Fritztrainer: Alexei Shirov on cracking the Berlin Wall

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.