10/6/2022 – The last time Alexei Shirov chose the Moscow Variation in the Semi Slav, Jorden van Foreest was just 13 years old. This June - and thus ten years later - the two players met for a mini-match over four classical games. The veteran, who had played the Botwinnik Variation over all these years, came up with a surprise and resorted to the Moscow Variation for the first time against the top player from the Netherlands. In the new ChessBase Magazine Extra #209 Shirov reviews this game in a 50-minute video. You can watch an excerpt here!
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Videos: Mihail Marin shows a novelty by Fabiano Caruana in the Rossolimo Variation. Alexei Shirov explains why he likes the Moscow Variation in the Semi-Slav again. "Lucky bag": 29 analyses by Nikolas Theodorou, Romain Edouard and many more.
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Alexei Shirov played a mini-match over four classical games against Jorden van Foreest in June and won clearly with 3.5:0.5. Shirov comments in detail on the first game of the match in a video lasting almost an hour. Remarkable: After a break of 10 years, Shirov - as a surprise for his opponent – decided to give the Moscow Variation in the Semi-Slav (5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5) another try. In his analysis he goes into various nuances of the opening and explains, for example, why after the moves 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Ne5 he gives preference to the continuation 11...h5, so far rarely chosen at GM level (the standard move is 11...Bg7). "Since this game actually finished quite well for me I would like to say that I can recommend the Moscow Variation as much as the Botvinnik Variation for those who like sharp openings with Black." Video playing time: 51:16
Video excerpt from CBM Extra #209
Video playing time in CBM Extra #209: 51 minutes
More from ChessBase Magazine Extra #209
Opening video by Mihail Marin: Sicilian Rossolimo Variation
Mihail Marin analyses the game Caruana vs. Gukesh from the 2022 Chess Olympiad, providing an appetiser for the upcoming ChessBase Magazine #210, in which numerous strong players will comment on their best games from Chennai. Even if Caruana lost this game in the end - in the opening the American once again showed himself well prepared and after the pawn sacrifice 8.e5!? gained a clear advantage. In his video, Marin explains on the basis of different variations how the activity of White’s pieces secures control on the board. But after Gukesh's advance on the kingside with 16...g5 and 17...h5, Caruana missed the correct continuation (18.Nc5) and let his opponent get better and better into the game. Video playing time: 23:49
Nikolas Theodorou, Romain Edouard, Mihal Krasenkow and many others comment
Nikolas Theodorou contributes "The brilliancy" of this CBM extra. In the final round of the 2022 Final Four of College Chess, his team, Saint Louis University, needed at least a 2-2 draw to win the championship. Theodorous' game and especially his rook sacrifice
22.Rxb5! Nxa1 23.Rxb7+ played a major part in the success
In addition to the brilliancy, 28 other games with detailed commentary await you in the "Lucky bag"! A special focus is Romain Edouard's, Mihal Krasenkow's and Spyridon Kapnisis' analyses of 17 games from the 2021/22 Bundesliga season!
And last but not least: the "Update service" provides over 50,000 new games for your database!
Once again, almost the entire world's top players are represented!
The games of the Update Service are also included in the Mega Update Service 2022, which you can use with the ChessBase 15/16 programmes (and a corresponding subscription).
In this course, you’ll learn how to take the initiative against the London and prevent White from comfortably playing their usual system by playing 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 Nh5.
London System Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.
The London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Opening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.
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The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.
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