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Chessville
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The present volume offers a selection of 493 annotated games and fragments from events held between 1st February, 2003 and 31st May, 2003. The players include the elite of the chess world like Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, Shirov, Leko and several other GMs who have annotated their own games. The games themselves are chosen from a wide range of events like Linares, Reykjavik, Budapest and Melody Amber tournaments. The volume reflects the current form of the GMs and offers subtle pointers to the future. Ponomariov’s poor form in Linares makes one wonder how he is going to fare in a match with Kasparov. In contrast Leko has demonstrated that he can compete on even terms with the likes of Kramnik, Anand, and Kasparov. But it is the rising star of Rajdabov that deserves attention. For this volume Kasparov has chosen to annotate his celebrated loss to the new prodigy from Baku. Rajdabov’s achievement is all the more praiseworthy for the sheer coolness and courage with which he sacrificed a piece against Kasparov and won. The reviewer’s lot is hardly to be envied if he has to pick and choose just one game from the rich collection of games presented in this volume. The study-like finale of the Game Kramnik-Topalov (Blindfold!) at Melody Amber makes it a strong contender for the Best Game Prize. So is Karpov’s remarkable win against Macieja with its TN in the Scotch Game. Indeed, it is a pity that most of Karpov’s Rapid Match games against Kasparov do not find their place in this volume. The veteran has demonstrated time and again that he is not a spent force even against his bête noire, Kasparov. For the delectation of our readers, however, I have chosen a lesser-known masterpiece. The game is sportingly annotated by the loser. Kotenko-Zangiev, Russia 2003 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 a6 4.Ngf3 c5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.a3 Nf6 8.0-0 0-0 9.b4 Be7
10.Qe2 10.e5 Nd7 11.Bb2 f6! offers Black active counterplay. 10.Bb2 is better. 10 …e5! 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nc4 Bg4 13.Ncxe5 Nxe5 14.Qxe5 Bf6 15.Qe4
15...Bf5!! 16.Qxf5 g6 17.Qh3 Bxa1 18.c4!? 18.Ng5 !? Nf6 19.Be3 Bd4 20.Bc4 Ba7 ! (Not 20…Qb6 ? 21. Ne6 ! ) is also unclear according to Kotenko. 18 …Nf6 19.Bc2 Preferable was 19. Bh6 Qd3 20.Bf8Rf8 21.Ra1 Qc4 =, but white wants more. 19…Re8 20.Be3 Bc3 21.Ng5 h5! 22.Qf3 Qc7 23.Ba4 Ng4 24.Bf4 Qxc4 25.Bxe8 Rxe8 Threatening … Qf1! 26.Rd1 Bd4 27.Bg3 Re2 28.Rf1? 28.Nh3 is met by 28…Ne3! (Informant Editors)
28…Nxf2!! 29.Nxf7 29. Qf7 Qf7 30.Nf7 Ne4 31.Kh1 Ng3 32.hg3 was the lesser evil. 29…Ng4+ 30.Kh1 Rf2!! 31.Nh6+ Kh7 0-1
As usual, the present issue offers the ten Best Games and the ten Best Theoretical Novelties from the previous volume. However, there is one old practice of selection which deserves to be done away with. On occasion, an active GM happens to be on the jury when his own games are in contention for the Best Game Prize or the Best TN prize as the case may be. This certainly places him in a dilemma. How is he to award himself? In the present case the game Anand-Kasimdzhanov, Hyderabad 2003 from the Informant 86 happens to win the Best TN prize. Anand, a distinguished member of the panel has awarded himself 10 points out of 10! Anand has a right to be proud of his TN (20.d7!) in this position from the Sveshnikov Variation as it alters the entire assessment of this line. But it is just not done for a participant in a contest to judge his own work as a conflict of interests is involved. However, this is a relatively minor issue. I have not yet mentioned the finest bonus offered by the present volume. In recent years the Informant has followed a salutary practice of paying tribute to a great master by offering a selection of games and positions from his work. In this issue it happens to be Bent Larsen. Apart from 15 games (too few!) there are also opening innovations, middle game combinations, and sharp endings from his play. It is a pity that the The Danish Viking no longer plays in major tournaments. His absence is keenly felt by connoisseurs of chess. (Editor's Note: Larsen lives in semi-retirement with his wife in Buenos Aires, and is rumored to be working on a sequel to his classic game collection: Selected Games of Chess, 1948-1969.) This brings me to the CD version of Informant 87, which has a number of surprising features: A) It includes all the games from the previous volume in pgn format. B) There are the Best Games and Theoretical Novelties from Vols 83 - 86.
C) There is a selection of games
from great players like Short, Portisch and D) There is a useful database of 102 QP games (D00 ). What is more, it offers 926 games in the main database of the present volume 87. There are also complete games from major events like Linares in pgn format. The CD carries the free lite version of Chess Informant Expert (CIE) which can also be downloaded from the publisher's site. The CIE Lite has a colourful design, and it is a pleasure to see games on the monitor. Chess Informant remains an important tool for the serious tournament player who wants to stay abreast with current opening trends. The book and the CD complement each other. Enjoy both. Warmly recommended.
Read A Preview from the Publisher
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