The strategic part of the book consists of thirty-two fully-annotated games divided into five chapters, with the fifth chapter divided into four subchapters. In this strategic part I have given an insight into the historical development of the variation and have tried to help the reader understand the most common plans and concepts for both sides. My own practical experiences in this variation date back to 1994, and over the years I have tried it with Black versus greats like Kramnik, Shirov and Grischuk. Some of these experiences are included in the book. The Chigorin Variation is rich in ideas which can be used in a range of middlegame positions arising from different variations. Understanding the strategic ideas of this complex variation is also a middlegame improvement ‘tool’ and a must for anyone wanting to take his or her chess to the next level. The current trend, developed in recent years, is for Black to capture on d4 with his e-pawn, aiming for Benoni-type pawn structure positions which lead to rather double-edged positions. These modern developments and the current theoretical state of affairs in general are dealt with in the theoretical part of the book by my friend, Ivan Salgado. This ‘Chigorin bible’ aims to be the ultimate improvement ‘tool’ for club and tournament players in the variation. The first part provides the reader with a good understanding of general plans and strategic concepts and the second part provides direct theoretical knowledge.
Sergei Tkachenko, a member of the Ukrainian team that won the 5th World Chess Composition Tournament in 1997 and which came second in 2000, 2004, 2013, and 2017, has selected 100 pawn endings composed by the leading Ukrainian problemist Mikhail Zinar. Zinar is a prolific endgame expert who has produced several hundred studies since the 1970s, with a focus on pawn endings. His works have appeared in many leading Russian-language chess publications, including Chess in the USSR, 64 – Chess Review, and Chess Bulletin. He collaborated with Yuri Averbakh on the second edition of Averbakh’s Chess Endings (1983), in which he revised the theory of “corresponding squares”. In the foreword, Averbakh wrote: “Chapter ten, devoted to corresponding square systems, was written by chess composer M.A. Zinar – a big specialist in pawn endings. Otherwise, this chapter would have looked out of date.” Zinar co-authored a Russian-language manual for creating pawn studies with Vladimir Archakov in 1990 called Harmony of the Pawn Study. He collaborated with Tkachenko in compiling this book.
CHESS INFORMANT’S 138th ADVENTURE
DUEL!!!
CONTENTS:
FIDE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GM Ernesto Inarkiev
JU WENJUN’S MARVELOUS 2018 WGM Aleksandra Dimitrijević
THE UNCONQUERABLE GREAT WALL OF CHINA GM Danilo Milanović
BATUMI 2018 OLYMPIAD – Opening Survey GM Miloš Perunović
THE 2018 EUROPEAN CLUB CUP GM Dragoljub Jacimovic
b4 PAWN – A BRAVE FOOT SOLDIER GM Mihail Marin
MAMEDYAROV’S SURPRISE IN THE OPEN RUY LOPEZ GM Markus Ragger
THE SEMI-SLAV DEFENCE – PART III GM Aleksander Delchev
THE FRENCH WINAWER – 6...Qa5 GM Robert Markuš
THE PANOV-BOTVINNIK ATTACK – 6...Be6 GM Ivan Ivanišević
Traditional sections: games, combinations, endings, correspondence chess, endgame blunders, Tournaments review, the best game from the preceding volume and the most important theoretical novelty from the preceding volume.
The periodical that pros use with pleasure is at the same time a must have publication for all serious chess students!
In The Longest Game Jan Timman returns to the Kasparov-Karpov matches. He chronicles the many twists and turns of this fascinating saga, including his behind-the scenes impressions, and takes a fresh look at the games.
Now including all World Championship Games! (FREE RE-DOWNLOADABLE FOR THOSE WHO PURCHASED THE FIRST EDITION) The rivalry of reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana began 2010 in the Dutch village Wijk aan Zee and culminated in the World Chess Championship 2018. Over the past years, they have crossed swords 71 times: In classical, rapid and blitz chess. All their games against each other - including the thrilling World Championship match - are thoroughly annotated in this book.
The book Together with the Candidates that you are holding is firstly a book of tests with their solutions, given in the format of game fragments with detailed comments. All the tasks in this book have been taken from games of the Candidates competitions. They differ very much in their degree of complexity. I hope this will allow a wide circle of readers to find the tests corresponding to their own chess level here.
CHESS INFORMANT’S 137th ADVENTURE
The Quest for the Golden Fleece
FORWARD, ALWAYS FORWARD GM Aleksandar Inđić
USEFUL TRICKS AND TRAPS IN FAST TIME CONTROLS GM Pentala Harikrishna
EXCHANGING QUEENS DURING A SACRIFICIAL ATTACK GM Mihail Marin
A MODERN TREATMENT OF 4.f3 NIMZO-INDIAN GM Ferenc Berkes
DOMESTICATING THE KING’S INDIAN DEFENCE! GM Markus Ragger
THE SEMI-SLAV DEFENCE – PART II GM Aleksander Delchev
THE ARMENIAN VARIATION GM Robert Markuš
THE FRENCH COMBATS GM Miloš Perunović
THE BEST OF CHESS INFORMANT – Hikaru Nakamura
Joel Benjamin concentrates on a wide array of practical issues that players frequently have to deal with. By applying a grandmaster’s train of thought, club players will more often arrive at strong moves and substantially improve their game.
The lesser-known aspects of a precocious chess prodigy who became a ruthless Grandmaster or, in other words, Not the Best of Reshevsky. Includes: Evidence of Reshevsky's real date of birth – Foreign articles specially translated for this book – Contemporary newspaper accounts – 12 Annotated rare games covering every decade of Reshevsky's career – Gamesmanship & Worse – An Erratum to Gordon's Compendium.