EDUCAÇAO FÍSICA PROFESSOR WILLIAM PEREIRA: ChessCafe.com Weekly Newsletter, September 2

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Issue #20
September 2 - 8

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

Adriatic Connection
All the authors featured in Carsten Hansen’s column this month, aside from those on the DVDs, are from countries in close vicinity to the Adriatic Sea.

Havana Gold
As Gary Lane explains, there are so many people who avoid the main lines that it sometimes comes as a surprise when an opponent obligingly allows one to play his prepared moves.

Spice of Success
In this month’s Susan Polgar on Chess, Dr. Rich Rice, Associate Professor in English at Texas Tech University, interviews Susan Polgar, Gergely Antal, and Paul Truong.

Chess Genius
This week’s review of Chess Genius for the iPhone is the first in a series of reviews taking a close look at the chess engines available for the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

The Sokolsky
The Sokolsky, otherwise known as the Orangutan or the Polish Attack, is an independent opening whose merits are due to chess analysis not psychoanalysis. Check out the Skittles Room to learn more!

Book Notes

The new DGT Wireless E-board for individual use takes advantage of Bluetooth technology. It is available in Rosewood, and can be used in combination with any of the DGT chess sets. The board can be used with PCs that are not Bluetooth enabled and recharges in twenty-four hours for full play.

In his first Fritz-trainer opening DVD, Moldavian GM Viktor Bologan presents a repertoire for Black in the Caro-Kann. Over the course of twenty videos Bologan presents all the main systems with emphasis on the opening and early middlegame for a running time of nearly five hours.

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 Sicilian with 3.Bb5
by Alexei Shirov

On this DVD, Alexei Shirov continues his series of opening lectures based on his own games. The subject this time around is the Rossolimo Variation of the Sicilian Defense that arises after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5. Of the ten video segments, he devotes three to 3...g6, three to 3...Nf6, three to 3...e6, and one to 3...d6. Plus there are three bonus videos from Shirov’s DVDs My Best Games in the Sicilian and My Best Games with Black for a total running time of more than seven hours.

He notes that the benefit of 3.Bb5 is to avoid the long theoretical variations that come about after 3.d4, especially in the Sveshnikov Variation where the theory often extends out to move thirty. He claims the Rossolimo is for players who prefer a more realistic approach and who like to find their own way on the board without turning the game into a memory contest.

Given that he has played 3.Bb5 many times, Shirov believed it would be an easy task to prepare a DVD on the variation; however, he discovered that “it was not at all easy,” because he has more questions than answers for White. He notes it is a very complicated opening because Black has four reasonable replies at move three, and that he himself has played all four of these replies at different stages of his career. Shirov endeavors throughout to present the best moves for both sides and we see him in action as white against the likes of Kramnik, Carlsen, and Leko, and as black against Kasparov, Kamsky, and Morozevich to name just a few.

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 Reader that installs onto your hard disk. If you already have CB10 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.

The Caro-Kann
by Viktor Bologan

In his first Fritz-trainer opening DVD, Moldavian GM Viktor Bologan presents a full repertoire for Black in the Caro-Kann. Over the course of twenty videos Bologan fluently presents all the main systems, as well as various White sidelines, with emphasis on the opening and early middlegame for a running time of nearly five hours.

Every video is devoted to a separate line with Bologan providing the ideas and move-orders behind each system along with the precise knowledge necessary to employ the opening. Bologan notes that he presents his own analysis and recommends the moves he himself would play at the present moment. Thus, the viewer receives top-level theory that is explained in a simple manner so that it can be played on any level. Each video segment ends with a two minute conclusion that summarizes the main ideas and points out the most important moments.

Bologan describes the Caro-Kann as a very solid opening, where the main idea is to establish a strong pawn on d5, while retaining freedom of movement for Black’s light-squared bishop. He notes that Black rarely has pawn structure weaknesses in this opening or suffers from poor piece placement. Furthermore, Black has opportunities to take over the initiative, and can look forward to a complex battle with many nuances that offers possibilities to outplay your opponent.

New Catalog Additions

9/1 DGT Electronic WIRELESS Chessboard
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