CT-1(420) The First Daily Newspaper on the Net Editors: GM Alexander Baburin, GM Ruslan Scherbakov and IM Vladimir Barsky. CT-1(420), 1st January 2002

Happy New Year! Black is in control and calmly advances his . The finish is near: hess Today wishes all its readers 34.¥c2 ¢h3 35.¢g1 h6 36.¥b1 h5 Happy New Year! May the next 37.¥c2 ¤d3 38.¢f1 ¢xh2 39.¢e2 ¢g2 C year see you all in good health, 40.¥xd3 cxd3+ 0-1 with increasing prosperity and chess Y Porat − G Barcza ratings going through the roof! Moscow OL Moscow (3), 1956 XIIIIIIIIY Chess Wonders 9-+-+-+k+0 9zp-+-+p+p0 9-+-+-+pvl0 The first day in the year has magic in it, 9+-+-+-+-0 so today we will look at some beautiful, 9-+-+-+-+0 9+r+RzP-zP-0 unusual or just weird positions: 9Ptr-tR-+-zP0 9+-+-+-mK-0 A McDonnell − L De Labourdonnais xiiiiiiiiy London, 1834 Black has just played 29.... ¦8xb3 and XIIIIIIIIY a very picturesque position has arisen − 9-+-vl-+rmk0 with four rooks looking at each other! 9+-+P+-zpp0 Luckily for Black, he has yet another 9-+-+-+-+0 9zp-+-+-+-0 piece looking at the scene! 9-+-+-+-+0 30.axb3 ¦xd2 9+-wQ-+-+-0 White resigned as 31.¦xd2 ¥xe3+ 9PzP-zppzpPzP0 9+-+R+-+K0 32.¦f2 ¢g7 33.¢g2 ¥xf2 34.¢xf2 ¢f6 is xiiiiiiiiy clearly hopeless for him. Black has just played 37... e2 and White resigned. The diagrammed position is a beautiful confirmation of Philidor's saying Finding Your Chess that pawns are the soul of chess! Future J Kliavinsh − V Ragozin USSR Ch semi−final Lvov, 1951 hat makes a good chess XIIIIIIIIY player? Some say it is talent 9-+-+-+k+0 or hard work … or both. 9+-+-+pzpp0 W 9-+-zp-+-+0 Nonsense – what distinguishes a good 9+p+Pzp-+-0 chess player from a bad one is the precise 9-zPp+Psn-+0 knowledge of his chess horoscope! You 9+-zP-+P+-0 9-+-+-zP-zP0 need to know your good and bad days – 9+-vlLvL-mK-0 when to trade off queens early and when xiiiiiiiiy to get involved with the Najdorf This is an amazing position − White's Variation. Not many know their chess bishops are completely paralyzed! So much for the '2 bishops advantage'... horoscopes though – this precious 29.¥c2 f6 30.¢f1 ¢f7 31.¥d1 ¢g6 knowledge is carefully protected by 32.¥c2 ¢g5 33.¥b1 ¢h4 Tibetan monks, KGB agents and Chess XIIIIIIIIY Today editors. But once a year we lift the 9-+-+-+-+0 cover of the future and let our readers 9+-+-+-zpp0 9-+-zp-zp-+0 look into it! Actually, we can do it on a 9+p+Pzp-+-0 regular base – provided you are prepared 9-zPp+Psn-mk0 9+-zP-+P+-0 to cough up a modest fee of $999 for an 9-+-+-zP-zP0 individual assessment. If interested, 9+Lvl-vLK+-0 please send your money as soon as xiiiiiiiiy This issue is prepared by GM Alexander Baburin; technical editor – Graham Brown. Subscription is $15 for 4 months. For further details please refer to http://www.chesstoday.net/ CT-1(420) Page 1 of 4 Chess Today brings the latest chess news, annotated games and interviews directly to your mailbox, every day! possible (your chess future won’t wait!) digest all those snatched pawns! For you, to our accounts in Moscow Chase or Internet Publishing (particularly chess!) Credit Russia First Novgorod banks. This is an ideal business to be in this year – is a really small price to pay, as you will prepare to a great windfall – you may soon see! find that by the end of the year Garry will abandon all his plans to challenge Before we start, a legal disclaimer is in Vladimir and will want to play you order. You see, we are so honest that we instead. Accept the match only if: don’t bury it in a small print in the end of the article – instead we say it out openly: ♦ The prize fund is not less than $3m all are predictions are 99% accurate (so ♦ It is distributed 51-49 between the many people have confirmed that to us winner and you last year!), but we refuse to take any ♦ You use the desired FIDE time responsibility for any of them! control

Capricorn - The Goat Pisces - The Fish December 22 to January 20 February 20 to March 20

Well, you did not expect anything Good year all round for good, did you? The truth is that you: you will succeed in this year you will learn the all studying all those of the following sayings are books in the correct: “ wonderful are weak”, ‘ on the ‘Beating the...’ rim is dim”, “ endings and ‘Smashing are always drawn” and so the...” series. on. And on all those In the FIDE occasions you will be on the knockout of 2002 receiving end... Sad, really, but your middlegame there is hope – move to chess play will be worthy of composition and you will avoid Rubinstein, your endgame bitter defeats, while making technique will make beautiful positions for which you Capablanca jealous and will be remembered! If your are Garry Kasparov will want still itching to play chess, try you in his team as an opening , but use the expert – great success awaits you! No slowest rate of play possible – so the FIDE knockout this year?! Sorry, pal – games won’t be finished till 2003 – by try to practice in your local club, while then you chess luck might change. And waiting then! do not say we did not warn you! Aries - The Ram Aquarius - The Water Carrier March 21-April 19 January 21 to February 19 It is time for a radical change this year – A rocky year is ahead of you: you will we hope that you followed our advice find that changing from Alekhine last January. If so, now you are truly fed Defence to the Berlin Wall is not as easy up with the Colle, the Torre, the London as you once imagined. Avoid , and all other boring stuff. Good news: particularly if FIDE succeeds in this year you can play gambits! A little implementing its desired time-control: 1 hint: The Latvian is good on second per move with a 0.3 second Sundays (and no other day!) – your increment – you may not have enough to opponent might still have a hangover This issue is prepared by GM Alexander Baburin; technical editor – Graham Brown. Subscription is $15 for 4 months. For further details please refer to http://www.chesstoday.net/ CT-1(420) Page 2 of 4 Chess Today brings the latest chess news, annotated games and interviews directly to your mailbox, every day! from the previous night, thus greatly endings – refer to John Nunn’s latest increasing your chances to pass move 20. book to improve it further! The Smith-Morra is good for Fridays, when the adrenaline is low in your Leo - The Lion opponents. On all other days of the week July 23 to August 22 stick to the trusted ’s Gambit! This is a good year for you. We hope that Taurus - The Bull you studied your defences against 1.b4 April 20 - May 21 and 1.g4 last year. This year it is time to broaden your repertoire: analyse 1.a3 and You are the Bull and this is a year of the 1.h3. These are vastly different openings, Dark Horse – you know what this means so do not examine them during the same for you, don’t you?! Yet, there is hope – week. You may start playing them with if you choose the right colour. Study the White too – at least you are not hanging writings of a certain Hungarian anything loose! This opening will work to find the correct answer. particularly well against Geminis (you’d If you fail, at the end of the year you can be surprised how often they will play write a book ‘White is not OK’ – the ...Bb4 and ...Bg4) and Cancers. The latter massive honorarium ($482 – typical for will a lot, so it does not matter chess authors, you know!) will help you what you play. to get by. Virgo - The Virgin Gemini - The Twins August 23 to September 23 May 22 - June 21 You will get great success in chess over Danger is creeping around every corner – the Internet this year, if you can prepare in openings, in middle game and, worst for the tournaments properly. I hear you of all, in endings... Try to avoid queen say “opening study, endgame work and endings, unless a queen up. Rook over-the-phone lessons with Alexander endings will be indeed all drawn, but Baburin”. Wrong! All nonsense!! The only if you are 2 (or more) pawns up. correct preparation involves having two You will not be successful with your computers at home – one is Pentium-75, bishops, so try the following which you shall use for connecting to the manoeuvres: Bf1-b5xc6 and Bc1-g5xf6. FIDE server (that is a clean machine – Beware that this may not work well even the arbiters will pity you!) and the against the Karo-Cann and 1.d4 e6. other one is for ‘consulting’. It should be Pentium-9 with 4096 Mb of RAM and Cancer - The Crab the latest databases. Having a few GM- June 22 to July 22 friends is useful too. Practice on Net chess servers. Don’t be afraid of ethical Difficult year for you – you will blunder problems – soon most others will have a lot, particularly when playing in last no choice but to cheat while playing on rounds in USA, when big money is at the Net too! stake. But there is a solution: pieces as much as your can and as early Libra - The Scales as possible. Remember: the more you September 24 to October 23 trade off, the less you can blunder! Recommended openings: Exchanged In January introduce The King’s Indian Ruy and Exchange Slav. Bright spots: Defence to your repertoire, but avoid your endgame technique will be superb, playing 1...Nf6 to 1.e4 – that is not particularly in pawnless and pieceless exactly the KID, as you might find out!

This issue is prepared by GM Alexander Baburin; technical editor – Graham Brown. Subscription is $15 for 4 months. For further details please refer to http://www.chesstoday.net/ CT-1(420) Page 3 of 4 Chess Today brings the latest chess news, annotated games and interviews directly to your mailbox, every day! February is good for a pair in the And do not be selfish – introduce all your ending, particularly against a lonely chess friends to the paper – bring it to knight. May will be a difficult month for your club or to tournaments where you you, so play only on the Internet. play. Or simple e-mail it to your friends However, avoid Virgo then – his once in a while, encouraging them to join ‘consultant’ is too powerful! Try not to us! get (or take!) isolated pawns, particularly in September. Study rook endings – Please note that we have changed although with new time controls you will numeration of CT issues - today with get them in 0.05% of all your games, start with issues No. 1, while in brackets they will still represent 50% of all your we will give the actual number of each endings! issue beginning from the very first one.

Scorpio - The Scorpion However CT files (PDF, PGN and CBV) October 24 to November 22 will have continuous numbering – for obvious (computer related) reasons. Be brave: play the Sicilian, Gruenfeld, KID and the lot – no boring stuff, no Contact information. Do you want to report a tournament or have a suggestion concerning Chess endings, nothing but attack! You may Today? E-mail us at [email protected]. We always lose a lot, but you can always boost your appreciate your comments and feedback! rating using our old formula – a holiday Please tell your chess friends about Chess Today. Feel free to send them our newspaper to sample – with break in Burma or a training (but rated!) more readers the price will go down, while the quality tournament in Macedonia. If you can will go up! afford it, play a few matches in Romania, Chess Today is published by: if you can find the right opponent. Alexander Baburin, 3 Eagle Hill, Blackrock, Co. Visiting Tula (Russia) might help too – Dublin, Ireland. the city is famous not only for its Tel: (353-1) 278-2276 Fax/phone: (353-1) 283-6839. samovars and handguns, but also for E-mail: [email protected] generous rating hand-outs! Website: http://www.chesstoday.net/

Editors: Sagittarius - The Archer GM Alexander Baburin, GM Ruslan Scherbakov and November 23 to December 21 IM Vladimir Barsky. Technical editors: Graham Brown. Ralph P. Marconi This year your best area is certainly Chess Today is copyright 2002 by Alexander South Africa – you will certainly qualify Baburin © and protected intellectual property under from there to all world championships! the International Copyright convention. Any unauthorized reproduction, via print, electronic format, Try to relocate, if you don’t live there or in any form whatsoever is strictly prohibited without already. But beware that your Petroff express written permission. Defence will show serious cracks in June and switching to the French will not help much either – it will be virtually refuted by then. Try Caro-Kann instead. Don’t forget to exchange your prize winnings (peso) into dollars on the same day as the tournaments end, before it loses most of its value!

To all our readers: please do not forget that staying with Chess Today is the best way to make sure that your chess future is bright!

This issue is prepared by GM Alexander Baburin; technical editor – Graham Brown. Subscription is $15 for 4 months. For further details please refer to http://www.chesstoday.net/ CT-1(420) Page 4 of 4