Straggler wrote on 03/12/20 at 09:22:29:


I doubt that we will see the Panov against the Caro as there is not much new there to report as far as I know, more likely it will be the Advanced, but I am betting more on the Two Knight's Variation as there has been many new exciting developments there and the positions are promising and fun to play. Regarding 1.e4 c5 2.c3 e6 3.d4 d5 I have no doubt it will be 4. exd5 since 4. e5 will take too much space to cover, having said that I've noticed that the Advance French is becoming popular again so when they get around to Squeezing the French that will be a serious candidate. By the way I am pouring through Squeezing 1.e4 e5 and quite enjoying it, lots of fresh analysis and the evaluations look to be more realistic than many of the other hyperbolic Repertoire books out there. 

Early days yet, but I'm really loving the premise and the execution of this Series so far.   
  

I'd be curious how Khalifman and Soloviov will meet 1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 d6 5.Bc4 e6 6.d4 cxd4 7.cxd4 Be7 (chapter 17B). If it's 8.O-O O-O 9.Qe2 (inviting a transposition to chapter 18) then both b6 and Bd7 have done very well for Black.

kylemeister wrote on 03/11/20 at 15:35:40:


Wow!, I'm really looking forward to this book now and sincerely hope it doesn't fail to disappoint. The fact that this line [4...e6  5.Bc4  d6  6.d4  cd  7.cd  Nc6  8.0-0  Be7  9.Qe2] is in the table of contents signals to me that a lot of thought and research has probably gone into this Alapin Repertoire, as Lc0 has used exactly this variation to win an impressive and little known game against Stockfish that suggests there is more life in many of these Alapin Lines for White than suggested by existing theory.   

So glad they didn't go the Rossolimo/Moscow route that has been so common the past few years, and chose instead to give  the Alapin the long overdue makeover it deserves. Lets hope it's worth the wait.

By the way, further to my mention of the Rossolimo/Moscow lines I would like to mention the two recent Chessbase DVD's by Jan Werle. These DVD's were a mixed bag for me, I was excited at first when I saw some of the fresh material he was covering but after viewing most of the content I was left unconvinced in many places and thought that some of his recommendations were downright strange and offered absolutely zilch, for instance:   

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Nxd7 Under-rated and poorly covered for White in most sources. 5.0-0 Ngf6 Now 6.Re1 is Van-Werle's recommendation, don't ask me why. He continues 6...e6 7.c3 Be7 8.d4 0-0 and goes for the direct 9.e5  analysing 9...dxe5 10.dxe5 Nd5 but inexplicably fails to consider the well tested alternative 9...Ne8 with dull equality. Go figure.

Forgive that digression, perhaps I will eventually do a full review of those DVD's in an appropriate thread should the spirit move me.

fjd wrote on 03/06/20 at 16:36:31:


Thanks for letting us know. Interesting choice. Looks like I posted in the wrong forum, though...

I am interested too!!