I was initially disappointed too, but I got used to Eljanov's spoken English and presentation style after a while; probably another 5 on the suggested scale. Now I'd say the insights of so strong a player outweigh the shortcomings of the delivery.

Hmm, maybe I'll need to hit my Gustafsson Marshall DVD again 

good feedback, I like the Breyer but not keen on buying one of these chessbase rope you in to their software package things. If it was a more universal product I'd seriously consider it, but apart from that the early feedback doesn¡t seem good.

I would just add that I personally don't mind if a presenter has a boring style, although, ofc I would prefer someone with a more entertaining one.

Bologan for example I sometimes find quite dry, but his command of the English language is excellent, and he gives good explanations of what you should be aiming to do at the end of a line he presents, I particularly like that at the end of each clip he summarises what's been taught in the clip, this is a nice way to finish a clip imo and I wish more presenters would adopt it.

Tiviakov is another presenter I sometimes find a bit dull but his command of the English language is sufficient to get across what's happening.

In this DVD Pavel's lack English fluency is at the level where the flow of the clip breaks down, as a viewer I don't want to be exerting effort in trying to understand what words the presenter is trying to convey, I'd rather be concentrating on understanding what he's telling me about the position.

I am interested to see what others have to say, as I may be completely wrong and wouldn't want to put people off buying it if that is the case.

I have nearly finished the DVD, and I must say that I have found it disappointing, mainly due to poor presentation on Pavel's behalf. 

Firstly, Pavel has a limited grasp of the English language, therefore he struggles throughout the DVD explaining coherently what's happening on the board. Secondly, it's clear that some video segments that ran close to 40mins in length, would have been closer to 20mins with a presenter that had a better grasp of English. Thirdly there are too many occasions where he leaves you with a position and says; "black is fine" or the "position is equal" with limited or no discussion of ideas or plans.

As this is Pavel's first DVD I might be being over critical, however, I really think this DVD is below the standards a reasonable person would expect. I remember reading somewhere in the past that ChessBase ignore, or simply don't reply to emails asking for refunds, so I probably won't bother trying that, I just mention it because I do feel cheated in having paid for this.

For anyone interested this is an overview pic of what's covered: http://postimg.org/image/6vyewor0x/full/

RdC wrote on 09/10/15 at 09:08:03:


Yes, I don't know if this DVD will cover the d3 malarkey, but if there is a link with a Nb8 plan against it, maybe. 

I would expect the Mainline only considering the limited coverage available in this media, but not seen any more info at the moment.

Hmm, I seriously think Chessbase has been reading my mind. They must know I've been flubbing about my choice of defence to the Ruy Lopez. Maybe I should play the Berlin or the Marshall, but, well, you know 

My mind wants to play the Breyer. Too many decades to reveal ago, as a teen, my only chess books were what I got as presents, or what was in my Library. Tucked in the latter's collection was this scary looking, hard-backed, hard-nosed book on this thing called the Breyer variation of the Ruy Lopez defence. I knew some of the wizards at my chess club played this strange Knight retreat, but I could never understand it. However, I think the call has always been there. 

I'm really hoping that Bologan's upcoming book will cover the Breyer. Then, with this DVD to get me into the swing, a mystery of my childhood might at last be solved