Nicholas Pert is one of my favorite authors at ChessBase. I like his clear, matter-of-fact style, which always reflects a high level of expertise. His course “The French Defence for the Tournament Player” was one of my first Fritz Trainers and the foundation of my French repertoire. I also found his “Typical Mistakes” series very instructive.
I was therefore very curious about his new course “Revealing Modern Grandmaster Secrets.” At first, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the title, but once I began working through the course, the concept became clear. It is an excellent “how to improve your playing strength” course that conveys many important aspects of modern chess from a grandmaster’s perspective.
Volume 1 deals with opening ideas, attacking the king, and the initiative.
In the openings section, the focus is not on teaching up-to-date theoretical lines, but rather, for example, on preparing for an opponent with new or generally considered harmless variations. One example:
In this well-known Ruy Lopez line, White did not choose the usual move 5.0-0, but instead played 5.Nc3:
According to the Powerbook, this knight move ranks only fifth among the most frequently played moves. However, it enabled White to lure the opponent onto less familiar ground and provoke strategic mistakes.
Attacking the King
In the chapter “Attacking the King in the Centre,” Pert explains how important it is to keep the opponent’s king in the centre before it has castled—even if this requires an investment of material.
In this position, Black chose 12...Nexd4 to prevent White from bringing the king to safety by castling.
Volume 2 deals with winning from worse positions, calculation, counterattack and defence, positional play, and the endgame.
I particularly liked the chapter “Winning from a Bad Position.” It is reassuring that even strong grandmasters do not always find the correct path to victory in complex positions, as shown in this example featuring the Indian GM Erigaisi:
Both courses are supplemented by interactive exercises in which you have to (and get to!) find the solutions yourself. Here I do have a small criticism: the exercises are not directly related to the videos in the main chapters; they are mainly tactical tasks.
Conclusion
Nicholas Pert also impresses with this course. Anyone who studies the games and analyses carefully can certainly learn a great deal from grandmasters and improve their chess. I particularly like the fact that a wide range of important aspects is covered, rather than focusing on just one topic. I would recommend the course to advanced club players who want to improve their overall playing strength.
Nicholas Pert is from England, is a grandmaster, and has represented the English team at numerous Olympiads and European Championships. He is a former World Under-18 Champion. He played for England in three Chess Olympiads: 2006, 2012, and 2018. He also took part in three European Team Championships (2005, 2007, and 2011). He was awarded the IM title in 2001 and has been a grandmaster since 2004. In October 2021, he won the national championship for the first time in Kingston upon Hull with 6.5 points from nine rounds. His twin brother Richard is also a chess player and an International Master.
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