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

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Issue #12
July 8 - 14

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

Positional Play
There are different ways to expand your mastery of positional play. One is to study well-played and carefully annotated games between strong players. This month Mark Dvoretsky offers a lesson from the game Ponomariov-Svidler, Sofia 2006.

Chess Queens
Tim Harding returns to the topic of why the Queens of Chess are not deadlier than the male and concludes "for a wide variety of reasons ... we shall never see nearly as many women as men at the apex of the chess pyramid."

Scholastic Chess
FM Elliott Liu shares his experiences at the College Final Four this past spring, and discusses how he combines high-level chess with demanding academics. Plus, Steve Goldberg shares some thoughts and photos from the 2009 U.S. Championship.

July 99-cent Sale
Every item in this section of our online catalog is .99 cents!! And when these are sold out, they are gone for good, so don't delay! Plus, enjoy free UPS Ground Shipping on all domestic US orders of $75 or more!

Book Notes

In Botvinnik-Smyslov, Three World Chess Championship Matches, Botvinnik writes the story of his three historic clashes with Vasily Smyslov. The book also contains Botvinnik's legendary secret notebooks, featuring his opening preparation for the matches. Read the review here.

The new CD Top TNT No. 3 covers the top tournaments played January 1 - April 30, 2009, and offers four theoretical articles on the openings B90, C88, D15, and D43. A database of important games played during this period is also available.

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

Botvinnik-Smyslov, Three World Chess Championship Matches
by Mikhail Botvinnik

Mikhail Botvinnik (1911 - 1995) was world champion 1948-57, 1958-60, and 1961-63. He first won the world championship in 1948 in a tournament to determine a new world champion following the death of Alexander Alekhine. He finished three points ahead of the field, with Vasily Smyslov placing second. In 1951, he retained his title by drawing his first world championship match against David Bronstein. In 1954 he kept his title by drawing with Vasily Smyslov. In 1957, he lost to Smyslov; however, the rules allowed him a rematch in 1958, which he then won.

This book, edited and compiled by Botvinnik’s nephew Igor Botvinnik, is the story of his three matches with Smyslov. I. Botvinnik writes, “The majority of games are given with notes by Botvinnik, whilst in other cases ... the commentaries are by Smyslov or other well-known masters.” There are also footnotes provided by the editors at New In Chess as well as from translators Ken Neat and Steve Giddins. In addition, Botvinnik’s own original notebooks are included; these contain analysis of opening variations and “show just how diligently and systematically Botvinnik worked on chess.”

Botvinnik’s analyses and comments reveal his match strategy and his view on the strategic choices of his opponent. In the foreword, Smyslov writes, “we had differing views on certain aspects of chess, we both looked on the game not merely as sporting competition, but also as an art, and tried at the board to create finished works of art.” He further notes, “these matches gave the chess world many moments of great achievement. Of course these were accompanied by some serious mistakes, but these only serve to underline the extreme pressure of such matches.”

To again quote from Smyslov, “this book will be of interest both to lovers of chess history, and to those who are seeking to improve their own play.” The only possible criticism to this title is, apart from the cover, the absence of historical photos. You owe it to yourself to take advantage of the opportunity to benefit from The Patriarch’s diligence, insight and wisdom.

Read the full review here.

The Philidor Defense
by Alexei Shirov

On the new DVD, The Philidor Defense, Alexei Shirov continues his series on the openings. As usual he does not provide the complete theory of the opening, but rather presents the most interesting games that he has played in that opening. Along the way he reveals his thoughts and insights, noting that at times his views can be somewhat subjective, but he hopes they will be of some use to the viewer. He willingly shares both his glory days and unpleasant moments.

Shirov discusses two different move-orders, which he characterizes as two different openings. The first is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4, when he considers 3...exd4 more critical to modern opening practice. The other move-order arises from the Pirc Defense: 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5. He considers this to be completely different from the Philidor proper. In his own games he tends to prefer 4.Nf3, when Black usually responds 4...Nd7, at which point Shirov introduced the sharp sacrifice 5.g4. He demonstrates a number of his successful games as white, and notes that judging on the positions he achieved his score could well have been 100 percent, but he also shows the possibilities for Black’s counterplay as well. Moreover, he provides a strategic alternative for White via 5.Bc4 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Re1 c6 8.a4. He also indicates that the line with an early pawn exchange in the center followed by trading queens does not offer White anything concrete enough to play for.

Shirov presents ten of his own games, as well as the game Kasparov-Azmaiparashvili, to provide nearly six hours of footage. While the Kasparov game is from a Blitz match, Shirov states that he found it interesting from an opening point of view, since he feels Kasparov must have prepared the line in advance and Azmai, being the strongest Philidor proponent at that time, must have been well-prepared in turn. Shirov’s delivery isn’t as smooth as other FritzTrainer presenters. He often seems to be thinking on his feet and never really looks into the camera. We mostly see him looking at the computer screen to his right or staring downward, but don’t let this stop you from benefitting from his expertise. This is the equivalent of getting a personal lesson from a top twenty player for a few dollars per hour.

New Catalog Additions

7/8: AVRO 1938
7/3: The Luneburg Variation (Damaged)
6/30: Top TNT, Vol. 3 (CD)
6/30: Chess Informants 101-103 (CD)
6/29: Chess Informant #104 (Book)
6/29: Chess Informant #104 (CD)
6/29: Chess Informant #104 (Book + CD)
6/28: Botvinnik-Smyslov, Three Championship Matches
6/26: The Chess Garden (Damaged)
6/25: New In Chess Magazine, 2009/4
6/23: ABC of Chess Openings, 2nd ed. (DVD)
6/22: ChessBase Magazine #130 (DVD)
6/21: My Best Games in the Spanish, Vol. 2 (DVD)
6/20: Shirov: The Philidor Defense (DVD)