Tutorial: Creating a Multimedia Database by Mark Donlan In the tutorial Creating a Personal Tournament Book we looked at how to create a personal ebook from the web in ChessBase 12 using the No Logo Norway 2014 tournament as an example. This month we will examine how to create a multimedia database similar to the ChessBase Media System DVDs using the 2014 Carlsen-Anand world championship match as an example. In the previous column we saw how to import web pages into a database text file. Here we will learn how to embed videos. The video file must be in the Windows .wmv format. You could also embed pictures (.bmp) and sound files (.wav) if you so wished. A database text is not a game … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2014
The Number 64
The Number 64 by Jeff Coakley Welcome to another cafe smorgasbord of puzzles. Our special menu this week celebrates somebody’s sixty-fourth birthday. The types of puzzles presented in this column have appeared previously on The Puzzling Side of Chess. If you are unfamiliar with any of them, examples with more detailed explanations are available in the archives. 1. Triple Loyd #39 Place the black king on the board so that: A. Black is in checkmate. B. Black is in stalemate. C. White has mate in one. The number 64 is interesting in many ways. For example, it is the smallest number which is both a perfect square and a perfect cube. 64 = 8² = 4³ Do you know what the next … [Read more...]
Gambiteer II
Gambiteer II by Nigel Davies Black can hoist the pirate flag against two of White's strongest and most popular openings, the Queen's Gambit and the Ruy Lopez. He argues that neither (1 d4 d5) 2 c4 nor (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6) 3 Bb5 is optimal from a development perspective and that Black can take the initiative with the Albin Counter and Schliemann Gambits respectively. In this volume I will present a repertoire for Black in these two openings which should enable the reader to play them with confidence at any level. Ruy Lopez himself did not consider 3 Bb5 to be a very strong move, and from a development point of view it looks less relevant than, say, 3 Bc4. Is this enough justification … [Read more...]
Wading in the Baltic
by Tim Harding The Baltic Defence to the Queen's Gambit (ECO code D06) gets its name from its adoption by players from north-east Europe, specifically GM Igors Rausis and his wife, correspondence GM Olita Rausis. It arises by 1 d4 d5 2 c4 Bf5 or sometimes via 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Bf5 3 c4. Although the latter move order excludes two of White's sharpest responses, they are the lines most typical of the Baltic Defence. Sometimes the Baltic transposes into a variation of the Slav Defence; those lines will only be cursorily treated here. The "true" Baltic Defence initiates very sharp play from a very early stage and there are some gambit lines with an affinity to the Albin Counter-Gambit. It … [Read more...]
At the Crossroads
by Mark Dvoretsky In a very old classic game, after all of thirty rather boring moves, an interesting position arose, which shall become the subject of our discussion. Fine – Shainswit U.S. Championship, New York 1944 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. d4 d5 4. Nc3 dc 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Qc7 8. g3 e5 9. de Nxe5 10. Bf4 Nfd7 11. Bg2 Be7?! To cite Garry Kasparov in My Great Predecessors, Part 2: “Later on, players would prefer 11...f6 12. 0-0 Rd8, or 11...Rd8 12. Qc1 f6. 11...g5!? is the fashion these days.” 12. 0-0 Be6 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. a5 14. Qc2! Rd8 (14...Qa5 15.Nb5; 14...0-0 15. Nb5 Qb8 16. Nd4) 15. Rfd1 0-0 16. Nb5 is probably stronger, as was played in the 1st game of … [Read more...]
ABC of the English Opening
An Alternative Tool to Learn the Opening by Davide Nastasio ABC of the English Opening, by Lorin D'Costa, ChessBase, Video running time: 7 hours As an amateur who competes in many tournaments throughout the year, I am interested in learning about openings and the ideas behind them. Unfortunately, as an adult with limited time, I cannot really read chess books in any great depth. The magnus opus of the English Opening was written by GM Marin for Quality Chess, a beautiful set of three books in the Grandmaster Repertoire series, with a total of 1,187 pages! If I only had the time to read it. So as an alternative tool for learning the openings, I find the Fritz Trainer DVDs enormously … [Read more...]
Chess Mazes #377
Chess Mazes #377 There are two types of chess mazes: checking and mating. For bishop, rook, and knight mazes the play is to check the black king. For queen, pawn, and king mazes the object is to checkmate the enemy king; here checks are not allowed. The rules in common for each type of maze are as follows: Black never moves. Only the maze piece (in the case of pawns – the maze units) may move. A maze piece may never move to a square where it can be captured by enemy forces. A maze piece may capture undefended enemy forces. Plus we look for the shortest solution. Helpers in queen and king mazes are frozen to the diagram position, unable to move or be removed. In pawn mazes … [Read more...]
The Scotch Game [C45]
The Scotch Game [C45] by Abby Marshall The topic for this month is White's alternative to 5.Be3 in the Scotch Game after Black plays 4...Bc5. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 The Scotch Game. 4...Bc5 I always played ...Nf6 against most anything 1.e4 e5: The Italian, the Ruy Lopez, and the Four Knights. This move engages the pieces in the center right away. I preferred to maintain this tension. 5.Nxc6 This is the main focus for this month. 5.Be3 This is the main line, which we will be eschewing in favor of looking at the less popular alternatives. 5...Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 7.Bc4 0-0 Black will relocate the c6-knight to e5-g6. Maybe we will look at this in a future … [Read more...]
Lost and Found
Lost and Found by Gary Lane The latest twist in the Vienna. On the Internet chess sites, gambits are all the rage to put people off when playing blitz. Martin Smith, England e-mailed to comment "I faced the Vienna and my opponent played a frail move in the opening 5 d3 but when I pounced it was a disaster. What should I do in the next game?" I think the Vienna (1 e4 e5 2 Nc3) is one of those openings in need of a revival. It has been played by so many elite players such as Michael Adams, Nigel Short, and Boris Spassky. If you look on Youtube there is even a video clip of Magnus Carlsen playing a fun blitz game against his manager Espen Agdestein with the Vienna so I suspect the … [Read more...]
The Concrete Block Test
The Concrete Block Test by Jim Rizzitano Reviewed this Month New In Chess Yearbook #111 edited by Genna Sosonko The Secret Life of Bad Bishops by Esben Lund This month I will review two recent titles: one from the New in Chess Yearbook series and one from Quality Chess. Both of these books are primarily for advanced players, but club players can benefit also. One method of deciding whether or not to purchase a particular chess book is to apply the Concrete Block Test: Will I utilize this chess book to improve my play, or will it have the same impact on my play as if I had driven to the local home improvement store, purchased a concrete block, and placed it on my … [Read more...]