ChessBase Magazine 92

The main database CBM 92

The ChessBase Magazine 92 database appears as an icon labeled "92 CBM" in the main database window of ChessBase 8.0. Double-clicking the icon will produce a list of around 1,460 games. At the top of the list there are some text reports. Then the first tournament games begin.

Naturally you can browse through this list, but it is better to click one of the tabs at the top to get a different overview. The most important tab in this case is probably "Tournament". When you click it you get a list of the different tournaments included in this issue. If you right-click the list you can sort the tournaments according to name, place, nation, date, category, etc. "Type" will give you regular tournaments, Swiss, team, K.O. and rapid events in separate blocks; "Category" sorts the strongest tournaments to the top.

The nominally highest category event was the double round robin Essent Crown tournament, which had only four players: Peter Arcs, Judit Polgar, Alexander Khalifman and Loek van Wely. The average Elo was 2661 and the category was 17. Arcs was first, playing a whopping 217 points above his official rating, followed by Polgar and Khalifman.

Next come Cap d'Agde A and B. The former was won by Evgeny Bareev ahead of Tkachiev and Karpov, the latter by Gelfand ahead of Dreev.

The FIDE world Cup in Hyderabad was won by Vishy Anand, who had a shaky start but ended victorious in front of a home crowd. Four games in this edition of ChessBase Magazine are annotated by the Indian super-GM. A total of over 500 games have expert annotation on this CD.

There are two openings reports on the CD The first is by Dortmund world championship candidate Christopher Lutz and deals with the D43-D49 Semi-Slav sector (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6). CBM 92 features a total of 38 games with the result of 10 wins, 12 losses and 16 draws from White's point of view. There are 16 encounters with an Elo average over 2600. Christopher has annotated 11 of these games. The second report is by Igor Stohl, who lists a selection of interesting games. Each link in this report can be clicked to load the game for replay.

Theory

[B23] Sicilian: Grand Prix Attack: The subject of Jerzy Konikowski's contribution is a sharp variation which enables White to avoid many well-known lines of the Sicilian Defense. The move order at issue is 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4.

With his last move White improves his control over the centre, planning a lively attack against the Black kingside. Konikowski shows that in this complicated variation the chances for both sides should be about even.

[C63] Jaenisch Gambit 6: This article by Alexander Bangiev and Peter Leisebein deals with a number of variations of the Jaenisch-Gambit. The authors come to the conclusion that it is hardly appropriate to play for a white advantage. Black has no problems at all!

Other databases

On the CD you will find a number of other databases dealing with different areas of chess. Each of these sections is written by a leading expert and will help you improve your chess skills.

92 Strategy
This is an article by Peter Wells entitled "The very real complexity of Colour Complexes" and contains 11 well annotated examples.

92 Puzzles
A puzzle database with the positions from our Christmas Puzzle competition.

92 Endgame
In the Endgame section there are 74 games and deals mainly with defensive possibilities in queen endings. The author, GM H.J. Hecht, also takes a look at the decline of endgame technique and the large number of errors being committed due to the new and faster time controls introduced in many tournaments.

92 Tactics
Valery Atlas has searched for tactical motifs in the games of the European Club Cup 2002. "While selecting the training positions for the present database, I was amazed how many games played at European Cup 2002 in Halkidiki, Greece, were decided by impressive combinations, spectacular sacrifices and powerful tactical blows," he writes. "I had an opportunity to play at this competition and experienced many lively battles decided by tactical means."

ICCF Telechess
The Correspondence Chess section contains 2763 games of very high quality from the highest levels of International Email and postal CC tournaments, specifically from World Correspondence Chess Championships, Olympiads and Team Tournaments, Zonal Championships and Tournaments, ICCF World Cup Tournaments, Member Federations & Invitational Tournaments, ICCF 50th Jubilee Tournaments, and official International CC Titles and Ratings.