Review by William Frost
Like many other chessplayers before you, you have probably stood up
from the board having just lost a game and thought to yourself, "How the
devil did I lose that game? At the very least I should have drawn and at the best,
won." When you examine the game, after the emotion has
evaporated, you discover that your opponent had been playing a theoretical
line and that at a critical point you were unable to decide what you needed
to do next - and failed miserably. What do you do? There is a
decision to be made. Do you study the theory even deeper and get
immersed in a labyrinth of variations that you need to remember when next
this situation occurs in your games (if it ever does!), or do you change your
opening repertoire? If you decide on the latter and you are an
attacking player, then this is the DVD for you.
Nigel
Davies suggests the idea of playing rather uniquely as White after 1.e4 and
channelling the game into lines that will take your opponent out of the book
and throw him on his own resources. The basic premise of his suggested
repertoire rests in the pawn formation that he christens as the "Big
Clamp".
 |
This was a White pawn structure
propounded by the Canadians, Lawrence Durrell and Duncan Suttles. The
white pawn chain on the kingside is a powerful basis for attacking
play. The advantages to White are rather evident. He has a
greater command of space on the kingside and as Black is likely to choose
this flank to house his monarch, White's successful attacking potential
will very likely succeed. In addition, White has the flexibility to
reply to any counter moves that Black may adopt. Having
used the "Big Clamp" himself, Nigel Davies has set about studying
the methods that can be used in 1.e4 openings to achieve this or similar
formations. To embark on such a task is an ambitious undertaking, but
he has succeeded in providing a full repertoire against any reply that Black
may choose. |
Thus,
when facing the Sicilian Defence, he recommends 2.Na3. This is a system
that Vadim Zvjaginsev used to surprise his opponents in the Russian
Championship, Super-Final of 2005 and his game against Khalifman from this
tournament is featured in the second of Nigel Davies' video presentations on
this DVD. It turns out that the knight is eventually actively placed on
c2 from where it can support the centre or transfer to the king side.

In
dealing with the French Defence, Davies suggest the moves 1.e4 e6 2.f4 again
heading towards the "Big Clamp". Once again he illustrates
this system with another game by Zvjaginsev and once again the knight gets
into play via c2. A subtle point in this system is that White rarely
plays an early d4 and thus denies Black a target that is a frequent source of
anxiety to White in the more traditional variations against the French.
The
Pirc is quite simply answered by 1.e4 d6 2.f4 which can develop into a unique
system or transpose to more traditional opening possibilities.
Click here for replay of a Pirc sampler with 2.f4.
Facing
the Caro-Kann, the recommendation is 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3. This is a system
that has been known for quite some time and for some reason Davies christens
as the "Fantasy Variation."

Having
dealt with the half-open variations, Davies turns his attention to
symmetrical king pawn openings. Here he has to struggle to find an
esoteric response and goes for the Glek Variation, which is based on the Four
Knights and can arise from the many by-ways that Black can wander down.
The
Alekhine is dealt with by 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 with chances of transposing to the
Glek Variation and against the Scandinavian, Davies puts forward the
suggestion 1.e4 d5, 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 and if Qd6 4.g3.
The
essential message of this DVD is that it is a repertoire for an attacking
player and Davies uses over four hours of video to get this message over with
some fine penetrative analysis of 21 major games with others sprinkled
throughout the notes. If you are an attacking player and want to avoid
your opponent regurgitating the latest grandmaster analysis for 15-20 moves,
then this DVD is for you. Following Nigel Davies' suggestions will
enable you to play an original game of chess that will throw your opponent
onto his own resources.
Davies'
video delivery is performed in a business-like manner that is very clearly
expressed and is very thought provoking. The amount of material that he
presents is quite staggering when you consider the size of the subject. This
DVD can be thoroughly recommended not only for its contents but as a source
of ideas from which you can creatively re-examine your repertoire
Once
again, the ChessBase video format is impeccable and is self supporting as the
interface is included.