7/13/2012 – "Lubomir Ftacnik is the sort of strategically-minded GM who makes positional
chess look simple and forces the viewer to sometimes reconsider their approach
to the game," writes Seven Dowd in Chess
Cafe. One thing you really learn from Ftacnik's five-star DVD was how to
utilize closed positions to your advantage. "You can never have too many
examples of these in your chess memory."
Review.
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Lubomir
Ftacnik:
1.Nf3: A Variable Repertoire for White
Review by Steven B. Dowd
1.Nf3: A Variable Repertoire for White (DVD) by Lubomir Ftacnik, ChessBase,
Playing time: 4 hours 33 min. $29.95 (Chesscafe Price: $25.95)
This is a very unusual opening repertoire DVD from GM Ftacnik. He is the sort
of strategically-minded GM who makes positional chess look simple and forces
the viewer to sometimes reconsider their approach to the game. And that can
be a good thing.
A quiet but determined presenter, his command of English is strong with few
gaffes. One example of the latter, he uses "parade" for the German
parade (counter). These small mistakes are persistent, but do not overly detract
from the material. The introduction is worth listening to for any class of player,
as he attempts to answer the question,"Why 1.Nf3 instead of 1.c4 or 1.d4?"
One thing he stresses is that one should use databases to find ideas you can
use with either color by looking for analogies and symmetries in openings.
That made me think right then and there. I have used databases to search for
specific positions, and have noted instances like this in the openings –
a Latvian Gambit can transpose to positions found in the King's Gambit, for
example. I may explore this further and report on it in a future CB11 note.
1.Nf3 is a "careful player" repertoire. When playing it, you are often
a step away from mainline openings, and you can transpose, but you do not often
run the risk of falling into an opening trap based on a specific variation.
I don't normally give the whole list of topics on a DVD, but it seems wise to
in this case:
Introduction
Symmetry (no less than ten illustrative games! - there sixty-five total
on the DVD)
1.Nf3 01: Avoiding main lines 1...b5, 1...d5, and 2...Nc6, 1...b6
02: The Hour of Bc8 – 1...d6 and 2...Bg4
03: Dutch Defence – 1...f5
04: King's Indian Set-up for White
05: English Opening – 1...c5
06 English Version of Gruenfeld/Queen's Indian – 1...Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3
d5 4.cxd5/ 1...b6
17 English Opening with 3...e5 – 1...Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 e5
18 Summary
You certainly cannot complain that this DVD is too sparse with either variation-
or idea-based play.
I am a big believer in using ideas rather than rote memorization for openings.
However, I must confess that I have rarely found the approach of using an opening
with a tempo in reserve to be all that useful. It is very difficult to turn
a defensive idea into an attacking idea, especially for a player who prefers
punching to counter-punching. Still, the third section was quite illuminating,
with the game Kramnik-Carlsen providing a good example of his symmetry analogy
and I began to get the drift.
[Event "Moscow Botvinnik Memorial"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "2011.09.03"] [Round
"5"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO
"A40"] [WhiteElo "2791"] [BlackElo "2823"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2011.09.02"]
[EventType "tourn (rapid)"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [EventCategory
"23"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2011.09.16"] 1. Nf3 b5 $6 {Stopping
an immediate 2.c4 but only for the shortest of time.} 2. e4 $1 Bb7 $6 ({Marin
in his notes in MegaBase that it almost looks safer to avoid the pawn exchange
with} 2... a6 3. d4 Bb7 4. Bd3 {transposing to 1.e4 a6, the famous game Karpov-Miles.})
3. Bxb5 Bxe4 {Here both Marin and Ftacnik make similar comments: Generally speaking,
the exchange of a knight-pawn for a central one should favor Black. However,
the bishop is exposed in the center and the time invested in this operation
(two tempi) is too high a price to pay. At the same time, the b5-bishop is active.
For instance, it prevents an early occupation of the centre with ...d5, according
to Marin.} 4. O-O Nf6 5. d4 e6 6. c4 {Here is where the point of the DVD became
clear to me, because I play 1. ..e5 against the Polish. But there, Black has
to usually block his c-pawn with Nc6 to control the center; here White has time
for c4 and is going to continue in Steinitzian mode with d5. The extra tempo
for White certainly tells here.} Be7 7. Nc3 Bb7 8. d5 O-O 9. Bf4 $5 Na6 (9...
c6 $2 10. d6 $1) 10. Re1 Qc8 11. Nd4 Bb4 12. Bg5 Ne8 13. Re3 {A decisive kingside
attack.} c6 14. Bxa6 Bxa6 15. Qh5 f6 16. Rh3 fxg5 17. Qxh7+ Kf7 18. Qh5+ Kg8
19. Qh7+ Kf7 20. Ne4 Bxc4 21. Qh5+ Ke7 22. Qxg5+ Kf7 23. Qh5+ Ke7 24. Qg5+ Kf7
25. dxe6+ dxe6 26. Nf3 Kg8 27. Qh4 Rxf3 28. Qh7+ (28. Qh7+ Kf8 29. Rxf3+ Ke7
30. Qh4+) 1-0
One thing I really appreciated from Ftacnik is how to utilize closed positions
to my advantage. You can never have too many examples of these in your chess
memory. I just wish it were as simple as he made it look. After you work your
way through all these games, the summary is a bit disappointing; he really doesn't
give you any more than he gives in the introduction, less in fact. A more overarching
conclusion would be valuable.
Closed openings are not especially useful for lower-rated players seeking to
improve, so I will say this DVD is for any player rated above 1600 Elo who wants
to learn more about ideas that arise in closed openings. It certainly was an
educational experience for me, and I intend to continue viewing it, as the author
has many great ideas that I need to comprehend.
My assessment of this product: Great (five out of six stars)
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Lubomir
Ftacnik: 
