The content of the DVD consists of 18 videos discussing the pawn structures, lines, and model games. Followed by eleven video clips of tests, in which Pelletier presents a position, and asks pertinent questions on how to continue, giving feedback in case one didn't understand something learned from the previous videos.
The videos run for a total of 4 hours and 27 minutes. How do you gain the maximum from this DVD? This point is important and needs to be reiterated. For example, I was listening to a training video clip, where Pelletier presented a position from the game Ljubojevic vs Gurevich M. In the video, Pelletier shows this position to demonstrate a typical sacrifice to open the centre, and says Gurevich made a living out of it. The database found all the games Gurevich played with the French.
The rest of the homework was to find a similar sac in the centre. By the way, Gurevich has played the French extensively, I found more than games with it! I wasn't able to find another game by Gurevich with similar central sac, but I found interesting manoeuvres Gurevich used to liberate the 'bad bishop' on c8.
I also learned when Gurevich would consider safe it to castle queenside and many other ideas which could be important for my tournament games. Often I hear that books are better because they have commented games.
How to Beat the French Defense: The essential guide to the Tarrasch
Well this Chessbase DVD has of them! The selection given by Pelletier, if studied, will provide solid preparation not only for the opening but especially for the middlegame. As Pelletier pointed out in the beginning, if one plays correctly the first moves, but doesn't know how to continue, then it's useless. The con is quite easy to understand. If you are an adult like me, time is limited by work, family, etc.
I tried to leave the DVD on the bedside table and slept near it, but there was no osmosis. Another good feature of the DVD is that Pelletier addressing pawn chains at a level everyone can understand very clearly. So even a beginner who wants to pick up the French as an opening repertoire would be advised to pick this video series. Kudos to Pelletier for doing such a great teaching, in such a clear manner. Some people tend to be obsessed by the specific content: Will Pelletier treat that line?
Every author seeks to make a big splash with their first standalone book. This effort is the first strong push towards this early Karpov favorite in a number of years. In recent times, top Grandmasters have focused their attention on 3 Nc3 and 3 e5 as the main weapons against the always solid French.
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In this book, AT tackles 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 in 22 chapters using branches of variations to delineate the chapters and further includes about 50 annotated illustrative games sprinkled in at the end of the chapters. Many players will find the explanations most helpful, others will be impressed with the specific recommendations at critical points in theory. Preparing to play white in the Tarrasch Variation involves mastering a strategic understanding of at least three general types of positions.
There are big differences between the closed center positions with white pawns on e5 and d4 and black pawns on e6 and d5; isolated queen pawn positions 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 c5 4 Ngf3 Nc6 5 exd5 exd5 and eventually dxc5 by white and active piece play positions characterized by an early capture on e4 by black or where black recaptures on d5 with his queen such as after 3 Nd2 c5 4 Ngf3 cxd4 5 exd5 Qxd5. He carefully notes subtle differences in how the positions can be handled by both players which in turn strengthens our understanding of both this variation and a wide range of positions arising from a host of openings.
AT highlights these points using italics and the reader will want to pay special attention to these references. McDonald suggests the sharp line with This is one of the few times that Tzermiadianos doesn't suggest a move for White 9. Qe3 , and McDonald follows the game S Kristjansson-Caruana, Reykjavik probably played a bit too late for Tzermiadianos' book: Qf7 are all thematic ideas The French is a tough nut to crack!
This is the suggestion in Tzermiadianos. According to theory, the sacrificial lines Nf3 Qe4 and The author says that White 'keeps an edge' after But then Black can try to utilise his centre by Rd8 or even Rfd1 b6 with equality, e. Ne3 Bb7 or Now, instead of Tzermiadianos' Ng4 16 Ndf3, Black should play Bb2 e5 or Nxd4 Bd7 with a balanced position. In spite of my liking for the Guimard Variation 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 Nc6 and belief in its fundamental soundness, you'd think that if there were any line against which such a strong Tarrasch advocate should be able to get a definite plus against, it would be I'm not convinced by Tzermiadianos' solution to it; it's safe for White, but in my opinion not punchy enough to produce anything real:.
Wei Ming gives the line 8. Bxh7 Qf6 with powerful central pawns. Nf1, and here Wei Ming points out that Black should play Be2 Ng6 with plenty of play.
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Tzermiadianos suggests bypassing such lines with. Having looked at this more closely, I see that even the exchange sacrifice Bxa8 Qxa8 is by no means clear Rybka 3 is surprisingly tolerant of it , for example, Qc6 Be4 with compensation. Still, Black risks disadvantage and would probably only play this if he needed a win. Tzermiadianos alertly improves for White upon my book Dangerous Weapons: The French which he comments generously upon , where I had given Qe2 Kf7 with a good game. I think this is better than his main line To secure b7 for the king in some lines.
Instead, Tzermiadianos gives only Again, however, that's risky for Black and a little strange-looking. Ne2 Bd7 with a clear extra pawn and the bishop pair.
Opening Books en Masse, Part 3 | The Week in Chess
Here's some sample analysis, to give a general feel for things: Bf5 with roughly balanced chances. Naturally there are many options for both sides. It's not clear if White's bind is worth more or less than a pawn. Bxe5 Rg8, White has dark-square domination, but his light squares are potentially exploitable if he overreaches; naturally, White can hardly lose if he plays with care.
Probably this whole variation beginning with 9 Nxd4 can be characterised as drawish. This move, analogous to Be7 4 Bd3 c5 5 dxc5 Nf6, is in a side note, with no games and only the author's analysis. In other words, he could have skipped the move, but became curious and included it for the sake of completeness. This is the mark of a conscientious and involved author. Another thought is Tzermiadianos prefers White with his two bishops. It's an interesting point between middle- and endgame.
A sample line might be At any rate, the I won't go into it here, but I think that Thus the French deserves its reputation for leaving Black with unusual flexibility in choosing systems. This is all fascinating stuff, and thanks to Tzermiadianos, a step and often more beyond the theory that existed before this book. You can see by my analysis that the resulting positions can be argued over, and I'm sure that White could make his own case. This is a book that someone wishing to play 3 Nd2 absolutely has to have, and I think every French player will learn a great amount about his favourite opening by reading it.
Within the genre of theoretical opening books, which by its nature includes many dry tomes, Viktor Moskalenko's The Flexible French is a great read. The author sets himself he goal of presenting various favourite French variations with a broad perspective. Moskalenko talks about the history and ideas of the variation, along with some advice, statistics, and the occasional personal story.
Ultimately, however, he is a keen analyst who spends most of his time as an openings book author should: The essence of the book lies with its choice of variations, many not well known to the average player.
For example, he recommends The analysis is broad and enthusiastic, with an obvious preference for Black. I should say, however, that he devotes quite as much time to the traditional Qb6 6 a3 6 Be2 Nh6 Nh6 , with which he has extensive playing experience, as well as I'll return to this multiple-line repertoire structure below. The book is not meant to be complete.
It's closer to a repertoire from the Black side, although with omissions in each variation, for example, you won't see 4 Nf3 or 4 Qg4 in the Advance Variation. Or, in his coverage of the Winawer 3 Nc3 Bb4 , White has some rather important variations with which to challenge Black such as 4 Bd2 , 4 a3 , and even 4 exd5.
These aren't mentioned, and after 4 e5 c5 , we see 5 Bd2 but not 5 Qg4 , 5 dxc5 , 5 Nf3 and so forth. From White's point of view, although Moskalenko occasionally presents some fun and intriguing moves, there's only bits and pieces of a whole repertoire. Of course, there is not meant to be one; the book is primarily from Black's perspective. Bb4 MacCutcheon chapter makes for great reading.
Ba5 6 bxc3 Ne7 isn't part of Moskalenko's Black repertoire, so naturally we don't see it from White's point of view. That's simply not the kind of book we have here. Moskalenko has played a hodgepodge of Black systems in the main lines, and wants to talk about all of them! That means that you get multiple weapons against many systems. In the Winawer alone, for example, he has whole chapters on 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e5 b6!? And just to top it off, you can skip Bb4 entirely and play the Classical with Nf6 with a repertoire of limited flexibility by comparison with Again, there's some slightly out-of-place but very good coverage of the Black side of the Alekhine-Chatard attack 6 h4 , but since that comes from 3 Nc3 Nf3 4 Bg5 Be7 5 e5 Nfd7 , he should probably have said something about the main line 6 Bxe7!
Or, in the Tarrasch with 3 Nd2 , he has chapters on Be7 with fantastic ideas , Nf6 , suddenly with complete analysis of all the important sidelines! Throughout, the play is lively and the analysis simply sparkles with ideas. Then there are strange pauses. For a full 19 pages, he treats the lesser-known system which he calls 'Russian Roulette': From White's point of view! That is characteristic of the whole book: It's more like a tour, or a series of articles, than a systematic presentation. Because of its selectivity, it won't provide solutions to some of the variations that might bother you, but that only means that a French Defence player will want to use it in conjunction with other sources.
It's hard to say too much more without going into the history of lines or analytical niceties, but I very much approve of this book. Moskalenko is a leading French expert and it shows throughout; there's hardly a variation in the book to which he hasn't either contributed something or in which he hasn't noticed some still-unfashionable line that some strong analysts have revived. In fact, the book serves as a tribute to the French Defence itself.
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The French has another mission entirely: That is an almost impossible task, but they do a yeoman's job of it. As with other Chess Explained books, the featured games are all contemporary, that is, played in and thereafter, with one exception a game by Eingorn himself in Likewise, the theory in the notes derives from recent contests, which to some extent allows them to bypass older lines that are at least temporarily out of favour. Inevitably, the material is winnowed down, for example, the content begins with 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 , and not 1 e4 e6 , which is understandable; the reader will have to research things like the King's Indian Attack and Moskalenko's 2 Nf3 d5 3 Nc3 variation mentioned above.
Nevertheless, the authors do a good job of hitting not only high points, but the kind of supporting lines that Moskalenko doesn't cover. For example, the Winawer coverage is exceptionally good, and we get games with 4 exd5 and 4 Nge2 , with notes on 4 Qg4 , 4 Bd3 , 4 Qd3 , 4 Bd2 , and 4 a3 , the latter two of particular importance.