Checkpoint by Carsten Hansen Reviewed This Month: Easy Guide to the Najdorf by Tony Kosten Queen's Gambit Declined: Bg5 Systems by Bogdan Lalic Magazine Review Special - Part Two: Chess Monthly New In Chess Magazine Schach ChessBase Magazine Europe Echecs Traditionally the summer months are the time for exams, vacations and opens open chess tournaments, that is. But for the large group of people who don't take part in the open tournament circuit, the summer often means time off from chess because the chess club is closed. Maybe as a result of that, it seems that the frequency of new chess books on the market diminishes a bit during the summer, only to increase again in August and September. Whether this is deliberate on the publishers part or not, I don't know, but it seems to be the case every year. Nevertheless, I have no shortage of books to review. Opening books always seem to have the interest for the majority of the chess book buying public. This time I will take a look at a book that came out in the beginning of the year and one that came out very recently. In addition, we have the second and final part of our Magazine Review Special that we began last month. Easy Guide to the Najdorf by Tony Kosten, 1999 Everyman Chess, Softcover, Figurine Algebraic Notation, 128pp., $18.95 I first became acquainted with English Grandmaster Tony Kosten as a writer back in 1992, when his book Winning with the Philidor came out. Although I at first found the title to be rather optimistic who could possibly think about actually winning with the Philidor Defence (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6)? Despite my initial doubts, I bought the book and found a number of interesting ideas. In fact, I found it so interesting that I not only made it an integral part of my opening repertoire, both in normal and correspondence chess, but I also convinced my friend Steffen Pedersen (at that time, soon to be International Master) to take it up as well. The book and the opening served me very well, and although I found some problems along the way (like you will with any opening Kasparov, I'm sure, has also had his share of problems in the Najdorf and the Gruenfeld), they were also worked out. My point with the above anecdote is that in his books Tony Kosten manages to inspire people to take up an opening, standing up for it through fire and rain. Despite getting little bit older since 1992 (that happens to even to the best of us) and despite getting less impressionable over the years, the feeling of wanting to try a new opening came over me again when I started sifting through the pages of the present book. When an author makes you feel that way, it's because he understands how to present the material in such a way that you want to believe every word he writes. But as mentioned above, I have become less impressionable (and a little stronger) over the years, so I immediately started looking for any problems in the repertoire that Kosten presents us. Let's have a look at his repertoire recommendations: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6, and now: (1) 6 Be3 e5; (2) 6 Bg5 e6 7 f4 (other moves are covered too) 7...Nc6; (3) 6 Bc4 e6 7 Bb3 b5; (4) 6 Be2 e5 7 Nb3 Be7 8 0-0 0-0; (5) 6 g3 e5; (6) 6 f4 e5 7 Nf3 Nbd7 8 a4 Be7; (7) other 6th moves While I will not claim to be an expert on the Najdorf (I last played it in 1986 and played against it in 1990!), I have followed the development of theory just enough to satisfy my curiosity. Against 6 Be3 he recommends 6...e5, which I think is just about the smartest choice in the book. For obvious reasons 6...e6 was ignored, White simply has too many options: The English Attack, or he can transpose to the Scheveningen main lines with 7 Be2, to mention but a few. Kosten says that he was tempted to recommend 6...Ng4, which is a favorite of Kasparov's, but aside from White's draw invitation with 7 Bc1 Nf6 8 Be3, White could choose a different move order by playing 6 f3 first, and only then 7 Be3. Against 6 f3, like 6 Be3, Black has 6...e5 which normally will transpose to the lines with 6 Be3. Another potential problem is that the line he recommends after 6...Ng4 could, with the current focus on this move, easily be at the receiving end of a major bust, which would blow the repertoire for the new Najdorf hopefuls. His recommendation against 6 Bg5 is in my humble opinion more questionable. The line 6...e6 7 f4 Nc6 hasn't yet received wide attention, which makes it suitable as a surprise weapon, but as the only move in your repertoire in a critical main line it is quite dangerous. That Grandmasters such as Shirov, Anand, Gelfand, Leko, Bologan and, more frequently, Browne have used it, does of course vouch for its qualities, but there is still cause for concern when you make a rare line your main line. Not only is it quite easy to prepare against, it is a very dangerous policy as you are very susceptible to busts. Since the book came out in January, it is interesting to see whether any problems have occurred yet. The first move that popped up on my computer was the relatively unknown 8 Qd3, getting a position which also can arise via the Richter-Rauzer 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Bg5 e6 7 Qd3 a6 8 f4 (See Diagram) Nothing is mentioned about this move, although the typical plan with ...g5 has caused Black some headaches: 8...h6 9 Bh4 g5 (9...Bd7!? can be considered as in Blaskowski-Sch”nthier, 2.Bundesliga 1991: 10 0-0-0 g5 11 fxg5 Ng4 12 Nf3 Be7, and here can 13 Qd2!? be considered, intending to meet 13...Nge5 with 14 Rg1! and if Black takes on g5 White has an extra piece to take back with) 10 fxg5 Ng4 11 Nxc6 (Byrne-Saidy, New York 1965, saw White try the interesting 11 0-0-0, and after 11...Nce5 12 Qd2 Be7 13 Be2 hxg5 14 Bg3 Nf6 15 Nf3 Nfd7 16 Qe3, White has the initiative) 11...bxc6 12 0-0-0 hxg5 13 Bg3 Qb6 (13...e5!? actually leaves a better impression: 14 Na4 Be5 15 Qc3 Qc7 16 Bd3, Rajna-Cabrilo, Kecskemet 1979, and instead of 16...Nf6? which allowed 17 Nc5!, Junior 6 recommends the highly provocative 16...Ne3!?, which is surprisingly difficult to meet effectively) 14 Rd2 Ne5 15 Bxe5 dxe5 16 Na4, with a better game for White, David-Fressinet, Cannes 2000. But 8 Nxc6 is the main line: 8...bxc6 9 e5 h6 10 Bh4 g5 11 fxg5 Nd5 12 Ne4 (12 Nxd5 cxd5 13 Qg4!? caused Black problems in Panatojov-Sandler, Albena 1989, but Kosten gives 13...hxg5! which seems okay for Black. His analysis continues with 14 Bxg5 Rg8 15 Bxd8 Rxg4 16 Bf6 dxe5, after which Kosten prefers Black) 12...Qb6 13 Bd3 hxg5, and here there are three options (See Diagram): (a) 14 Bf2 Qxb2 (or 14...Qa5+ 15 c3 dxe5 16 0-0 f5 17 Nxg5, Lane-Skrivanek, Las Vegas 1995, and now 17...Be7! would have left Black with better game, this line isn't given in the book) 15 0-0 Qxe5 16 Bg3 Qd4+ (Kosten recommends the untried 16...Nf4!, which apppears good for Black) 17 Kh1 f5! 18 c3! Nxc3 19 Nxc3 Qxc3 20 Rc1 Qa5 21 Rxc6 Bb7 22 Qb3! Bxc6 23 Qxe6+ Kd8, with a probable draw, Arencibia-Martin del Campo, Matanzas 1994. (b) 14 Bxg5 Qxb2 (14...dxe5 15 Nf6+ Nxf6 16 Bxf6 Rh6, Z.Almasi-Leko, Hungary ch 1997, and here Tyomkin gives 17 Qf3 as best, continuing 17...Bd6 18 Rd1 Bb7 19 Be4 as unclear, but 18 Bg5! Rh8 19 Be4 Rb8 20 Qf6 is unpleasant. However, 17...e4! seems to solve Black's problems: 18 Bxe4 Rxf6! 19 Bxc6+ Bd7 20 Bxd7+ Ke7! 21 Qxa8 Qe3+ 22 Kd1 Qd4+ 23 Kc1 Qf4+ with a draw), here Kosten only gives 15 0- 0 and 15 Nf6+, while the interesting 15 c4!? is left out of the equation. One example is Nataf-Hamdouchi, Nice 1996, which went as follows: 15...Qxe5 (15...Nb4!? is horribly complicated, but possibly okay for Black) 16 cxd5 Bg7 (16...cxd5? 17 Bf6 Rxh2 18 Bxe5 Rxh1+ 19 Bf1 +-) 17 0-0!? Qxh2+ 18 Kf2 f5 19 Qa4 0-0 20 Nf6+ Bxf6 21 Bxf6 Rxf6 22 Rh1 Qe5 23 Rae1 Qb2+ (23...Qxd5!? 24 Qh4 Kf7 has been given as unclear by Tyomkin, but although Black has to defend for a little while, he has two extra pawns, e.g. 25 Qh7+ Ke8 26 Qc7 Qd4+ 27 Ke2 Rg6) 24 Re2 Qb6+ 25 Kf1 f4 26 dxe6, and here Tyomkin gives 26...Bxe6 with a clear edge, but is this really so? The obvious 27 Rxe6 appears good for White, who doesn't seem to be losing after 27...Rxe6 28 Qxf4 Re7 29 Qf6, and Black has to pull the saving 29...Re1+! out of the hat. A draw is certain after 30 Kxe1 Qe3+ 31 Be2 Qc1+ 32 Kf2 Qxh1 33 Qg6+ Kh8 34 Qf6+. But this is far from what Kosten wrote in his book. (c) 14 Bg3 dxe5 (Kosten calls 14...Qe3+ "...a perfectly playable alternative" and offers the following line: 15 Qe2 Qxe2+ 16 Bxe2 dxe5 17 Bxe5 Rh4 18 Nf6+ Nxf6 19 Bxf6 Be7, and Black "is close to equality", but 18 Nf6+ doesn't make any sense. Obviously both the knights on e4 and d5 are both quite strong, but the knight on d5 can be kicked with c4, so to exchange it only helps Black. Black's pawn structure has so many weaknesses that simplifications only can help Black. Simple and good is 18 g3! Rh6 19 c4, and Black's position is anything but pleasant. But Shirov's 14...Nf4! is much better, e.g. 15 Bxf4 gxf4 16 Nxd6+ Bxd6 17 exd6 Qb4+ (17...Qxb2 18 0-0 Qd4+ 19 Kh1 Qxd6 20 Be4 +=) 18 Qd2 Qxd2+ 19 Kxd2 Kd7 with a drawish endgame - analysis by Shirov/Tischbierek) 15 Bxe5 Rh4, and here Tischbierek-Shirov from the German Bundesliga 2000 varied from Kosten's book: 16 Qd2 f5? 17 Nf6+! Nxf6 18 Bxf6 Bb4 19 c3 Bd6 20 Bxg5 Rg4 21 Be2 Rxg5 22 Qxg5 Qxb2 23 Bh5+ Kd7 24 Qg7+, and Shirov threw in the towel. As you can see, with a few exceptions, Kosten has done reasonably well so far in the above line, however, I remain doubtful that the line will stand the test of time. It simply appears too risky. I will not go in-depth with the other lines, but Kosten has chosen solid lines, all of which seem to be well covered. The strength of this book isn't the theory, although the theoretical part is also very good. The strength is Kosten's ability to explain the opening in a way so that everybody understands what the opening is about. This ability is quite unique, and I can only think of a handful of other people who do it as well as Kosten. You may think that nobody can cover the entire Najdorf in a mere 128 pages, but that isn't what Kosten is trying to do. He offers a good, playable repertoire for Black. The ideas are explained in sufficient detail, yet without over-complicating the issues. If you want complete coverage of all lines, good luck with Nunn/Gallagher's two-volume work and a powerful database to bring you up-to-date. I know where I would start. One important issue is, however, that this is a repertoire book for Black only, and therefore many lines are omitted or go unmentioned. While stronger players may find it somewhat oversimplified, I find it ideally suited for most players rated up to around 2200. Of course don't believe everything you read (that's my point with the analysis given above), check the analysis, and do some of your own. That's will always be the key to truly understanding an opening. Aside from my objection to his choice of line against 6 Bg5, I think Kosten once again has produced a magnificent book. The only question left is: what will his next book be about? My assessment of the book: **** Queen's Gambit Declined: Bg5 Systems by Bogdan Lalic, 2000 Everyman Chess, Softcover, Figurine Algebraic Notation, 208 pages, Price $19.95 This book covers a very important subject that has been ignored for quite some time in English-language books. Why a publisher hasn't brought out a book on this topic sooner, I have no idea. It can't be because the opening isn't topical, because most grandmasters play one or more lines in this book with either White or Black with some frequency. The only reason I can suggest is that they haven't been able to find someone competent enough who was interested in writing a book such as this. I know very little of Lalic as an author, although I have seen his name on a book about the Queen's Indian, as well as on several Trends booklets. So the Croatian, but English-based, grandmaster should be competent to write a book like this. What is the aim of this book? The back cover blurb offers: "The Bg5 lines of the Queen's Gambit Declined include some of the most popular and important opening systems at all levels of play. "Here, for the first time in many years, a strong and experienced grandmaster covers all lines of this opening in objective fashion. Lalic fully acquaints readers with the main lines, and prepares them to face unusual systems and rare gambit ideas with confidence. "Among the lines covered are the Exchange Variation, Tartakower Defence, Lasker Defence, Cambridge Springs and the Classical Orthodox Defence, all of which have been used at World Championship level. · Comprehensive coverage of an important opening system · Written by a top-class grandmaster · Strategic guidance for both White and Black It sounds pretty good to me, but does the book fulfill the promises of the back cover? Let's have a look. The first surprise was on the contents page. Under "Part 1: Exchange variation", chapter 1 is called "The Alatortsev Variation: 3...Be7 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bf4". Wait a minute! Isn't this a book about Bg5 systems? Oh yes, but 3...Be7 is designed to avoid particular lines of the Exchange Variation where White is able to play Bg5 and keep the option of Nge2. Of course a line like this belongs in a book about the Queen's Gambit in general, but if you limit yourself by titling the book "Bg5 Systems", then it doesn't belong. A similar example can be found in Part 2 "White Plays an Early Nf3". In chapter 4 "An Anti-Bf4 Line". In some of the examples in this chapter, White doesn't even develop his c1- bishop until much later and plays e3 instead! A further paradox is that White's best, according to Lalic, in this line (after 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Nf3 Nbd7) is 5 cxd5 exd5 6 Bf4! There are further examples throughout the book where White chooses to omit Bg5. But I think I have made my point. In the introduction it is not clear what the book is about either. Lalic gives us a nice set of classical games with the Queen's Gambit starting with Zukertort-Steinitz, New York Wch (19) 1886, and ending with two games between Karpov and Kasparov from their matches in 1984/85 and 1986. The annotations are not particularly in-depth, and while the games are of some interest, the presentation appears lackluster. Next follows 17 chapters divided into 4 parts: Exchange Variations, White Plays an Early Nf3, 4 Bg5: Deviations for Both Sides and Main Lines. Each chapter consists of a number of annotated games. Each game usually covers a main line, while the side lines are covered in the annotations. But not everything is covered, mentioned or explained. One such example can be found in game 55 (on page 105), Cebalo-Yudasin, Bern 1989: 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 c4 d5 4 Nc3 dxc4 5 e4 Bb4 6 Bg5 c5 7 e5 h6!?. To Black's last move he comments: "I prefer this to the older 7...cxd4, which requires a huge amount of knowledge in the wild variations such as 8 Qa4+ (or 8 Nxd4 Qa5 9 exf6 Bxc3+ 10 bxc3 Qxg5 11 fxg7 Qxg7 12 Qd2) 8...Nc6 9 0-0-0 Bd7 10 Ne4 Be7 11 exf6 gxf6 12 Bh4 Rc8 13 Kb1 Na5 14 Qc2 e5, etc." Why is it that he prefers 7...h6? Is it because 7...cxd4 requires a huge amount of knowledge, or is it because it's an inferior move? Is it space limitations or could it be laziness? I don't know. Examples like that can be found throughout the book. I find them annoying, because he teases us, but then decides not to tell to us anyway. This doesn't make the book comprehensive, but more like 'as observed by Lalic'. But while I have given my points of criticism above, there is certainly a lot to praise in this book. First of all, there is Lalic's willingness to offer his own opinion about every single line in the book. Original pieces of analysis, improvements and suggestions can be found in abundance in this book. People who read Checkpoint regularly know that I value this highly. A book can be clumsily written, but if the author has put in a real effort in offering new material and his own analysis, he gets a plus in my book. Another thing is that he has plenty of narrative explanations throughout the book, assessing positions and general ideas. This makes the book useful for a larger group of people. While everybody may not understand every single move that is quoted, the explanations give you some guidance about what to pay attention to and which plans to follow in a given position. While I find this book somewhat mislabeled, it has a lot of genuine qualities that I enjoy, and therefore it makes it easy for me to recommend this book to players rated from around 1700 up to around 2200-2300; stronger players may also find it useful. My assessment of the book: **** Magazine Review Special - Part Two Three murders, five assaults, two house fires, one car chase, a three-year-old boy who can play the piano and a dog that can call 911. That was the contents of the nightly news a few nights ago on one of my local TV-stations here in Los Angeles. If you think that the above makes for interesting viewing, then you are of a different opinion than me. Therefore I'm pleased to announce that for the second month running, I have been able to get my news from other sources: some of the finest European chess magazines around. I doubt I have missed much on TV, because the same news will be on tomorrow and a week from now; only the names will be different. Before I proceed, I remind everyone that if you know of a great magazine (you could be the editor, a subscriber, or somebody else who likes good chess magazines), please let us know at hwr@chesscafe.com. Chess Monthly (Great Britain) - Editors Malcolm Pein (executive) & Jimmy Adams - 12 issues/year - A4-size - English language - Basic Subscription US$ 70.00/ 44.95 - E- mail: chesscentre@easynet.co.uk - Website: www.chess.co.uk Before I arrived in England in October 1997, I was familiar with only two British chess magazines: British Chess Magazine (which I reviewed last month) and the highly humorous and provocative Kingpin, which is published with some irregularity. So which magazine did I choose to subscribe to? Chess Monthly! I had of course asked my new English chess friends, and all suggested Chess Monthly (CM). What makes CM a good magazine? I can think of a number of things. First, there are excellent contributors such as John Emms, Daniel King, Andrew Martin, Jonathan Rowson and Chris Ward. Second, there are not too many regular columns (such as in Chess Life, which I reviewed last month). The ones I have noticed are: How Good is Your Chess? (Daniel King), How Bad is Your Chess? (Chris Baker), Internet Diary (C.P.Ravilious), Find the Winning Moves, Bits and Pieces (Andrew Martin), Addicts' Corner (Mike Fox & Richard James), Collectors' Corner (Gareth Williams) & Problem Album (Comins Mansfield), of which not all of can found in each issue. Third, great humor. I don't think that in any other country in the world you are able to find as many chess magazines with such a positive, let's-have-some-fun attitude as you can in England. Our British friends can make almost any topic an amusing read. Please don't misunderstand me, the quality is high and the magazine also covers serious topics. But a solid dose of humor is often added, articles such as Addicts' Corner are pure lighthearted entertainment. Addicts' Corner can best be described as a satirical version of Edward Winter's Chess Notes in New In Chess crossed with Tim Krabbe's Chess Curiousities. Their comments and findings refer to the lighter side of chess. Here is an example under the heading Yet Another Record: " Gregory Dighton becomes the world's youngest player ever to achieve a GM norm. Gregory is three. The GM norm is courtesy of FARCE, and the lad (son of Warley Quinborne's board two) gets it for his intelligent contribution to our Name That Piece series (Addicts' Corner last month). Greg got all the pieces right (give or take your views of calling a knight 'a horsy'); but when it came to the pawns, he said with unerring logic: 'Oh, those! They are the different ones.'" Another example from the same issue: "Pawn Structure - The saddies amongst you who are Fifteen to One [British TV-show] addicts will have noted that a recent winner, when asked 'How many pawns are on the board at the beginning of a chess game?' came back quick as a flash with: 'Twenty four'." Maybe it's a bit silly, but between all the seriousness of chess, people need to laugh, and laughs are a plentiful commodity when reading Addicts' Corner. CM, being a British magazine, covers all major (and many minor) tournaments and events in the British Isles, many tournaments with British participants from the rest of the World as well as most high-category events. Their tournament reports are insightful, funny and well-written. The same goes for the game annotations, which are also first-rate, although it isn't always 100% clear who's annotating. There is one thing that I really don't like about CM, and that is the book reviews. Pretty much every review is favorable. That makes them look more like advertisements rather than giving the reader an objective point of view (although book reviews often are anything but objective). Of course it makes sense to say something good about the books when you also have a chess store where you sell them. But more honest opinions are definitely needed. Last month I reviewed British Chess Magazine (BCM), which is a competitor to CM. Even after having thought about it for a while, I haven't been able to make my mind up which I like better. My feeling is though, that BCM is a little more serious than CM, but CM is the most fun. My assessment of the magazine: **** New In Chess (Netherlands) - Editors Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam (in-chief), Jan Timman (in-chief) & Rene Olthof - 8 issues/year - Size: 6.5" x 9.5" - English language - Basic Subscription $ 88.00/ 42.00 - E-mail: nic@newinchess.com - Website: www.newinchess.com New In Chess (NIC) started back in 1982, after having made a run over several years in Dutch under the name Schaakbulletin. The ambition level was high back then and it still is. The magazines does not have a lot of regular features, although Hans Ree's articles on various aspects of chess, editor Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam's interviews, Matthew Sadler's book reviews and Edward Winter's Chess Notes are worthy inclusions in any chess magazine anywhere. Even if all the other articles were rubbish, these articles alone would make the magazine worth buying. No compromises on quality have been made and all columns seem to be given the space they need. Fortunately the remainder of the magazine isn't rubbish. Au contraire! Usually written by some of the strongest players in the world or by the editors themselves, every one of them has the stamp of quality on it. The game annotations are in a league of their own. Name any top player in the world and chances are that he or she at some stage has contributed annotations to one or more of their games. This commands respect. Not every magazine may claim to have game annotations by Kramnik, Anand, Leko, Morozevich, Timman, van Wely and Piket to name but a few in a recent issue. High quality reading is what it is. Nothing beats reading the world class players own opinion about their games. NIC is considered by many the best chess magazine in the world. I only partly agree with this because with its high quality of games and articles, there is virtually nothing for novices. While there isn't a lot material presented with weaker players in mind, there is plenty of other material. Tournament reports, historical articles, interviews with some of the most familiar faces in top chess, opening theory, articles on endgames and crucial encounters of the past, provoking views and much more. This is why NIC is so highly regarded around the world. The articles are written by the many of the best players and writers in chess. And as you work your way through every issue, you feel enlightened and inspired to reach new levels yourself. Let's take a look at some of the more regular features. Dutch grandmaster Hans Ree is undoubtedly one of the best to write about chess and chess-related matters. His views are often thought-provoking and insightful, always colorful and never boring. Ree has a lot of fans around the world, and I must admit to being one of them. Hans Ree also writes here at The Chess Cafe, and should you be interested in more articles by Ree, I can highly recommend his book The Human Comedy of Chess. The interviews by ten Geuzendam have become one of the trademarks of NIC. He never seems afraid to ask any kind of question. In recent issues he has interviewed Karpov, Piket, and more interestingly Petra Kortchnoi (Leeuwerik). Going back over the years he has interviewed almost everybody you can think of. But ten Geuzendam doesn't only concentrate on the interviews. His tournament reports, mainly from Dutch tournaments, are always first rate. Sadler on Books is a relatively recent inclusion in NIC. So far his reviews have been insightful (at least in my opinion), but I wish he would have a little more space to cover a few more books. Hopefully he will be granted this over time. Edward Winter's Chess Notes is an eclectic mix of new and old. Winter points out interesting facts, coincidences, quotes, etc. that he finds in a great variety of sources. He is also vigilant about correcting mistakes, misspellings, incorrect dates, locations of particular games and the like that he comes across. Some people may not like this very much, but that is probably because they have a problem with accuracy themselves. I think it makes very interesting reading material as it helps us to have an accurate record of what actually took place and when. I personally enjoy it when Winter concentrates on the 'archaeological' side of his research, because I find that it is where he is truly at his best, and I wish that he would give this a higher preference compared to other topics. The number of important discoveries that have seen the light of day in his column is very high, and that is what makes Chess Notes indispensable. While I think some of the notes are of genuine interest (at least to me), other things seem to be included because Winter alone finds them interesting. But it's difficult to point the finger at what exactly should be excluded. What one person dislikes may just be another's cup of tea. Co-editor Jan Timman isn't just known as a world class chess player, he can also be a fabulous analyst (his game collections are highly recommended to anybody who is serious about improving). In addition, I particularly look forward to his endgame analysis. Having someone like Timman explain the subtleties of an endgame can only enrich your understanding of chess. Once in while, Genna Sosonko, co-editor of the NIC Yearbooks, writes an article about a chess personality from the former Soviet Union. His articles about Koblenz, Vitolinsh, Smyslov and several others are really fascinating and I wish he could find the time to write an article for each issue. New In Chess is a fantastic magazine, there is absolute no question about that. The list of contributors is unparalleled and beyond comparison with any other magazine in the world. For the serious chess player there is probably not a better choice and for the rest of us there is plenty of superb material. My assessment of the magazine: ***** Schach (Germany) - Editors: Raj Tischbierek, Sibylle Heyme & Dirk Poldauf - 12 issues/year - Size: 6.5" x 9.3" - German language - Basic Subscription DEM 96.00 - E-mail: redaktion_schach@compuserve.com - Website: www.zeitschriftschach.de I first got acquainted with Schach in 1991 when I was travelling back and forth through Europe as a full-time chessplayer. Most train trips from Denmark (where I come from) to the rest of Europe make a stop in either Berlin or Hamburg. It was on one of those stops in Hamburg I first found Schach on the shelves of a news stand. Back then the Nf3+Rb1 line in the exchange variation of the Gruenfeld (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Nf3 c5 8 Rb1) all the rage. In Schach I found my key to the line, because Khalifman (who at the time had just moved to Germany) was covering the line in a series of articles. This of course made it logical for me to continue buying the magazines, and even after I finished my 'career', I had Steffen Pedersen buy the magazines for me every time he ventured out into the European chess scene. But Khalifman's articles were not the only attraction in the magazine. A lot of events, mostly German, that were not covered elsewhere could be found in the pages of Schach. This still appears to be the case today.. In the magazines I received, it is no longer Khalifman covering the Exchange Gruenfeld, but Gallagher on the King's Gambit (these articles are also to be found in the British Chess Magazine). Fortunately the magazine is also about a lot other things. The main focus is on German events or events with German players. In particular the heralded German Bundesliga gets a lot of attention, because the Bundesliga is probably the strongest national team championship in the world with many of the world's best chess players participating. In Germany they also have a women's league, but in comparison, the only coverage they get is the publication of results (while the men have 6-8 pages in each issue). In the four issues I have handy, there was only one partial game and it was without annotations. I find it sad that when you have something as unique as an all female league (12 teams of six players each) it isn't given better coverage. Furthermore, I find that there are too many pages spent on giving the results, board for board in the 2. Bundesliga. Nowadays most people have access to the internet, and such a media is ideal to transmit the individual results in lower leagues. Another point of criticism is the number of un-annotated games, which in some issues is quite high. Although it takes up a bit more space, a few analytical comments can easily be included (as is usually done in New In Chess). However, the articles are usually well-written and very objective. This of course makes for a good read, but the entertainment factor isn't as a high in this magazine as compared, for example, to Chess Monthly. The last part of the magazine contains all the regular contributions, exercises of various kinds (combinations, endgame studies and problems), miniatures, anecdotes and much more. An amazing amount of material has been crammed into relatively few pages. Overall, I think this is another very good magazine, which I would recommend to people with their German skills in place and who have genuine interest in German events. My assessment of the magazine: *** ChessBase Magazine (Germany) - Editors: Frederic Friedel, Rainer Knaak & Andre Schulz - 6 issues/year - A5-size - English language - Basic Subscription DEM 195.00 - E-mail: magazine@chessbase.com - Website: www.chessbase.com Chess Base Magazine (CBM) is magazine like no other. The concept of the magazine is simply to offer people with ChessBase something they can't find any other place. Each issue of CBM consists of a printed magazine and a CD-ROM. The printed magazine is quite thin, normally around 26 pages, with only a few topics covered. The most important are usually: (1) A run-down of what's on the CD; (2) A subject related to how to do a particular thing in the ChessBase and Fritz programs; (3) New Products from ChessBase; (4) History of the World Champions by Garry Kasparov; (5) A lecture by Daniel King; and (6) Combinations selected by Alexander Baburin The above is pretty much everything there is in the printed magazine. However, the printed magazine is hardly the reason why you should subscribe to CBM. For that you have to look on the CD-ROM which is packed with material. To give an example, I will review the massive amount of contents on CD # 75. (1) The main database. New games from tournaments from 11/99 to 01/00. Most of the games are unannotated, but several have comments by players such as Psakhis, Alterman, Chuchelov, M. Gurevich, Atalik, Lutz, Wedberg, Huzman, Ftacnik and many others. The quality of the annotations varies quite a bit. In this issue there was a total of 1824 games. Obviously with The Week In Chess coming out every week with an equivalent number of games that CBM comes out with every two months; it is obviously the game annotations that set them apart. (2) The multimedia database. In this issue it is outtakes from Frederic Friedel's home videos shot during Wijk aan Zee (WAZ) 2000. They mostly consist of the players analysing their games, but there are also a few short interviews and a run- through of a couple of the games by the players themselves. From WAZ there is also a shot with some of the present players delivering some jokes. It's quite interesting to see what these players look like and how they talk. Finally, there is also an interview with Karsten Mueller, who tells us about his new book on pawn endings (Secrets of Pawn Endings - an excellent book. A full review may be found in The Chess Cafe Archives.) (3) Theory. There are four topics covered in this issue (most of the time there are only two or three). The topics are: (a) A45: Black Repertoire against the Trompowsky Attack by Alexander Bangiev; b) D92: Gruenfeld Defence with 6 Rc1 dxc4 by Lubomir Ftacnik; (c) C15: French Defence, Winckelmann-Reimer Gambit by Jerzy Konikowski; and (d) E09: Catalan Opening, Ba6 Variation by Zoltan Ribli The quality of these treatises vary greatly as does the topics which often are quite peculiar. For example, Konikowski's contributions seem to concentrate on rarely played openings. (4) Middlegame. Daniel King gives lectures on various topics. Part of the lecture is reprinted in the magazine, but the better part of it can only be found on the CD. Sometimes his lectures are very interesting, other times more bland, when he seems uninspired. For weaker players there is often good material to pick up on, because King is a good teacher, and he makes it interesting to follow his lectures. (5) Tactics. Alexander Baburin selects a number of combinations and combinatorial themes from the games section. In this issue there are 29 examples. (6) Endgame. Hans Joachim Hecht presents endgames accompanied by some didactic essays. This is usually my favorite section, because his selections are quite good. However, I would like to see the endgames annotated better. Often there are only one or two verbal comments, which is of little use to people who are trying to learn something. (7) Telechess. This is the correspondence and e-mail chess section. CC-GMs Morgado and Alvarez give us a look into this special part of the chess world. Their English isn't the best, but their contributions are nonetheless fairly interesting. (8) New Products. This can also be found the printed magazine. It's basically advertisements for their new products, but it's up to each reader whether they want to open this file or not. But I suspect most people do; you might miss something if you don't! (9) Updates. ChessBase supplies their subscribers with this brilliant service. Their products are naturally being updated all the time. The updates include bug fixes and added features in their ChessBase, Fritz and Junior software. CBM has a tremendous amount of material, not all of it first rate, but always of some interest and they go a long way to offer something for players of all levels. This makes CBM a good investment for people who want to improve on their chess skills and for those who also may want to see live pictures of their chess heroes. My assessment of the magazine: **** Europe Echecs (France) - Editor: Christophe Bouton - 11 issues/year - A4-size - French language - Basic Subscription: FFR 335.00 - E-mail: redaction"europe-echecs.com - Website: www.europe-echecs.com When we first planned the magazine reviews, I was very excited about the inclusion of Europe Echecs (EE). I had never seen a copy of the magazine anywhere, but only heard that it was supposed to be good. But how good is good? The magazine is widely available in French-speaking countries such as France (of course), Belgium, Switzerland, Morocco, and Canada. After refreshing my French (not the opening) skills, I really found this magazine to my liking. Why do I like the magazine? Well, first of all it sparkles with energy, lots of pictures, pages of different colors and a lot of annotated games. There is usually something for everybody; the articles are well-written, balanced and interesting. It sounds great and it is! As a magazine that is aiming at everybody, it hits remarkably well. There is a natural tendency to first focus on the French events, including the very strong French league, but all of the other major events are covered in some depth. In the articles there are no shortage of games, and most are annotated, but as mentioned in the review of Schach above, it would be easy to include some analytical (non-verbal) annotations to the remainder of the games. It wouldn't take up much more space and it would make the games more enjoyable for weaker players who may not understand all the subtleties. In the middle of the magazine there is 'a beginner's magazine', which covers things in more basic terms, explains about combinations, opening, strategy, endgames, the old masters and much more. I wish every magazine would do this. Many magazines have little or no consideration for people who are just taking up the game. Here it is done in a way that clearly explains the topic at hand. Regular features include the usual combination exercises, which in EE often is done by highlighting a famous player of the past or well known player of the present; Rosenthal, Gipslis, Kallai, Hauchard and A. Sokolov were the ones featured in the magazines I received. To me this is an interesting way of making a typical feature more interesting. Another thing I really like about this magazine is the monthly column on endgame studies. Not only do they have a number of studies to solve, the columns also have a lot of text, explaining ideas and giving annotations to the studies. Sometimes a study composer is featured with a number of his studies and something about his life. This makes for interesting reading. All too often in magazines, the study column shares one page with the problem column, leaving no space for text, pictures or anything else that can make it more interesting. Similarly, the problem page is excellent, not as much text though, but still quality material that goes in-depth. Ideas behind the problems are explained and some are annotated and, in addition, there are problems for the reader to solve. Even I, who take absolutely no joy in solving chess problems, enjoyed the problem pages in EE. This should give you an idea of the quality of the material presented in EE. There are also a number of tournament result pages in each issue, divided into French and International tournaments. Pages like these can be boring and monotonous, but not so in EE. Pictures, games, scoreboards and some text make these pages enjoyable. Trying to be objective is difficult when you are truly excited about something. One thing I will not try to hide is my real enthusiasm for EE. It is a fantastic magazine, which I think everybody should subscribe to even if they just understand some French (however, this is in fact needed). Editors of other chess magazines around the world should make it their duty to buy a year's subscription to Europe Echecs to see how a chess magazine should be published. It aims at everybody and it hits every time. My sincere recommendations are hereby forwarded to the rest of the chess world. Subscribe, you will not be disappointed. My assessment of the magazine: ***** This completes our Magazine Review Special at this time. It has been a great experience for me, and I hope that you, the reader, have enjoyed it too. My two favorite magazines in this special are Europe Echecs and New In Chess. Both are exceptionally good magazines, each with their own unique qualities. There is a big group of runners-up. They too are great magazines which deserve to be seriously considered by many.