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The Czech Benoni has never quite made it to the top of the charts as a reply to 1 d4. Perhaps it‘s the very nature of blocked central positions which put people off. Thus after 1. d4 Sf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e5 the first impression is that the Black position could become rather passive and it‘s not difficult to find excellent games by White where he stifles all the life out of Black‘s game. Repertoire books are similarly pessimistic about Black‘s chances. But it seems to me that the best Black wins have been forgotten and I‘m in good company here, with players of the calibre of Nisipeanu, Ivan Sokolov, Milidanovic taking a fresh look at the opening and using the Czech Benoni with success in recent games. Thus by playing 3...e5, you angle the game into a path of YOUR choosing, which is very much the modern style and very diffi cult to do with Black. We are going to see some fascinating chess here and by the end of the DVD I hope to have convinced you that the Czech Benoni is well-worth playing. Video playing time: 4 h.

The Colle System, with 1.d4 followed by 2.Nf3 and 3.e3 is an unpretentious set-up for White but one which contains considerable venom. White’s pieces can suddenly be unleashed to create devastating attacks, as can be seen in the games of Artur Yusupov, Evgeny Bareev, Vlatko Kovacevic and others. The Colle also has many practical advantages in that it doesn’t require much theoretical knowledge and can throw people on their own resources. For all these reasons it is an excellent choice for players at club level and beyond. On this DVD Davies explains the various plans and ideas at White’s disposal. Whilst his main recommendation is to play 3.e3 after 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 and 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6, he also shows how it can be made into a viable system against the King’s Indian, Benoni and Dutch Defences. Video running time: 4h 24min