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ChessBase Magazine 100 Reviewed By Prof. Nagesh Havanur
As compared to the Jubilee DVD, the regular issue appears to offer frugal fare (The Jubilee DVD comes bundled together with CBM 100. See the recent review.) But appearances are deceptive. This issue maintains the same high standards one has come to expect from ChessBase. There are as many as 1377 games, of which over 370 games are annotated. Apart from Linares 2004, other strong tournaments like the Bundesliga, Aeroflot Open and the championships of Germany and Czechoslovakia are also covered by this edition. Lovers of rapid tournaments will find games from the Keres Memorial, Tallinn (won by Shirov) and Reykjavik (won by Kasparov) fascinating. The Linares tournament was roundly criticized for its spate of short grandmaster draws. The main culprit, ironically, was the winner - Vladimir Kramnik. While Kasparov and other players like Shirov battled it out to the last pawn, Kramnik contented himself signing the peace treaty in a number of colourless games. The following encounter, however, was an exception in which he redeemed himself with a sterling performance. The encounter also decided the fight for the first place, with Leko finishing half a point behind the winner. At this point it would not be amiss to comment on the quality of analysis provided by ChessBase Magazine. Unlike the Informant which provides annotations by the players themselves, the CBM offers analysis of games by independent experts, usually GMs in their own right. Each method has its merits as neither the players nor the experts can lay exclusive claim to truth. The following game was annotated by Kramnik in Informant 90 and NIC Magazine (3/2004). In the CBM 100 issue it has been painstakingly analyzed by GM Rogozhenko. While Kramnik tends to take a sanguine view of Black’s position, Rogozhenko favours White. It should be pointed out that Kramnik did not play his favorite variation even once in the Brissago Match with Leko last year. Apparently, he has had second thoughts and anticipated an improvement by his young opponent: Leko-Kramnik
The regular feature on the Semi-Slav Defence (D43-D49) by GM Christopher Lutz offers a critical survey with annotated games. Unfortunately, this time the article in German has not been translated into English. The main section on Theory has seven texts on openings with select databases by acknowledged experts in the field:
The database of correspondence and email chess games in the ICCF Telechess section contains nine text reports and 3051 games. It is a pity that only four games have been annotated. The article Opening Preparation: A Practical Guide by GM Peter Wells offers a number of valuable insights. I hope to comment on them in a subsequent review.I seldom have an opportunity to comment on the efforts of amateurs in CBM reviews. Surely, they too deserve their place in the sun. The following game is fun:Bock - Van den Doel
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