ChessBase Magazine #158 ChessBase |
The headline item this time is undoubtedly the coverage of the World Championship battle between defending champion Vishwanathan Anand and challenger - and overwhelming favourite - Magnus Carlsen.
Daniel King's video reports on the title bout are the top highlight of the issue. His polished style of delivery is tailor made for this sort of video coverage. His videos never outstay their welcome but they do a wonderful job of describing the salient moments of each game.
Coverage of the title match permeates other areas of the magazine too. Indeed, every phase of the battle is placed under the microscope.
The opening of game 9 (Nimzo-Indian, 4 f3) is analysed by Lev Gutman. Anand developed a strong-looking attack in that game, although Carlsen seemed - ultimately - to have an answer to everything thrown at him by the defending champion. Gutman believes there was an early improvement that may have caused Carlsen more problems.
Anand vs. Carlsen |
Dorian Rogozenco analyses some interesting moments from game 5.
Carlsen vs. Anand |
Discussion of the fifth game is continued by Karsten Mueller, who is in his element as he demonstrates improvements in Anand's disastrous rook and pawn endgame technique.
Carlsen vs. Anand |
In the game, Anand stumbled with 51 ...Ke6? 52 a4 Kxe5 53 a5 Kd6 54 Rh7! and Black's pieces are suddenly unable to coordinate to stop the rook's pawns; his king is ''in the middle of nowhere'' and it is up to the rook to try and stop both the a-pawn and the h-pawn. A fruitless task; Carlsen won quickly from there.
It's the simplicity of the explanations I like. There's no fuss, no attempt to show off. The commentators get straight to the point and the lessons leave a lasting, uncluttered impression.
Other top events are given thorough coverage too. The European Team Championship and the World Team Championship. The stars were in action: Aronian, Kramnik, Nakamura, Adams et al.
The full list of opening surveys included in issue 158 - together with a free sample - can be found here.
As usual, ChessBase Magazine offers a very impressive array of top quality material at a very affordable price. An essential purchase!
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