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1-800-388-KING (5464) Issue #114
March 18 - 24
Welcome to the USCFSales.com weekly newsletter. You can keep up-to-date with new product releases, read reviews of selected products, and follow the latest news from the U.S. Chess Federation. Plus, try your hand at solving our weekly puzzle. Enjoy! Here & There
at ChessCafe.com Booked Up
In the latest ChessOK Cafe, Dadi Jonsson interviews the author of Rybka Aquarium’s first professional opening book and examines the accompanying i-Book that gives users a more traditional access to its contents. Best Knight
There is an old saying that the best knight is still worse than the worst bishop. This month Karsten Mueller explains that the resources of the knight are often underestimated and provides a number of exercises to test his readers. Feedback Loop
According to Dan Heisman, a feedback loop should be the basis of any chess improvement plan and your understanding of the loop and how it works can be just as important as your study material or your ability to practice. Book Notes  In the newly revised and enlarged second edition of The Scandinavian Defense: The Dynamic 3...Qd6, correspondence master Michael Melts has added a tremendous amount of new analysis, insight and practical recommendations that provide a solid foundation for meeting 1.e4. On the new DVD, Attacking the King - for Experts, Rustam Kasimdzhanov offers an entertaining outline of historical and modern attacking chess. He also comments on the decisive stages of the attack in his own games, explaining which specific train of thought led him to success.
Reviews in Brief |  Attacking the King for Experts (DVD)
by Rustam Kasimdzhanov Rustam Kasimdzhanov captured the chess world’s attention when he won the 2004 FIDE knock-out world chess championship by defeating players such as Ivanchuk, Grischuk, Topalov, and Adams. Since then he has shown himself to be an eloquent and engaging personality with a wry sense of humor. On this new DVD in fritztrainer video format he offers an instructive outline of historical and modern attacking chess. The fritztrainer video format works by showing a video of the presenter in one window, a chessboard in another, along with a notation window for the moves. All the windows are resizable and the moves and variations on the board are synchronized with the video. Moreover, the format allows the presenter to highlight important squares or use colored arrows to further clarify exactly what’s happening on the board. The grandmaster from Uzbekistan has a fine command of the English language and states that his goal is to share his experiences and to provide a systematic explanation of the way he learned to attack the opponent’s king. In the first part of the DVD he looks at one exemplary game or fragment from each of the first thirteen world champions that is indicative of their individual approach to conducting an attack. On the second part of the DVD he comments on the decisive stages of the attack in eight of his own games (or fragments), explaining which specific train of thought led him to success, while trying to present as many diverse games as possible. There are also introductory and wrap-up segments bringing the running time to about four hours. The DVD contains the whole training course in audio-format for Pocket Fritz 3 as well. No additional software is needed to run this DVD as it comes equipped with the ChessBase 9 Reader that installs onto your hard disk. If you already have CB9 or one of the Fritz family playing programs, then you do not need to install the reader. The system requirements are Pentium-Processor at 300 MHz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP, Windows Vista, DVD drive, mouse, and soundcard. | | |
| | | |  The Black Lion: The Chess Predator’s Choice Against Both 1.e4 and 1.d4
by Leo Jansen & Jerry van Rekom Were this book titled “Play the Hanham Philidor” it would likely hold a lot less allure than does The Black Lion. Yet, it deserves serious recognition. The book presents a repertoire for Black that can be played against either 1.e4 or 1.d4, using the move order ...d6, ...Nf6, ...Nbd7 and ...e5. The Hanham variation of the Philidor goes 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7. However, by withholding ...e5, Black can avoid such openings as the King’s Gambit, Bishop’s Opening, etc. The opening has a remarkable pedigree in that it was developed by two strong Dutch club players who wrote a book about it in 1997. This original work soon attracted a devoted following and it was twice reprinted in Dutch, with the third Dutch edition being translated into English in 2001. Thus, this is a fully revised and updated second English edition. In this edition the author’s do not discuss the “genuine” Philidor move order but restrict themselves “to genuine Lion variations about which next to nothing is to be found elsewhere.” They note that the popularity of the opening has allowed them to utilize more examples from grandmaster games and that they have subsequently raised the level of analysis “to make it still easier for adherents to fathom the system.” There are five main theoretical chapters in the book and each includes an introduction by a renowned chess player. For instance, GM Jan Timman writes that he faced the Lion on several occasions during simultaneous exhibitions “and didn’t have an easy time of it.” He notes that “its strong point is that Black’s play is easier because he has a clearly outlined strategy. Its weak point is that Black does not immediately start a fight for the centre.” Meanwhile, IM Johan van Mil calls it “a universal opening that is applicable for everyone.” The book is also unique in that all the diagrams are given from Black’s point of view. It is possible that the Lion is most effective against 1.d4 (or even 1.c4) because d4 players are less likely to be familiar with Philidor structures. Still, in this day and age, when every opening book professes an easy-to-play universal repertoire, this is one book that delivers on its promise. | | |
| New Catalog Additions 3/18: Chess Informant #103 (Book)
3/18: Chess Informant #103 (CD)
3/18: Chess Informant #103 (Book + CD)
3/17: New In Chess Yearbook #89
3/15: The Scotch Game (DVD)
3/14: The Flexible French
3/13: ChessBase Magazine #128 (DVD)
3/12: Scandinavian Defense: The Dynamic 3...Qd6 (2nd ed.)
3/11: Attacking the King - for Experts
3/10: Winning Chess Middlegames
3/8: The Black Lion
3/7: An Aggressive Opening Repertoire for the Club Player
3/5: Roman’s Lab: Vol. 68, The 3...Qd6 Scandinavian
3/4: Roman’s Lab: Vol. 67,
The Progressive Way of Handling the Maroczy Bind
3/3: Roman’s Lab: Vol. 66,
The New and Improved Accelerated Dragon
3/2: Roman’s Lab: Vol. 65,
Sound and Unsound Ways to Play Sharp Openings
3/1: March Scholastic Special
22/28: Roman’s Lab: Vol. 70,
Refuting Lines in the French, Caro-Kann and Alekhine
2/27: Roman’s Lab: Vol. 69, Dzindzi Anti-English
Monthly Specials March 2009  | For the March Competition Special, we are pleased to offer Leko’s One Hundred Wins for the incredible USCF member price of $9.95! - a savings of $20.00! This book features 100 wins by Peter Leko, from 1992-2003. A brief biography, crosstables, and photographs complement these games by the young Hungarian grandmaster.
|  | For the March Scholastic Special, we are pleased to offer The Olympian Premium Chess Set for the incredible USCF member price of $17.95! - a savings of $12.00! This tournament sets features a 3-7/8-inch king with a 1-3/4” base. Available in Black & Natural, this set weighs a hefty 48 ounces has a broad-based design for added stability and comes with four queens! These Specials of the Month are good from March 1 - March 31, 2009. Orders may be placed online, by mail or by phone. These Specials of the Month may be withdrawn at any time and are good only while supplies last. |
 New at Chess Life Online Students from the Hip Hop Chess Federation, based in San Francisco, California challenge the White House to a game of chess. Also, the six-player Spice Cup International has just kicked off. Star junior players Ray Robson and Robert Hess join a field that includes three GMs. Join the USCF Today 
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Puzzle Answer: 22...Re8 0-1 Gavric-Kurajica, Neum 2005 (Source: Scandinavian Defense: The Dynamic 3...Qd6) |
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