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Chessville
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About 15 years ago someone gave me a chess video - Pro Chess, The Video Chess Mentor. I plugged it into the VCR and faithfully watched Yaz explaining time, space, force, and (pawn) structure. It was hard to follow though, as it was all interspersed with a lot of clips not directly related to chess-teaching. Now sivideo.com has re-released Pro Chess in DVD format, and all of that extraneous - stuff - has been stripped out. What's left is vintage Seirawan. Almost four hours (220 minutes) of mostly instruction, broken into four major segments (the older videotape format included segments one & two on one tape, segments three & four on another): Study Segment One (Introduction To Chess) covers: The Board & It's Properties; 3 Types of Positions; The 4 Elements of Chess; 7 Basic Principles; Elementary Check Mates; Classical Opening; 3 Types of Pins; Double Attack; Battery; Time Count. 26 minutes. Study Segment Two (Novice/Intermediate) covers: How To Find A Plan; Weak Pawn Structures; Zwischenzug: An in-between move; Fianchetto the Bishop; Balanced Pawn Structures; Pawn Storms & Chains; Dutch Stonewall & Pillsbury Attack; Dynamic Pawn Structures; Rooks belong on Open Files; Protected & Connected Passed Pawns. 80 minutes. Study Segment Three (Intermediate/Advanced) covers: Advanced Pawn Structures; Windmill or Seesaw; Screened Backward Pawn; Pawn Triangle; Clearance; Pawn Majority; Hanging Pawns; Quiet Move; Overworked Piece; Master Pawn Structure. 53 minutes. Study Segment Four (Intermediate/Advanced) covers: The Principles of Attack; When Ahead in Force, Exchange Pieces; Forcing a Pawn Weakness; The Hedgehog Defense; The Principles of Defense; How To Get & Use Space; Attack Pawn Weaknesses; When Behind in Space; Time Advantage; Time Disadvantage. 61 minutes. Pro Chess makes use of a combination of teaching motifs, from the inevitable talking head (Yaz), to demonstration boards, to actual chess sets, along with scenes from chess competitions including the World Open, a couple of Yaz's simuls and the US Blitz Championships. Interviews with chess notables like Walter Brown and Larry Evans lend a documentary-like air to the content. Brief explanations of chess terms scroll across the screen during segments using that term. While I found that a bit distracting, it is the best method given the format. The DVD format lends itself better to chess instruction than the video format, as freeze-frames are much clearer. This is handy when you want to stop and think about a position before proceeding. While some of the production values clearly date this effort to the early stages of chess video production (scenes are replete with the errors which occurred during shooting - it seems that the scenes were not re-shot nor were the errors edited out) it also tends to lend a certain charm to Yaz's presentation. There is a sense of being live, in the studio, as the scenes were shot. Virtually all players below Expert level (<2000 Elo) will benefit from reviewing this material. Segments 1 & 2 will probably benefit most players up to around 1600 (players should have a good grasp of the rules of the game, and an understanding of algebraic notation would be helpful, but not necessary), while segments 3 & 4 are more likely of benefit to those in the 1400-2000 range. Yaz's clear explanations will improve your game after a single viewing; he guarantees it, according to the case! Pro Chess is available from Chess Cafe, and other fine chess
educational materiel outlets. At the time of this review, Chess Cafe
had it on sale for $34.95, down from their regular price of $39.95. A
little steep, perhaps, but less than the price of two good chess books.
Yaz is worth it.
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