The game Movsesian - Papadopoulos, 2008 just followed a line given in the "Easiest Sicilian"(page 58) and I am glad the young Greek player made use of my analysis.Movsesian( being a great player) just sensed that in the final position only Black has some winning chances , so wisely proposed a draw.I hope more chessplayers benefit from our effort.

I didn't think anyone would actually read my review, but now I've got at least one! Phew..... 

This is about the move 20 f3: 20.f3 Qd7!? 21.Kh1 f4! 22.Nc2 Bd8 23.Rfa1 g5 24b4 g4 with counterplay.
Regards

IM Andrew Greet wrote on 05/25/08 at 15:08:08:


Khalifman:

1.e4 c5 2.Sf3 Sc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Sxd4 Sf6 5.Sc3 e5 6.Sdb5 d6 7.Lg5 a6 8.Sa3 b5 9.Sd5 Le7 10.Lxf6 Lxf6 11.c3 0-0 12.Sc2 Lg5 13.a4 bxa4 14.Txa4 a5 15.Lc4 Tb8 16.b3 Kh8 17.Sce3 g6 18.0-0 f5 19.Dd3 Le6 20.Td1 Dd7 21.f3 Da7 22.Kh1 Lxe3 23.Sxe3 Lxc4 24.Txc4 with a slight advantage

Kolev:

21...Dg7! an now the strongest (22.exf5 and 22.Sf1 are also on page 104)
22.Kh1 Ld7 23.Ta2 f4 24.Sc2 Ld8 25.Sa3 g5 26.Sb5 Dh6 "We think that such a position, with a clear-cut attack against the enemy king, should appeal to any Sveshnikov fan. Play might continue with:" 27.Sdc7 Tf6 28.Tad2 g4 unclear

Semko wrote on 05/23/08 at 15:50:08:


Semko, I love these books, but I have to ask whether this is realistic? If the next book is on the Dragon (presumably together with the Accelerated?) that would leave the Najdorf, Scheveningen and Classical all to be covered in a single volume! What's it going to be - 1,000 pages?  (well, maybe you guys are superstitious and don't wish to publish no. 13...)

Looking back, it's rather amusing that on the back cover of the first two volumes there is a projected total of just four books! Not that I'm complaining; overall both the Anand and Kramnik series' are fabulous.

OK, thanks a lot. Are there any plans for classical and Rauzer ?
Thanks in advance
Regards

Surprised to hear trw say he's heard bad remarks about Belyavsky/Mikhailchishin's endgame books, I thought these were pretty good. If anyone has all three and wants to part with the one I haven't got and can never find, message me!

Around this time Kolev was also quite upset - because of his alleged co-author actually NOT working. I would have preferred to have on the cover page the name of Vasil Spasov, who is already 6-time Bulgarian champion. At least I could have bragged that I had tournament victories versus both of our respected authors. But Spasov has never contacted me "...by any means, in any form, electronic or mechanical...", not to mention in person. 
You know, Milen, a contract has two sides: rights, but also obligations. So, the next time you decide publicly to take someone's side, perhaps it would be better first to hear out the other one, too. You have my E-mail and did not hesitate to use it a few months ago for personal reasons.

Are there any reviews of this book yet? If so, would someone be able to post the link to them here?

Thanks in advance!

Hmm, Atanas Kolev plays for Nayden Voynov - the club in my home town... http://chess.bcvidin.org/team.htm He has contributed to this book.

Ametanoitos wrote on 04/17/08 at 12:53:06:


  The so called macedonian nation and language ocured in the 40-50ies of 20th century, when Serbia tried to turn the slav population  in the region into serbs, without any significant result. Then to keep it`s influence in Macedonia, serbian secret sevices invented macedonian so-called scolars, who have discovered that there was macedonian language, nation and history. All this was fake, so there had to be assumed facts from the history of the neighbouring countries to be macedonian. The victims were Bulgaria and Greek. The same is with the national identity of the population.
  Today Macedonian politics and state administration keep the lie alive to get their salaires, otherwise there would not be a macedonian state.
  About the national identity of macedonians - let they decide by themselves, but they are slavs and many know their grandfathers were bulgarians.
  After all the Byzantine Imperor Vassili was called a killer of bulgarians not a a killer of macedonians.
  It is a funny story, if not the persecution of people with bulgarian conscience in Macedonia and the total cenzoreship.
   For referrence about historical facts see Encyclopeadia Britannica.
 

Yesterday I got my copy of the book together with the Khalifmans volume 10 about Anand. During the weekend I will went thru them and will try to make some conclusions. Also will check some of the variations I played in my corr games.

OK, I leave this thread to you. I'm swithching to other Sicilians - on Friday should meet Delchev for a serious update of The Safest Sicilian. See you in two months at another thread.

Semko wrote on 05/09/08 at 15:47:29:


steady on Semko - we occasionally get distracted a bit, but we´ll get back to talking about your latest fine piece of work in a minute no doubt.

It is early for a thread on Beliavsky/Mikhalcishin book.

Semko wrote on 04/30/08 at 08:01:43:


Bibs wrote on 04/30/08 at 08:57:31:


I have Beliavsky and Mikhalchishin's two knights book and I highly recommend it. I only found very few typoes and only two variations where they didn't go deep enough. The most annoying part about these authors though is they often simply refer people to games that are unpublished and inaccessiable rather than stating the line or position they wish you to be thinking about. (i've had a dousy of a time tracking down games!). Overall though, great analysis and fun to read. I definitely look forward to their work on the QID Petrosian system! (I assume bibs you are referring to the bad remarks i've heard about their endgame book?)

wcywing wrote on 05/08/08 at 18:56:26:


Experts generally agree that the Sveshnikov is the easiest Sicilian, because the strategic ideas in the main line are limited.

The opening is still tactically complex enough to offer winning chances for both sides, especially at "amateur" levels.

Yeah I just got my book as well. I pretty much tore through the vast majority of the Positional Line, and I really like the suggested improvements. There are some errors common to the first edition of a book, but overall I really like the content and the format of the book. Kudos to Chess Stars!

Well a lot of people go into the Vienna as a sharper QID alternative so don't have those problems - it wouldn't be a surprise if they only started after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5. Still quite enough to cover for one book!

The Vienna proper I guess only really starts after 4 Nc3 dc/Bb4 5 Bg5 Bb4/dc 6 e4 etc. 

4 .. dc allows various mostly non critical QGA's - 5 e3 a6 6 a4 leading to a 7 a4 QGA is probably the strongest (and perhaps a hard line to make too interesting ) - while 4 .. Bb4 allows 5 cd. Still 4 .. dc is probably more Viennese and I'd expect them to use this.

I've been trying this this year and one attraction of this move order at UK club level is getting to play 5 e3 a6 6 Bxc4 b5 etc a lot. This line is interesting and pretty comfortable for black. Making me feel slightly guilty in fact....

Afaik the Vienna Line is 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Bb4. 
I hope the book will involve an antidote against the exchange line after 4.cd5, which is quite unpleasent for black.

Sure, it is covered extensively.

I'm sorry to say that the books for USA disappeared somewhere along the route and have never arrived in Boston. We are trying to trace them, but there are holidays, weekend etc.

The Easiest Sicilian flew today to Boston. It is there.

Novosibirsk wrote on 05/01/08 at 18:53:30:
 

True.

Novosibirsk wrote on 05/01/08 at 18:53:30:


Excellent title.   

The line is forming.   

Semko wrote on 04/30/08 at 08:01:43:


So incredibly superiour you are Semko! Your the leading chesspublisher of the world right now.

I must also agree with an earlier post that a book on the KID would be fantastic. What about this title :

"The Kings Indian strikes back!!"    

One of  your book I really love is the repertoire book based on Karpov as black. But its time for a second edition here. 

Some parts can be deeper. The chapter on the english opening could have somtheing on Kostens move order

1.c4 e5 2. g3!?

Or why not a repertoire book . Karpov as white ??

Another wish I have from Ches Star opening is a very strong and annoying Bb5  repertoire against hte sicilian.

I ask about much but I will always be hungry on chessbooks 

Semko wrote on 04/30/08 at 14:07:38:

Did you ever ask him? You know: "You dont get what you dont ask for" - Khasimdzanov would be an promising alternative. Get it going - I´ll buy it 

When Rajabov tells me he wants to write a book on the KID, I'll let you know...

We expect from Mikhalcishin/Beliavsky a book on The Petrosian System against the Queen's Indian - 4.a3.
We also plan a sharp Black repertoire against 1 d4, based on the Vienna Variation. The book will include also a sharp repertoire against the Catalan. But it is still on the drawing board. 

I am quite shure the book is excellent. Chess stars has produced so far the finest opening books available. Woulb be interesting which book was written by Beljavski/Michaltschisin. Any other books planed?

I was curious to see Spasov's variations. They seem dated about as much as Rogozenko's book on the Sveshnikov and recommend in many topical lines things, that The Easiest Sicilian writes to be bad. The first example I saw was the game: 

Almasi,Z (2650) - Shirov,A (2726) [B33]
Bundesliga 2004-5 Porz GER (6), 12.12.2004

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Bd3 Be6 12.c3 Bg7 13.Nxb5 axb5 14.Bxb5 Bd7 15.exf5 0-0 16.0-0 Kh8!? 17.a4 f6...
The Easiest Sicilian proposes a totally new plan, because the one of the game is dubious.
I will leave the comparisons to the readers, because we try to produce other good books, too, and I'm rather busy.
To put an end to Spasov's insinuations, I will say that Chess Stars signs contracts with the authors and pays an advance from 6 months to even 2 years (as with Dreev's book) before a book is finally printed.
Now we expect a book from A. Mikhalcishin and A. Beliavsky and I hope that some of their club friends will not claim a part of the authorshiop.

Chevalier wrote on 04/29/08 at 07:30:07:



There is an old biblical proverb: "The first to present his case seems right"

I have also downloaded these pgn.files of GM Spasov's. Interestingly, if these 5 files are merged into the one database, and then all the games are selected, followed by the command "Print Selection", then it would take 47 pages to print out all the information in these files, excluding diagrams. 

The annotations are mainly Informator-style, with very little prose. This has the disadvantage that players at the lower-rated end of the market may find the material too advanced, but the advantage of much more detailed analyse more than compensates for this.

The only reason I can find for Kolev's controversial decision to exclude Spasov from recognition of his co-authorship in the book is the complete lack of games from 2007 in his game selection, but in my opinion this is not a serious issue, given that Sveshnikov theory has not changed tremendously in the past year.

A very bizarre decision by Kolev indeed...

wow...didn't see that one comin... 

Part 4

Part 2

To be honest I cant really see any problem with the 2 books - and Khalifman himself makes no claim he will beat the Sveshnikov, admitting the most White can hope for is a slight edge in the critical lines.

During the last 18 months I "inhaled" "The Safest Sicilian" from page 1 to page 218. With the help of databases and playing on the internet I even enlarged the given lines, for example: Part 3 6.Be3 --> 11.Qd4 (Khalifman). Books like "the easiest sicilian" or "the sharpest sicilian" are interesting for sure, but honestly I´d like to buy a book against 1.d4. How about a book like " The Mercedes Nimzowitsch" or "The Porsche Grunfeld"

Kolevs simple solution is very interesting:

"The so-called Positional variation
against the Sveshnikov has become
lately the first choice of White
players of all levels. A quick check
in my database shows that in
2006-2008 it occurred two times
more often than the lines with 9
¥xf6. Apparently fashion, but also
fear of the sharper variations, have
a strong impact on White’s preferences.
Otherwise it is difficult to explain
this fondness of a line which is
too well explored, aspires to a small
positional edge at best, and is often
rather boring . Of course Anand
or Shirov may have every reason to
like it, provided it brings them full
points sometimes, but they have super
technique and deep analyses of
the arising positions and even endgames.
The lower the level, the worse
are White’s statistics. 
Below 2400,
first players scored only about 50
percent in the last two years.Currently I do not see any
serious theoretical problems
for Black."


And he is right !!! The "Khalifman product" tells us: "Come on buy me and I tell you how to beat the Sveshnikov.........but only if you are able to memorize a lot of information....."  (@Matemax: nice idea to give the books a voice  :-)) And if you are a fulltime-player...

Kolevs book tells us: "I only want to be a new repertoire-book about the Sveshnikov, buy me und hope to get a good game against the "normal" OTB-players . 

This sounds very good!!  I have just learned a lesson from the past.
Should I buy the book immediately or should I wait 6 months for the second edition ?

Bibs wrote on 04/23/08 at 07:58:42:


Thanks Bibs, sometimes I forget that not everyone talks surfer.

To translate for those unfamiliar with skateboard-speak.

'sick' = good.

On schachversand.de you can find a .pdf source with the contents and the foreword. Yes it is the Svesh all over and against the Rossolimo 3.Bb5 Nf6.

Here is the cover of the book (and an apologise is nice too, because as an old gold member who started this thread, a bit of respect is nice, and I am not coming to foruns to tell lies or invent things. I sugest that before someone starts to attack me in the future, it is better to first see my history of posts on the forum or investigate the new books first. A private message is another option). 

 

The book presents a Black repertoire with 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6, based on the most aggressive Sveshnikov lines. It also covers The Rossolimo (3 Bb5) and Alapin (3 c3). The material is up-to-date to April 10. The authors propose major novelties in practically all topical lines. The repertoire avoids solid, but passive variations. They are left for backup lines while the authors' recommendation goes for the most challenging options. "Currently I do not see any serious theoretical problems for Black" claims Kolev in the foreword. In the Rossolimo the authors also share completely new ideas, developed by them. 

The book as a chapter on the Rossolimo (3.Bb5) and rare lines 3.c3 and 3.Cc3 Cf6 e5 too.
I am very much looking forward to this book! 

 

I am very much looking forward to this book! It's already been a year since the last book on the Sveshnikov was published...

Returning to the forthcoming book "The Easiest Sicilian": What do you think the authors will recommend against the most fashionable variation against the Sveshnikov, 9.Nd5? It will be interesting to see where they improve over Khalifman's excellent analyses in OFWATA 10.

Ametanoitos wrote on 04/17/08 at 12:53:06:


Shame on many Western-Europeans then, as we claim Greek history at our schools as well. I am not aware of any inhabitant of FYROM etc. claiming they are speaking Greek. As far as I know this is the official language of Hellas (in Dutch called Griekenland btw, shame on us again) and was the language of that area some 2500 years ago, though completely different from Modern Greek. Neither am I aware of anyone anywhere in the world claiming Alexander the Great not being Greek. It is interesting though that his contemporary fellow-Greeks in Athens and other cities did recognize him as a Greek.

Ametanoitos wrote on 04/17/08 at 12:53:06:


Well, the civilians of Athens etc. did not think of Greeks either when hearing the word "Macedonian"! They thought of "barbarians".
Ametanoitos wrote on 04/17/08 at 12:53:06:


Yes, yes, no (their ancestors arrived in the Middle Ages), no (why?), call themselves Greek-Macedonians (or South Macedonians) and the others Slav-Macedonians (or Northern Macedonians). 

Ametanoitos wrote on 04/17/08 at 12:53:06:


One of the demands of becoming member of the EU is solving problems like this peacefully. In the same way The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany deal with their disputes and claims. Greece/Hellas is a member of both the EU and the NATO. If FYROM/Macedonia ever gets the ridiculous idea to conquer Greek/South Macedonia and the other regions by force it will suffer like Serbia not too long ago. At the other hand I don't think North/Slav-Macedonian idiots dreaming of a Greater Slav Macedonia will give up their foolish ideas if the rest of the world starts calling this country Vardarska, a name that gives my tongue severe problems.

Ametanoitos wrote on 04/17/08 at 12:53:06:


Have you done statistical analysis in FYROM/Slav Macedonia to support such a ridiculous statement?

Ametanoitos wrote on 04/17/08 at 12:53:06:


Sure, so no changes of borders. Accepting this idea is mandatory for Macedonia and there is nobody in the EU or NATO (probably not even in Turkey, that other old enemy) who is willing to give this up

Ametanoitos wrote on 04/17/08 at 12:53:06:


Nothing. That's why I did proposals like Slav-Macedonia and North Macedonia.

Ametanoitos wrote on 04/17/08 at 12:53:06:

It has. It is just that civilization started a few ages later, about 2000 years ago when the Romans occupied the southern part of the country. But Dutchies usually do not make a fuzz about it, though there are some Dutch idiots as well (and this time I am not thinking of Wilders). Heck, we don't even make problems about the fact that English speaking people could not seperate The Netherlands (their inhabitants are officially called Nederlanders) from Germany! The people from that country call themselves Deutsche, from which the word Dutch is derived. And WW-2 is far more recent than the time some Slav tribes conquered North-Macedonia, so the Dutch have better reasons to feel hurt being called Dutch and not Netherlandish than the Greek by some Slav people calling themselves Macedonians.

Before anybody starts complaing about hijacking: 

Ametanoitos wrote on 04/11/08 at 23:31:26:


Compare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland%2C_Lincolnshire

You won't hear complain us people from Holland (either Northern, Southern or from the rest of the country officially called The Netherlands) about this. I don't really get what the fuzz is about. But I am pretty sure you will for always prefer The Netherlands to Holland from now on.
"There is not such a language as Macedonian!"
A bit arrogant to decide for more than 1,5 million people (mainly living in FYROM or Slav-Macedonia or North-Macedonia or whatever), don't you think? Like Germans saying that a language called Dutch does not exist or Dutchies saying that a language called Frisian does not exist.
Let me tell you that one of the ideas of the EU is to grow over silly problems like this. For example hardly anyone knows anymore that The Netherlands has border conflicts with both Germany and Belgium.

A more accurate title would probably be "the Easiest Fashionable Sicilian", although obviously this title is not as catchy. 

I can assure you that the Sveshnikov is not easy - it took me quite a few years to master it.

JEH wrote on 04/03/08 at 21:05:28:


The most underated Sicilian ? 2. ...Qc7.

The Sveshnikov is easy, in the sense that play is quite straightforward, tends to be very thematic, and there are few mysterious maneuvers / move order nuances / subtle reorganisations compared with other mainstream Sicilians. So I think the title is apt.

Quote:

Not fully:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 and now White may also try (apart from 6.Nbd5):

a) 6.Nc6
b) 6.Be2
c) 6.a3

with interesting play