October 2005

The CD has over 700,000 games in ChessBase, Chess Assistant and zipped PGN formats: in fact, more than 725,000 games including fragments and 'non-games'. Whatever chess software you use, you should be able to access the games in one format or another.

That makes MegaCorr4 the largest ever correspondence game database and the most versatile: compiled by a CC master for all CC players. OTB players and chess writers should want it too, as the database includes many high class games and opening novelties not available elsewhere.

The games are drawn from a wide variety of CC organising clubs and federations including ICCF, IECC, IECG, Chessa in Friendhsip, DESC, Liape, WCCF etc. and also some commercial chess servers. Wherever you play your correspondence chess, you are likely to find some games by your future opponents here.

MegaCorr4 also includes all Chess Mail issues in Adobe Acrobat PDF format - from the start in 1996 right up to the first four issues of 2005. It also has several other bonus files, including a complete PDF version of Tim Harding's 1996 book, 'Winning at Correspondence Chess'. This makes it an unmatched resource for all CC players from beginners to master.

Andrew Martin: The basics of winning chess - $55
Modern chess is a tough relentless game, which demands that all chess players, regardless of strength, keep their command of basic technique in tip-top shape. On this instructive and entertaining DVD, International Master Andrew Martin takes you on a tour of the basics of winning chess, so that you never have to worry about this part of the game again. Through the use of classic games and game fragments, Martin charts a survival course through the competitive minefield. His firm conviction is that everyone is capable of great improvement, if the right mental attitude is combined with a strong grasp of essential chess ideas. This DVD will guide you in the right direction.

The CD is based on the new instructional Fritz8-Chess Media System: all the lectures are presented in their entirety with video pictures and synchronised chess graphics. There is no better way to explain chess. Total running time: 3 h 39 min. This is how chess training can be real fun!

Andrew Martin is 47 years old and lives in Sandhurst , England , with his wife and four children. He is a professional chess teacher and writer. His recent works for ChessBase include the ABC of the Ruy Lopez and the ABC of the King’s Indian.

System requirements: PC 233, 64 MB RAM, DVD drive, sound card, mouse, Windows XP, 2000, Me, 98 SE, Windows Media Player 9. This package includes the latest ChessBase 9.0 Reader.

A chess combination is a forced variation with a sacrifice which leads to a positive result...

The book offers a selection of 2709 most beautiful combinations.

The 2005 third edition of the Anthology of Chess Combinations features several major changes introduced by the Chess Informant Editorial Board. The main one being that it has been divided into two main parts: educative and practical examples.

As a foundation for the first part, the previous edition of the Anthology has been used with our original classification keys pertaining to fundamental tactical motifs. All the material inherited from the previous edition underwent rigorous re-examination by critically-minded experts from the Editorial Board armed with top-level computer engines to ensure the high-quality of the examples.

The second part has been produced to incorporate the elements of a workbook with some of the more recent examples divided into three groups to maintain a clear-cut structure. Our editors also opted to omit a number of old examples for newer, more challenging brain teasers. Each group has three levels of difficulty without any classification keys, thereby prohibiting the prospective solver from benefiting from any hints. However, index of the themes is made available at the end of each level.

The big names are included, of course, but even more interesting are their annotations to the games, as they produce an excellent testimony to the depth of some extraordinary ideas that could otherwise have been left unnoticed. We hope that the third edition of the Anthology of Chess Combinations will help readers develop a greater appreciation for the art of combinative chess and a fundamental understanding of how it can be achieved.

Months, even years of enjoyment!

Anthology of Chess Combinations, 2nd Edition is available in electronic form, in Chess Informant Reader format.

For this purpose, a special module of the program - called chess quiz - is developed. You can select any subset of 2001 combinations and try to solve them and gain certain number of points. You can select combinations not only by players or tournaments, but also by piece which is sacrificed, by motive (blockade, clearance, deflection, pinning etc.) or by goal of the combination (mating attack, draw, material advantage etc.). If a combination is too difficult, you can ask program for a small help.

Test your tactical ability by solving some of the greatest
chess combinations in history!
Or just enjoy by replaying them on the screen - it's your choice.

French Defence and other half-open games
by Friso Nijboer, Geert Van der Stricht

HOW TO BEAT 1 d4 (James Rizzitano, 2005, Gambit) - $49.95
160 pages (248 mm by 172 mm). ISBN 1 904600 33 6.

Rizzitano, author of Understanding Your Chess, presents a full repertoire for Black against 1 d4, based on the Queen's Gambit Accepted (QGA). The QGA is an extremely popular opening amongst players of all levels, as it gives Black free development and counterpunching potential, especially if White takes up the challenge and tries to set up a broad pawn centre. The QGA's soundness is shown by the number of top-class grandmasters who have used it in critical games - it was a key factor in Short's victory over Karpov, and has even been used by Garry Kasparov at world-championship level. Rizzitano has chosen to recommend dependable main lines of the QGA, and throughout emphasizes how Black can create winning chances and White's typical ways to go wrong. The repertoire is completed by a set of weapons against White's alternatives to offering the Queen's Gambit, ranging from the stolid Colle to the weird Hodgson Attack and the reckless Blackmar-Diemer.

James Rizzitano is a strong international master who dominated chess in the New England region during a 14-year period from 1976 to 1989 - he won 157 out of 336 events in which he competed. His career highlights include victories over Alburt, Benjamin, Benko, Christiansen, Dlugy, I.Gurevich and Wolff, and exciting draws with de Firmian, Larsen, Speelman, and the legendary former world champion Tal. Rizzitano has recently made a return to competitive chess.

WIN WITH THE LONDON SYSTEM

(Sverre Johnsen & Vlatko Kovacevic) - (2005, Gambit) - $46.95
176 pages (248 mm by 172 mm). ISBN 1 904600 35 2.

The London System is a perennial favourite of club players, as it is a very sound and solid system with a real practical sting. The authors of this new book seek to maximize this sting in two principal ways. Firstly, by explaining in detail the typical plans for White, they help readers to make the most of their chances, whether they are based on a kingside attack, queenside penetration, central play, or transition to a favourable endgame. Secondly, they advocate some subtle move-orders that limit Black's options, and give White possibilities to change the nature of the game and go straight for the kill if Black responds casually or inappropriately. These move-orders have been tested successfully by co-author Kovacevic at grandmaster level, and much of the analysis presented here is of totally new variations, and is previously unpublished. Covers all responses to 1 d4 against which White can use the London System.

Sverre Johnsen is a FIDE-rated player from Norway. He is an enthusiastic chess analyst, researcher and writer. Vlatko Kovacevic is a grandmaster from Croatia, and arguably the world's leading authority on the London System. However, he is probably best known for a convincing victory against Bobby Fischer in 1970. He has represented Croatia, and previously Yugoslavia, in many international team events.

This 160-page book, now available, is an anthology of most of the best in CC writing, edited by Tim Harding.

It has a wide variety of information and entertainment on the subject of correspondence chess from the earliest days to the present day.

There has also been a favourable review in The Scotsman by GM Paul Motwani and another one by GM Jean H&eacutebert in the French-Canadian magazine Au Nom du Roi. We expect to see some more reviews soon and will post a page when there are more English-language reviews.

The book is edited by Tim Harding who writes an introduction and chooses some classic texts and annotated games. The CC careers of the great masters Alekhine and Keres are examined in detail.

The text includes some reprinted articles and games from 'Chess Mail' over the years but these have been re-edited and updated, as have some of the other contributions. The book also includes a lot of material that has never appeared in CM, including two articles never before puboished in English.

The book includes contributions from CC-GMs Jonathan Berry, Dick van Geet and Gennady Nesis, chess historian Egbert Meissenburg, and leading CC writers Ivan Bottlik, Kevin Embrey, Jonathan Edwards & Stephan Gerzadowicz. 'The Write Move' also includes a thorough bibliography of CC writings in English.

The dream that almost came true by CC-GM Gennady Nesis
Correspondence Chess - the Ideal Chess by Dr Eduard Dyckhoff
Alexander Alekhine's contribution to CC by Tim Harding
The History of Correspondence Chess before 1800 by Egbert Meissenburg
The Match at Chess between the Paris and Westminster Chess Clubs by George Walker
Without a computer, I might have won the Von Massow tournament by CC-GM Dr Dick van Geet
Inner Chess by Stephan Gerzadowicz
The trials & joys of a postal chess tournament organiser by Rhoda Bowles
Paul Keres on the magic carpet to the world by Valter Heuer
Keres and the IFSB by Tim Harding
Sacrificial frenzy by Jon Edwards
Check is in the Mail by Alex Dunne
My correspondence game, and how it ended by James Pierce
The great Grob CC simultaneous by Tim Harding
I was lucky by Jonathan Berry
Erlingur's Saga by Kevin Embrey
CC records and curiosities
Annotations have their own fate by Iván Bottlík
The strange CC career of Nicolas Preo by Tim Harding
Uncle Fred's Gambit by Jon Edwards
Bibliography of CC works in English compiled by Tim Harding
Index to players of games
Index to openings (by ECO code and name)
Correspondence Chess by Robert Potter Palmer

World Championship (San Luis) Argentina October 2005, all games (no notes) and cross table in folder - New World Champion Veselin Topalov - (Kerr, 2005) $4.25

Excalibur Deluxe Talking Touch Chess - computer with batteries (new release 2005) $179

The new, easily readable chess figures and a large LCD screen would by themselves make this a major innovation in pocket chess companions, but it offers much more. It works just like expensive, hi-tech PDAs!

Move a piece with just a touch of the stylus. The world’s best traveling chess computer is enclosed in an elegant but heavy-duty case that both protects and accents. Packed with features you’d expect from the world’s leader in electronic chess!

This stylus-touch chess and checker computer is as portable and as easy-to-use as the most popular PDAs! Just use the pull-out stylus to choose a piece and tap the square you want to move it to! Play against the computer or use it as an on-the-go travel set to compete against a partner or to study games from books and newspapers. Includes carrying pouch, teaching modes and rating functions, along with lots more features of full table-top models! And now we offer a new version, which lets you play both chess & checkers!

Now play chess, checkers, backgammon, go, scrabble–any board game–with the same excitement you’d find in tournaments! Two precision digital clocks, each with large 3/4”, readable displays, keep split-second track of the time each opponent has used on his or her turn! Contrasting white button stems show you when it’s your move! Optional tone and red light signal when time has elapsed. Select from preset time controls or create your own. Easy to operate. It’s the only game timer officially endorsed by the US Chess Federation and the World Chess Hall of Fame!

	Outdoor Garden Sets - These are very well made of a strong weather proof plastic material from Germany in two sizes. The larger set - King is 64cm in height. The base unscrews and is 24cms in diameter for each piece. Sand can be added to increase weight if required. Handle on top for easy moving.	Now $995
	Large board in 64 sections black and white chess/draughts each square 35 x 35cm.	Now $595
	The smaller outdoor garden set King is 31cms in height	Now $225
	Smaller board in 64 sections black and white each square 15 x 15cm	Now $135
	Outdoor Garden Sets - Large Set - pawns $50 all other pieces $80 each or 10% less for 4 or more.
	Draughts - large outdoor garden set	Now $375
	Draughts - small outdoor garden set	Now $124

events held between	February 1st, 2005 and May 31st, 2005
events covered	Moscow, Cappelle la Grande, Linares, Poikovsky, Monaco, Dos Hermanas, Malmoe/Kobenhavn, La Habana, Sofia, Sarajevo, Istratescu – Karpov (m), Adams – Leko (m), etc.
contributors	G. Kasparov, V. Anand, Ivanchuk, Kramnik, B. Gelfand, Grischuk, Mi. Adams, Shirov, R. Ponomariov, Bologan, Dreev, I. Sokolov, Vallejo Pons, Nisipeanu, Tiviakov, Motylev, Sutovsky, V. Malakhov, An. Karpov, Kasimdzhanov, M. Gurevich, Ki. Georgiev, Bruzon, Van Wely, Avrukh, Sasikiran, Sergey Karjakin, Rublevsky, L. Dominguez, Ni Hua, Gyimesi, Al. Onischuk, J. Timman, Illescas Cordoba, A. Istratescu, Sergey Volkov, Ch. Lutz, A. Beliavsky, Christiansen, Je. Piket, Ribli, Speelman, Xie Yun, J. Benjamin, Ar. Jussupow, Mikhalchishin, Va. Salov, and many others.
trademark sections	The voting for the ten best games and the ten most important theoretical novelties from Chess Informant 92, theoretical survey in ECO format, the most interesting recent combinations, endings and studies, tournament standings and crosstables, and the best of Michael Adams' creative output.

HOW TO BEAT 1 d4 (James Rizzitano, 2005, Gambit) - $49.95 160 pages (248 mm by 172 mm). ISBN 1 904600 33 6.

WIN WITH THE LONDON SYSTEM

(Sverre Johnsen & Vlatko Kovacevic) - (2005, Gambit) - $46.95 176 pages (248 mm by 172 mm). ISBN 1 904600 35 2.

HOW TO BEAT 1 d4 (James Rizzitano, 2005, Gambit) - $49.95
160 pages (248 mm by 172 mm). ISBN 1 904600 33 6.

(Sverre Johnsen & Vlatko Kovacevic) - (2005, Gambit) - $46.95
176 pages (248 mm by 172 mm). ISBN 1 904600 35 2.