I think this dvd is very good. 
Gustafsson tries to put maximum pressure 
on White and to build up a consistent repertoire. 

An example for consistence: 
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nf3 
and now 4...Nc6 is very solid reaching  
the 2-knights. But this would be inconsistent 
with his repertoire choice of the Italian game. 
Therefore he suggests the interesting 
4...Bc5. For instance Black can stabilize the Nf6 
with Nd7 against the Bg5-pin.   

I noticed one serious omission in the Scotch: 
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 
5.Nxc6 bxc6 5.Bd3 d5 and now he only 
considers 6.exd5 but neither 6.e5!? 
(recommended in Barski's recent Scotch 
repertoire-book) nor 6.Qe2. 
I think 6.e5!? is dangerous because 
if Black doesn't play agressively, then White will 
get a Mieses variation without the Bf1 blocked 
by Qe2, which is therefore very easy to play for White. 
Even 6.Qe2 is not so easy to counter over the board.  

I think this dvd is especially useful for starters  
of 1...e5 with Black:   
He points out what you have to remember and 
what you might find over the board.
He presents many  examples how Black can 
exploit plausible errors by White. These examples 
are excellent to teach the open game in general. 

Sometimes he is happy with deadly drawish 
positions which is maybe okay for his level but 
disappointing if you face a much weaker 
opponent.  

1) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 . 
I think 4...Bd6 is a better winning try.   
Gustafsson mentions this move but doesn't give 
any further hints (important games etc.). 

2) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 
If you must win, then d6-ideas are interesting, 
but he only goes for the mainline which could be 
very drawish.  
 
One weakness  of the dvd is that there are no 
complete games. I would have been very happy 
if the files were organized like the playable e-books 
of ChessPub. 

Another weakness is that there seems to be no 
serious proofreading by Chessbase. Gustafsson 
called the Moeller attack of the Italian game 
Max Lange. Correct names are of course irrelevant 
for playing chess well. 
(To google something they could be quite useful.) 
Nethertheless a competent editor would have 
corrected this mistake. 
I am very afraid about the quality of dvd's 
produced by weaker players than Gustafsson 
if there is no serious editing. 

Finally I would say that despite some minor flaws this 
dvd is impressive and a very good appetizer to start 
playing 1...e5! 

  
 

Hi Jan,

thank you for your response and clarification. It´s always nice to hear the opinion of the author himself.

Overall I like your choices and presentation on this DVD. But your files could have used a little editing before publishing . This would have made the navigation a little easier.

Keep up with the good work.

Greets

Fllg

Hi guys,

being an egomaniac of course I google myself daily to see if theres any feedback on the DVDs and thus I hit on this thread.

As for the kings gambit, its true, I dont consider it a very good opening. Ill admit ive never seen that 10.Ne2 move before, but I had a quick look now and it doesnt seem overly scary to me: 10...Qe7 11.Nxf4 (im guessing thats the idea, 11.0-0 f3 doesnt look good) 11...Ng3! (more clearcut than Nxf4 12.Bxf4 f6 13.0-0 fxe5 14.Bg5! with compensation) 12.Ne6! seems like only move fxe6 13.Qxg4+ Qg7 14.dxe6 Qxg4 15.Sxg4 Kh8 16.Rg1 b5! 17.Bb3 Nc6 it looks to me like white is fighting for survival and I cant spot any promising ways to deviate on the way. 

What can I say, I wouldnt count on scoring lots of easy points here as white.

Obviously I didnt consider all the sources there are, but I have covered all the lines to the best of my knowledge and do hope that the material is reasonable quality and can be helpful. Yup, the files are a bit disorganized here and there since they are my own, im hoping the videos will be a guide through that stuff.

Anyways, Ill keep lurking here once in a while just to check if my repertoire gets into trouble , I like chesspublishing! 

Cheers
Jan

For everyone owning this DVD I have done some copying and pasting from Thomas Johansson's excellent website:

9.Nc3 0-0 10.Ne2! f6
(10...Re8 11.Nxf4 Nxf4 12.Bxf4 Nd7 13.Qxg4+ Kh8 14.Qe2! ± Keres.) 11.Nd3 Qe8 12.0-0 f3 13.Nef4 Ng3?! 14.Re1 Ne2+ 15.Nxe2 fxe2 16.Qxe2 Qh5 17.Bf4 Qxh4 18.g3 Qh5 19.Bxd6 cxd6 20.Nf4 Qg5 21.Ne6 Bxe6 22.dxe6 Re8 23.e7+ Kg7 24.Qe6 Nc6 25.Qxd6 h5 26.Re6 Rac8 27.Rf1 Qd2 28.Bd3 (28.Rfxf6! Qxd4+ 29.Qxd4 Nxd4 30.Rg6+ Kf7 31.Ref6+ Kxe7 32.Rf7+ Kd8 33.Rd6# would have been a suitable finish.)

28...Qb4 29.Qxb4 Nxb4 30.Bb5 Nc6 31.d5 Rxe7 32.Bxc6 Rxe6 33.Bxb7 Rc7 34.dxe6 Rxb7 35.Rd1 Kf8 36.b3 Ke7 37.Rd5 Kxe6 38.Rxh5 f5 39.Kf2 Rc7 40.c4 Rd7 ½-½ Gossip,G -Steinitz,W/London 1870

Has been around on internet for at least 8 years.

Fllg wrote on 01/02/11 at 11:31:03:


So which 10th moves for white does he take into account?

I was going to buty this, however as I play;

a) The Two Knights
b) 4...Bb4 in the Four Knights
c) 4...Bc5 in the Scotch
d) 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 exf4 in the King's Gambit
e) 3...d5 in the Glek
f) 3...f5 in the Ruy Lopez

It is probably not worth my time or money now!!

Cheers for the information

Fllg wrote on 12/31/10 at 14:54:06:

So Gustafsson is satisfied with dead equality after 5.Nxd4.