should be more exciting. The Moscow match was obviously
not the most exciting we have seen, but where does the blame lie and what is
the best solution? Perhaps the day of big matches is coming to an end and tournaments
really are the best way to decide champions.
The lack of fireworks in the match shouldn't detract from its importance. The
coverage provided by the magazine is superb and varied in tone and content.
For example, Karsten Mueller is on hand to dissect some interesting endgame
moments. Here's a simple example from one the tie-break games.
Anand,Viswanathan (2791) - Gelfand,Boris (2727) [B30]
World Chess CH #2/4 Moscow (1.2), 30.05.2012
Gelfand's last move, 71 ...Rf7-f5, was a bad one. Mueller
demonstrates how Anand was able to very quickly transpose into a winning endgame
with 72 Ne6+ Kc8 73 Nd4 Rf8 74 Nxf3 Rxf3 75 Kb6 Rb3 76 Rg8+ Kd7 77 Rb8
1-0.
All of the match games are annotated in depth by a variety of commentators,
and Dorian Rogozenco present a very thoughtful summing up of the contest. The
highlight of the magazine is undoubtedly the lengthy interview with Rustam Kasimdzhanov,
conducted by Andre Schulz. As Anand's second (not just in Moscow, but in his
earlier World Championships against Kramnik and Topalov also) Kasimdzhanov is
ideally placed to provide valuable insights into the World Champion's preparation
and play, paying particular attention to the psychological aspects behind the
scenes. Key moments from all of the games are put under the spotlight.
Gelfand,B (2727) - Anand,V (2791) [E54]
WCh 2012 Moscow RUS (9), 23.05.2012
Here's one interesting snippet. Anand has just played 18...Qc7-d6,
provoking 19.c5 (which Gelfand played). Kasimdzhanov's grandmaster
wisdom tells us that Black had a serious positional threat of 19 ...Qb4, leading
to 20 ...Qa4 or 20 ...Qa5, giving White plenty to think about on the queenside,
when he'd rather just play on autopilot with the two bishops. Instead of 19.c5,
the best move for White was apparently 19.a3, just keeping the black queen out
of the position, after which White keeps the tension and maintains his advantage.
There's nearly 90 minutes of material here and it's all good stuff, from the
surprise of seeing Gelfand play the Grunfeld, through the exchange of victories
in games 7 and 8 and on to the agony of the tie-break games. This is the sort
of feature I'd like to see more of in future issues. I always enjoy interviews,
and bringing them to life with ChessBase's video clips makes them even more
interesting.
Despite the amount of disc space used to cover the World Championship match,
the standard ChessBase magazine features are in place too. As ever, ChessBase
magazine it is a top quality product at a very reasonable price.
Read
the original review on the Marsh Towers web site
CBM 149 Opening Surveys
Postny:
English Mikenas System A18
1.c4
Nf6
2.Nc3
e6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 d4 5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 Qf6
7.d4 e5 8.Nf3
exd4 9.Bg5
Qe6+
10.Be2
 |
|
After the developments of recent years the position in the diagram has
crystallised into the critical one for the evaluation of the whole line.
As Evgeny Postny shows, Black probably has nothing to fear here. |
Marin:
King’s Indian Torre Attack A48
1.d4
Nf6
2.Nf3
g6 3.Bg5
Bg7
4.Nbd2
0-0 5.c3 d6 6.e4 Nc6
 |
|
In the
third and concluding part of this series on the King’s Indian Torres
Attack 6...Nc6
is examined. It may put pressure on d4 but it has its disadvantages
too. In particular, White can play 7.Bb5
and then things are not easy for Black. |
Schipkov:
Dutch A88
1.d4
f5 2.c4 Nf6
3.Nf3
g6 4.g3 Bg7
5.Bg2
0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.Nc3
c6 8.b3
 |
|
With
8.b3 (instead of 8.d5 as in the previous issue) White probably cannot
achieve an advantage either. Boris Schipkov shows several lines in which
Black gets satisfactory play, but the best is probably 8...
Qa5. |
Kritz:
Sicilian B35
1.e4
c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Nd7 6.Nf3 a6 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0
8.Bb3 Qa5 9.0-0 d6
 |
|
With the queen move Black forces short castling and the result of this
is quiet positions. White should develop slowly and avoid any exchange
of queens. Black is close to equality, but he still has a few problems
to overcome. |
Karolyi:
Sicilian B90
1.e4
c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Qf3
 |
|
The
unusual queen move conceals a few ideas, which means that an unprepared
opponent can easily get into difficulties. Tibor Karolyi analyses literally
every known continuation. |
Ftacnik:
Sicilian B99
1.e4
c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Nbd7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.0-0-0
Be7 10.g4 b5 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12.g5 Nd7 13.f5 0-0
 |
|
Recently
there has been a clear trend towards 13...0-0 (instead of 13...Bxg5+
or 13...Nc5).
In the critical lines after 14.Rg1
Black seems to be able to prove his point, but that will not be easy
in practical play. |
Langrock:
French C01
1.e4
e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3
Bb4
4.exd5 exd5 5.Bd3
Nc6
6.a3 Bxc3+
7.bxc3
 |
|
White
will not be able to force an opening advantage with this form of the
Exchange French, but Black has to play accurately. However, most players
are now well acquainted with the ins and outs and White has an excellent
score. In the first part 5...Nc6
is examined; the alternatives will follow. |
Kritz:
French C10
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3
Nc6
 |
|
Although
3...Nc6
gets in the way of the natural French move ...c5, it is not at all so
simple for White to achieve an advantage. Kritz does not think much
of the main move 4.Nf3
and suggests 4.e5!. His analyses show that White can achieve his aim
with it. |
Breutigam: Ruy Lopez C96
1.e4
e5 2.Nf3
Nc6
3.Bb5
a6 4.Ba4
Nf6
5.0-0 Be7
6.Re1
b5 7.Bb3
d6 8.h3 0-0 9.c3 Na5
10.Bc2
c5 11.d4 Nd7
 |
|
This
time Martin Breutigam examines the alternatives to the main move 12.Nbd2,
but above all 12.d5 and 12.dxc5. Black also has to fight for equality,
but his problems in doing so should not be too great. |
Grivas:
Queen’s Gambit D15
1.d4
d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3
Nf6
4.Nc3
dxc4 5.e3
 |
|
If
no advantage can be achieved in the main lines of the Slav, one might
as well try 5.e3. The results of Efstratios Grivas’ analysis are encouraging
since White at least always has a little pressure. |
Krasenkow: Semi-Slav/Catalan D30/E04
1.d4
d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3
c6 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2
b5
 |
|
There
are many ways for White to play this gambit variation, according to
whether he plays with or without a4, Ne5,
Nc3,
b3 or e4. For every plan for White Michal Krasenkow has the appropriate
reply, even in the main line 6.Nc3
Nf6
7.Ne5
a6 8.a4 Bb7
9.0-0. |
Kuzmin:
Queen’s Gambit D43
1.d4
d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3
Nf6
4.Nf3
e6 5.Bg5
h6 6.Bh4
dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3
b5 9.Be2
Bb7
10.Qc2
 |
|
The setup
with 10.Qc2
(and 10...Nbd7
11.Rd1)
does set Black a few problems, but so far it has not been played a lot.
So there is not too much theory and according to Alexey Kuzmin White
is promised the initiative in the most important variations. |
Stohl:
Grünfeld Defence D70
1.d4 Nf6
2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5
5.e4 Nb6
6.Nc3
Bg7
7.Be3
 |
|
World Champion Anand played 3.f3 against the Grünfeld Defence and brought
Gelfand to the edge of defeat. As is proved by the analyses of Igor
Stohl, however, Black should be able to hold the position. |