Suchergebnisse

For players who lack either the time or inclination to study reams of opening theory the Closed Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 followed by 3.g3) is an excellent choice. The two great exponents of this method of play were World Champions Vassily Smyslov and Boris Spassky. These days it’s the top English Grandmasters Michael Adams and Nigel Short who are its leading exponents. During the early stages White quietly builds strong central fortifications and gains space on the kingside. Despite the quiet appearance of this plan, in the middle game this can lead to a ferocious onslaught against Black’s king. On this DVD Nigel Davies introduces the viewer to the different strategies and variations through a series of instructive games. His presentation caters mainly for players who wish to play White, but he also points out the best methods of defence for Black. This makes it essential viewing for players wishing to play either colour. Video running time: 4,5 hours

Tricks and traps, especially in the opening, are a dangerous reality of competitive chess. All sorts of surprises await the unwary player, from devastating sacrifices to cunning move order ploys. A knowledge of such ideas is essential if a player wants to be the hunter rather than the victim.

On this DVD Alexei Shirov shows that also in the endgame, it is possible to keep struggling for the full point to the very last - if you are creative and ambitious. Because even in objectively quite balanced positions, you can frequently find ways to sharpen up or complicate the fight. For the tournament player, often all that matters is to be able to pose practical problems which his or her opponent might finally fail to solve. Thus Shirov sees himself rather as an endgame practicioner, putting down his successes in this phase of the game less to concrete knowledge about theoretical positions than to the understanding of general principles, good intuition and exact calculation of variations. One main emphasis of the DVD is the endgame with rooks and different coloured bishops which Shirov finds particularly interesting, analysing five examples. Another important feature is the very complex and difficult setting with four rooks (three examples), where he works out most helpful general principles. All in all, Shirov examines 17 examples out of his own practice, among them his famous different coloured bishop ending versus Topalov which went around the whole world. Running time: 4,5 hours. 

The correct technique of exchanging is the most important ability of Grandmasters! Which pieces to swap and which pieces to keep, whether to recapture with a piece or with a pawn, these are questions which every player of every level has to answer many times during a single game. And the greatest difference between GMs and amateurs is not in opening knowledge or in calculation power, but in this simple technique. The great Botvinnik even said that chess is just multiple exchanges. He explained Fischer’s technique of play: He had never bad pieces - he always exchanged them for his opponent’s strong pieces. Video running time: 3 hrs