ChessCafe.com Weekly Newsletter, August 26 - September 1, 2009

234 Depot Rd. Milford, CT 06460 1-877-91-CHESS (1-877-912-4377) Issue #19 August 26 - September 1 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 The Practice According to Bruce Pandolfini, the best players to practice with, human or otherwise, are those about one USCF class above you. Canary of the Web Hans Ree finds nothing wrong in the concept of charging money for web services, but he wonders whether Ray Keene is being used as Rupert Murdoch’s canary in a coal mine. Leningrad Fashions The rapid evolution of the Leningrad Dutch makes it almost impossible to write an opening book that is still useful after a decade. As Stefan Buecker relates, the last century has already seen several “best moves” come and go. Power Chess Today’s videos feature footage from the first and second DVDs in the Power Play series by Daniel King. Triple E Chess The instruction in Build Up Your Chess: Vol. 2, by Artur Yusupov, appears quite appropriate and helpful for the target audience of players rated 1500-1800. Book Notes The Rossolimo Variation of the Sicilian Defence (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5) is an excellent choice with White to avoid the deeply analyzed main lines of the Open Sicilian. On the new DVD, The Sicilian with 3.Bb5, Alexei Shirov extensively annotates his most important games in this variation. Kaissiber is one of the world’s most respected magazines on opening theory. Issue #34 features articles on Myers' Defense: 1 c4 g5 and refined g5 systems in the English Opening and Canal’s 7 Nc3!? in the Two Knights Defense Endgame Workshop, by popular chess author Bruce Pandolfini, is designed to give the reader maximum comprehension of this critical phase of the game in an easy-to-follow presentation. In it he follows the format tested in thousands of actual private and classroom settings. Reviews in Brief The Classical King’s Indian Uncovered by Panczyk & Ukczuk The authors believe that the Classical Variation best reflects the spirit of the King’s Indian Defense, which they describe as “a ruthless fight full of risk and determination; creating dynamic positions full of breakneck complications ...” They note that the arising positions are difficult to assess and that even the best chess programs “change their assessments dramatically after a few logical moves from both sides.” Moreover, “the Classical Variation has been at the centre of theoretical discussions over several decades” and that “the number of games available in the databases is enormous.” They call the Classical Variation “one of the most interesting openings in the whole of opening theory,” and state that “although White usually develops his initiative on the queenside first, Black’s counterplay on the opposite flank cannot be underestimated, all the more because any play against the king is always dangerous.” All the major lines and systems are covered in detail and anyone interested in this variation, from either side, should invest in this title. Each theoretical chapter ends with a brief conclusion, but for the most part this is designed for the tournament player, with reams of variations and little explanatory prose. As the authors note, the Classical Variation will “surely satisfy creative players with its abundance and depth of various plans and ideas for both sides.”     The Sorcerer's Apprentice by David Bronstein & Tom Fuerstenberg The Sorcerer’s Apprentice was first published by Cadogan Books in 1995; it featured 222 games along with twenty or so photographs, and it went on to become a modern chess classic. This new edition has 237 games, along with more than 100 photographs. It also offers a cleaner, more readable layout with a greater amount of diagrams (although in some cases these are smaller in size than the original). In comparison with the previous edition, the section “40 Combinations with Explanations” has been expanded to include commentary on the lessons to be learned from each game; the chapter “70 Picturesque Games” has brief observations at the end of each game along with additional diagrams; and the fifteen new games can be found in the new chapter “My Experience with Computers,” which also includes a lecture given by Bronstein about advances in computer chess. In addition, there is a special “unofficial game” in which Bronstein played IM Rudy Douven of the Netherlands in a game of FischerRandom chess during a friendly club match. The book was originally published to commemorate Bronstein’s seventieth birthday. It is said that Bronstein painstakingly took part in the selection of games and purposefully tailored the comments so that the would be “easy to understand and to explain in simple terms.” Fuerstenberg, for his part, shares a number of the stories told to him by Bronstein and there are remembrances from Bronstein’s widow as well.   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!   Weekly Puzzle   Quote of the Week White to Move/Solution Below   Today’s generation clearly have a different perspective on chess altogether. Nigel Short New In Chess, 2009/5 Check Out the August Savings Only .99 cents! Only .99 cents! Only .99 cents! Only $5.95! Only $4.95! Only $3.95! Plus dozens of other sale items! Puzzle Answer: 17.Ng5 h6 18.Rxf6!! hxg5 19.Bxg5 Be6 20.Nf4! Ne7 21.Nd5 Qd7 22.Rh6 Ng6 1-0 23.Nf6+!! wins in Jackova-Karpov, Marianske Lazne 2008 (Source: Kaissiber #34) Copyright 2009 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "ChessCafe.com" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.