ELEKTROSCHACH

In his DVD series on the French Defence, Rustam Kasimdzhanov presents a promising White repertoire based upon 3.Nc3.Topic of the second DVD is the position following 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3. Very often this leads to a queenless middlegame or endgame with a white knight on d4 versus a bad bishop on c8 which offers White excellent winning prospects. In 12 video lessons Kasimdzhanov explains, in detail and easy to understand, how White has to proceed to be successful in this position.

For players who prefer a dynamic middlegame with queens, he also shows (with games of Kasparov, Shirov and Kramnik, among others) how White can sharpen the sight and go for an attack on the king.

Video running time: 3 hrs 17 min

Making the right strategic decisions belongs to the most difficult tasks at the chessboard. But how can one enhance one’s strategic understanding and methodical play? For the present video course Rustam has carefully selected games from his own practice which are dominated by positional and strategic considerations, clarifying in extensive annotations which thoughts the decisions of the grandmasters are based upon. He shows how the game plan is made already in the first moves of the opening and then - in the ideal case - purposefully continued step by step in the middlegame. At the end of this entertaining and practically relevant course, you will be familiar with many positional elements like e.g. open lines, strong and weak squares, pawn chains, isolated pawns, space advantage, pawn majorities, hanging pawns etc., making you ready to use them for your own play. Video running time: 3:54.

Die richtigen strategischen Entscheidungen zu treffen, gehört zu den schwierigsten Aufgaben am Schachbrett. Aber wie kann man sein strategisches Verständnis und sein methodisches Spiel verbessern? Rustam hat für den vorliegenden Videokurs sorgfältig Partien aus seiner eigenen Praxis ausgewählt, die von positionellen und strategischen Überlegungen geprägt sind, und in ausführlichen Anmerkungen verdeutlicht, welche Gedanken den Entscheidungen der Großmeister zugrunde liegen. Er zeigt, wie der Spielplan bereits in den ersten Zügen der Eröffnung erstellt und dann – im Idealfall – im Mittelspiel Schritt für Schritt zielgerichtet fortgesetzt wird. Am Ende dieses unterhaltsamen und praxisnahen Kurses sind Ihnen viele Stellungselemente wie zB offene Linien, starke und schwache Felder, Bauernketten, isolierte Bauern, Raumvorteil, Bauernmehrheiten, hängende Bauern etc. damit Sie bereit sind, sie für Ihr eigenes Spiel zu verwenden. Videolaufzeit: 3:54.

The Caro-Kann Defence, which arises after the moves 1.e4 c6 followed by 2...d7-d5, is considered one of the most solid and reliable replies to the double step of White’s e-pawn. Black fi ghts for his share of the centre without accepting an unnecessary weakening of his position, patiently waiting for his chance. Shirov’s preferred weapon against this sound black set-up has always been the Advance Variation 3.e5, avoiding the simplifi cation after 3.Nc3 dxe4 and reaching a type of position of greater tactical and strategic complexity – with chances and risks for both sides. Thus, the main topic of the DVD are the white and black plans following 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3, which the Latvian super grandmaster explains by means of the best games from his own practice. And apart from impressive White wins, these also include two examples with Shirov leading the black pieces!

Video playing time: 4 h 53 m

Alexei Shirov can look back on an extraordinary chess career. Young Alexei became U-16 World Champion in 1988, and second in the World Junior Championship in 1990. He received his GM title in 1992, at the age of 20. Since then, Shirov has belonged to the absolute top players in the world. In 1998 he defeated Vladimir Kramnik in a ten-game qualification match that was staged to select a challenger for World Champion Garry Kasparov. Unfortunately, that title match never took place. In 2000 Shirov reached the final of the FIDE world championship, losing to Vishy Anand.

Now the genius from Riga presents and explains his best games in a series of training DVDs in the Chess Media System. Shirov’s uncompromising style of play is also reflected in his manner of commenting his own games. He is perfectly objective, and in fact sometimes ruthlessly critical of himself. Even when he is dealing with highly acclaimed games, his judgement is unbiased – no glossing over critical positions where he did not find the optimal continuation. Chess fans are treated not just to a portrait of this extraordinary player, but they can also learn a lot about the development of particular opening lines at top level in the course of time.

On this 3rd DVD by Shirov, you will find his most brilliant games in the Sicilian Najdorf. Shirov’s duel with van Wely in the Najdorf Keres Attack is for sure one of the highlights on this DVD, just as the presentation of one of his best games against Kasparov. More than 3 hours entertainment and enlightenment, all packed in one.

• Intro (01:58)
• Najdorf with 6.Be2 (29:56)
• Najdorf deviations 1 (21:52)
• Najdorf deviations 2 (15:09)
• Scheveningen System (45:45)
• Keres Attack 1 (14:03)
• Keres Attack 2 (20:45)
• Keres Attack 3 (23:01)
• Keres Attack 4 (29:46)

There are not many top grandmasters who enjoy such a great popularity among chess fans all over the world like Alexei Shirov. Thanks to his aggressive and ingenious playing style, commentators often compare him with the former world champion Mikhail Tal. He often sacrifices material easily in return for initiative and complications where he always seems to be just one step ahead of his opponent - following Shirov's games is like watching "fire on the board".Now the genius from Riga presents and explains his best games in a series of training DVDs in the Chess Media System. This first DVD is dedicated to his most brilliant games in the Ruy Lopez. Let Shirov show you how to break down the super-solid Berlin Defence or how he managed to achieve promising counterplay against Garry Kasparov in the open Ruy Lopez. Follow this top player through one of his most famous lines in the Ruy Lopez, the Anti-Marshall with 8.h3. (Text ChessBase)

Introduction (09:04)
Steinitz Variation (41:10)
Berlin Defence (37:04)
Open Spanish (42:08)
Moeller and Archangelsk Defence (26:22)
Anti-Marshall- System 1 (32:05)
Anti-Marshall-System 2 (15:50)
Marshall Gambit (20:42)
Modern Chigorin Defence (34:55)
Flohr / Saitzev Variation (34:06)

Martin Weteschnik hat sich als Autor mehrerer Bücher über die Schachtaktik einen Namen gemacht. Er meint, daß Kombinationen aus Elementen und Motiven bestehen bestehen und daß man diese erlernen kann. Seine erste CD-Rom besteht aus zwei Datenbanken. Die erste dient der Darstellung seiner Theorie über die Taktik. Neben 13 umfangreichen Texten fungieren hier 325 Partiefragmente als Beispiele.

In der zweiten Datenbank werden Trainingsfragen gestellt, die Bezug nehmen auf die Elemente der Weteschnikschen Theorie. Der Autor hat für beide Dateien moderne Mittel der Audio- und Videodarstellung ausgiebig genutzt.