Improve your 1.e4 repertoire with Fritztrainers

by Sagar Shah
10/17/2016 – The ChessBase Online Shop is constantly increasing the number of products in its repertoire. We have DVDs on practically every opening, with hours of video lessons provided by world-class experts. Today we bring you a list of hot items – absolute essentials – guiding you through the opening after playing 1.e4 or reacting to that move. Each product has a short description and a video sample. Our October shopping guide contains a useful 1.e4 overview in PGN.

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New products in the ChessBase Shop - Part I

If you would like to know more about any specific FritzTrainer, just click the link given at the end of each brief product overview.

With 1.e4

 

The Classical French -
Main Line by Rustam Kasimdzhanov

As is true with all good players, Rustam works with ideas for both sides. He gives suggestions to White on how he can deal with the French and there are suggestions for Black as well on what he should be doing against the strong white centre.

Order Rustam Kasimdzhanov's French Classical Main Line in the ChessBase Shop

The Bishop's Opening and The Italian Game
by Sergei Tiviakov

Tiviakov begins with 2.Bc4 as well as 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4. The advantage of beginning with 2.Bc4 is to avoid the Petroff Defence. We all know how important the Giuoco Piano has become in the recent days. Players like Anand, Karjakin, Aronian, Kramnik etc. are playing it more often than the Ruy Lopez. Tiviakov is a big expert and has 75% score with these lines. He is the perfect person to explain the intricacies to you.

Order Sergei Tiviakov's Bishop's Opening and The Italian Game DVD in the ChessBase Shop

Against 1.e4

The new McCutcheon by Rustam Kasimdzhanov

Like all Kasimdzhanov DVDs, it might be incorrect to label this as a pure black repertoire DVD. Rustam deals with ideas for both sides. The main position he deals with is the following:

After the moves 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.e5 h6 Kasimdzhanov covers all the bishop moves in the position. 6.Bd2 the old main variation – since, as he demonstrates, Black can remarkably easily obtain a pleasant game. The alternatives 6.Bc1 and 6.Bh4 shouldn’t give White any advantage either, but the former FIDE world champion shows how these lines can be used as a surprise weapon. On the other hand, 6.Be3 has turned into the new main variation. Here the author has undertaken some extremely deep analysis in order to be able to come up with the correct evaluations for the individual sub-variations.

Order Rustam Kasimdzhanov's New McCutcheon DVD in the ChessBase Shop

 

The modern two knights by Erwin l'Ami

4.Ng5 is a romantic move. Unprepared black players are always scared of it because of the directness of the move. However, once you go over Erwin l'Ami's DVD you will realize that this move is not really so scary for Black. In fact White has to be careful on many occasions not to give over the initiative to his opponent.

Order Erwin l'Ami's modern Two Knights DVD in the ChessBase Shop

The Berlin Wall by Viktor Bologan

The Berlin Wall has become one of the most important openings in modern chess theory. The number of variations and the quantum of theory in this opening has grown tremendously. It is impossible to navigate the subtleties of this opening without a proper guide.

Order Victor Bologan's Berlin Wall in the ChessBase Shop

The Classical Sicilian by Mihail Marin

When Fabiano Caruana was in a must-win situation against Sergey Karjakin in the last round of the Candidates 2016 with the black pieces, he went for the Classical Sicilian. The arising structures are complex with Black most of the times getting doubled f-pawns. In return he has the bishop pair. It's an opening where understanding is more important than concrete theory, and Mihail Marin is the perfect person to make you understand the intricacies of this system.

Order Mihail Marin's Classical Sicilian in the ChessBase Shop

 

The Black Lion

An aggressive version of the Philidor Defense by Simon Williams

The Philidor Opening beginning with 1...d6 2...Nf6 3...e5 is a pretty solid opening for black. However, What Simon Williams proposes is to delay castling and expand on the queenside with h6 and g5. It immediately gives the opening an aggressive character and can be an excellent surprise weapon for your opponents. Check out the video below to know what exactly the Black Lion DVD deals with.

Order Simon Williams' Black Lion DVD in the ChessBase Shop

Price: All of the above DVDs/downloads cost €29.90, or €25.13 without VAT (for customers outside the European Union), and generally $27.14 (without VAT).

Product overview in PGN

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.10.14"] [Round "?"] [White "1.e4 and against 1.e4"] [Black "New products in shop"] [Result "*"] [ECO "C11"] [PlyCount "14"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e6 (1... e5 2. Nf3 (2. Bc4 {Tiviakov also dedicates time to this move in order to avoid the Petroff.}) 2... Nc6 3. Bc4 {This is covered by Sergei Tiviakov from the white side.} (3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 {Bologan covers the Berlin Wall in depth from the black side in his DVD on the Berlin.}) 3... Nf6 4. Ng5 {Erwin l'Ami's DVD on two knights deals with this position from the black point of view.}) (1... c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 {The Classical Sicilian has been a fighting system since years and Mihail Marin does an excellent job of covering everything to make it a complete repertoire for Black.}) (1... d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O c6 7. a4 h6 {Williams suggests an aggressive system for Black with h6-g5. The idea is to delay castling and surprise your opponent with an early attack.}) 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 (4. Bg5 Bb4 {In his DVD on the McCutcheon Rustam Kasimdzhanov covers this.} 5. e5 h6 {Here Kasimdzhanov thoroughly checks all of White's options including Bc1, Bd2, Be3 and Bh4. He gives the current state of affairs in this line.}) 4... Nfd7 5. f4 {Kasimdzhanov covers the Steinitz Variation of the French Defence and gives ideas for both White and Black.} c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 {followed by b5 is one of the main lines and Kasimdzhanov deals with this in detail.} ( 7... cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qb6 {This is one of the lines covered.} (8... Bc5 {Also Bc5 is covered.})) *

More DVDs on 1.e4 for White

More DVDs against 1.e4 for Black

In part II of our shopping guide, which will be released shortly, we will be focussing on DVDs that deal with 1.d4 for White and against 1.d4 for Black. Stay tuned.

Sagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He is also a chartered accountant. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He and is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India website, the biggest chess news outlet in the country.