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Publisher: ChessBase, 2010
Edition: DVD-ROM
Language: English

ChessBase Magazine starts into 2010 with three very different tournament highlights.

The FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk was once more carried out as a massive KO tournament with 128 participants and saw in Boris Gelfand a victor who threw into the scales against his rivals, who were almost all younger, his experience and strong nerves.

The London Chess Classic consisted of an all-play-all with the 3-point rule and saw a neck to neck race between Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik. The world's new number one managed to decide the tournament in his favour.

And in Bursa in Turkey, Russia managed, despite an early slip-up, to defend its title as World Team Champions ahead of the USA which had been leading in the meantime.

Top Tournaments

· World Cup: Gelfand lasts the course best
· London: Carlsen beats Kramnik
· World Team Championship: Russia justifies role as favourites

World Class Players Comment

·  Chess Media Files from London
·  Key game Carlsen-Kramnik annotated by the winner
·  Gelfand presents his victory as Black over Karjakin
·  Super talents Caruana and So go into their games in depth
·  Other annotated games from e.g. Adams, Bologan, Karjakin, Nisipeanu, Vitiugov

Opening Surveys

Marin: Alekhine Defence B04
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Be2 Bg7 6.0-0 0-0 7.c4 Nb6 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.exd6 cxd6
  
In this line White is not aggressive and develops with standard moves; of course he cannot hold the e5-point either. However, as Marin’s investigations show, Black must play very accurately to hold things level.

Schandorff: Caro-Kann B12
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3 dxe4 4.fxe4 e5 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Bc4 Nd7 7.0-0 Ngf6 8.c3 Bd6

In CBM 133 Sergey Erenburg introduced the variation with 3...e6, but not every Caro-Kann player wants to have positions which are related to those from the French. Schandorff shows you how to achieve satisfactory play with 3...dxe4.

Grivas: Sicilian B33
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6 5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Qe2

The setup with 4...Qb6 is called the Grivas Sicilian – so the author is writing about his own system. He is not only a theoretician but also the greatest practitioner of the move 4...Qb6. Part 1 of his series deals with the Hera Variation.

Kritz: French Defence C10
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nbd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.c3

Since Kasparov’s great game against Ponomariov (Linares 2002) 7.c3 has been considered the most ambitious attempt to demonstrate an opening advantage for White. Kritz shows how, with exact play, Black can more or less achieve equality.

Marin: Bishop's Opening C24
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb3 Bd6

The variation with 3...c6 against the Bishop’s Game is a safe choice. As the author shows, White can perhaps achieve a mini advantage, but it should not be enough to win the game.

Stohl: 2 Knights Game C58
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Bd3

The move 8.Bd3 immediately sets Black a problem, because the experts are not yet in agreement as to the best reply for Black in this as yet relatively infrequently played variation. Igor Stohl gives you a few answers.

Kuzmin: Ruy Lopez C60
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7

Levon Aronian successfully employed Cozio’s move 3...Nge7 in the World Blitz Championship. This prompted the author to put under the microscope the game played by the Armenian.

Postny: Ruy Lopez C65
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.Ne5

In 4...Bc5 Black has an excellent alternative to 4...Nxe4 (the Berlin Wall). The critical variations arise after 5.Nxe5, but according to Postny’s analysis Black can hold his own.

Langrock: Ruy Lopez C69
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 f6 6.d4 exd4 7.Nxd4 c5 8. Ne2 Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Bd7 10.Be3! 0-0-0 11.Nbc3

Langrock’s investigations demonstrate that Black can perhaps not achieve equality in this main line of the Exchange Variation.

Rogozenco: Albin's Countergambit D08
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nbd2

In recent years the usual 5.g3 has very much gone done in the world. On the other hand, Rogozenco’s repertoire suggestion based on 5.Nbd2 is looking good – White gets a safe advantage everywhere.

Karolyi: Queen's Gambit Accepted D20
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 c5 4.Nc3

It seems that White cannot achieve a superior position in any of the variations examined involving an early transition to an endgame, in spite of appearing to have an initiative.

Krasenkow: King's Indian Defence E90
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.h3 e5 7.d5 a5

In his third and last contribution on the 6.h3 king’s Indian, Michal Krasenkow examines the main line with 7...a5. Here too, he describes a lot of subtleties which procure for the person who is in the know a clear advantage over his opponent.