8/17/2011 – Valery Lilov is a popular presenter on the Playchess
server, and this set of lectures shows why. His latest DVD is contains a
whole slew of unorthodox openings. "I see this trainer as edutainment for
a player, probably at the club level, and enjoyed the sections on the Sokolsky,
Richter-Veresov, Hippopotamus, and Englund Gambit the best," writes Steven
B. Dowd in this Chess Cafe review.
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Orthodox and Unorthodox Approaches
DVD by Valeri Lilov, ChessBase, Playing Time: 5 hrs 16 min.
Price $32.95 (ChessCafe Price: $26.95)
Lilov is a popular presenter on the Playchess server, and this set of lectures
shows why. Don't expect to learn anything about unorthodox openings in depth;
this DVD is an introduction to a whole slew of unorthodox openings. Lilov speaks
a very good colloquial style of English with an accent that is not too bothersome;
he lapses into the occasional malapropism but nothing that makes you wince.
The
material is divided as follows:
Introduction
Sokolsky
Dunst
Double Fianchetto
Richter-Versov
Anderssen, Larsen, and Grob
Fantasy Variation
Chigorin Variation
Center Game
Danish Gambit
Blackmar-Diemer and Omega Gambit
Nimzowitsch Defense
Hippopotamus
St. George
Gurgenidze Variation
Balogh and Kingston
Latvian, Elephant, and Greco
Chigorin Defence
Albin's Countergambit
Budapest Gambit
Tango
Polish Defense and Englund Gambit
Opening Formations
Outro
I've loved unorthodox openings, especially strange gambits, for years, so I
was very pleased to be reviewing this trainer. However, if you do have plenty
of experience with unorthodox openings, you will find little new material here.
I see this trainer as a bit of edutainment for a player, probably at the club
level, who has little experience with these sorts of formations. I enjoyed the
sections on the Sokolsky, Richter-Veresov, Hippopotamus, and Englund Gambit
the best.
The Sokolsky material is actually comprehensive enough that it would give the
club player playing against it or thinking of taking it up enough material for
a start. The Hippopotamus and later material on the Universal Defense in "Opening
Formations" was well-presented, and as most of us know, and Lilov affirms,
is tough to break through. I play mostly speed chess on the net these days,
so I see a lot of these – these players play quickly, sit back, and wait
for you to overextend yourself or lose on time in the complications. The approach
Lilov gives to battling these makes perfect sense whether in a bullet game or
a rated slow tournament game.
Since a lot of my speed chess is played "coffeehouse style," I do
occasionally play the Englund Gambit, and the one formation Lilov covers is
something of a reversed Blackmar-Diemer Gambit in addition to the old known
"one trap" line with 4...Qb4+. It's not sound, but it is often fun,
and what is interesting is how persistent the attack can be for Black if one
does not try to blow White away immediately. A sample line is 1.d4 e5
2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 f6?! 4.exf6 Nxf6 5.Bg5 Bc5 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 d5 8.Nc3 Be6 9.Bd3.
That being said, it is strange that the material on the actual Blackmar Diemer
doesn't resemble anything close to what I know as BDG theory. He gives 1.d4
d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 c5 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Qe2
0-0 10.0-0-0 Nbd7 11.Ne4 as the main line. If this is all you know
about the BDG, as black or white, you will quickly find yourself losing from
either side.
One unorthodox opening I always play poorly against is the Dunst, and Lilov
offered nothing of value to me here (I always end up in something of a bad Scotch
opening). Some of the modules are just too short and don't contain enough information,
even for a rough start, and the Dunst is one of those. In the material on the
Latvian, Elephant, and Greco, he notes these are good surprise weapons, and
covers the Latvian well, but doesn't give enough information on the Elephant.
The material on the Elephant ignores the 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5?! 3.exd5 e4!?
line, as well as "The Wasp," 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5?! 3.Nxe5 dxe4
4.Bc4 Qg5?!, which most books stop here, listing a great plus for White
(absolutely true if you know the subsequent analysis, but if you don't, Black
will wipe the board with you).
Covering the Chicago Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5?!, in
a serious manner was amusing. I only knew the apocryphal story behind it, where
the player who invented it on his deathbed indicated he simply "didn't
see that the e-pawn was protected." But why is the more highly regarded
Halloween Gambit relatively ignored?
As an overview for club players, this is to be recommended. Higher-rated players
who enjoy watching these trainers will also find something of value, if nothing
else, in Lilov's fun way of presenting these that does not descend into the
ridiculous. He is always aware of the drawbacks of these various openings.
One things that is odd is that full reference information (Player's names,
etc.) is not given in writing, so you have to listen for the names of the players
if Lilov mentions them, in case you want to try to find more games by that player.
This is the first trainer I have ever seen that did this. But if you want in-depth
information on any of these formations in order to play them (in most cases,
he gives sufficient information for the player who has to play against these
openings), you will have to find books that cover that material.
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