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Play it Safe, Play the Petroff accessible:
by Leonid Kritz

Attacking A King Which Has Castled Short

by Valeri Lilov

Opening Repertoire for the Positional Player

by Valery Lilov
ChessBase
Cafe
In Search of an Opening Repertoire
Steven B. Opening Repertoire for
the Positional Player
I am one of those players who is always threatening to get back into the game.
Dowd After all, I can play "senior" chess now, in tournaments without those young by Valeri Lilov
whippersnappers that always ruin it for us old guys. I suppose that is why I
am enthusiastic about these videos I continue to be optimistic that one of
them is going to reveal my "new" opening repertoire to me. Recently, I have
had difficulty in choosing a repertoire before I get back to the tournament
Translate this page grind. I would like to play more solidly, but this has eluded me thus far.
Nevertheless, in chess, you have to be an optimist!

I always wonder why opening trainers are so popular until I find myself
playing poorly in the opening and then I wonder why there aren't more of
them! However, this month we feature two middlegame trainers, by the
always competent Lilov, and only one opening trainer.

Play it Safe, Play the Petroff (DVD) by Leonid Kritz, ChessBase. Playing Play it Safe, Play the Petroff
time: 4 hours, 37 minutes. $31.95 (ChessCafe price: $27.95) by Leonid Kritz

I love the open games, but every tournament player

needs a safety net opening for various occasions. I
chose the Petroff because it provides that safety net,
Rating Chart while also offering winning chances without too many
losing chances.
Awful
This DVD provides exactly what it sets out to. In fact,
Poor I may consider the Petroff as a main line, especially if
Uneven
combined with approaches like Shirov's on My Best
Games in the Petroff Defence (which is anything but
Good safe, as you would expect!). Learn from the Open Games
Great by Sam Collins
The presentation starts off a bit wooden, but Kritz becomes more animated as
Excellent he demonstrates the variations. In fact, variations is pretty much all you get.
Not much time is spent on specific ideas or games you might hang your hat
on. There are a few ideas, of course, such as the relative strength of the pawn
structure d6/d5, where Black has had to allow the exchange of his dark-
squared bishop, but gains good control over the e5-square.

That is when you have to ask the question as to whether the video approach is
being used to its fullest capabilities. Since video offers you more chances to
exploit the fact that most people are visual and aural learners, you should take
advantage of that. Kritz sadly does not, although he does a very competent job
of presenting the variations and making brief stops to evaluate the position.
But no more.
My main interest was in how he handled the line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4,
which has been a pet line of mine for many years. Black plays 3...Nxe4 "of
course" and then the usual is 4.Bd3. No mention is made of 4.dxe5!?, which
hopes for 4...Bc5 and a slew of complications. This must be a deficit; not
because the line is good (I find only the uncompromising Short has tried this
amongst strong Gms), but because it can be tricky, and if you are going to
"play it safe" you probably want to avoid this line.

Black can simply transpose into the main line after 4.dxe5 with 4...d5 and
then there is nothing better than 5.Bd3 d5, when one line continues 5...Be7
6.0-0 Bg4 7.h3 Bh5 8.Re1 Nc6 9.Nc3, and we reach this position:

[FEN "r2qk2r/ppp1bppp/2n5/3pP2b/4n3/
2NB1N1P/PPP2PP1/R1BQR1K1 b kq - 0 9"]

Here Kamsky defeated Carlsen at the World Cup in 2007 (Kritz only
mentions that it is a "famous game" of Kamsky's) after 8...Bg6 10.Bd2 Nxd2
11.Qd2 d4 12.Ne4 0-0. After 12.Ne4, he recommends 12...Bb4!?, which
certainly merits a try over the board, since 13.c3 is forced, although his line
13...dxc 14.bxc Be7 15.Rad1 0-0 16.Qf4 Qc8, where he says that ...Qf5 "is
coming." White can nip that in the bud with 17.Ng3, where it looks to me like
White is better.

But even better than that, I believe, is not continuing in the vein of Kamsky's
game, with 16.Qc2! When, if Black tries 16...Qc8, White responds with 17.
Neg5! threatening to destroy the g7 strong point and if 16...Qe8, White can
consider 17.Qb1 or the forcing 17.Nf6+, which pops up quite a bit in this line
whether White is castled or not.

The reason I distrust this line today is because of another line Kritz gives: the
more direct 8...Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Nxe5 10.Qe2 Nxc3 11.bxc Kf8. White has
compensation for a pawn, but I doubt he can do much more than win it back
with an equal position. This is more in tune with of "playing it safe."

I certainly learned from and enjoyed the video. Some added features, as
mentioned earlier, could have driven it into first class status, and hopefully
GM Kritz will consider this in his future productions. The DVD is advertised
as being suitable for all strengths of players, and I am mostly in agreement
with that probably players of Elo 1400-2200 will benefit the most.

My assessment of this DVD:

Order Play it Safe, Play the Petroff

by Leonid Kritz

Learn from the Open Games (DVD) by Sam Collins, ChessBase, Playing
time: 4 hours. $32.95 (ChessCafe Price: $26.95)

The author is clear that this is not an opening

repertoire, instead Collins offers an overview of
specific games rather than lines, and the material is
arranged by theme: exchanges, attacking strategy,
gambits and sacrificial play, opening selection, play
with opposite color bishops, restriction of the
opponents pieces, play in queenless middlegames and
endgame technique. These themes, which continue to
crop up in open games, function to guide play in the
middlegame. The only trouble is that the themes are
not stated expressly in the menu there the only
arrangement is by opening! I had to go back and insert the theme names on
my own.

Here is the example of the opposite-colored bishops. Learning about "the

opposites" is worthwhile as they are valuable in a middlegame attack, but also
because knowledge of how they work in the ending can bring extra points
one thing I have found is that too many individuals assume that one pawn
down is a forced draw. Often it is, but not always. Here, White goes down a
pawn, but his dark-square bind and attacking chances are simply too much for
Black to overcome.

Jones, G Hebden, M.
Kilkenny 2011
Scotch Gambit [C56]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6

The Scotch Gambit, a favorite of mine. You can play 5.0-0, but unfortunately
too many people know the lines well, and except for what Collins calls
"rubbishy sidelines" you can't hope for more than sterile equality.

5.e5 d5 6.Bb5 Ne4 7.Nxd4 Bc5 8.Be3 Bd7 9.Bxc6 bxc6

Black will want to get his bishop back to b6 and push his queenside pawn
majority with ...c5 and ...d4; White has a kingside pawn majority he wants to
push with f3 and f4.

10.Nd2 Qh4 11.00 Bb6

A standard position for the opening. Nakamura played 12.Nb3 against

Hebden in 2008 and won; 12.c4 is also possible. Jones uncorks an innovation
he had found during the previous summer.

12.a4!

[FEN "r3k2r/p1pb1ppp/1bp5/3pP3/P2Nn2q/
4B3/1PPN1PPP/R2Q1RK1 b kq - 0 12"]

A move that doesn't show its true intent until later. White threatens to push
against the bishop with a5, but that is only the immediate threat. In retrospect,
it is easy to recommend that Black castle instead.

12...a5 13.e6! Bxe6 14.Nxe4 Qxe4 15.Re1 Bxd4

Probably best, although the engines already note that White has sufficient
compensation

16.Bxd4 Qg6 17.Ra3!

This rook-lift is the actual point of 12.a4. Collins considers that Black's
position might be hopeless at this point. Although it looks like an aggressive
defense might have stemmed the tide, White certainly has all the chances in a
practical game.

17...Kd7

The "computer move" 17...Rg8 may have been better.

18.Rg3 Qf5 19.Qd2 Qh5 20.Bxg7

The engines prefer 20.Rg5, but it is understandable why White keeps the rook
on the third rank. It is fairly obvious that the black squares have been
weakened, perhaps beyond repair, as Collins claims.

20...Rhg8 21.Qd4 Qf5 22.c4 Rab8 23.h4 Rb4 24.b3 Kc8

The black king just becomes a target now, although his crown was not resting
easy on d7. Perhaps 24...Qc2! would have held, which gives White fewer
targets. Then the logical 25.Qf4 is met by the switchback 25...Qf5! and how is
White to make progress?

25.Qa7! f6 26.Qxa5 Rb8 27.cxd5 cxd5

With the c-file open, the end is near.

28.Rc1 Qf4 29.Bh6!

A sweet little overloading of the black queen.

29...Qd6 30.Rgc3 Rb7 31.Qa8+ 1-0

The themes and ideas presented here are worth seeing for any player with
more than a passing familiarity with the open games. The DVD could serve as
a good introduction to these themes for lower-rated players as well.

Another solid effort from the Irish GM, who is a great presenter. Collins has
that self-effacing manner that endears himself to a viewer: "There are good
game and there are my games on this DVD. And I hope some of my games
are good games as well." Moreover, he takes the time to think before speaking
(though this does bring about lots of pauses), but I find this preferable to some
presenters who talk too quickly and misspeak. And he does refer viewers to a
neat set of DVDs that do provide an opening repertoire for Black in the open
games: Black Repertoire against 1.e4, Vol. 1: The Marshall Attack and Black
Repertoire against 1.e4, Vol. 2: Open Games.

My assessment of this DVD:

Order Learn from the Open Games

by Sam Collins

Opening Repertoire for the Positional Player (DVD) by Valery Lilov,

ChessBase, Playing time: 4 hours. $33.95 (ChessCafe Price: $27.95)

I was intrigued by Lilov's DVD mainly because I

never have considered myself a positional player. But I
recognize that positional play has to enter in a player
of my years, or as Lasker once noted, I needed to give
up the Cowboys and Indians approach to chess.
However, the trainer covers all sorts of openings: the
English; various d4 openings, including the Torre; 1.e4
e5 as white and black; and so on. So what exactly is he
advocating? Certainly no one except a Spassky is
enough of an "all-rounder" to play all those openings?
This trainer turns out to be more of a discussion of how to apply positional
concepts in your opening, so long as you play most of the usual first move
choices. Lilov should take a page from the opening pamphleteers of the 1970s
and rename the trainer "How to Play a Rock-Solid Opening, No Matter What
Your Style!"

Unlike many of those pamphlets of that era, it would be a true and honest
description in this case. If this were properly conveyed in the title, then it
would be a more attractive product for players like me who are not good at
positional play! The package insert notes, "Let one of the best coaches on the
internet guide you through the maze of positional chess where none of your
tactical opponents tricks will work! Learn how to take advantage of your
positional style of play with the help of the Tiger. " With this assessment I am
in full agreement.

This won't offer a way to choose or learn a repertoire, but it will solidify your
knowledge of how to play the opening and, for example, learn when it is
important to not worry about losing the two bishops, etc. This DVD should
help combat such wrong-headed thinking.

The content of this video is simply excellent. There are all sorts of neat
discussions from an experienced player on how to embark on getting the
middlegame you want through sound positional means. Lilov is fully in
control on this one; you'll be passing up a good set of lessons (especially for
lower-rated players) if you don't consider it for your video library. My one
major critique is that Lilov, like many strong players, is too immediately
dismissive of Black gambit lines, such as the Latvian or Elephant Gambits. It
isn't that these lines are good, but many of us don't know how to meet them. A
great future video for Lilov would be "How to Refute Positionally Unsound
Openings."

My interest was in the Torre attack, which he calls it a "Universal Weapon,"

and it seems like an opening you could assay against any level or style of
player. As usual, the 1400-1800 crowd will benefit the most from Lilov's
instruction, although I found his material a useful reminder. For example,
after 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bg5 probably just about everyone knows 3...g6? is
not best because of 4.Bxf6, but do you know why? One trap players often fall
into is knowing that something is bad without knowing why. I am probably as
guilty as anyone on that account.

The answer is that the pawn on d5 has been weakened. Not only has the
support from f6 been knocked out but the pawn on e7 can no longer support
his colleague on d5. Thus after 5.e3 Bg7 6.c4 0-0 7.Nc3 c6 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.
Qb3, White has an exceptionally solid position and will win a pawn:

[FEN "rnbq1rk1/pp3pbp/5pp1/3p4/3P4/
1QN1PN2/PP3PPP/R3KB1R b KQ - 0 9"]

What the DVD lacks is an adequate explanation of how to proceed from here.
Strong players don't need that; but I suspect many in the target audience do.
Also some further explanation of what to do if Black takes on c4 rather than
saddling himself with the isolated pawn would help.

There are some neat tidbits here; for example, after the better 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3
Nf6 3.Bg5 e6 4.Nbd2 Be7 5.Bxf6!? is mentioned as a possibility, leading to a
position similar to the Rubinstein French, and based on the fact that, again,
striving for the bishop-pair is not always the sound choice. If there was a
personality test for chess, I would definitely score high on the "bishop-pair
overestimation scale."

One of the idiosyncracies of the early bishop developments after 1.d4 is that
the dark-squared bishop may not be as useful as the light-squared one,
reminding of Tarrasch's dictum that "without his king's bishop, he could not
play chess." Many of the games I found in the database with this "Rubinstein
approach" had White pressuring the kingside for a long time, and then
transposing to a better endgame where Black had permanent structural
weaknesses. It was something you could learn by ideas and basic structures
exactly what I would think the "positional approach" was all about.

Unfortunately, the move order 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bg5 is simply not good;
the way you should enter this line is 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 d5. These
bishop sorties require an accurate move order. As Palliser notes in The Torre
Attack: Move by Move (a book I highly recommend if you want to understand
the ideas behind the Torre) 3.Bg5 without ...e6 allows 3...Ne4! and in my
opinion, White is fighting for no more than equality, and can easily slip into a
bad position if he continues dogmatically.

There are a few slip-ups of this sort, but not many. In general, I was pleased
with what I found; in the lines you won't play, there still are important
positional ideas that will transfer well to other settings (e.g., control of d5). I
suppose to leave your audience wanting more is the hallmark of a good
teacher and performer, and I hope Lilov expands on this idea of solidity in the
opening in future trainers. For people like me, who, for better or worse, often
play like a caveman, it would be a welcome addition to my video library. Yet
this one serves well.

My assessment of this DVD:

Order Opening Repertoire for the Positional Player

by Valeri Lilov

A PDF file of this month's column, along with all previous columns, is
available in the ChessCafe.com Archives.

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