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.
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
This interactive video course of over 8 hours, provides an in-depth exploration of the Pirc Defence, a favoured opening for people looking to play for the win with the black pieces.
€49.90
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games, and another database of games by the author, of which many were unpublished.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:
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.
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)
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.
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.
Trompowsky Powerbook 2025 is based on 53,000 computer games from the engine room of playchess.com as well as 49,000 games from Mega and correspondence chess.
Trompowsky Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 8727 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 316 are annotated.
2025 European Championship with a German double victory and analyses by Bluebaum, Svane, Rodshtein, Yuffa, Navara and many more. Opening videos by Engel, King and Marin. Training sections “The Fortress”, “The Trap” and “Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" etc.
In this dynamic and practical video course, IM Andrew Martin arms you with powerful antidotes to White’s most annoying sidelines.
€34.90
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