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ChessBase Magazine 96
Reviewed by
Prof. Nagesh Havanur
|
 |
Published By
ChessBase
Editorial Board: Frederic Friedel,
Rainer Knaak And André Schulz |
Before I deal with the
contents of this CD let me express some reservations about the use and abuse
of this magazine. Each CBM CD comes along with an attractive brochure,
which offers an introduction to the current issue, a sample of its features
and announcements of new products. This supplement serves as an
excellent pathfinder in navigating the CD. Hence, I was rather
surprised to read Mig Greengard’s virulent diatribe against unnamed critics
of the book
Garry Kasparov On My Great Predecessors
in the brochure.
What is its connection with the CD? ChessBase has always served as an
open liberal platform for all kinds of views in the best democratic
tradition. But a brochure of information should not be misused by one
individual for settling scores in this fashion. For a more moderate
view on this acrimonious debate I would draw the attention of readers to
John Watson’s excellent review at TWIC.
In my review of
CBM 95 I had dealt with the Multimedia
report on the European Championship in Istanbul, which was mired in
controversy. The games of this massive event have been carried forward
to the present issue. There are as many as 1347 games of which 355
have been annotated. Here it is a pleasant surprise to discover games
by veterans, Belyavsky, Vaganian and Kupreichik. The moral victor of
the tournament was the Silver Medal Winner Vladimir Malakhov. The
22-year-old Russian GM impressed with his polished performance.
Malakhov (2672) - Nielsen (2625) [E46]
EU-ch 4th Istanbul 12.06.2003
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4
4.e3 0-0 5.Nge2 d5 6.a3 Be7
Black
has no problems after 6…Bd6 7.c5 Be7 either.
7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bd2
       
  
  
    
This
move was played in Ponomariov-Kramnik Wijk aan Zee 2003. Now Black has
to play accurately according to Kramnik.
8…Nd7
The
old game Taimanov-Karpov 1973 went 8…Nxc3 9.Nxc3 c5 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.Ne4 Be7
12.Bc3 Nc6 13.Bb5 a6 14.Bxc6 bxc6 with a slight advantage for White.
9.g3 N5f6
After 9...Nxc3
10.Bxc3 c5 11.Bg2 Nf6(11…cxd4 12.Qxd4 White has a slight advantage
as in Volkov-Sakaev 2000.) White has several
promising continuations like 12.0-0, 12.Rc1 and 12.Qc2. It is for
Black to neutralize the pressure on Queen’s side.
In the
other line with 9…b6 Black has more problems. After 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.Bg2 Nf6
12.0-0 Ne4 13.Rc1 Bb7 14.Qc2 Rc8 15.Rfd1 Bd6 16.Bb4 Qf6 17.Nc3 Nxc3 18.Qxc3
c6 19.Bxd6 Qxd6 20.b4 Rc7 21.a4 Bc8 22.a5 White has clear advantage. (Ponomariov-Kramnik
2003 1-0, 38 moves)
10.Bg2
e5!?
A new
move. Also playable is 10...c5 11.0-0 cxd4 12.exd4 Nb6 13.Bf4 Nfd5
14.Qd3 Bd7 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.Bxd5 exd5 = (Kovacevic-Palac, 2002)
11.0-0 c6?
He
could have played 11...exd4!? After 12.Nxd4 (12.exd4 Re8 13.Qc2 Nb6
14.Be3 c6=) 12...Ne5 13.b4 c5 14.bxc5 Bxc5 15.Qa4 Qe7 the position is
unclear according to the CBM commentator,
GM Ftacnik.
But
Malakhov saw something better:12…c5! 13.Nf5 Ne5 14.Nxe7 Qxe7 with a perfect
position for Black.
12.Qc2 exd4 13.Nxd4 Nb6
13...Ne5 14.Rad1 Re8 (14...c5 15.Nf5) 15.Ne4 Nd5 is unclear.
14.Rad1 Bc5?
From a
strategic point of view, a very dubious solution that leads to the critical
weakening of the dark squares in the Black's camp. Ftacnik suggests
instead 14...Re8 15.Nce2 Bd7.
Malakhov offers a refinement with 14…Bg4 15.f3 Bd7 16.Bc1 Re8 17.Nf5. White
has a slight advantage.
15.Ne4 Bxd4 16.Bb4!
16.Bc3
Bf5 17.Bxd4 Nxe4 18.Bxe4 Bxe4 19.Qxe4 Qc8 would be weaker than the text.
16...Re8
Or
16...Nfd5 17.Bxf8 Nxe3 18.fxe3 Bxe3+ 19.Kh1 Qxf8 20.Nd6±
17.Rxd4 Nbd5
Conceding c4-square for the White knight is bad.
But
17...Nfd5 does not help either.18.Nd6 Re5 19.Bc5 Nd7 20.Bxa7 Rxa7 21.Bxd5
Rxd5 22.Rxd5 cxd5 23.Qxc8 Qxc8 24.Nxc8 +-
18.Nd6 Re5
18...Re6? 19.Nxc8 Qxc8 20.Bh3±, winning the exchange.
19.Nc4 Re8 20.Qc1!
After
20.Qd2 b6! is possible. But now if 20…b6? 21. Nd6 wins material. At the same
time White is threatening to play e4.
20...Qc7
20...Bg4 21.e4 Be2 22.exd5 Bxf1 23.Qxf1±
21.Bd6
After
21.Nd6 Re5! is possible.
21…Qd7
Or 21...Qd8 22.a4!Bf5 (22...b5 23.axb5 cxb5 24.Be5 bxc4
25.Bxf6 Qxf6 26.Bxd5+-) 23.Rfd1 Qd7 24.Ba3±
22.e4 Nb6
Or
22...b5 23.exd5 cxd5 (23…Nd5 24.Ne5 Qd6 25.Nc6Be6 26.Bxd5 Bxd5 27.Nb4+-) 24.Be5
bxc4 25.Bxf6 gxf6 26.Rxd5+-; Similarly 22...Nxe4 fails to 23.Bxe4 b5 24.Na5! Qxd6 25.Qxc6 Qxc6
26.Nxc6 Nf6 27.Ne7+ +-
23.Bc5 Qc7
24.Nd6 Rd8?
The
last mistake! Black’s position is bad, anyway. For example,
24...Re6 25.Nf5 Nbd7 26.Rfd1± or 24...Re5 25.f4±
25.Nb5!
Spirited tactics. Black is punished for the weakness of the dark
squares and also the back rank.
25...cxb5 26.Qf4 1-0
Now if
26…. Rxd4 (26...Qxf4 27.Rxd8+ Ne8 28.Rxe8#) 27.Qxc7 Rd7 28.Qe5 Nc4
29.Qc3+-
Apart
from European Championship, there are games from the National Championships
of Hungary and Netherlands. Games from other major tournaments like
Sarajevo, Bosnia (won by Ivan Sokolov, half a point ahead of Alexei Shirov)
and Enghien les Bains (won by Bareev, half a point ahead of Adams) are also
included. Aficionados of rapid chess will be delighted to find games
of the match between Boris Gelfand and Judit Polgar, which was won by
Gelfand with the impressive score of 6-2.
This
CD has, in all, 1719
games of which about
500 are annotated.
The section on Theory offers eight texts followed
by illustrative games by experts in the field:
-
A67 Benoni By GM Alburt Kapengut
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8. Bb5+
Nbd7!?9.e5 dxe5 10.fxe5 11.e6 Qh4+ 12.g3 Nxg3 13.hxg3 Qxh1 (105 Games)
-
B09 Pirc Defence By IM Michael Roiz
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 e5 (109
Games)
-
B33 Sveshnikov Variation By GM Dorian Rogozenko
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5
a6 9.Na3 b5 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Nd5 f5 12.Bd3 Be6 13.0-0 Bxd5 14.exd5 Ne7
15.c3 Bg7 16.Qh5 e4 17.Bc2 0-0 18.Rae1 Qc8
-
D39 Vienna Variation By GM Zoltan Ribli
A. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5
c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Qb3
0-0 13.0-0 (20 Games)
B. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5
c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.Bb5+ Nbd7 11.Bxf6 Qxc3+ 12.Kf1
gxf6 13.h4 a6 14.Rh3 Qa5 15.Be2 .Nc5 16.Nb3 Nxb3 17.Qxb3 (18 Games)
-
C40 Latvian Gambit By IM Alexander Bangiev & Peter
Leisebein
1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3.Nxe5 Qf6 (4059 Games)
-
C45 Scotch By GM Evgeny Postny
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bb4+ 5.c3 Be7 (75 Games)
-
D31 Slav Gambit By FM Jerzy Konikowski
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e6 4.e4!? 5.Nxe4 Bb4+6.Bd2 Qxd4 7.Bxb4 8.Be2 Na6
9.Ba5 (29 Games)
-
D43-49 Semi-Slav Defence By GM Christopher Lutz
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6(50 games)
The
Strategy section features Part I of the series Material Imbalances by
GM Peter Wells. A detailed discussion of this article would be beyond
the scope of this review. It would suffice to say that Wells has a way
of illuminating complex issues and enlightening amateurs and professionals
alike.
The
Multimedia section dealing with the super-GM tournament in Dortmund
is fascinating. There are exciting round-by-round reports and lively
interviews with players like Bologan, Anand, and Radjabov. It is a
pity that the games are carried over to the next issue.
The other section, ICCF Telechess, features more than 2000
correspondence games, of which 40 are annotated. Perhaps the most
valuable games are from the 14th World Championship and 7th
World Cup Final. The CC players are sometimes way ahead of their OTB
counterparts in theory. If the openings in these games are examined,
they could yield quite a few of their trade secrets.
Finally, the CD offers a rich tribute by IM John Donaldson
to Milan Vukcevich (1937-2003) a brilliant composer, who succumbed to cancer
last year. There are more than 200 games, four problems, and the
following endgame study composed when he was 14!
White to play and draw
1.Bd3! Nxd3 2.Kc2 Nc1 3.Rxb2 ! e1=Q 4.Rb1+ Ka2 5.Ra1+ =
ChessBase Magazine 96 is Warmly Recommended.
Index of All Reviews
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