EDUCAÇAO FÍSICA PROFESSOR WILLIAM PEREIRA: ChessCafe.com Weekly Newsletter, April 8

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Issue #2
April 15 - 21

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

Position is Everything
In pure opposite-colored bishop endgames the defender usually wants to construct a fortress on the squares that his bishop controls. As Karsten Mueller explains, material is often less important than positional factors.

Endgame Bind
This month Dan Heisman examines a position that features an endgame bind. His students all felt the position was instructive, so he thought Novice Nook readers would as well.

Article 6.6
The new Laws of Chess have been stirring controversy. One Arbiter’s Notebook reader suggests, “These ’creative’ new rules are not helping chess tournaments, they are slowly killing them.” He queries, “Should a player have to pee under the table for fear of losing the game?”

Book Notes

The expanded and revised new edition of Instructive Modern Chess Masterpieces features twelve new top-level games from the period 2000-2007 annotated in great depth. There are also corrections to the existing notes and a revised introduction.

The Endgame by Marat Makarov is back in stock and shipping. This work focuses on general endgame principles and practical advice for the tournament player. Positions are treated and discussed with common-sense suggestions that are typical for endgames.

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Reviews in Brief

Attacking the King - for Experts (DVD)
by Rustam Kasimdzhanov

On this new DVD in fritztrainer video format former FIDE knockout world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov offers an entertaining outline of historical and modern attacking chess.

The fritztrainer format works by showing a video of the presenter in one window, a chessboard in another and a notation window for the moves. The moves and variations on the board are synchronized with the video and the format allows the presenter to highlight important squares or use colored arrows to further clarify exactly what’s happening on the board.

In the first part of the DVD he looks at one exemplary game or fragment from each of the first thirteen world champions 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. Along with the twenty-one main segments, there are introductory and wrap-up videos bringing the running time to about four hours.

Read the full review here.

ABC of the Leningrad Dutch
by Andrew Martin

Martin begins this DVD by stating that the strongest players in the world have something of a love/hate relationship with this “fascinating and unique” opening. They may admire the spirit and aggression of Black’s first move, but they are intuitively suspicious of the weakening of the kingside. He calls it a “classic risk versus reward opening.” He quotes Bent Larsen in saying that “1...f5 brings out the chicken in many players” and Martin notes that it “frightens the average player.”

The Leningrad Dutch is characterized by an early fianchetto of Black’s dark-squared bishop via 1...f5, 2...Nf6, 3...g6, and 4...Bg7. This often leads to sharp and difficult play; thus, Martin states not everyone is suited for the Leningrad Dutch, as “you will need good nerves and a thirst for battle.” Martin first looks at three “inspiring” games that show what can happen if White goes even slightly wrong. He claims that theory over-estimates White’s position in the main line and that Black can well expect satisfactory chances on a practical level.

It is quite amazing that in the first game, explained over the span of twelve minutes, Black makes seven of his first eleven moves with pawns and two moves playing his knight to the edge of the board, and still comes away with a strong attack on the kingside. Martin does a good job of instilling the viewer with confidence in the opening, which can go a long way in helping to achieve successful results. There are segments on each side’s strategic ideas, followed by twenty theoretical clips, and a wrap-up for a total running time of more than four hours. A good companion to this volume is ABC of the Anti Dutch.

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 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 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.

New Catalog Additions

4/15: Chess Tactics for Champions (restock)
4/14: The Endgame (restock)
4/13: Tiger’s Modern (restock)
4/12: The Berlin Wall (restock)
4/11: Instructive Modern Chess Masterpieces (2nd ed.)
4/10: The Sveshnikov Reloaded (restock)
4/9: New In Chess Magazine 2009/2
4/8: A Spanish Repertoire for Black (restock)
4/7: Questions of Modern Chess Theory (restock)
44/6: Practical Chess Defence (restock)
4/4: The Life & Games of Carlos Torre (restock)
4/3: Chess Explained: The Main-Line Slav
4/2: Chess Explained: The Gruenfeld
3/26: Secrets of Opening Surprises, Vol. 10
3/23: Essential Chess Endings for Advanced Players (restock)
3/22: John Nunn’s Chess Puzzle Book (2nd ed.)
3/21: ECO E: 4th ed. (CD)
3/20: Top TNT, Vol. 2 (CD)
3/19: Chess Tactics for Advanced Players
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)