Checkpoint by Alexander Baburin This month features two books and two chess CDs. Reviewing chess CDs is something new to me and I decided not to give my assessment yet (see The Ratings at the end of the column), but instead give as detailed a description of my experience with those CDs as possible. As ultimately there will be more and more chess CDs on the market, let's start with discussing this new product first. Year Book No. 50, the Grandmaster Guide to Opening News 1999, CD by Interchess BV I must say that it took me a good while, before I became familiar with this CD. The main reason is that I am a ChessBase user and other programs, such as Chess Assistant or, as in this case, NiCBase, are new to me. If this program is new to you as well, then this review may be particularly suitable for you, as novices often have a fresher look than experienced users. So, let's start with the very beginning - what it is, how it looks like and how it works. Once you have this CD, you insert it into your computer's CD- drive and install it. The process takes little time and is described on the CD's label. Presumably, the CD works in Windows 3.0/3.1/3.11, Windows 95 and Windows 98, as instructions are written for these environments. Once you install the program, a 'NiCrom' option is added to your 'Programs' menu. By clicking on that, you see the following screen: 2d Let's go over this screen step by step, talking about some functions. I should say that most menus offer you a choice between English, German and Dutch. 'Introduction' explains what is on the CD and how you can work with it. It claims that there are tens of thousands of games on the CD, but to my shame I failed to find how to list them all (to see what and how many games there are). I managed to find my own games (29 altogether) by using the 'Game Viewer' function and typing 'Baburin', but when I left the field empty (I thought I was clever and would get ALL the games listed), the program showed me only 999 games. Maybe more intelligent users will be luckier... Anyway, you can search for particular players and see their (mostly unannotated) games; for example you can see 552 games by Kasparov. Selecting one, you will see the following screen: 2e You can play through the game or overview it by clicking on 'Goto'. Annotated games on this CD are not particularly deeply commented and this is a major drawback, as 'row' games are widely available and in huge numbers. This means that the main value of this CD is presumably in its 'surveys'. I looked at a few of them and think that they are good. Here is one example: 2f You can scroll down and read the whole article, after which you can click on 'Main games', to see the game(s) mentioned in the survey. Clicking on 'Study' will bring you games where the same system was employed. There are 31 surveys in Yearbook No. 50 as well as some surveys from previous yearbooks. Alas, I failed to find an explanation how old surveys had come to make their way onto this CD and which criteria they satisfied. One little point most survey/letters are accompanied by photos of their authors, which is nice. You saw an example above Glek's survey and his photo. However, the survey by GM Belikov is accompanied by photo of GM Szabo... OK, Belikov discusses the 'Hungarian Variation' here, but this is still confusing. Also, some photos are rather old, for instance Tiviakov's survey comes with a picture taken in 1994. He lives in Holland now and therefore it should not have been a problem to find a recent photo. The 'Theory' section consists of Sergei Tiviakov's discussion of the English Attack in the Sicilian Defence and Jeroen Bosch's coverage of the following gambit: 1 e4 e6 2 Nf3 d5 3 e5 c5 4 b4. The 'Forum' section, where many letters are featured, is quite worthwhile. Particularly interesting is GM Scherbakov's letter concerning the QGA with 3 e4 e5. The 'Index' section is useful, if you have lots of yearbooks or plan to buy them. There you can quickly find information on where you favourite line was discussed. For example, I looked for my favorite Alekhine Defense: 2g The 'NiC info' section introduces and advertises other products 'NiC' is offering, including books by GMs Donner and Timman. It's hard to assess this CD. I guess that if you are very keen on opening theory, you will find this CD useful, particularly if you are already familiar with the interface of 'NiCBase' and their code system (which does not look convincing to me!). Otherwise you may need time to get used to it. In any case, using just those surveys in your work on opening repertoire may not be sufficient they should be viewed only as an addition to books and your own research. 'The Open Games' 1999, CD by Interchess BV This is yet another CD from 'New in Chess' and this is how it looks like, when you enter it: 2h The technical side of the program was dealt with in the previous review, so I will not repeat it here it is the same 'NiCBase' interface. First of all, the name is a bit misleading, as you will not find, for example, the Ruy Lopez (Spanish) there, although I used to think that 1 e4 e5 defines the game as 'open', whether White puts his bishop on b5 on move 3 or not. Neither did I find the Petrov Defense on the CD, so if you want to prepare against Yusupov or Kramnik, look elsewhere! Again, I find the code system of 'NiCBase' to be unconvincing. For example, by clicking on 'Key Viewer', we get the following screen: 2i This picture (key) is quite strange, if you think of it. Indeed, why is 1 e4 e5 a separate sub-key, if the whole disk is called 'Open Games'? And what is hiding in that key? A lot of stuff, I can tell you for example 2 Nf3 d6 and 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6. Isn't the latter the Italian Game, according to 'NicBase'?! Also 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bb5 is in the 1 e4 e5 key, etc. Now let's look at the first key 'Italian Game'. I always thought that the Italian Game arises after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 c3, but little did I know... According to 'NicBase' the following lines, 3 Bc4 Be7 (Hungarian Game), 3...Nf6 4 d4 and 3...Bc5 4 b4 (Evans Gambit) are all part of the Italian Game! I do believe that definitions are important and cannot approve of this 'lax' approach towards opening classification. Neither can I agree with Jan Timman when he writes in the 'Open Games' that "The Bishop Game is a variation on the Italian Game". I always thought that the Bishop Opening (2 Bc4) is closer to the King's Gambit (2 f4) or to the Vienna Game (2 Nc3), as White wants to keep open an option to play f2-f4 later. Another thing worth mentioning, in Timman's introduction although it's available in three different languages (English, German and Dutch) the same notation (Dutch algebraic) is used everywhere. So, prepare to read something like this: "After 4...Pf6 White's best continuation is 5 Pc6 bc6 6 e5..." not exactly easy to follow, if you are used only to English. Now, what to say about the keys themselves? I checked many, but certainly not all of them, and my impression is the following: when there is a survey accompanying a sub-key, then the sub-key looks good and one can learn from it. But when there is no survey to go with the key, it looks like a collection games, most of which are not annotated. Even annotated games do not explain much, as it's all in symbols - '!?', etc. Furthermore, some of the games are of low quality. An interesting feature of this CD is its 'Famous Players' and 'Experts' function. By clicking on them you will find which famous/well-known player contributed significantly to the open games and what the contribution was. There is some interesting and useful information there, but again, some selections raise questions. For example, I would think that Chigorin merits to be in the 'Famous Players' section, as he was a Challenger and his contribution to the theory of the Evans Gambit was substantial. Nevertheless, I welcome such sections as it's important to show that there are people behind all those 'keys'! To conclude, I would say that this CD does not impress me; I would stick to books and game collections when/if I decide to play 1 e4 or meet it with 1...e5. However, it has some value, particularly when games are accompanied with surveys. One feature common to both CDs under review you can use Fritz 4 or Fritz 5 with them. However, you cannot easily use your favorite chess engine; you have to type in the path instead. The path on my computer was too long to fit into the dedicated line and therefore I could not avail of this function. I guess that 'NicBase' programmers should fix this problem. As computers begin to play an increasingly important role in our life, we may assume that chess publishing will move towards this new medium and that there will be more and more books, magazines, etc. appearing in electronic form. However, personally I still prefer chess books and magazines (for example, New in Chess!) to chess CDs because it's awkward to study CDs, lying on a sofa! 'The Dynamic English' by GM Tony Kosten. 1999 Gambit Publications, Softcover, Figurine Algebraic Notation, 144pp., $19.95 This is sort of a book which you want to learn about before you part with your money - it may or may not be for you and one cannot judge by the title alone. First of all, the book does not cover all White's set-ups in the English (Kosten does not aim at that!) - it deals with systems where White plays 1 c4, 2 g3, 3 Bg2 and then develops his knight to f3 or e2, depending on Black's system. For example, Botvinnik's set-up (c4, g3 and e4) takes up a considerable portion of the book. On the other hand, if you favor lines like 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 d4 or 4 e3, you may need look for a different book. This work would appeal to those who play systems with Bg2 or have just started playing the English Opening - you will find useful hints and recommendations in the book. Before each chapter the author explains how and why a particular line arises. Then he talks about White's strategy (the book is written from White's point of view) and gives some hints, which usually have something to do with pawn structures, typical for a given line. One example - on page 14 Kosten discuss the following position (See Diagram): This position arose in the game Smejkal-Yusupov, 1991/92 after 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 e4 d6 6 Nge2 Nge7 7 d3 0-0 8 0-0 Be6 9 Nd5 Qd7 10 Be3 f5 11 Qd2 Rf7 12 f3 Raf8 13 Rae1 Kh8 14 b3 Ng8. Then Kosten explains how White should handle such pawn formations. He recommends taking on f5 (15 exf5!), followed by d3-d4, and if Black plays ...Bxf5, and f3-f4, should Black recapture on f5 with a pawn. This is illustrated with well-chosen examples, which provide valuable guidelines for the reader. There are more examples like this in the book. Kosten is obviously not keen on spending endless hours on studying opening theory and does not want his reader to do so. Thus, he recommends rather rare lines, which are sound nonetheless. For example, after 1 c4 c5 2 g3 Nf6 3 Bg2 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 Nc3 Nc7 6 Nf3 Nc6 7 0-0 e5 (See Diagram): Here, instead of going into the most fashionable line 8 d3 Be7 9 Nd2, Kosten analyses the less common 8 Ne1, with the idea of taking on c6, with the knight coming into play via d3. Good explanations of White's ideas and the availability of rather off- beat lines, which still contain some poison, are the strong points of this book. Yet, there are drawbacks too. Sometimes Kosten cuts off discussion of lines very early - for example, on page 65 after 1 c4 e5 2 g3 f5 3 Bg2 Nf6 4 d4 Bb4+ 5 Bd2 Bxd2+ 6 Qxd2 d6 7 Nc3 0-0 8 e3 c6 he writes "with chances of equality." This may not be enough information for some readers. I also feel that the lines with 1...e6 and 1...c6 are not covered as well, as the systems with 1...e5 or 1...c5. Kosten also occasionally remarks that he does not understand why those who do not play 1 e4 are happy to play 1...e5 after 1 c4. To me this is strange, as such an experienced GM as Kosten should know about strange souls (like yours truly!) who do not play the King's Indian, Grnfeld, Nimzo-Indian or Hedgehog with Black, preferring to grab a pawn after 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4. When we see 1 c4, we feel tricked and decide to 'punish' it with 1...e5 - it as simple as that! On page 66 after 1 c4 e5 2 g3 d5 Kosten writes: "This is not quite as silly as it seems and has been played by Maliutin a few times..." If you know who Maliutin is, this makes perfect sense, but what if you don't? Is he a GM or NM? I have met him at some tournaments, but cannot be sure whether he is a GM or IM. There is also a problem with the pagination, (at least in my review copy!) for which the typesetter is probably responsible - pages 11 and 13 are reversed in the book. So, you finish reading page 11 and... then you may wonder for a few minutes what has happened and what you are missing. Finally, a remark that has nothing to do with opening theory - on page 6 Kosten writes: "...played on a regular basis, by the English (unofficial) World Champion, Howard Staunton." Perhaps I am splitting hairs, but personally I fear that this way we may make many new World Champions en passant - it may be more appropriate to put it like this: "(unofficial World Champion), Howard Staunton". At any rate, all in all, this is a very useful book, if you play certain lines of the English Opening with White and/or you are looking for some new ideas to try. My assessment of this book: ***. 'Guide to the Bogo-Indian' by IM Steffen Pedersen. 1998 Gambit Publications, Softcover, Figurine Algebraic Notation, 160pp., $19.95 After I read this book, the phrase 'as good as it gets' came to my mind - I think that this work is as good as an opening guide can get! IM Pedersen did a very good job, explaining the various points of the Bogo-Indian and providing valuable information for those who would like to start playing it as well as those who play it already. I like Gambit's 'Quick Summary' system very much, which is great for digesting the information. Each chapter starts with a 'Typical Pawn Structures' section (sounds like music to my ears!), where the author introduces a pawn skeleton, most typical for the line analyzed later. Then (in 'Planning for White' and 'Planning for Black' sections) he explains how such pawn formations should be handled. Only then is the reader given 'The Theory of...' section, where there is enough information to chose from. This is more of a 'Complete Bogo-Indian' than 'An Easy Guide to Bogo-Indian', so prepare to see some 'c322)' signs in the book, but Pedersen does not over-kill. The book is written mainly for Black, but the author remains objective and does not claim that your life will be all milk and honey as soon as you give that check on b4! Many lines finish with the words 'White's slightly better', which is only fair. The author goes deep into the examined lines; here is a typical example (from page 95; See Diagram): This position occurred in the game Karpov-Nikolic, Skelleftea 1989, after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 Bb4+ 4 Bd2 Qe7 5 g3 0-0 6 Bg2 Bxd2+ 7 Qxd2 d6 8 Nc3 e5 9 0-0 Re8 10 e4 Bg4 11 d5 Bxf3 12 Bxf3 c5 13 Rae1 a6 14 b3 Nbd7 15 Bg2 Rab8 16 a4 Qd8 17 Qd1 Re7 18 Re3 Qa5 19 Rfe1 Kh8 20 Bh3. Here Pedersen concludes the variation with "White has a small but quite clear advantage." This objectivity means that the book would be of interest also for those who may face this opening as White. There is also a very good balance in the coverage of Black's systems, for example, after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 Bb4+ 4 Bd2 Pedersen gives 4...Bxd2+, 4...a5, 4...c5 and 4...Qe7 with discussion of each line in proportion to which each line deserves. Perhaps 4...Be7 should be covered in the section dealing with 3 g3 Bb4+ 4 Bd2, but this is minor. People don't often give a check on b4 just to move the bishop back to e7, while after 3 g3 Bb4+ 4 Bd2, the move 4...Be7 makes more sense, as Black wants a particular line of the Catalan. The Catalan Bogo (3 g3 Bb4+) is also well covered in the book. Another strong point of the guide is that Pedersen covers one line of the Nimzo-Indian that may arise by transposition, namely 3 Nf3 Bb4+ 4 Nc3 b6. This means that you don't have to buy a separate book to learn how to deal with 4 Nc3. To conclude this review, I can only recommend this book - it's comprehensive, objective and well-written. The reader will certainly find it to be an excellent guide to this both solid and dynamic opening. My assessment of this book: *****.