The editor’s top ten
1. Hou Yifan’s temptation: the ex-women’s world champion shows how, cool as ice, she countered Bacrot in the traditional tournament in Biel.
2. Perfect start: Teimour Radjabov annotates his win with Black against the almost unbeatable Anish Giri at the Grand Prix in Geneva.
3. “Simple is good!” Together with GM Simon Williams find the simple but strong winning moves in the game Radjabov-Eljanov. (Video)
4. Are you as fast as Vishy Anand? With Oliver Reeh solve one of the deepest winning combinations in this issue. (Video)
5. No simple play in the “Double English“: let GM Mihail Marin bring you up to date on the opening after 1.c4 c5.
6. Vishy Anand and the Steckner proof: Karsten Müller presents high class technique in a classical rook ending. (Video)
7. Brakes applied to the Accelerated Dragon: let Renato Quintiliano show you a tricky positional plan for White.
8. Unprejudiced world champion: Peter Heine Nielsen annotates Carlsen’s successful premiere with the Bird Opening (1.f4) on the Grand Chess Tour.
9. With the Catalan bishop against the Rubinstein French: Jonas Lampert shows you why you may hope for an advantage with 5.g3! (Video)
10. “King in the box”: enjoy the unforgettable mating patterns in Efstratrios Grivas’ FIDE training course.
Recommendations for your repertoire Karolyi: English A29 (Recommendation for Black)
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Ne7 6.Nf3 Nc6 
| | With 5...e7 (instead of the main move 5...b6) Black is following, according to Tibor Karolyi, different goals and there is less theory he needs to know. White needs to become active quickly (b2-b4) and possess precise knowledge of the variations. Only then should it become difficult for Black to equalise. |
Schandorff: Caro-Kann B19 (Recommendation for Black)
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 e6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nf6 
| | In a further article (after CBM 178) Lars Schandorff examines the delaying of the move b8-d7 with 7...e6!? For the moment it is bringing Black good results because no antidote has been found for White which promises him success. |
Papp: Sicilian B33 (Recommendation for White)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c4 Nd4 
| | The variation with 11.c4 has become incredibly popular, probably because White can play for a slight advantage without taking any risks. Instead of the usual 11...b4 12.c2 Petra Papp has dealt with the rare 11...d4!?. But the move does not suffice for equality. |
Quintiliano: Sicilian B38 (Recommendation for White)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 d6 8.Be2 0-0 9.0-0 Bd7 10.h3 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Bc6 12.Qc2 
| | By playing10.h3 and protecting the e4-pawn with Qc2 White avoids according to Renato Quintiliano the otherwise (with f2-f3) usual weakening of the black squares. For the moment Black is having enormous difficulties against this setup. |
Kritz: Sicilian B61 (Recommendation for White)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 Bd7 7.Qd2 Rc8 
| | The variations which start with the strongest move 8.f4 are very long and prove that objectively Black has no chance of equality. But Leonid Kritz also points out that is is not simple for White to learn up so much theory and remember it permanently. |
Kosintseva: Sicilian B66 (Recommendation for White)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 h6 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Bf4 d5 11.Qe3 
| | The variation with 9.xc6 is putting the alternatives in the shade these days. As Nadezhda Kosintseva demonstrates in her article, Black can hardly count on equality; the least risky try still appears to be 11...Be7. |
Kuzmin: Sicilian B92 (Recommendation for White)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qd3 Be6 10.Bd2 
| | With the relatively new 10.Bd2 White is hoping for 10...bd7, which is what usually follows in games of the top players. Then 11.Nd5 can possibly result in an advantage. But Alexey Kuzmin also investigates the black alternatives on move 10. |
Stohl: Petroff Defence C42 (Recommendation for Black)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bf5 
| | Almost all the top Chinese players are experts in the Petroff Defence. Recently they have been preferring 6...Bf5, which is supposed to be an even simpler route to equality. Igor Stohl analyses the variations in detail and cannot find any advantage for White. |
Szabo: Two Knights Game C56 (Recommendation for Black)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 d5 6.Bb5 Ne4 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.0-0 Bc5 
| | According to Krisztian Szabo the variation is suitable for Black to aim not only for equality but also for an initiative. Although the theory has already been developed to a great extent, many a discovery should be awaiting discovery with the help of engines. |
Ris: London System D02 (Recommendation for Black)
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 e6 6.c3 cxd4 7.exd4 Nh5 
| | This new and forcing variation with the capture on d4 and 7...h5 immediately puts White under pressure. In the analyses by Robert Ris no proof can be found that Black needs to fear any line. |
Postny: Semi-Slav D43 (Recommendation for Black)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 g6 
| | Holding back on developing the knight to d7 by playing 7...g6 has proved its worth. Evgeny Postny even sees usually more than just an equalising continuation for Black and pleads for players to learn the typical plans and ideas. |
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