EDUCAÇAO FÍSICA PROFESSOR WILLIAM PEREIRA: ChessCafe.com Weekly Newsletter, August 19

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Issue #18
August 19 - 25

Welcome to the ChessCafe.com weekly newsletter. You can keep up-to-date with new product releases, read reviews of selected products, and follow the latest postings at ChessCafe.com. Plus, try your hand at solving our weekly puzzle. Enjoy!

Here & There

I Do Declare
What does it mean “to declare to resign”? In Greece they have had huge disagreements about this question. Geurt Gijssen helps to clarify matters in this month’s Arbiter’s Notebook.

Analytical Efficiency
Every chess player understands that the aphorism “always check, it might be mate” is untrue; however, a closer examination as to why it is not true provides helpful insights about how to play better chess. Read all about it in Dan Heisman’s latest Novice Nook.

Hidden Traps
Chess is an amazingly deep and difficult game and this makes it hard to master. Even seemingly simple rook endgames often contain hidden traps. As Karsten Mueller explains, the difficulty is the difficulty.

Vallejo Pons
Today’s Video Spotlight features footage from the Bundesliga game Vallejo Pons-Berelovich, in which White has a K+B+N vs. lone king, as well as discussions from Vallejo and Chuchelov about the time-trouble phase of their game.

New Club Special
Be sure to check out the video of the New Club Special (weighted and unweighted). The newest version of our most popular chess set features a nearly four inch king and four queens. It is sleeker and more elegant than its predecessor, yet at the same affordable price.

Book Notes

In Power Play 10: Calculation, GM Daniel King gives you the tools to minimize calculation errors. According to reviewer Steve Goldberg, “King utilizes a practical and easy-to-understand process of elimination in determining which variation(s) to explore further.”

On the new DVD, The ABC of The Vienna, IM Andrew Martin describes the Vienna as “a complex, difficult, and ambitious opening ideally suited to players of all levels, but especially to the club player.” He calls it a good practical opening that most opponents will be unprepared to meet.

This month you can enjoy tremendous discounts on a great selection of books, software and sets. Some for as low as 99 cents!! Plus, enjoy free UPS Ground Shipping on all domestic US orders of $75 or more!*

Reviews in Brief

The ABC of the Vienna
by Andrew Martin

Martin begins this DVD by stating that it is easy to underestimate the Vienna Game, especially at is so infrequently played at a grandmaster level. He describes the Vienna, which begins 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3, as “a complex, difficult, and ambitious opening ideally suited to players of all levels, but especially to the club player.” He notes that the standard opening manuals are wrong to dismiss Black’s path to equality as “a piece of cake” and that White has “more strings to his bow” than just playing f4 under favorable circumstances. He calls it a good practical opening that most opponents will be unprepared to meet.

The first main segment presents a summary of Open games in which Martin outlines the basic ideas and plans for both White and Black after 1.e4 e5. His lucid explanation is sure to be of benefit to beginners and may even help coaches clarify their presentations. Following this he covers the basic ideas of the Vienna and introduces his intended repertoire to Black’s main second-move replies. In all there are twenty-seven video segments for a total running time of nearly four hours, with twenty-three illustrative games played by the likes of Karjakin, Larsen, Short, Grischuk, and Alekhine.

The DVD also contains the whole training course in audio-format for Pocket Fritz 3. No additional software is needed to run the DVD as it comes equipped with the ChessBase Reader that installs onto your hard disk. If you already have CB10 or one of the Fritz family playing programs, then you do not need to install the reader. The nice thing in this scenario is that if you have a question concerning a move that isn’t covered, you can just click on Fritz for an answer. The system requirements are Pentium-Processor at 300 MHz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP/Vista, DVD drive, etc.

Power Play 10: Calculation
by Daniel King

This DVD is the tenth volume in the excellent Power Play series by GM Daniel King. Power Play 10: Calculation differs from earlier offerings in that there are forty-nine short video clips, rather than fewer, longer segments.

King has a pleasant demeanor and a soothing British accent, but most importantly, he is a talented player and instructor. He doesn’t expect the viewer to get from the starting point of a position to the endpoint several moves later, all at one time. He repeatedly stresses looking at short variations.

King utilizes a practical and easy-to-understand process of elimination in determining which variation(s) to explore further. He stresses the importance of accurate, short calculations and identifies four cases in which the player should take the time to calculate carefully.

Read the full review by Steve Goldberg here.

New Catalog Additions

8/18 Power Play 10: Calculation (DVD)
8/17 Shirov: The Sicilian with 3.Bb5 (DVD)
8/16 Davies: The f4 Sicilian (DVD)
8/15 Bologan: The Caro-Kann (DVD)
8/14 Kaissiber #34
8/13 ABC of the Vienna (DVD)
8/12 ChessBase Magazine #131 (DVD)
8/11 The Safest Sicilian 2
8/10 Endgame Workshop
8/7: New In Chess Magazine, 2009/5
8/6: New Club Special Set (weighted)
8/6: New Club Special Set (unweighted)
8/6: Pirc Alert (2nd edition)
8/5: The Classical King’s Indian Uncovered
7/31: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
7/30: Win with the Stonewall Dutch
7/29: Counterattack!