What's New January 2006

Every volume of Chess Informant offers a selection of the best games played by the world's greatest chess players. Over 90% of the games are annotated by the players who played them. The classification code system facilitates the search by openings and variations, and the system of annotation signs and symbols is perfectly understandable to everyone. There are also the most interesting endings, combinations, the ten best games and the ten most important theoretical novelties from the previous volume, tournament crosstables and thorough indexes of players and annotators.

Chess Informant 94 contains 452 annotated games and 509 variations. More information about this particular edition is shown in the tables below.   events held between June 1st, 2005 and September 30th, 2005 events covered Paks, Warszawa, Dortmund, Portoroz, Edmonton, Biel, Goeteborg, Igualada, Saint-Vincent, San Luis, etc. contributors V. Anand, Leko, Ivanchuk, Svidler, Ju. Polgar, Mi. Adams, B. Gelfand, Shirov, Nisipeanu, Tiviakov, Iv. Sokolov, Bologan, Bruzon, V. Malakhov, Kasimdzhanov, Sakaev, A. Volokitin, A. Moiseenko, Sasikiran, Sergey Karjakin, Krasenkow, Sutovsky, B. Avrukh, V. Milov, M. Gurevich, Rublevsky, Van Wely, Z. Izoria, Vescovi, A. Naiditsch, S. Movsevian, L. Dominguez, M. Kobalia, A. Beliavsky, J. Timman, Gyimesi, And. Sokolov, Atalik, Korchnoi, Alex. Fedorov, Illescas Cordoba, Berkes, Ch. Lutz, 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 93, theoretical survey in ECO format, the most interesting recent combinations, endings and studies, tournament standings and crosstables, and the best of Veselin Topalov’s creative output.   free supplement with CD Chess Informant 93 in PGN format (games without annotations)

Chess Informant 94 (book only)   -  $55

Chess Informant 94 (CD only)      -  $52

Chess Informant 94 (book & CD)  - $65

New in Chess

The Day Kasparov Quit - $49.95

by Dirk Jan Ten Geuzendam

Secrets of Opening Surprises Vol 4 - $38.95

by Jeroen Bosch (Editor)

Yearbook 77 - $51.95

Van Wely - always LoekKing for the Ultimate Truth
by The NIC Editorial team

Gambit

THE FRENCH: TARRASCH VARIATION (Steffen Pedersen) - $49.95
192 pages (248 mm by 172 mm). ISBN 1 901983 49 8.

This book continues the coverage of the French Defence that was begun by Pedersen in The Main Line French: 3 Nc3. It is essential reading for all those who play the French, and for those who meet it with the popular and flexible Tarrasch Variation.

The Tarrasch Variation provides a stern test for the French Defence, and has always been a favourite of strategically minded players, such as Michael Adams and Anatoly Karpov. By putting his knight on d2, White seeks to give his opponent little scope for counterplay, and in many of the traditional lines ends up with a slight positional advantage that can prove extremely difficult to neutralize. This has led to Black developing various sharper approaches, which complicate the play considerably at the cost of greater risk. Notable among these lines are systems with 3...Nf6 where Black sacrifices material to gain the initiative, and the modern main line 3...c5 4 exd5 Qxd5, where Black keeps his pawn-structure healthy at the cost of some tempi. To get the most out of these lines as either colour, thorough up-to-date knowledge is essential, and this book supplies it in abundance.

Steffen Pedersen is an international master from Denmark. He scored a grandmaster norm when he was 16, and played in several World and European junior championships. In 1998 he was joint winner of the Hampstead Grandmaster tournament, and achieved his second grandmaster norm at the Aars get2net Cup in 1999. He has written several highly-regarded opening books, with subjects including the Dutch Defence, Sicilian Scheveningen, Benko Gambit and the Semi-Slav. Other Gambit titles: Test Your Chess, The Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The Meran System, French: Advance and Other Lines, The Gambit Guide to the Bogo-Indian, The Gambit Guide to the Benko Gambit.

Download a pdf file with a sample from the book.

FRENCH: ADVANCE AND OTHER LINES (Steffen Pedersen) - $44.95
144 pages (248 mm by 172 mm). ISBN 1 904600 40 9.

In the third and final volume of his series on the French Defence, Steffen Pedersen covers all of White's alternatives to 3 Nc3 and 3 Nd2. These include the aggressive Advance, the quiet Exchange, and side-variations such as the Two Knights, King's Indian Attack and the Wing Gambit. In these lines, it is White who determines the central structure and sets the pace of the game.

With the Advance Variation, White establishes a space advantage, and will often seek to exploit this by creating attacking chances on the kingside, or a bind on the queenside. Both sides have a variety of systems at their disposal, and the player who is better acquainted with the intricacies of these lines will tend to come out on top. It is a perennial favourite among players with a direct aggressive style: Shirov has played the Advance many times in recent years, while it has been employed by Sveshnikov and Kupreichik throughout their careers.

The Exchange Variation leads to open and generally symmetrical positions. Pedersen carefully examines White's attempts to seize the initiative, and also recommends ways for Black to create play if White adopts a more stolid approach.

Steffen Pedersen is an international master from Denmark. He scored a grandmaster norm when he was 16, and played in several World and European junior championships. In 1998 he was joint winner of the Hampstead Grandmaster tournament, and achieved his second grandmaster norm at the Aars get2net Cup in 1999. He has written several highly-regarded opening books, with subjects including the Dutch Defence, Sicilian Scheveningen, Benko Gambit and the Semi-Slav. Other Gambit titles: Test Your Chess, The Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The Meran System, The Main Line French: 3 Nc3, The French: Tarrasch Variation, The Gambit Guide to the Bogo-Indian, The Gambit Guide to the Benko Gambit.

Download a pdf file with a sample from the book.

Batsford

Batsford Book of Chess Records - $49.95

By Yakov Damsky

Summary

A long-overdue book on the records, from the trivial to monumental, set in the chess world. From the most unfortunate players in chess history to the longest queen moves, and from the longest tournaments to the record time for thinking about the next move, everything is included here – this amusing, entertaining, and often astounding guide is a must for all chess players.

The book aims to fill a gap in chess literature by listing the record holders in numerous aspects of the game. It is divided into four sections: Games; People; Tournaments, Matches and Events; and Around the Black and White Board, giving the chess play of some amazing chess record moves.
 

About the Author

Yakov Damsky is a world-renowned chess journalist, chess master and international chess arbiter. He is the author of several chess books, including Century of Chess. He lives in Moscow.
 

Chess for Tigers - $39.95

By Simon Webb

Summary

One of the most influential books on chess ever published – now in its third edition. The Tiger is a vicious beast. He doesn’t care about the aesthetic side of chess. He doesn’t even care about making the ‘best’ moves. All he cares about is winning.

Do you want to win more games? Then become a Tiger. Chess for Tigers tells you how to make the most of your playing strength, how to play upon your opponent’s weaknesses, how to steer the game into a position which suits you and not your opponent, how to get results against strong opposition and how to avoid silly mistakes.

This is a cult classic that is as relevant to today's generation of chess players as the first edition was. Regularly voted in the top 10 best chess books of all time, this book should be read by all chess players, especially beginners who want to win at all costs.

About the Author

Mr Webb started to make an impact on the chess world in the 1960s. He learnt the game at the age of seven and ten years later, in 1966, he was under-18 champion in Britain and fourth in the European junior Championship. He married and moved to Sweden in the 1970s and became one of the few correspondence chess Grand Masters. The first editon of Chess for Tigers was first published in 1978.

The sad death of Simon Webb in March 2005 shocked the chess community.