ChessCafe.com Weekly Newsletter, June 17 - 23, 2009

234 Depot Rd. Milford, CT 06460 1-877-91-CHESS (1-877-912-4377) Issue #9 June 17 - 23 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 Good Knight, Bad Bishop After discussing bishop endings in the last two columns, Karsten Mueller decided to highlight the duel of knight vs. bishop in order to show the differences and similarities between these types of endgames. Mind Reading Fish This month Dan Heisman discusses the rigors of chess instruction. He writes, “I am your guide, you have to do most of the work. My job is to teach you how to fish.” Rob Hartoch, R.I.P. The chess world has again lost a very colorful personality: the Dutchman Rob Hartoch. Geurt Gijssen offers a brief profile of “the bear” and answers readers' questions. Video Spotlight GM Peter Svidler discusses his round eleven game versus Veselin Topalov at the 2007 Corus tournament. Book Notes Grandmaster Repertoire 1: 1.d4, Vol. One, by Boris Avrukh is the first of two volumes on a repertoire for White based on 1 d4. The aim of the series is to provide the reader with a repertoire that will last a lifetime. In his ChessCafe.com review of Instructive Modern Chess Masterpieces (2nd ed.), by Igor Stohl, Stephen Ham writes, “This represents a “must have” book for all serious chess lovers.” A great selection of books, software, and sets at tremendous discounts. Most are available for $9.95, some are less!! Plus enjoy Free UPS Ground Shipping on all domestic US orders of $75 or more!!* Reviews in Brief Instructive Modern Chess Masterpieces by Igor Stohl Instructive Modern Chess Masterpieces won several honors for excellence, including the USCF’s Cramer Award for Best Book (2001), and ChessCafe.com’s Book of the Year Award. Virtually everyone thought this book was outstanding. This “new enlarged edition” adds twelve games (from 2000 to 2007), taking us through the 2007 World Championship in Mexico City, while adding 127 pages to his previous masterpiece. This is all accomplished at a price of $10 over the book’s original selling price of $24.95. Given Stohl’s improvements and additions to an already established award winning book, then of course this edition is even better. This represents a “must have” book for all serious chess lovers. Read the full review by Stephen Ham here.     Sharpen Your Chess Tactics in 7 Days by Gary Lane This companion volume to Improve Your Chess in 7 Days is all about keeping chess fun. As Gary Lane tells it, “chess is fun but it is even more fun when you win.” The books three main goals are to improve your chess knowledge. to increase your knowledge of tactical tricks and traps. to learn to identify tactics when they happen in your own game. Lane “points out practical ways to sharpen your tactics by improving the positions of your pieces when building up an attack, avoiding time-pressure and spotting recurring combinational themes.” He notes that “a casual approach to competitive play can lead to complacency and defeat,” and offers “tips on effective piece deployment so that you might create the right conditions for a combination.” The material is divided as follows: Day 1: So You Want to Improve Your Tactics? Day 2: Understanding Tactics Day 3: Develop Your Creativity Day 4: Tactics in the Opening Day 5: Tactics in the Middlegame Day 6: Tactics in the Endgame Day 7: Blunders and Brilliancies There is also a section with recommendations for further reading. Lane concludes by saying, “Sometimes you can sharpen your tactics with simple chess. So, in a quiet position where there are no apparent threats, don’t waste time searching for the greatest move of all time - just play something practical that improves the position of one of your pieces.” Keep in mind that one should not get so hung up on the title as to think that they will become a tactical monster after only one week, rather the title conveys the sense of fun that pervades the book.   New Catalog Additions 6/4: The Two Knights Defence (restock) 6/3: 1.b4: Theory & Practice of the Sokolsky Opening 6/2: Foxy Openings: Sveshnikov Sicilian, Pt 2 (DVD) 6/1: Foxy Openings: Sveshnikov Sicilian, Pt 1 (DVD) 5/31: Foxy Openings: The Lion (DVD) 5/29: Grandmaster Repertoire, 1.d4, v1 5/28: Playing the Queen's Gambit 5/27: Blindfold Chess (re-stock) 5/26: Reuben Fine (re-stock) 5/20: Chesscafe.com Desktop Wallpaper (free) 5/16: New in Chess Magazine, 2009/3 5/15: Nottingham 1936   Weekly Puzzle   Quote of the Week Black to Move/Solution Below   Chess is fun but it is even more fun when you win! Gary Lane Sharpen Your Chess Tactics in 7 Days Check Out the June Savings Sale Only $29.95!! Only $19.95!! Only $5.95!! Only $9.95!! Only $9.95!!  Only $4.95!! Plus dozens of other items! Puzzle Answer: 44...bxa3 45.bxa3 Rb3 0-1 Suba-Lane, London, 1988 (Source: Sharpen Your Chess Tactics in 7 Days) * UPS Ground Only. Excludes Hawaii and Alaska. Does not apply to Next Day Air, 2nd Day Air, Bulk, Foreign Orders or Multiple-Issue Subscriptions Copyright 2009 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "ChessCafe.com" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.