A hot summer for chess means that the new issue of ChessBase Magazine contains five really top tournaments. Starting with the World Team Championship in Ningbo in China and the Russian Championship in Moscow via classic tournaments in Biel and Dortmund going all the way to the Botvinnik Memorial, in which the four best players in the world tested their rapid chess skills against each other. A particular theme this time is the Chess Festival in Biel (see cover). On the DVD you will find more than three hours of video analysis and with contributions from Carlsen, Morozevich, Shirov, Vachier-Lagrave, Caruana and Pelletier all the participants have something to say to you. Amongst the other star authors in the issue there are Kramnik, Aronian, Ponomariov, Le Quang and Hou Yifan. Not to mention the 11 openings articles with thorough analysis and ideas for your repertoire which await you.

 

In his compact introductory video grandmaster Dorian Rogozenco gives you an overview of the many joys on offer to you in this issue and shows you the occasional highlight, e.g. the decisive moments from the game Kramnik-Ponomariov from the first round of the Dortmund tournament. Rogozenco takes a special look at Igor Stohl’s opening article on the Grünfeld Defence with Be3 and the innovation 13.h4, introduced by Kramnik in Dortmund against Giri.

 

Top 4 in Moscow
Whereas other top players require game practice - really true for rapid chess - this apparently is not the case for Anand. The last tournament in classical chess played by the world champion was back in January in Wijk aan Zee, and the Indian player won a rapid chess match against Shirov at the start of June. And now no less than the top 4 in a double round robin in Moscow in the honour of Mikhail Botvinnik. But Anand was majestic and was very dangerous above all with the black pieces, see also the game in the next section. A lead of 1.5 points over the short distance of only six games is considerable. Though first in the world ranking list, Magnus Carlsen came in a clear last on the other hand. Yet the first day was quite normal for him - three draws. But when on day two the Norwegian spoiled a promising position against Aronian, he went on to pull out all the stops and promptly lost all his games.

 

Russian Championship
All the top players were present for the 64th Russian Championship, and this year even Vladimir Kramnik climbed into the ring and in doing so raised the average Elo to over 2700 points for the first time. The favourite for the title was therefore there, but his ambitions were smothered in the very first round by Peter. And whereas Kramnik thereafter found it very difficult to get back into the tournament, Svidler not only completed a hat-trick of wins between rounds 4 and 6, but in doing so secured victory in the tournament before the final round was even played. In the said final round Svidler was able to allow himself a slight slip and lost his game with Alexander Morozevich, who once more put in a splendid performance and finished the tournament in second place, just as he had done in Biel.

 

Dortmund
The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting is and remains Vladimir Kramnik's tournament. In 1995 he won in Dortmund for the first time, and this year, 2011, he celebrated his tenth victory in this strong and famous tournament. Kramnik started majestically and at the end his 7 out of 10 left him, despite a final round defeat at the hands of Hikaru Nakamura, a whole 1.5 points ahead of the Vietnamese player Le Quang Liem. The only person who will ever be able to break Kramnik's "Record for eternity" will be Kramnik himself. The first attempt at that will be summer 2012.

 

Biel
The 44th Chess Festival in Biel witnessed a win by the favourite which was never in doubt. Magnus Carlsen won five of the first seven games, and so victory in the tournament was assured after the penultimate round. The basis for the Norwegian’s success was once again his pressure play and his unerring feeling for errors on the part of his opponents. Second place went to Alexander Morozevich, and perhaps even more could have been possible on his return, had there not been his defeat at the hands of Caruana in the ninth round.

 

World Team Championship in Ningbo
Armenia is a chess country par excellence. In spite of having just 3.2 million inhabitants, it occupies sixth position in the national ranking lists and in every major event at national level it has for years been one of the favourites. This was the case this year too in the World Team Championship in Ningbo in China. With Aronian, Movsesian playing for Armenia for the first time, Akopian and Sargissian they again had a powerful squad, which managed to complete all its matches without a loss and to win five of its nine encounters. And on this occasion that was enough to win the WTCh title. The Elo favourite teams from Russia and Azerbaijan disappointed all along the line. In the final round the Russian team blew their last chance of a medal with their defeat at the hands of India, which moved Evgeny Bareev to resign from the post of national trainer.

 

From the opening trap to the endgame study
Training in ChessBase Magazine starts with the very first moves and includes all the phases of a game of chess. The 11 up-to-date openings articles with their many ideas and suggestions for your repertoire can be found above among the links. Rainer Knaak’s opening trap (including its Fritztrainer video) contains this time a trap in the Scotch (C44). You will also find in video format the openings contributions by Leonid Kritz (French Winawer Variation), Valeri Lilov (Caro-Kann Advance Variation) and Adrian Mikhalchishin (Semi-Slav with an early ...a6). These videos can be found in the fritztrainer column. The subject of Peter Wells in his strategy column is called: "Capturing towards the centre?". In Daniel King’s long running Move by Move it is a game in the Catalan which is there for training. And in the tactics column (theme: happiness without queens) and endgames column (theme: double rook endings) Oliver Reeh and Karsten Müller have once more brought together for you all that is best from recent tournament practice.

 

Opening Surveys
Schipkov: Dutch Defence A97 1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 e6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.Nc3 Qe8 8.Re1
With the rook move White is aiming for a quick e2-e4, which is considered advantageous if he manages it. But Boris Schipkov points out that Black does worse trying to prevent the advance but that in the main variation (8...Qg6) he gradually equalises.
Prié: Scandinavian Defence B01 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bf5 6.Bc4 c6 7.Bd2
The article is devoted to the main variation of the Scandinavian. Here Black is under pressure, but Eric Prié shows that precise play will help him keep things level. As usual, Prié’s contribution contains many of his own games.
Kritz: Sicilian Defence B42 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 g6 6.0-0 Bg7 7.Nb3
Black’s setup is not bad, if ...Nge7 and ...d5 could be played. So according to Leonid Kritz White should try to counter this advance, starting with 7.Nb3 and continuing after 7...Nge7 with 8.c4 and then Nc3.
Breder: French Defence C07 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.cxd5 Qxd5 5.N1f3 cxd4 6.Bc4 Qd6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Nb3 Nc6 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 a6 11.Re1 Bd7
Black is now ready to castle long, but is still able to castle to the other side after ...Qc7, ...Bd6. The lines are sometimes very sharp, but of Black knows them well he should be able to do OK.
Breutigam: Tarrasch Defence D34 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6
In his contribution Martin Breutigam shows that Black has no need to fear the main variation of the Tarrasch Defence. Perhaps this opening is being avoided purely for reasons of fashion, but objectively the positions which arise from it are level.
Krasenkow: Semi-Slav D46 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5
Compared to 9...a6, which was investigated in CBM 142, the move 9...b5 is more direct and sharper. White is well able to prepare himself for Black’s plan, which involves a rapid c6-c5. Nevertheless, according to the analyses of Michal Krasenkow he cannot count on having an opening advantage.
Stohl: Grünfeld Defence D85 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be3 c5
Kramnik has several times been successful with the move 7.Be3, a good reason for Igor Stohl to take a much closer look at the variation. After 7...c5 the Slovakian grandmaster analyses both 8.Rc1 and also 8.Qd2.
Kuzmin: Grünfeld Defence D90 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Qb3 Nb6 6.d4 Bg7 7.Bg5
This is a Grünfeld Defence position and it is also often reached as follows: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Qb3 Nb6 7.Bg5. But these are not games by stronger players, since they would continue differently, with 6...Nxc3!.
Skembris: Queen's Indian E10 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 a6
The move of the rook pawn gets White out of well-trodden paths. After 4.Nc3 c5 there are several possible transpositions, e.g. 5.e4 to the Sicilian, 5.g3 to the English. White has to play 5.d5 if he wants to cast any doubt on Black’s plan.
Marin: Queen's Indian E16 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 0-0
The first question is whether White actually gains any advantage in the Monticelli trap 8.Nc3 Ne4 9.Qd3 Nxc3 10.Ng5. If he does, how should the variation with 8.Nc3 d6 9.0-0 Ne4 be evaluated? Mihail Marin meticulously explores the answers.
Postny: King's Indian E94 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 exd4 8.Nxd4 Re8 9.f3 c6 10.Kh1 Nbd7
The early capture on d4 is probably better than its reputation. The recent game Kramnik-Ponomariov, Dortmund 2011 plays an important part in the article. In it the Russian played 11.Be3 instead of the far more common 11.Bg5.