A review
By Padmini Rout
Recently I have been trying to understand myself better. What works and what doesn’t. What are my strengths and my weaknesses. What areas I can improve upon. Can I also understand these things about my opponents? Can I understand players better whose playing style doesn’t match with mine?
Something that has helped me improve my understanding about these topics is the DVD The 4 Player Types standard model by GM Karsten Müller and GM Luis Engel.
The authors give very nice examples, suggestions that have helped me to understand which players to follow to improve on certain areas. According to the authors, chess players can be majorly categorized into Activists, Theorists, Reflectors and Pragmatics, based on the theory suggested by GM Lars Bo Hansen.
Let’s take a sneak peek and see some examples and lessons chosen randomly from the DVD. There is a lot more to each of these groups, which can be found in the DVD.
I consider myself an activist, and it was easier for me to verify the lessons I learnt — but I am not gonna be putting it all out here so as not to make my opponent’s task easier. In the section on activists below, I share one example from my games.
Activists
Activists advance opening theory. The first game is an example from the DVD, the very famous game between Vishy Anand and Levon Aronian. Then I share one of my games — activists sacrifice for the initiative!
| Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qc2 Bb7 11.a3 Rc8 12.Ng5 c5 13.Nxh7 Ng4 14.f4 cxd4 15.exd4 Bc5 16.Be2 Nde5 17.Bxg4 Bxd4+ 18.Kh1 Nxg4 19.Nxf8 f5 20.Ng6 Qf6 21.h3 Qxg6 22.Qe2 Qh5 23.Qd3 Be3 0–1
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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| Aronian,L | 2802 | Anand,V | 2772 | 0–1 | 2013 | D47 | Tata Steel-A 75th | 4 |
| Gupta,A | 2628 | Padmini,R | 2350 | ½–½ | 2022 | | 19th Delhi Open | 2 |
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Select an entry from the list to switch between games
Theorists
Theorists play logically. Here we see Mikhail Botvinnik’s iron logic! From current top players, Anish Giri is an example.
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1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e3 Nc6 7.Bc4 cxd4 8.exd4 Be7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Re1 b6?! 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.Bb5 Bd7 13.Qa4 Nb8 14.Bf4 Bxb5 15.Qxb5 a6 16.Qa4 Bd6 17.Bxd6 Qxd6 18.Rac1 Ra7 19.Qc2 Re7 20.Rxe7 Qxe7 21.Qc7 Qxc7 22.Rxc7 f6 23.Kf1 Rf7 24.Rc8+ Rf8 25.Rc3 g5 26.Ne1 h5 27.h4 Nd7 28.Rc7 Rf7 29.Nf3 g4 30.Ne1 f5 31.Nd3 f4 32.f3 gxf3 33.gxf3 a5 34.a4 Kf8 35.Rc6 Ke7 36.Kf2 Rf5 37.b3 Kd8 38.Ke2 Nb8 39.Rg6 Kc7 40.Ne5 Na6 41.Rg7+ Kc8 42.Nc6 Rf6 43.Ne7+ Kb8 44.Nxd5 Rd6 45.Rg5 Nb4 46.Nxb4 axb4 47.Rxh5 Rc6 48.Rb5 Kc7 49.Rxb4 Rh6 50.Rb5 Rxh4 51.Kd3 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
| Botvinnik,M | - | Alekhine,A | - | 1–0 | 1938 | D41 | AVRO | 7 |
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Reflectors
Reflectors are my favourite kind. They have a good feeling for harmony and coordination. Here’s a nice example from Anatoly Karpov. Our world champion Magnus Carlsen is a strong reflector as well!
| Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.f4 Nc6 9.Be3 Bd7 10.Nb3 a5 11.a4 Nb4 12.Bf3 Bc6 13.Nd4 g6 14.Rf2 e5 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.fxe5 dxe5 17.Qf1 Qc8 18.h3 Nd7 19.Bg4 h5 20.Bxd7 Qxd7 21.Qc4 Bh4 22.Rd2 Qe7 23.Rf1 Rfd8 24.Nb1 Qb7 25.Kh2 Kg7 26.c3 Na6 27.Re2 Rf8 28.Nd2 Bd8 29.Nf3 f6 30.Rd2 Be7 31.Qe6 Rad8 32.Rxd8 Bxd8 33.Rd1 Nb8 34.Bc5 Rh8 35.Rxd8 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
| Karpov,A | - | Spassky,B | - | 1–0 | 1974 | B83 | Candidates sf Karpov-Spassky +4-1=6 | 9 |
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Pragmatics
Pragmatics are the players who are very practical over the board. GM Luis considers himself one, and here he gives an example of himself giving a tough time to his opponent in a dubious position.
| Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.0-0 Bd7 5.Re1 Nf6 6.c3 a6 7.Bf1 Bg4 8.d4 Bxf3 9.gxf3 g5 10.Be3 Rg8 11.Nd2 cxd4 12.cxd4 d5 13.e5 Nh5 14.Qc2 Rg7 15.Nb3 e6 16.Kh1 Nf4 17.a3 Ng6 18.Bh3 h5 19.Rg1 Nh4 20.Rg3 f5 21.Rag1 g4 22.fxg4 hxg4 23.Nd2 Rc7 24.Qd1 Rf7 25.Bf4 Ng6 26.Be3 Nh4 27.Rxg4!? fxg4 28.Qxg4 Nf5 29.Qg6 Ncxd4 30.Nb3 Nxb3 31.Bxf5 exf5 32.Bg5 Qc7 33.e6 Nc5 34.Rc1 d4 35.f3 d3 36.Re1 Nxe6 37.Rxe6+ Be7 38.Bxe7 Qxe7 39.Rxe7+ Kxe7 40.Qg5+ Kd7 41.Qe3 Raf8 42.Qxd3+ Kc7 43.b4 Rd7 44.Qc3+ Kb8 45.Kg2 Rg8+ 46.Kf2 Rh7 47.Qe5+ Ka8 48.Ke3 Rgh8 49.b5 f4+ 50.Qxf4 axb5 51.Qb4 Re8+ 52.Kf2 Rxh2+ 53.Kg3 Ra2 54.Qb3 Ra1 55.f4 Rc8 56.Qb2 Rg1+ 57.Kf2 Rgc1 58.Qxb5 R1c2+ 59.Kf3 R2c3+ 60.Kg4 Rg8+ 61.Kf5 Rxa3 62.Ke4 Ra6 63.f5 Rf8 64.Qc5 Re8+ 65.Kf4 Rc6 66.Qd5 Rec8 67.Qa5+ Ra6 68.Qd5 ½–½
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
| Engel,L | 2469 | Albornoz Cabrera,C | 2577 | ½–½ | 2019 | B30 | Bad Ragaz Accentus YM | 5 |
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The world champions and top players obviously exhibit more than one quality. But I feel the lower we go it’s easier to find to which type the player is more inclined towards, and this DVD has improved my understanding about these various types of chess players.
This has been one of the most useful DVDs I have come across, and I recommend everyone to watch it. Know more about your strengths and weakness, what areas to work on, and much more!
Playing styles in chess are an important and thus often discussed topic. GM Dr. Karsten Müller and GM Luis Engel take up a model by GM Lars Bo Hansen based on 4 player types - namely ‘activists’, ‘pragmatics’, ‘theoreticians’ and so-called ‘reflectors’.
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