"At master level, the Chigorin Defence has been played relatively seldom, and probably that's one of the reasons why it has been analysed less intensively than other openings - good prerequisites for free-thinkers and adventurers on the chess board!" (Breutigam). The Chigorin Defence resulting after the moves 1 d4 d5 2 c4 Nc6 has become popular again thanks to the young Russian Alexander Morozevich, who, with this choice, has been holding his own even against the players of the absolute world top. It was high time for a publication to make the subtleties of this opening understandable also to the non-grandmaster, and this gap in chess literature now has been filled by FIDE Master and experienced Bundesliga player Martin Breutigam. The database has 100 entries - 7 texts and 93 sample games. Another database includes 54 training questions enabling the user to test his freshly acquired knowledge. The CD features a reference database of more than 4,000 games plus a big tree of all games.

The Traxler Counterattack (CD)
Dan Heisman
£14.99/$22.50

Traxler Counterattack (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5)
Contains:
* 54 in-depth Surveys of the opening
* About 1650 games, the largest Traxler collection anywhere!
* Detailed opening keys - find the variation you want instantly
* Theme and Endgame keys
* 13 text documents to guide you through the book
* A Tree database, the opening book for Fritz and others
* A Training database to introduce the Traxler
* A complete .pgn file
* Many extras...even a rare photo of Karel Traxler himself!

With a total number of 176 treated endgames, the material on the CD is definitely manageable. 29 examples are considered as indispensable knowledge. Whether "Lucena-positions", "impotent couple" or practical hints for the surprisingly frequent endgame "rook + bishop vs. rook" - all the include a small survey. And for those wishing to deepen their knowledge even more, there are database texts introducing the respective type of endgame with the possibility to immediately call up the relevant examples. 

The Basic Principles of Chess Strategy Vol. 3
Alexey Bartashnikov:
£17.95/$26.99

With this third and last part of his course, Bartashnikov looks at decisive features of the endgame, in 20 chapters with 74 extensively annotated games. The author starts pointing out how to effectively realize a spatial, material or positional advantage. Middlegame features like the correct exchange and limiting the possibilities of pieces are investigated as well as positional sacrifices. Bartashnikov dwells on the difficult art of manoeuvring in equal positions and fighting for the initiative before demonstrating the correct transition from middlegame to the endgame. Here he emphasizes the importance of king activity in this last phase of the game, the role of pawns and how to successfully employ the principle of the two weaknesses. Finally you can check your freshly acquired knowledge in ten test games sweating against the clock.

ChessBase Magazine EXTRA 77 (CD)
ChessBase
£15/$22.50

- 9766 games
- Multimedia-Reports:
Frankfurt Chess Classics 2000
-Interview with Vladimir Kramnik
-Interview with Vassily Ivantschuk  

ChessBase Magazine 77 has two multimedia reports. Ilya Tsesarsky followed the Israeli League with his camera and has given us his video impressions. Minister Nathan Sharansky often visits the event and is to be seen in some of the pictures, Boris Avrukh explains how he was able to draw his game against Kasparov. The videos are embedded in an instructive report by Dimitry Tyomkin. The other multimedia report is by Frederic Friedel and shows Fritz playing at the Frankfurt Chess Classics. There is an extensive report on the subject, with pictures, games and analysis of the computer games by Thomas Luther.

Grandmaster Dorian Rogozenko is one of the leading experts on the Sveshnikov, and his thorough investigation of the system in 27 chapters is a treat for every ChessBase user. The database contains more than 12.000 games, many of them annotated by the author himself. Plus a training database
and big tree.