Sverre's Chess Corner

Really a cool tournament

2012-04-16T01:28:30.440+01:00

Really a cool tournament

Hi, (btw, I love your London book), I am very inte...

2012-04-15T08:39:43.850+01:00

Hi, (btw, I love your London book), I am very interesting in getting your impression of Henrik Danielsen's new '60 minutes' on the London. I bought it yesterday, and must say that Henrik is an excellent presenter, explaining the ideas with confidence. I have so far a very good feeling of the content. Still, an expert like you might better assess Henrik's proposed lines (e.g., the Nc3 lines versus an early Qb6). Thanks in advance /ChessFan

Are you aware of or have the new DVD on the London...

2012-04-11T23:34:58.309+01:00

Are you aware of or have the new DVD on the London System "Pressing straight away - The London System 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4"?

Before Black decides to take up this Rook sac to c...

2012-03-13T04:06:40.305+01:00

Before Black decides to take up this Rook sac to combat the Sokolsky it should be pointed out that White can avoid it by postponing c2-c4, eg 1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 Bxb4 3.Bxe5 Nf6 4.e3 O-O 5.Nf3 Re8 6.Be2 Nc6 7.Bb2 d5 8.O-O Bf5 9.c4 Qe7 10.cxd5 Nxd5.
Of course Black is fine, but it raises the question if 9...Bf5 iso the dearing Rook sac isn't the practical way to go.

Only recently I have found this article. An additi...

2012-03-13T03:43:35.187+01:00

Only recently I have found this article. An addition:
15...Qf6 (Frenzel-Nebe, corr 1989) 16.Nbd2 Re3 is good for a draw after 17.Be2 Qe7 18.Bc4 Bxd2 19.Qxd2 Rxf3+.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention! An inte...

2012-01-24T08:26:40.349+01:00

Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

An interesting blog in general and a very nice post on the Stonewall and our book. Moskalenko's chapter on the Stonewall complements our work quite nicely as he has his own ideas how it should be handled.

There haven't been any Stonewall posts for a while so I will probably mention this reference in a separate entry. However, today I expect to be busy so it must wait for a day or two.

Not sure where best to post this, but as this is t...

2012-01-23T20:09:06.486+01:00

Not sure where best to post this, but as this is the current post...

See David Smerdon's recent post ( http://www.davidsmerdon.com/?p=695) where he refers to your "Winning with the Stonewall" favourably, and credits it, and a Moskalenko book, for his Dutch opening knowledge.

As regards the " Killer Opening' book, glad it has a positive Chessville review.

Hello Nikolaos, Yes, I remember you from Chesspub...

2012-01-10T09:41:42.815+01:00

Hello Nikolaos,

Yes, I remember you from Chesspub, and I have your Tarrasch book. I have not had the time to study the book much but it looks nice. I used to play the Tarrasch for a brief period but don't really plan to take it up again.

I buy a lot of QC books that I don't really need precisely because of their perfectionism. There is always independent analysis and interesting ideas. As a peculiar contrast there have been some really strange gaps in some QC books. How is it possible in a book on 1 e4 e5 to forget the Bishop Opening? (I know, most lines were covered under the Vienna Game but still...). Maybe the detail focus sometimes overshadows the greater picture?

Anyway, I look forward to a good and up to date book on the King's Gambit.

Hello, my name is Nikolaos Ntirlis. I am known as ...

2012-01-10T08:47:49.429+01:00

Hello, my name is Nikolaos Ntirlis. I am known as "Ametanoitos" from chesspub website (probably you remember me from some critisism i made for your Stonewall book :) ) and i am the co-author of GM10:The Tarrasch Defence. As i think i know what is happening with the KG Quality book, i can say that nothing relevant with what others (Everyman for example and the Taylor book you mentioned) has to do with the delays of the publication. The QC team are "perfectionists", meaning that they would rather die than release a project (especialy if that is written by a QC team member!) if they are not 100% sure that they cannot do something better. GM10 had the same fate! QC said "Spring 2011" and it was published eventually at Dec 2011 and (believe me) we were sending corrections of the analysis the day before the book went to printer! So, you are right to expect this this enthusiasm (i am too!) and now that the book is one of top priorities of the team you'll not wait longer (i hope!)

Also, why didn't we ever see you on Watson'...

2012-01-04T01:59:46.159+01:00

Also, why didn't we ever see you on Watson's "Chess Talk" show?

It was on his very first show, where he interviewe...

2012-01-04T01:58:47.440+01:00

It was on his very first show, where he interviewed John Donaldson. He reviewed your book and "Play the Ruy Lopez".

I don't think so (if it was more than a quick ...

2012-01-03T11:12:45.712+01:00

I don't think so (if it was more than a quick mention). I just now had a look at the archives at chessclub.com, and couldn't find it.

I assume Watson must have been quite positive as he gave it very good marks at the Week in Chess site.

Have you listened to the review of your book "...

2012-01-03T10:35:19.849+01:00

Have you listened to the review of your book "The Ruy Lopez: A Guide for Black" by John Watson on his very first ICC show?

Thanks for the helpful bibliography. I have never...

2011-12-30T01:49:59.555+01:00

Thanks for the helpful bibliography. I have never seen the Bellin book but will keep an eye out for it.

I suggest adding a facebook like button for the bl...

2011-12-01T13:20:50.976+01:00

I suggest adding a facebook like button for the blog!

Hi Phil Yes I did. Thank you for reminding me. ...

2011-11-28T14:52:50.271+01:00

Hi Phil

Yes I did. Thank you for reminding me.

I will add that article and a few other resources (NiC Yearbooks a.o.) in an update.

Hi Sverre Did you see the 10-page article on the ...

2011-11-28T14:49:29.505+01:00

Hi Sverre

Did you see the 10-page article on the Veresov by Rogozenko in SOS 2?

What is wrong with 5... c6? Zou write that a6 seem...

2011-11-26T22:02:47.676+01:00

What is wrong with 5... c6? Zou write that a6 seems to be more attractive. but, arising endgame is ugly for Black.

Browsing forth the tablebases, there are not many ...

2011-11-01T13:26:49.620+01:00

Browsing forth the tablebases, there are not many moves which give away half a point. Your 'winning' position from 123 lasted for some moves (at closest you were in the twenties away from mate). White's move #148 would also lose hadn't it been too late (57 moves to conversion). You keep a winning position for some 22 moves until 169 ... Qe3. Then White moves into losing territory already move 171 and you return the favour move 172. More than that I didn't bother to check (no pun intended).

It is near-impossible for a layman to see how hard or not it is to stay on an optimal path though. Some of the moves are pretty obvious, others are ... well, obvious but suboptimal.

Francesco, The name "Polish" is usually...

2011-10-15T20:03:05.443+01:00

Francesco,

The name "Polish" is usually used about the lines 1.d4 b5 and 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b5, which are lines for Black. And, indeed a quite interesting question is: Which black openings match the Tiger repertoire best? Maybe I will return to that question in a later blog entry.

However, my impression was that you were looking for lines for White. Maybe you mean 1.b4, which more often is called the Sokolsky or Orang-Utan opening. That is not a bad opening but not likely to give White an advantage either.

Well, in that line, it's Black that has most t...

2011-10-15T13:01:18.389+01:00

Well, in that line, it's Black that has most to prove.

White scores well and his position looks nice after 4.c3 as well as after 4.Nc3.

Marin's analysis in his book on the Open Games are interesting but Rybka and Fritz offer a lot of small improvements for White.

Black can easily handle and prepare for King's...

2011-10-15T09:20:01.094+01:00

Black can easily handle and prepare for King's Gambit. In my opinon the best line for Black is 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5 3.Nf3 d6 and White got nothing
and can go wrong easily.

Thanks a lot for your response. I was not asking f...

2011-10-14T14:42:37.215+01:00

Thanks a lot for your response. I was not asking for a new book or booklet but simply for an opening to surprise someone expecting my abitual repertoire. I think I will try the Polish, even if I think the ideas are quite different
Francesco

Francesco, I am glad to know that you liked my u...

2011-10-14T14:20:23.236+01:00

Francesco,

I am glad to know that you liked my update of the Killer Repertoire.

However, there may indeed be a language problem as I am not entirely sure what kind of expansion you are suggesting.

The book itself will probably not be updated for another decade. It would clearly be possible to write a supplementary book/booklet with some alternative surprise lines. For instance you could add the Tarzan attack against the King's Indian/ Gruenfeldt Defence and maybe something unorthodox but relatively safe against the Dutch. This might well be a good idea for a new book but my impression is that a "complete repertoire" would sell better.

However, the obvious way forward from the Killer Repertoire would be to upgrade it by adding main lines one by one. Personally, my first priority would be to learn enough Tarrasch theory to confidently meet 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 with 3.c4. Next I would maybe add some more Queen's Gambit lines with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 (but keep 3.e3 as a useful back-up option), and so on.

Thanks a lot for your efforts on this fantastic bo...

2011-10-11T08:03:53.025+01:00

Thanks a lot for your efforts on this fantastic book:I'm just an improver but I've really appreciated your results. Maybe you could suggest an "expansion" to the repertoire in the book: an opening, I mean, that could be used at times as a "surprise weapon", based on similar ideas, if it's possible.
Francesco from Italy ( sorry for my English )