Start of the Bundesliga season 22/23 with analyses by Eljanov, Van Wely, McShane, l'Ami and many others. "Special" on Mikhail Tal, opening videos by Ponomariov, King and Marin. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
Erwin l'Ami (2617) – Hrvoje Stevic (2565) (Bundesliga, 22.10.2022)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 Not a surprise from Stevic, who plays the Queen's Gambit Accepted almost exclusively.
3.e4!? e5 4.Nf3 exd4 5.Bxc4 Nc6 6.0–0 Be6 7.Nbd2 Taking the game into relatively fresh waters.
7...Qf6 8.Qa4!?
When during preparation my engine showed that 8...0–0–0 is the only move here, I realized this may be very hard to handle for Black over the board.
8...Bc5 This leads to immediate trouble.
9.Bxe6 I knew that the previous move of my opponent had to be a (big) mistake, but now I had to find the reason why.
Stronger was 9.b4! Bb6 10.b5 Ne5 11.Nxe5 Qxe5 12.Nf3 as the queen doesn't have a good square available.
9...Qxe6 10.b4
The engine immediately shouts 10.Nb3 Bb6 11.Nbxd4 Bxd4 12.Nxd4 Qxe4 13.Bh6 which I had also seen in the game, aber nach 13...Qxd4 14.Qxd4 Nxd4 15.Bxg7 f6! 16.Bxh8 Kf7 the bishop isn't coming out.
10...Bb6 10...Bxb4! 11.Nxd4 Qd7 12.Nxc6 Bc3! keeps White's advantage within manageable limits.
11.b5 Ne5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.Nc4 Qe6 14.Nxb6 Qxb6 15.Bb2 Winning back the d4–pawn while maintaining the initiative.
15...Ne7 16.Bxd4 Qe6
Had I realised how good my position was at this point I may have found the best move.
17.b6+ Too soft! The straightforward 17.f4! 0–0 18.f5 is crushing. Black can't take on e4.
17...Nc6 18.bxa7 0–0 19.Be3
This was the position I had been aiming for with 17.b6+. Black still has an unpleasant task ahead.
19...b5 The main question arises after 19...Nxa7!? 20.Bxa7 b6 when Black has the (slow) plan of bringing the queen to b7 in order to win back the bishop.
20.Qxb5 I had considered 20.Qa6!? Nxa7 21.Qxe6 fxe6 22.Rfc1 to be too clever, but the engine is impressed and gives a score of over +3!
20...Nxa7 21.Qd5
This endgame is excellent as well, and was more easy to assess for me, given White is a pawn up.
21...Qxd5 22.exd5 Rfd8 23.Rfc1 Rxd5 24.Rxc7 Nb5 25.Rc5 Rxc5 26.Bxc5
I thought this should be technically winning. The bishop is the superior minor piece with play taking place on two wings, and the outside passed a-pawn is particularly hard to deal with for a knight.
26...f6 27.a4 Kf7 28.g3 Nc3 29.a5 Ra6 30.Bb4 Ne2+ 31.Kf1 Nd4 32.Bc3 Nb5 33.Bd2 h5 34.Rb1 Nd6 35.h4 Ke6 36.Ke2 Kd5 37.Kd3 Ne4 38.Rb5+
When making this move, I had blundered Black's 39th move, which was a bit sloppy! As luck would have it, the position was too good to squander.
38...Kc6 39.Rf5 g6 40.Kxe4 This exchange sac felt simplest to me.
40...gxf5+ 41.Kxf5 White already has two pawns for the exchange and is ready to pick up a third.
41...Kd5 42.g4 Creating a passed h-pawn.
42...hxg4 43.h5 There is no stopping this pawn.
43...Re6 44.h6 Re2 45.h7 Rxf2+ 46.Bf4 Black resigned.
1–0
You can find the complete and much more detailed analysis by Erwin l'Ami in the new ChessBase Magazine #211!
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Analyses, videos, training exercises. From brilliant games of the eighth World Champion Mikhail Tal to current games of the new Bundesliga season: a rich training programme awaits you in ChessBase Magazine #211! Here are the editors' recommendations:
Bundesliga season 22/23: Stars up close - Eljanov, Van Wely, McShane, Jones, Kasimdzhanov, Cheparinov, Meier and many others comment on games from the first rounds - "Special" on Mikhail Tal: exclusive collection of 21 commented games + contributions on strategy and endgame - "The Scotch Gambit": Daniel King presents another gambit idea: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5. 0-0 (video) - "How to deal with opening surprises": Jan Markos continues his training series for tournament players (video + collection of exercises) - "Jumping across the centre line":over 50 tactics exercises + three selected combinations in video format with Oliver Reeh - Endgame good, all good: Karsten Mueller's new video series "Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" (Part 1: Rook vs. Pawn) – King’s Gambit: Take it easy! Sergey Grigoriants promotes 1. e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Ne7!? - Gambit time in the French Advance Variation: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.0-0!? and many more.
Mikhail Tal is the hero of this issue. Our authors comment on their favourite games of the "magician". An exclusive collection of 21 brilliant games analysed in detail!
Bundesliga 22/23: The starting signal for the new Bundesliga season was given in October. Participants from various teams comment on their opening games, including the stars from the cover – Pavel Eljanov, Loek van Wely and Luke McShane – as well as Nils Grandelius, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Ivan Saric, Ivan Cheparinov, Gawain Jones, Nikita Vitiugov, Erwin L'Ami, Dennis Wagner, Daniil Yuffa, Georg Meier, Jan-Christian Schröder, Thai Dai Van Nguyen and Michael Prusikin.
In addition, David Navara presents his game against Luke McShane in a detailed video analysis! And Rustam Kasimdhzanov reviews his Black win against Julian Kramer in the video as well.
Jan Markos continues his video training series - Video + small collection of exercises.
Robson-So was probably the most spectacular game at the US Championship 2022. Test your attacking skills and play through the game move by move with the experienced trainer Robert Ris!
New opening ideas explained by means of a single game with detailed commentary. Alvar Alonso Rosell examines an aggressive approach for Black in the Modern Italian. Igor Stohl dissects the highly topical Ragozin Defence: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qa4+.
Daniel King takes a close look at the time-honoured Scotch Gambit, which has recently been seen again in some top tournaments. Ruslan Ponomariov shows how he succeeded in the Spanish League against Alexander Fier with a rare Siclian with 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5. And Mihail Marin takes up an opening concept of Mikhail Tal's that used to be part of his own repertoire several years ago.
Daniel King: The Scotch Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.0-0
Ruslan Ponomariov: Sicilian 2.Nc3
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Nf3 a6 5.Bd3
Mihail Marin: Saemisch Benoni
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Bg5 c5 7.d5
From the English Opening to the Catalan - ChessBase Magazine #211 offers 11 opening articles with new ideas - everyone will find something exciting here!
Szabo: Sicilian O’Kelly Variation Part II: 3.c4
Hera: Sicilian 3.Nc3 e6 4.Bb5 Nd4 5.Bd3
Kuzmin: Sicilian Paulsen Variation 5.Bf4!?
Braun: French Advance Var. 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.0-0
Grigoriants: King's Gambit 2...exf4 3.Nf3 Ne7
Lorenzini: Philidor Defence 5.Bc4 Be7 6.0-0
Srinath: Open Ruy Lopez Part I
Schandorff: Slav Excnage Variation with 6.Bb5!?
Papp: Gruenfeld 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4
Postny: Nimzo-Indian 4.f3 d5 with 6...c6
Sumets: Catalan 4...dxc4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.0-0 Rb8
New video training series for all those who want to put their endgame technique on a sound footing. Plus endgame highlights by Mikhail Tal including video introduction.
“Innocent moves and tempting lures” – Rainer Knaak takes a close look at eight traps from current tournament practice, three of which he also presents in video format. From Veressov to the Sicilian!
What aspects distinguished Mikhail Tal's style of play? Mihail Marin examines, among other things. "The fight for space" and "Pawn play". Including video introduction. In addition, his section again offers numerous training tasks using Tal's games as examples!
Dorian Rogozenco takes up this issue's special and shows the sixth game of the 1960 World Championship match between Tal and Botwinnik. "A very impressive and spectacular game!"
Oliver Reeh's tactics contribution contains 38 games with many training questions. The IM goes through three of his favourite combinations with you in the interactive video.
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