New Products

In the nineteen-twenties, hyper-modernism was making its appearance in the chess world. New openings were being tested, in which influence on the centre was being exerted from a distance. One such opening was the Pirc Defence. Chess was still very classical in nature, and when, at the New York tournament in 1924, Capablanca's opening choice as Black against Eduard Lasker was 1.e4 g6, this was called by the future world champion Alekhine: "a joke". However, chess proved to be richer than had been thought and the Pirc Defence established itself as an opening weapon for the creative player. The many attempts to refute the line with fast occupation of the centre and a direct assault (such as the Austrian Attack) prove that it is pretty much alive and still kicking. But why try to refute the Pirc, when one can get a small but stable advantage by simple development? In this 60 Minute course GM Dejan Bojkov of Bulgaria will unveil the secrets behind the Classical Line - 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be2 0-0 6.0-0. Following classical principles, White occupies the centre, finishes development and can look confidently to the future. All Black's main replies are covered in the videos - 6…c5, 6…c6, 6…Bg4, 6…Nb8-d7, as well as some rare options. Enjoy!

In this first issue of the New Year you will find all the players at the very pinnacle of world chess. All the top players have been active in tournaments in these last few months: Magnus Carlsen (winner of the Tal Memorial), Vladimir Kramnik (victor in the London Chess Classic), World Champion Vishy Anand and his challenger Boris Gelfand, and also Aronian, Radjabov, Topalov, Karjakin, Ivanchuk, Morozevich, Gashimov, Nakamura, Caruana etc. etc. And the list of star authors on this DVD scarcely differs from the above one: the best and most successful players, namely Carlsen, Kramnik, Anand, Aronian, Giri, Karjakin, Caruana, Meier, Fridman, etc annotate their latest games for you. A particular highlight of this edition is formed by the good 10 hours of live analysis from the players at the London Chess Classic. In addition, the DVD offers you 11 openings articles on, for example, the Ruy Lopez, the French and the Nimzo-Indian: another long series of exciting ideas for your repertoire.

Although the distribution of material with a rook and two minor pieces against a rook and two minor pieces is a very common one in practical play, there is very little literature on the subject apart from that dealing with questions relating to the bishop pair. This gap should be plugged by the present DVD. The harmony and coordination of the minor pieces, such as for example “the geometry of the knight pair” constitute a subject which lends itself very well to being examined in connection with rooks. Should the knights be defending one another or standing side by side? Other typical questions are: when is the combination rook+bishop+knight superior to the trio of rook and 2 knights? When should we liquidate to an ending with rook and minor piece against rook and minor piece, the sort of theme dealt with in the 9th endgame DVD? What are the rules of thumb and methods which we can deduce from this? For example is a slight initiative even greater when there are a rook + 2 knights against a rook + 2 knights? In addition, attention will be paid to the restricting the mobility of the knights by means of Steinitz’ restriction method and questions of pawn handling such as Capablanca’s rule. Some examples with 4 rooks are also considered so as to be able to examine a question which is important in practical play: when to exchange rooks. Also examined here in systematic fashion are many aspects of piece coordination which are also important in the middlegame and models are worked out to help you to better assimilate the important question of harmony. Video running time: 7 hrs. 38 min.

The last part of the game is where a well educated player can set the opponent the most problems. The weight of each move increases; each mistake can prove very costly, great accuracy is required. In our times, with the abolition of adjournments and the increasingly faster time-controls, endgame knowledge has acquired greater significance than never before. This DVD, called ‘Endgame Magic’, tries to cover important parts on this field and help to assimilate knowledge and understand in depth the proper handling of endgame in certain cases. We will examine how to benefit from the isolani in the endgame, how to try to win or defend when a rook and rook-pawn vs a bishop and rook-pawn (on the same side) endgame arise, the technique of the ‘square’ when the advantage of the exchange-up seems to be difficult to capitalise, how to win or defend with a plain queen vs a plain rook, how to benefit from our opponent’s shattered pawns, how to play some specific pawn endings and finally what are the problems of the exchange-up when facing the bishop-pair. As Laurence Fishburn has mentioned in ‘Matrix’, ‘There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path’. Video running time: 4 hours

Constancy and a striving for solid positions are what define Sergei Tiviakov’s opening repertoire. On his two repertoire DVDs against 1.d4 the top Dutch grandmaster presents to you exactly those variations and ideas with which he himself has been successful in tournament chess for many years. On the two DVDs all important systems which are available to White after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 are dealt with in detail. Also, in many areas Tiviakov offers you a choice between alternative variations for Black, between which you can decide according to your temperament. A further highlight of the DVDs is Tiviakov’s collection of all the games which he has played during his career with the Catalan, the Queen’s Indian and the Nimzo-Indian. Many of these are published on these DVDs for the very first time. Video running time: 5 hrs 36 min.