The Hedgehog vs the English/Reti

The English is becoming increasingly popular as White players avoid the heavy theory of 1.e4 or 1.d4 and hope to achieve a small advantage in a safe position. A lot of club players tend to focus on openings against 1.e4 and 1.d4 but neglect to study a response to the English. 1...e5 is a theoretically sound response with good chances of equality or better in all variations, and in this video series I provide a complete Black repertoire based on this move. I have several years of experience playing 1...e5 against the English, and it is used regularly by many of the world’s leading grandmasters. Anish Giri is known for his opening preparation and his ideas feature heavily in the chapters. The repertoire is designed for players who want a complete, independent repertoire against 1.c4. 1...e5 is the 2nd most popular response to the English after 1...Nf6, and doesn’t allow direct transpositions into 1.d4 openings. In many of the chapters Black equalises, and when the White players become a bit adventurous or don’t know how to handle the positions, Black can hope for an advantage. The two positions that feature most heavily are the Four Knights English, 1.c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 and the systems with early g3, 1.c4 e5 2. g3 c6. In both of these positions I have studied the main variations in depth, but also covered some of the minor lines. The same themes have a habit of coming up regularly and I have attempted to present the main ideas of these key positions as well as the theory in order to help the viewer’s understanding of this opening. Video running time: 4 hours 50 minutes (English) With interactive training including video feedback Extra: Training with ChessBase apps - Memorize the opening repertoire and play key positions against Fritz on various levels Database with model games ISBN: 978-3-86681-808-8

Der Englische Angriff gegen Najdorf und Scheveningen ist eine der spannendsten und unterhaltsamsten Varianten im modernen Schach. Das Abspiel, in den 1980ern von den englischen Topgroßmeistern John Nunn and Nigel Short entwickelt, war ein Standbein von Schachlegenden wie Garry Kasparov und Vishy Anand und ist heutzutage auch ein Favorit von Vertretern der jüngeren Generation wie Fabiano Caruana und Alexander Grischuk. Auf dieser lehrreichen DVD erklärt der englische Großmeister Daniel Gormally, selbst ein versierter Angreifer, die wichtigsten Abspiele dieses faszinierenden Systems. Dabei beweist er, dass der Englische Angriff keine eindimensionale Eröffnung ist, obwohl in vielen Varianten Weiß fröhlich am Königsfllügel drauflos stürmt. Diese DVD zeigt, wie Weiß strategische Ideen mit Angriffsflair kombinieren kann, um den Englischen Angriff gegen Sizilianisch zu einer tödlichen Waffe zu machen. Gormally ist überzeugt: Wer den Englischen Angriff in sein Repertoire aufnimmt, wird seine Resultate sofort steigern. Es ist die Art von Eröffnung, die harte Arbeit belohnt – man bekommt eher interessante Stellungen als in den Anti-Sizilianisch-Varianten, während das Spielen und Studieren dieser Eröffnung auch das eigene Schachverständnis verbessern wird. Videospielzeit: 6 Stunden 56 Minuten (englisch)  Interaktiver Abschlusstest mit Video-Feedback  Extramaterial: Exklusive Datenbank mit 50 Modellpartien  Mit CB 12 – Reader ISBN: 978-3-86681-491-2

The advanced variation of the Caro-Kann Defence is a very good alternative to the classical variation 1.e4 с6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 (or 3.Nc3) dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 (4...Nd7). The theory after 3.e5 has developed extensively nowadays too; nevertheless, the positions of the advanced variation are considerably less studied than those in the classical lines, in which there is much less practical fight and much more a comparison of thorough theoretical erudition.“My long-term experience in playing the Caro-Kann Defence with Black has shown to me that his problems in this variation are not easy to solve at all. The variation we analyse in this book often leads to non-standard situations on the board, so I would recommend it to players who are inclined to enter complicated and unusual positions and who hope to seize the initiative and to maintain it skilfully.” – writes Dreev. ISBN: 978-6197188042