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I just got this DVD. I've only browsed through most of it, but I put some time into the Spanish Exchange, and the presentation of that line is terrific.
Gustafsson starts off by surveying some of the main lines and telling you why he opts for ..Qf6. I had previously looked at ..Qf6 after Davies recommended it in one of his books, but back then the line was relatively new and unexplored. With some additional praxis now in the books, Gustafsson is able to make a better case for playing it.
He covers a lot of ground in the Exchange video, and has a nice, conversational presentation style. He's clear ans easy to understand. At the end he comments that he went quickly, but I didn't find this to be the case at all, and was able to follow along without having to pause or rewind the DVD. Overall, you get done with the video feeling like you've just had a personal lesson with him.
There are a few things that make the video stand out. First, he presents his analysis of the lines, rather than showing a model game. I prefer this as I think it allows for a more objective view.
Second, he doesn't just show the moves, but shares his thoughts and advice on playing the lines in question. He tells you what the plans are, where the pieces will go, and which pieces you want to trade or keep. For example, in some of the key lines, Black permits the trade of dark-squared bishops, giving up the bishop pair. Gustafsson comments that this may seem odd, but points out that Black's remaining Bishop will still be stronger than a remaining White Knight and shows enough of a Magnus Carlsen game to prove it.
Third, Gustafsson gives cutting edge analysis, recommending that when White avoids capturing on e7 and playing the Bishop back to e3, that Black play ..Nh6 and ..f5. This is a familiar motif in some lines of the Exchange, but doesn't -- at least according to my database -- appear to have been played in the positions that Gustafsson analyzes. So he seems to be sharing his own home-cooking here.
The accompanying analysis file isn't actually disorganized, but it should have been cleaned up. In particular, some text, evaluation symbols, and game cites could have been added. I suspect that you are supposed to watch the video first before you dive into the analysis file, and I recommend doing that unless you are a strong player or already familiar with the lines. Indeed, the video will be all that a lot of players need, in which case the analysis file is simply an extra.
And a good one at that. Having the analysis file helps to bridge the gap between DVD and book in that you get the detailed analysis that is often lacking on some of the ChessBase DVDs.
The DVD does not come with a separate game file of relevant games. I like getting this extra file, which often included games annotated by the author, but have never been sure if the games you get are any different than what you already have in MegaBase. Maybe ChessBase has stopped doing this on the Fritztrainers?
I haven't gotten to the rest of the DVD yet, but so far, so good.
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Gustafsson's Open Games DVD (Read 4732 times)
