Having a coach during a tournament is a luxury which cannot be enjoyed by most chess players. It is very useful to get last-minute tips from our trainers who can sometimes show us some unusual lines which can take our opponents out of their comfort zones. I have often found myself uncomfortable during a tournament with my opponent’s repertoire. In the absence of a coach to help me in such situations, I use ready-to-follow DVDs to come out of my confused state of mind. The short duration of these one hour videos help me prepare a new variation overnight. I have a very positive result whenever I consult such easy-to-use material.
Last year, I was playing a strong international open in my own city, Kolkata. The tournament was a nightmare which I would really like to forget. In the first eight rounds, I did not win a single game! In the ninth round, I was paired against a young boy whom I had drawn a couple of months back. I had no good weapon against his Semi-Slav at that time. That morning I remembered that I had a ChessBase 60 Minutes: Attacking the Semi-Slav with g3 by Robert Ris, which I had yet to watch! Although I did not even pay full attention to the one-hour video during my preparation due to a bad mood, its audio-visual effect did leave behind ideas in my mind and helped me win a nice game! Thanks to Ris, this game was a silver lining in an otherwise difficult tournament!
I was white against KS Raghunandan and it was the right time for me to give the final blow.
When I spotted this sweet little move, it did bring a satisfaction within! Can you spot it?
To date, I have a score of 3.0/3 using Robert’s DVD on the Semi-Slav! All I had to do was to invest an hour watching what the author had to say. This also explains my faith in him and his recommended lines. I feel these one-hour videos are very useful in general and we should keep such handy DVDs with us. We never know when they might be useful! The 60 Minute video lessons are my friends in need, and therefore they are my friends, indeed!
Robert Ris, in an attacking mode! This picture taken by Alina L'Ami in the 2014 Cafe Batavia International tournament shows Robert "congratulating" his friend Jorden van Foreest for his first IM norm.
In only one and a half year, Jorden is already a full-fledged GM!
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Robert Ris:
