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ContentsEditorial ....................................................................................................................4Malcolm Pein on the latest developments in the game

60 Seconds with...Chris Ward........................................................................7The leading Kent coach and GM will be commentating at the Classic

Brexit Looms for White Rose .........................................................................8Steve Barrett reports from a final foray into the European Club Cup

How Good is Your Chess?..............................................................................14Daniel King presents a fine win by Santosh Gujrathi Vidit

Magnus on the Move .......................................................................................18Junior Tay watched Carlsen’s first appearance in Singapore

Chris Ward defeated in Orpington Simul................................................22Actually Chris scored pretty well, as Conrad Allison explains

Not so Sunny in Crete .....................................................................................24Kanwal Bhatia reports from the European Team Championships

Stocking Fillers...................................................................................................30Sean Marsh has some suggestions for your Christmas list

How not to Organise a Simul .......................................................................32Charles Higgie hopes you will learn from his mistakes

Enjoying Life à Paris.........................................................................................34Carl Strugnell witnessed a lecture down the local club by a GM

Find the Winning Moves.................................................................................37Can you do as well as the stars at the European Club Cup?

Never Mind the Grandmasters... ................................................................42Carl Portman enjoyed some good fortune in a recent league game

A Return to Norway.........................................................................................44John Pigott was inspired by the beautiful scenery in Oslo

Home News ..........................................................................................................48Alan Merry scooped the big prize at the Coventry 4NCL Congress

Forthcoming Events.........................................................................................50Will you be squeezing in a trip to the Classic or Hastings?

Overseas News ...................................................................................................52Vassily Ivanchuk wasn’t fazed by having to walk his king to d4

Solutions ...............................................................................................................54

New Books and Software ..............................................................................55Sean Marsh was inspired by two young Canadian authors

Saunders on Chess............................................................................................58John ponders a recent game by Stephen ‘the Rookie’ Moss

Photo credits: euroteams2017.com (pp.26, 28), Rolf Haug (p.47), Andy Howie(p.50), Eteri Kublashvili (pp. 10, 36), Phil Makepeace (pp.7, 33, 52), Amruta Mokal(p.35), Lennart Ootes (p.52), Fiona Steil-Antoni (pp.15, 45), Sophie Triay (p.11,right), The Guernsey Press (p.49).

ChessFounding Editor: B.H. Wood, OBE. M.Sc †Executive Editor: Malcolm PeinEditors: Richard Palliser, Matt ReadAssociate Editor: John SaundersSubscriptions Manager: Paul Harrington

Twitter: @CHESS_MagazineTwitter: @TelegraphChess - Malcolm PeinWebsite: www.chess.co.uk

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Chess Magazine (ISSN 0964-6221) is published by:Chess & Bridge Ltd, 44 Baker St, London, W1U 7RTTel: 020 7288 1305 Fax: 020 7486 7015Email: info@chess.co.uk, Website: www.chess.co.uk FRONT COVER:Cover Design: Matt ReadCover photography: 123rf.com

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03-03 Contents_Chess mag - 21_6_10 13/11/2017 21:36 Page 3

December 2017

Olimpiu Urcan succinctly put it, I was about tobe subjected to severe medieval torture.27...Îed8 28 Ìc3 Îe8 29 Îf3 Îc8 30 Îb5 g6 31 g4! Stopping ...f7-f5 and keeping absolutecontrol on the kingside.31...Íe7 32 Êf2 Îa8 33 Êe2 Êg7 34 Êd3 Îa1 35 h3 h6 36 e4 Îg1 37 e5Îe1 38 Ìd5 Íg5 39 Êc4 Íd2 40 Îfb3Îc1+ 41 Êd3 Íg5 42 Ìc3 Îh1 43 Îxb7Îxh3+ 44 Êc4 Îd8 45 Ìe4 1-0 And with his knight jumping to d6, mykingside stymied by a solitary pawn on g4,and with his passed pawns about to be set inmotion, I’d seen enough.

Ì Ì Ì Ì Ì Ì Ì Ì Ì Ì

I believe the following game best reflectsMagnus’s boa-constrictor style of play, thisexchange sacrifice being played against theCEO of the Edge Group Singapore, TomHellebø. The latter plays at about 1700 levelon Chess.com and performed best among theNorwegian contestants.

M.Carlsen-T.HellebøSingapore (simul) 2017King’s Indian Defence

1 Ìf3 Ìf6 2 c4 g6 3 Ìc3 Íg7 4 d4 0-05 h3 d6 6 e4 The world champion decides on theMakogonov System, a big squeeze line.6...Ìbd7 6...e5 7 d5 Ìh5 is the vogue continuationin master praxis these days.7 Íe3 e5 8 d5 Ëe7?! A ‘wasted’ move as the queen isn’t betteron e7 than on d8. I suppose there is somelogic if Black intends to play....c7-c6 and thequeen on e7 holds the d6-pawn, but ...c7-c6mostly helps White open lines on the queenside. The standard continuation is 8...Ìc5,though the knight usually gets here via the a6-square: 9 Ìd2 a5 10 Íe2 Íd7!? (White obtaineda slight plus after 10...c6 11 0-0 Ìfd7 12 Ëc2

f5 13 exf5 gxf5 14 f4 exf4 15 Íxf4 Ìe5 inMatlakov-Shimanov, Sochi 2017) 11 g4 a412 g5 Ìe8 13 h4 and now Black played a coolpawn sacrifice with 13...c6!? 14 Íxc5 dxc515 Ìxa4 in Li Chao-Schmaltz, Deizisau 2015,when 15...cxd5 16 Ìxc5 d4 gives Blackpowerful compensation for the pawn minus inthe form of the protected passed d-pawnand the space advantage that comes with it.9 g4 Beginning the Petrosianic (Carlsenesqueor Carlsenic somehow doesn’t sound quite sofluent) squeeze.9...c6?! The resulting opening of queenside linesbenefits White more than Black.10 Ìd2 cxd5 11 cxd5 a6?!

This removes the a6-square from the queen’sknight. Perhaps Black was anticipating queensidecastling by White, though in this set-up there isusually no need for White to castle for a long time. The only way I can see for Black to makeuse of ....c6 and ....cxd5 is 11...Ìc5 12 b4Ìa6 13 Ëb3 Ìc7 with ....Íd7 to follow, but

it is still not much fun from his perspective.12 a4 Standard stuff. 12...h6 13 a5 Ìh7 Black prepares to play ...f7-f5, so Magnustrains his guns to await it.14 Îg1 Êh8 15 Ìc4 White has a firm gripon the queenside and the touring c4-knight iswell placed for any central action.15...f5 I wanted to put a question mark here, butto be fair I can’t see any decent plan for Blackto provide counterplay.16 gxf5 gxf5 17 exf5 e4

A good idea by Hellebø, freeing up theKing’s Indian bishop and preventing Magnusfrom using the e4-outpost for his knight.However, the world champion had alreadytaken this into account as shown by hisstunning rejoinder.18 Îxg7!! A most impressive concept, removingBlack’s best piece and ensuring a restlessfuture for the black king with the bishop one3 poised to cause trouble. That said, Magnusactually has a second and different agenda in

20

Magnus awaits Kevin Goh’s 38...Íg5.

Success! Ms. Esther Koh and Ms. Michelle Tay managed to get Magnus to sign chess booksand boards for their children after parking themselves next to Magnus’s rest area. Of course,the all-important photo opportunity with the world champion was a must and they were

rewarded for their perseverance and strategic positional sense with a beaming Magnus pose.

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December 2017

White has given up a pawn to control theeighth rank. While the position should be aboutequal objectively, creating threats againstsomeone’s king is always a good psychologicalstrategy. The white queen has just gone backand forth between b5 and b6, the black rook

switching in response from e7 to d7.50 Ëd5 With the match score at 2-1 to Azerbaijan,accepting the repetition was unthinkable.50...Îd7? White is instantly rewarded for her courage.

50...Ëc7 was safer, as if 51 Íd4 Íxg3+ 52 Êg2 (or 52 fxg3 Îe2+) 52...Íe5.51 Êg1 Îe7 52 Íd4! Ëe1+ 53 Êg2 Íe5 54 Ëd8 Ëe4+ 55 Êh2 Íxg3+56 Êxg3 Ëd3+ 57 f3 1-0 Black is out of checks and mate inevitable.

Overall, the Women’s section was morepredictable than the Open. While Spain andItaly over performed in this section too (itwould be interesting to see what their nationalfederations have done in the past few years),the final standings of Russia, Georgia, Ukrainewent according to seeding, and were neverreally in doubt once Russia had beaten Ukrainein round 3 and Georgia in round 4. The ever-entertaining Valentina Guninawon critical games in both these matches.

V.Gunina-A.UsheninaRussia vs UkraineSicilian Rossolimo

1 e4 c5 2 Ìf3 Ìc6 3 Íb5 g6 4 Íxc6bxc6 5 0-0 Íg7 6 Îe1 Ìf6 7 e5 Ìd5 8 c4 Ìc7 9 d4 cxd4 10 Ëxd4 Ìe6 11 Ëh4 d6 12 exd6 Ëxd6 13 Ìc3 h5 14 Ìe4 Ëc7 15 Íd2 Íxb2 16 Îad1Íg7 17 Íb4 a5 18 Ía3 Îa7 19 Ìfg5 0-0 20 Ìxe6 Íxe6 21 Ìg5 Îb7 22 h3 Ëb6

23 g4!? c5 24 gxh5 Íf5 25 h6 Íf6 26 Îd5 Íd4? 27 Îxd4! cxd4 28 Íxe7Îe8 29 h7+ Êg7 30 c5 Ëb4 31 Íf6+Êxf6 32 Îxe8 1-0

28

Valentina Gunina once again starred for the gold-medal-winning Russian women’s team.

Mamedyarov (second left) looks to the heavens as the Azeris win the Open competition.

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29-29 ChessBase Advert - Fritz_Layout 1 13/11/2017 21:28 Page 1

December 2017

Q: What to buy the chess player who haseverything? A: More chess books, of course. Did you ever see a chess player unhappyto receive a chess book as a present? Meneither. So permit me to offer a selection ofideas to help you finish off your Christmasshopping. Here, then, is our festive look atsome products so tempting that evenScrooge would be swayed into digging deeplyinto his long pockets. But wait! For our story to begin, we need avery good opening, which brings us neatly to...

The Hedgehog: A Universal Systemagainst 1.c4 and 1.Ìf3

Yannick PelletierChessBase; PC-DVD, running time: 5 hours,

46 minutesRRP £26.99 SUBSCRIBERS £24.29

Look, you know how it is. You are fine withyour pet defences against 1 e4 and 1 d4.Your systems are sorted and you have alreadyforgotten more about them than youropponents will ever know. However, younever seem able to find the time to putsomething together to face 1 c4 or 1 Ìf3. Itis time to address the problem – and this newDVD could provide the answer. Pelletier guides the viewer through athorough examination of the Hedgehog, asystem that can be reached via manydifferent move orders. Black will sit with thehedgehog spines set up on the third rank andwait until the right moment to unleash hisenergy with a well-timed ...b5 or ...d5, whichcan often blow big holes in the white position.Players of a certain age will remember ayoung Kasparov winning several great gamesfrom the black point of view and Britishresidents may also recall seeing many classicHedgehog games by Suba as he tore his wayaround the Swiss circuit back in the 1990s. The video on move orders is the mostimportant segment on the DVD. White hasseveral slippery ways to try and trick Black outhis favourite opening, such as 1 Ìf3, when1...c5 2 e4 could lead to disappointment unlessthe Sicilian Defence is also part of the secondplayer’s repertoire. Fancy footwork is required

to develop the Hedgehog into a weapon to beused against several different openings. Pelletier – who has played the Hedgehogfor 20 years and once used it to beat MagnusCarlsen – spends some time discussing theideal piece placement and plans for bothsides. Indeed, as a 1 c4 player he has alsobattled against this opening on numerousoccasions, so is well placed to guide theviewer through the intricacies and subtleties. A couple of appetisers set the scene forwhat is to follow and it is always inspirational tosee the young Kasparov at his dynamic best.

R.Hübner-G.KasparovTilburg 1981

We don’t hear so much about Hübner now,but it shouldn’t be forgotten he was a seriouscandidate for the world championship whenat the height of his powers and was always adifficult player to beat. Here Kasparov has adistinct choice of classic breaks. Pelletieranalysis 23...d5 to a draw (although Whitehas to be careful to get there), which meansit should be no surprise that Kasparov choseto sacrifice a pawn with the other standardbreak, 23...b5, and only after 24 cxb5 didhe then play 24 ...d5! to blow the positionwide open and went on to win in brilliantlyenergetic style (0-1, 49). Time and again White builds what lookslike a big, safe centre only to see it detonatedin broad daylight. One recurring theme is theweakness of the e4-pawn. Seeing theexamples here reminded me of losing my owne-pawn against Suba’s Hedgehog many yearsago. Oh, if only I’d had this DVD back then,things could have been very different... Video lessons on all of the main linesfollow and 11 quiz positions bring this fineDVD to a close. There is also a database of218 games, all selected and annotated by

Pelletier, although the annotations are oftenno more than a single line of analysis. Incidentally, Pelletier, who makes anexcellent, composed presenter, recorded thematerial for this DVD in English, German andFrench. An impressive feat – and animpressive DVD. This is definitely the pick ofthe late-2017 ChessBase output.

The Fabulous Budapest Gambit (New and Updated Edition)Viktor Moskalenko, 288 pages

New in ChessRRP £25.95 SUBSCRIBERS £23.35

I am happy to admit to being a big fan ofMoskalenko’s books. His writing inspires me inmany different ways, including wanting to tryout his confident opening ideas and utilisinghis test positions for coaching purposes. Hehas a good sense of history and unfailinglypromotes an ethos of dynamic play. The first edition of this book came out awhole decade ago and has been difficult toobtain in recent times, so an updated versionis definitely a welcome sight. Quite a lot haschanged, including the addition of 50 extrapages, new games and introductions plus,tantalisingly, a promise of “proof that theFajarowicz Gambit is entirely playable now!”. The more common of the two lines, with 1d4 Ìf6 2 c4 e5 3 dxe5 Ìg4, made its top-level debut at Berlin in 1918 when it wasuncorked by Vidmar to record a famous victoryagainst Rubinstein. Incidentally, the attendantphotograph in the book showing Lasker,Rubinstein, Schlechter and Tarrasch, all clearly– and very sadly – looking much the worse forwear after the terrible years of the Great War,is not from the same Berlin tournament.3...Ìg4 features a couple of traps Black ishoping to spring, but is actually a morepositional opening than is generally realised. Anyway, what was that about theFajarowicz Gambit being playable? 1 d4 Ìf62 c4 e5 3 dxe5 Ìe4 and now White’s mostchallenging move is 4 a3, which cuts out boththe bishop check on b4 and a lot of Black’sfun at the same time. Moskalenko suggests“A last chance for Black might be the openingof the Milky Way” (the a8-h1 diagonal), with

30

Stocking FillersUnsure what to buy or request for Christmas? Sean Marsh has some suggestions...

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the unlikely-looking resource 4 ...b6!?, afterwhich White is advised to leave the fork with5 Ëd5? alone and try to simplify instead with5 Ìd2. Moskalenko provides evidence thatBlack is OK after all, especially when he canget a clear shot at the enemy king.

D.Tesic-V.MoskalenkoInternet 2008

15...Íxh2+! 16 Êxh2 Ëh4+ 17 Êg1Íxg2! 18 Êxg2 Ëh3+ 19 Êg1 g3 0-1

Despite some high-profile games, theBudapest has yet to enjoy a serious spell ofpopularity, but maybe this book will inspirereaders to take it up, at least as an occasionalsurprise weapon. Moskalenko sets what couldeasily serve as a New Year’s resolution to usall: “It is never too late to spice up yourrepertoire with the Budapest Gambit! Let’sattack more often, my dear chess players!”

Play 1...d6 Against EverythingErik Zude & Jörg Hickl, 207 pages,

New in ChessRRP £20.99 SUBSCRIBERS £18.89

Naturally, a lot of amateur players are pushedfor time and don’t want to learn so manydifferent lines. Fortunately, help is at hand withthe latest all-embracing repertoire book for Black. It is our old friend 1...d6 again, with arepertoire embracing the endgame (1 e4 d62 d4 Ìf6 3 Ìc3 e5 4 dxe5 dxe5 5 Ëxd8+Êxd8 – or the Lion’s Yawn as we old 1 ...d6Lion adherents still like to call it), and severaltough middlegames via the Antoshin Variation(1 e4 d6 2 d4 Ìf6 3 Ìc3 e5 4 Ìf3 exd4 5 Ìxd4 Íe7), and the Old Indian Defence (1 d4 d6 2 Ìf3 Ìf6 3 c4 Ìbd7 4 Ìc3 e5).1 c4 is met by the 1...e5, 2....d6 and 3...f5system, making it the most overtlyaggressive part of the whole repertoire. The Antoshin and Old Indian may not be the

most dynamic options at Black’s disposal, butfor club players there is a lot to be said aboutsticking to a system and playing with a similarstructure against both 1 e4 and 1 d4 (it’ssomething the late, great Bob Waderecommended to me a long time ago). Bothvariations invite White to build virtually anysort of centre he wants and then hope thateventually – just as in the Hedgehog – a timelybreak will release the energy of the formerlycramped pieces. The following snippet is anexcellent example of what can happen.

A.Rotstein-J.HicklGerman Bundesliga 2006

White just retreated his knight from d4 tob3, heading for a5. Black seizes the momentto initiate the breakout: 19....f5! 20 Ìa5 Ëa8 21 exf5?!Íxf5 22 Îc1 Íh4! and now White crackedunder the unexpected pressure with 23 g3?Îxc1! 24 Íxc1 Íc2! (0-1, 31). There is a lot to be said for club playerskeeping – and maintaining – a simple yet solidrepertoire, rather than chopping and changingby the season. If you have good patience andare prepared to sit looking at a big centre, justwaiting for the perfect moment to strike, thenthis repertoire is worth examining carefully. Youwill no longer worry or care about which openingyour opponent is going to play because your firstfew moves will be already be set to ‘automatic’.

Chess Calculation Training Volume 1:Middlegames

Romain Edouard, 240 pagesThinkers Publishing

RRP £22.95 SUBSCRIBERS £20.65

Openings over, it is now time to enjoysome middlegame action. Edouard offers496 puzzles, selected and arranged to “Helpyou improve in specific areas of thinking, suchas you may encounter in your own games.”

Chapters include ‘Play the right moveunder pressure!’, ‘Find the stunning winningmove!’ and several others, similarly deckedout in their full exclamation-marked finery. Ifound myself drawn immediately to thechapter called ‘Find the missed move!’ as Ialways enjoy looking at examples of whatchess giants have missed. It makes me feelbetter about my own blunders, somehow.

J.Rowson-G.Jones2nd matchgame, London 2015

Gawain has just played 35...h4 and hisattack crashed through. However, 35 ...Ëxe436 Îg1 h4 would have been the better pathto victory, as White could now have drawnthe game. Can you see how? To boldly misquote Louisa May Alcott’sLittle Women, “Christmas won’t be Christmaswithout a chess puzzle book”. Well, this one,with its 496 puzzles, should prove a worthycompanion to those long, dark winter nights.

All Christmas tales require a good ending,which brings us neatly to our concluding offering:

First Steps: Fundamental EndingsCyrus Lakdawala, 272 pages

Everyman ChessRRP £17.99 SUBSCRIBERS £16.19

Lakdawala writes an incredible amount ofbooks; enough for him to be regarded as a sortof modern-day Fred Reinfeld. I havecommented before on his rather flowerywriting style, of which I am not a great fan.However, there is no doubt that his books offerplenty of instructive material and I found thisvolume to be particularly enjoyable. His“Messianic mission in life is to make thechessboard a safer place for students andreaders”, and when it comes to the endgamehe says: “We must master the basics, for thesake of our own over-the-board survival.”

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December 2017

Following a demonstration of someelementary checkmate techniques, as CHESSreaders were able to enjoy last month, thenext eight chapters cover everything frompawn endings through to those featuring thequeen and other pieces. The reader ischallenged by exercises throughout the book. Capablanca, Fischer and Carlsen are themain heroes and there is a plethora of samplesfrom their finest endgames. Playing throughtheir examples provides a clear reminder of justhow great they are and just how small a marginthere is between a draw and a win.

A.Bisguier-R.FischerU.S. Championship, New York 1966

Fischer has been pushing for some timeand now executes his main idea:69...Íxe4!

“Pure positional players like me secretlywant to win like an audience, rather than aparticipant, who gets his hands dirty in thefight. At one point in the game, in order towin, you must take a chance on yourcalculation, if you sense the odds are in yourfavour, as in this case. I have no doubt Fischercalculated all the way to the finish of thisgame. My question to the reader is: wouldyou dare to trust your calculation and makeFischer’s sacrifice in one of your games?” Accuracy is still required; Fischer neededto find two more excellent moves – especiallyon move 71.70 Íxe4 Êa4 71 Íf5 Êb3!! 72 Íxg4e4 73 Íxh3 Êxc3 74 g4 Êd2! 0-1

Fundamental Endings is pitched firmly atthe club player and it should serve todemystify the area of the game that is stillneglected more than any other. So when theChristmas dinner is over, why not relax over afew pawn crackers, such as this one?

J.Capablanca-A.CondeHastings 1919

“Surely this is a draw. White can create akingside passer with g5, but so what? Black’sking can halt it. Also Black’s protected andpassed d4-pawn ensures that White’s king isunable to wander. The Cuban endgamewizard proved otherwise. The position iswinning for White.” There, I’ll leave that one with you. It willprovide a handy excuse for not doing theChristmas washing up.

32

I woke one morning in early September. Athought crossed my mind. I had grandmasterson my Facebook friends list – DannyGormally, Keith Arkell and Daniel King. Whynot contact them and organise for one ofthem to give a simultaneous display, ‘a simul’in my lovely parish of Malpas on theCheshire-Shropshire border? After all, I knowlots of chess players, playing in the ShropshireChess League, the Chester & District ChessLeague, and the Wirral Chess League. I knowplenty of people in and around Malpas too.Then there are my Facebook friends. Surely I’deasily get enough players to break even? Therein was my first mistake. I shouldhave remembered what I teach in BusinessStudies: “If you are thinking of a new

business, do your market research first.Don’t just assume people will buy yourproduct. Ask people first; see if they areinterested in your product and how muchthey would be prepared to pay for it.” I didn’tdo that, and maybe I should have done. Having said all that, I was always afraidthat the event might make a loss. DannyGormally had offered to come over forSunday October 8th. I publicised this, askedfor people to contact me if they wereinterested in playing in the simul, and said thatit wouldn’t take place if I didn’t get enoughinterest. I put the price at £20 or £10 forunder 18s and full-time students. What Ishould have done, in order to get a muchbetter idea of how many people would play,

would be to put the prices at, say, £25 and£15, but with £5 discount if people paid inadvance. This was my second mistake. I did get some interest, and a few peoplepaid in advance. I didn’t think I would receiveenough to cover my costs, but I hadn’t theheart to cancel. Some people were reallylooking forward to it, and besides I had struckup quite a relationship with Danny, and I didn’twant to let him down. I did my best to advertise. I emailed all mycontacts in the chess world. I took postersadvertising the simul to chess clubs inChester and Oswestry. I advertised onFacebook. I advertised locally with postersand in local newspapers and free magazines.All this was at minimal cost – just the cost of

Charles Higgie enjoyed putting one on, but hopes you will learn from his mistakes

How not toOrganise a Simul

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Find the Winning MovesTest your tactical ability with these positions grouped in rough order of difficulty.

The games come from various recent events, not least the European Club Cup in

Antalya. Don’t forget that whilst sometimes the key move will force mate or

the win of material, other times it will just win a pawn.

Solutions on page 54.

(1) P.Eljanov-E.NajerEuropean Club Cup, Antalya 2017

Black to Play

(2) G.Quillan-G.RunarssonEuropean Club Cup, Antalya 2017

White to Play

(3) O.Robson-D.StebbingsScarborough 2017

White to Play

(4) S.Melia-I.VidenovaSerbian Team Championship 2017

White to Play

(5) G.Sargissian-A.PavlidisEuropean Team Ch., Hersonissos 2017

White to Play

(6) A.Rasmussen-T.NybackEuropean Team Ch., Hersonissos 2017

White to Play

Warm-up Puzzles

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The Chess Attacker’s HandbookMichael Song and Razvan Preotu, 176 pages

Gambit PublicationsRRP £16.99 SUBSCRIBERS £15.29

Two new authors have announced theirpresence with a combined effort on the art ofattacking in chess. GM Preotu and IM Songare the two highest-rated Canadian juniorsand when they opine “Life is too short to playboring chess!”, they go on to show theycertainly like to practice what they preach. The strapline suggests we are going to“Navigate the hidden paths of the chessboardto strike attacking gold!”. The aim of the bookand the desirability of playing aggressive chessis further explained in Song’s introduction, inwhich he states: “While titled players willalmost always outplay weaker players in calmpositions due to their greater experience andbetter overall understanding of the game, theplaying field becomes more level in a sharp,attacking battle. In such situations, whatdetermine the eventual winner are factorssuch as which player is able to calculate moreaccurately and find creative plans, in which‘weaker’ and especially younger players’greater motivation allow them to competebetter against their ‘superiors’.” The authors split the writing duties straightdown the middle, with each one contributingseven of the 14 chapters, running through avariety of topics from ‘Attacking the UncastledKing’ to ‘Isolated d-Pawn Positions’. Eachchapter follows the trusted formula of shortintroduction, illustrative games (although mostof them are part-games as we tend to jumpinto the battles just prior to the fun starting),and a series of exercises, followed immediatelyby the solutions. The authors use classic, historical examples(Rotlewi-Rubinstein, Lodz 1907/8, forinstance), plus their own games and numerouslesser-known sparkling illustrative gems, whilethe youth of the authors shows up in threemain ways: they are enthusiastic and that canbe infectious; they also overuse exclamationmarks in their prose (well, we all did that, whenwe were young!); and occasionally, a piece of a

history jigsaw is missing. For example, whenannotating the classic exhibition game Fischer-Andersson, Siegen 1970, they rightly callFischer’s 13 Êh1! 14 Îg1 and 16 g4! in whatis essentially a reverse Sicilian structure “abrilliant idea” and “not something you sawevery day”. However, annotators tend toforget Fischer had used exactly the same planfour years earlier, as Black in a Sicilian againstJulio Garcia Soruco (Havana Olympiad, 1966).The game is often overlooked because it wasdecided by an early blunder by the latter. In another case we are given the gamePetrosian-Vasiukov, Moscow 1956, which startswith the moves 1 Ìf3 Ìf6 2 g3 g6 3 Íg2Íg7 4 0-0 0-0 5 c4 d6 6 Ìc3 Ìc6 7 d3Ìh5!? when Petrosian’s 8 Îb1 is given asdubious, with the comment “8 d4! is the bestoption for White, transposing into a form ofFianchetto King’s Indian in which it is not clear ifthe extra tempo of ...Ìh5 helps Black at all.”Indeed so, but it was perhaps worth a notepointing out that this improvement was playedby Petrosian himself against Fischer (PortorozInterzonal, 1958), which is the third game inFischer’s My 60 Memorable Games. Fischer, awell-read player if ever there was one,referenced the Vasiukov game in his notes. Nevertheless, the material is excellent andinstructive. The following is the final twist ofan excellent attacking game, from thechapter ‘Include all the Pieces in the Attack’.

R.Leitao-F.El DebsBrazilian Ch., Americana 2010

White now crowned a fine sacrificialdisplay with another bombshell:25 Îxb7+! “Out of nowhere, the rook that wasseemingly doing nothing on b1 joins the fray.

The point of the sacrifice is to lure the c6-bishop away from the defence of the e8-rook.”25...Êh8 “25...Íxb7 26 Ëf7+ Êh8 27 Ëxe8+ Êg728 Ìf5+ is obviously no help for Black either.”26 Íg3 1-0

This book is fully accessible to all levels ofplay from club player upwards and lives up toits promise of providing instruction andentertainment in equal measure.

Sean Marsh

Playing 1.d4 d5 – A Classical RepertoireNikolaos Ntirlis, 336 pages

Quality ChessRRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £17.99

This is a companion volume to Ntirlis’ well-received Playing 1.e4 e5 (Quality Chess, 2016),this time offering a complete repertoire against1 d4. The bulwark of the defence is theclassical Queen’s Gambit Declined and there isalso coverage of the Catalan, the various 1 d4systems (Colle, Torre et al) that are currentlyvery popular, and also some lines for Black toconsider when facing 1 Ìf3 and 1 c4. In his introduction, the author acknowledgesthat 1 d4 d5 openings are much more reliant onstandard pawn structures than openings arisingfrom 1 e4 e5. Similarly, this book “is structuredin an entirely different way from my previouswork. Every major set-up has a dedicatedintroduction, where I present vital informationabout thematic pawn structures and plans”,and, furthermore, rather than overload thereader with too much general information, “Mygoal was to keep things practical, by focusingon specific themes which crop up again andagain in my chosen repertoire.” Ntirlis started assembling the repertoire during2012, to help his students – who, incidentally,range from beginners to 2600 grandmasters.To be accessible to such a range of players withgreatly varying strengths suggests the linesadvocated here will suit club players as well asstronger, more ambitious tournament players. The main defence for Black is revealedafter 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Ìc3 Ìf6 4 Ìf3 Íe7

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This Month’sNew Releases

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5 Íg5, when 5...Ìbd7 6 e3 h6 7 Íh4 0-0,to be followed by an early ...c5, is on the agenda.“Vladimir Kramnik is the hero of this variation”, inwhich “a good understanding of positionalthemes and pawn structures will go a long way.” Naturally, White doesn’t have to sail downthe main lines with 5 Íg5. Indeed, 5 Íf4remains a popular alternative (met here by5 ...0-0 6 e3 b6), and the Exchange variationis still a very frequent sight. Ntirlis likes anearly ...h6 by Black, to be followedimmediately by ...Ìh5, angling for a liberatingexchange of dark-squared bishops. It seems the currently trendy Catalan willremain in fashion for some time, so 1...d5players absolutely must have a strongantidote ready to use. Here we find 1 d4 d5 2c4 e6 3 Ìf3 Ìf6 4 g3 dxc4 5 Íg2 a6“when, depending on circumstances, Blackmay or may not hang on to his extra pawnwith ...b5”, and the author further remarks heis “satisfied that the proposed repertoirepresents a stiff challenge to White.” There are seven main chapters, with each onetypically offering an excellent and instructiveintroduction followed by sections on the theoreticalaspects of the given lines. The introductionsare constructed not merely of a short piece ofprose and a token position or two, but insteadthey are essential reading for players of allstrengths. They take the reader through thebasics of the variations and explain the pawnstructures, strategic themes and pieceplacement. Club players will be able to gettheir repertoire up and running just by readingthe introductions, and will be able to return tothe more complex theoretical section lateron. More experienced players will also benefitfrom studying the introductions, but will needto add the theoretical meat to the bones beforeunleashing 1...d5 against strong opposition. When putting together a repertoire, it makesgood sense to see what the popular books forthe other side recommend. Ntirlis is strong inthis department and here is a small sample. HisQuality Chess stablemate mate, Avrukh, gives1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Ìf3 Ìf6 4 g3 dxc4 5 Íg2 a66 0-0 Ìc6 and now 7 e3 in his GM Repertoire1A – The Catalan (Quality Chess, 2015). Blackis being baited into playing the natural ....b5,but here the recommendation is to resist thetemptation with 7 ...Íd7 8 Ëe2 and now todevelop with 8...Íd6. The point is that 8...b5can be met by the troublesome positionalpawn sacrifice 9 b3! cxb3 10 axb3, creatinga structure favourable to the first player.

It is worth studying this thematic positioncarefully because White’s compensation isn’timmediately obvious, but it turns out theopen files and Black’s weak c5-square – plushis misplaced bishop, which would now preferto be on b7 – give White’s position realpositional bite. Make no mistake, lots of hard work will berequired to derive the most benefit from thematerial in the theoretical section (although thetask is not as onerous here as it would be withsome other Quality Chess books, such as theKotronias King’s Indian volumes, for example).However, this sturdy 1 d4 d5 repertoire mustsurely represent a fireproof investment that willlast for many years to come.

Sean Marsh

BBC: The Master Game Series 6 & 7Jeremy James & William Hartston

(presenters); 4 DVD Box SetRRP £24.95 SUBSCRIBERS £22.45

Just in time for the Christmas market, theBBC archive has opened up to release series 6and 7 of the legendary Master Gameprogramme. These appeared in 1981 and1982, and saw many of the leading players ofthe time taking on each other before producingexplanatory and entertaining voice-overs toaccompany their moves. Contestants includeRay Keene, Tony Miles and Nigel Short, as wellas Jan Hein Donner, Svetozar Gligoric and BentLarsen, while the second series is followed by abonus documentary from somewhat later,namely 1989, ‘The Lowdown: The Master ofthe Game’ about the success of the youngMatthew Sadler.

Grandmaster Repertoire: The Pirc Defence

Mihail Marin, 408 pages, paperbackRRP £20.99 SUBSCRIBERS £18.89

Famous Romanian author and grandmasterMihail Marin has been playing the Pirc formuch of his professional career, and makes awelcome return to the writing fold to presenta repertoire with it. Marin does not shy awayfrom explaining the key motifs for each side inthe main lines, but in essence this is a typicallythorough repertoire work from Quality Chess.The repertoire, with its centres of 4 f4 Íg75 Ìf3 c5 and 4 Íe3 c6, supplies everythingand more that even the stronger player needsto know to take up the Pirc, or refresh their

existing repertoire with it, while challengingexisting theoretical assessments throughout.

Hastings 1895 Chess TournamentEmil Schallopp, 360 pages, hardbackRRP £39.99 SUBSCRIBERS £35.99

This lavish production from the RussianChess House is devoted to one of the mostfamous tournaments of all time. Schallopp(1843-1919) was a leading German playerand author, who even became head of theshorthand department at the GermanParliament. This new translation of his workon the great Hastings tournament of 1895also sees the Russian editors including a greatmany annotated games from thetournament, some by Schallopp, some by theplayers themselves, and some by severalleading figures from the Soviet era.

Houdini 6 ChessChessBase PC-DVD

RRP £69.95 SUBSCRIBERS £62.95 The latest edition of Robert Houdart’sfamous engine is now out and bound to againprove popular with those who really like to usetheir chess engines. Houdini 6 claims to be 60Elo points stronger than its predecessor, as wellas somewhat faster. We wonder just how longit will be before a leading grandmaster credits anovelty to Houdini 6? Do note that if you’re using more than 8cores and 4GB of RAM that you’ll likely wantHoudini PRO, which retails at £89.95 or just£80.95 for Subscribers.

Master Class Volume 9 – Paul MorphyPC-DVD; running time 5 hours, 45 minutes

RRP £26.99 SUBSCRIBERS £24.29 Paul Morphy was born 180 years ago, butremains a fascinating figure within the chessworld. In this welcome addition to their MasterClass series, the ChessBase team try to explainexactly what made him so special, and sostrong. Oliver Reeh sheds light on Morphy’slegendary combinatory skill, while Jonas

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Lampert explains just how he mapped out suchan effective and ground-breaking openingrepertoire. Meanwhile Mihail Marin andKarsten Müller examine respectively Morphy’sstrategic and endgame abilities – both werevery impressed and realised that his skills insuch departments have long beenunderestimated – while Morphy’s life story isby no means neglected thanks to the inclusionof a detailed biography by Thomas Eichhorn.

Opening Repertoire: The Modern Sämisch Eric Montany, 368 pages, paperbackRRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £17.99

Eric Montany was a late starter in chess, buthas gone on to twice become State Championof Colorado. He does like to attack and evencalculate at times, but also understands justwhat grounding most players require in a linethey play regularly. Indeed, as someone whodid most of his improving as an adult, Montanyis ideally placed to present a repertoire whichshould be of equal use to both the average andstrong club player. He likes to meet the King’sIndian with 5 f3 0-0 6 Íg5, the so-called ‘ModernSämisch’, which has a definite emphasis onstrategic understanding. Montany’s gamescertainly feature in this Everyman work, but sotoo do those of Alexey Dreev and MatthewSadler, the latter contributing a foreword.

Sharp EndgamesEsben Lund, 312 pages, paperback

RRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £17.99 The final stages of the game are nevereasy to handle, especially when the position issharp and accurate calculation is required.Thankfully help is at hand from the Danish IM,

who has come up with ‘16 Parameters’ tohelp readers handle such endgames muchbetter at the board. Lund’s compatriot, GMLars Bo Hansen, opines that the reader whoreally works hard with this book will “gain atleast 100 rating points”. Throughout Lund’slove of complex endgames shines throughand readers too should begin to enjoy them,even if solving the hundred-plus exercisesmay be too much for many. As with Mihail Marin’s GM Repertoire: The PircDefence, if you prefer your Quality Chess worksin hardback version, please add £4 to your order.

Strike First with the Scandinavian Christian Bauer, PC-DVD;

running time: 4 hours, 49 minutesRRP £26.99 SUBSCRIBERS £24.29

The French Grandmaster and 3Cs topboard is a big fan of avoiding the theoreticalhighways where possible – and does so whilebeing rated over 2600 and as a three-timeFrench Champion. One of Bauer’s favouriteopenings is 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Ëxd5 3 Ìc3Ëa5, with its accent on both clear strategiesand dynamic play for Black. Viewers quicklyrealise that he appreciates all the ins and outsof the opening, as he explains them clearlyand in good English, while also mapping out arepertoire for Black against White’s main tries.

The HedgehogSergey Kasparov, 336 pages, paperbackRRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £17.99

The Hedgehog retains a certain air of mysteryat club level, but that may now change thanks toYannick Pelletier’s new DVD, mentioned earlier

in these pages, and this new book by theBelorussian GM Whenever his opponent openswith 1 c4 or 1 Ìf3 and then a quick c2-c4, thelesser known Kasparov likes to exchange his c-pawn for the white d-pawn on d4. White typicallythen adopts a formation with pawns on c4 ande4, while Black curls up in a Hedgehogformation with pawns on a6, b6, d6 and e6.Such a set-up is rich, dynamic and complex, butreaders should gain both a thorough groundingin all the main points behind the Hedgehog anda complete repertoire with it as Black.

The Fabulous Budapest GambitViktor Moskalenko, 288 pages, New in Chess

RRP £25.95 SUBSCRIBERS £23.35 This is a ‘New and Updated edition’ ofMoskalenko’s lively labour of love on 1 d4Ìf6 2 c4 e5 and a work which has certainlyimpressed Sean Marsh – see page 30.

Veselin Topalov: Selected Games of theEx-World Chess Champion

Sarhan Guliev, 472 pages, hardbackRRP £29.99 SUBSCRIBERS £26.99

Azeri Grandmaster Sarhan Guliev has longbeen a big fan of the dynamic, attacking styleof the former FIDE World Champion, VeselinTopalov. He has put together a collection ofhis favourite Topalov games, many annotatedin painstaking detail, while the man himselfcontributes a foreword.

Your First Move: Chess for BeginnersAlexei Sokolsky, 312 pages, hardbackRRP £17.99 SUBSCRIBERS £16.19

This is another new English edition of aclassic work brought back to life by the RussianChess House. We might nowadays rememberSokolsky for his use of 1 b4 or his work withIsaac Boleslavsky, but he was also highlyactively involved in the training of youngplayers. This was his final chess book, in whichhe drew upon a lifetime of teaching the game,aiming to give many useful pointers to boththose new to the game and the club player.

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My former pupil Stephen ‘Rookie’ Mosssent me one of his games recently in which hehad drawn with a player graded 191 (usingthe standard 7½ x grade + 700 conversionformula, that’s an Elo of 2132). A very decentresult for Stephen, graded 144 (Elo 1780), orso you might think, but after the gameStephen didn’t know whether to celebrate thedraw or lament the loss of a half-point. The diagram shows the final position ofthe game, with Stephen (Black) to play. Hisopponent’s last move was 17 Ìf3-d2, whichhe accompanied with a draw offer. Stephenhad about 20 minutes on his clock for thenext 18 moves, but I don’t think he spentlong over accepting the draw. Before reading any more of his email, Iwanted to test this position for myself, soI set up the board, looked at it from theblack side and imagined myself having beenoffered a draw by a player of a muchhigher rating than me, let’s say 2450 or2500. After a few minutes I had come upwith a fancy move which I thought mighthave won, but then a minute or so laterhit upon a simpler move which looksabsolutely lethal, after which I wouldhave fancied my chances against MagnusCarlsen. I’ll leave readers to ponder overthe position for themselves and givesolutions at the end of the article. Would Stephen have been strongenough to find the right move? Knowinghis predilection for the attack, I think hewould have had a chance, given a fewminutes’ calm thought. That said, his2132-rated opponent didn’t seem tohave spotted it as he mentioned a differentline at the end of the game, and one thatwould not have been so forcing. And, havingfound the right move, could Stephen havewon? I think that one is a definite ‘yes’, sincethe best move is a crusher. The real clue, of course, was the very factof a much higher-rated player offering thedraw to the opponent in the first place. Playersrated more than 300 rating points higher thantheir opponents only offer draws when theythink they are busted. It is their last, desperatechance to salvage a ‘draw by reputation’. Thedraw offer in those circumstances is anamalgam of a confession and a challenge,which translates thus: “OK, there’s no usepretending – I know I’m dead lost here. But areyou really that confident you can beat me?” Iwas tempted to end that imaginary speechwith the word “punk”, but maybe I havewatched too many Clint Eastwood movies. Suddenly the ‘offeree’ is in a quandary. Asthe host of that terrible old 1950s game

show used to say, it is a question of “Take themoney or open the box.” It’s bad enoughmaking one decision – trying to find the rightmove – without your opponent suddenlylanding you with a second one. Often thedraw offer thoughts interfere with yourmove-finding process and your calculationsturn to mush. So I don’t find it hard toempathise with Stephen’s decision to call it aday and take the draw. There is, of course, another school ofthought that says that you should always playon to the bitter end; a wholly admirablephilosophy and I could only wish I had beenbrave enough to adhere to it in my activeplaying days (or perhaps I should describe

them as my passive playing days). On thewhole I regret more the moves I never made,through premature abandonment of the game,than the myriads of bad ones that I did make. In his email Stephen was beating himselfup about not playing on, but only after anengine had revealed the win that he hadoverlooked. I’d like to adapt a famous HomerSimpson quote about alcohol: “Analysisengines – the cause of, and the solution to, allthe chess world’s problems.” It used to be one of the pleasures andsolaces of a chess player’s life – after a game,you would go home and play through a game,maybe transcribing it into your scorebook,exulting in a victory or maybe calming downafter a loss. Do it these days on a computerwith an analysis engine switched on, regardlessof the result of the game, and the computerwill demonstrate in the most painful detailimaginable that you are the most laughablyincompetent chess player who ever drew

breath. Admittedly the process of goingthrough a game using an engine is a useful andnecessary one, but it is best put off for a day ortwo. One should definitely never attempt thisimmediately before going to bed, because youwon’t get much sleep. If you do find yourself tossing and turningin bed one night after inviting an analysisengine to show you all the moves you missed,here’s an important thing to focus on to helpyou sleep: you are not alone – our siliconoverlords show us all up as patzers, even thatNorwegian guy. More importantly still, whenyou calm down and think about it, you shouldrealise that a large proportion of the movesthe machine spits out can’t be found by any

human in the short time provided in thetournament room. Paradoxically, I findthat the stronger the player, the easierthey find it to reconcile themselves tomissing complex tactics found bycomputers, whereas weaker players findit harder to distinguish between genuinemissed opportunities, which couldfeasibly have been exploited at theirplaying level, and impossible to seecomputer moves that Carlsen and cowould struggle to find.

Computers affect us in other moreinsidious ways. Bad news has nevertravelled faster. In the old days you couldplay a stinker of a game and only you andyour opponent would know anythingabout it. You’d have to be very unluckyfor the opponent to send it off to amagazine and see it immortalised in theirpages. Even then you might be let off full

exposure as your name could be anonymisedto ‘NN’ or ‘Amateur’. These days the ubiquity of chess softwaremeans that privacy is non-existent, even forthe humblest wood-pusher. An obscure gameplayed in an amateur competition can bepublished around the world faster than one ofthe Fischer-Spassky games of 1972. I have evenseen a social media meme in which people combdatabases for games featuring the worsemove on the board, as played by amateurs aswell as professionals. The latter have to take iton the chin since publicity contributes to themearning a living, but it seems a bit cruel toexpose amateur players to this form of ridicule. Solution: The decisive continuation is 17...d3!threatening ...Ìc2+ winning the queen. If Whiteplays 18 f3, then 18...Ìc2+ anyway and thea4-knight drops off. If 18 Ëb3 Ìc2+ andthe a1-bishops falls. If the d2-knight moves,18...Ìc2 becomes double check and mate.My first idea was 17...Ìe4!? which, thoughunnecessarily complex, also seems to win.

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Saunders on ChessFollow me on Twitter: @johnchess or email: johns@chess.co.uk

Black to Play and Win...

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