FREDDIE FRIEDEL 8 MY CHESSBASE!
By John Henderson

IT’S finally arrived! And in the last 24-hours my computer has had more crashes than a dotcom company on the Nasdaq! Bugs? I’ve seen more than a family picnic on a hot, summer’s day! Error messages? Hell, I’ve read more than Jim Lovell on Apollo 13! Yes, ChessBase 8 has finally arrived!

For all you ChessBase aficionados eagerly waiting to install it onto your computer, how can I put it? Well, as Bette Davies once famously said in All About Eve: “Fasten your seatbelt, it’s going to be a bumpy night.” Well, ok, as you’re probably well aware by now, your columnist here is totally hopeless with computers – it’s probably not the responsibility of the boys from ChessBase.

I can’t tell if all the problems with the good old ThinkPad has been caused by installing ChessBase 8 or my hasty decision yesterday to spend some of my hard-earned cash on upgrading the operating system from Windows 98 to Windows ME - solely on the grounds that Bill Gates sent me a personal email. Mr Squillionaire’s message, warning of doom and damnation if I didn’t give him the upgrade cash pronto, was kinda clear and made sense at the time: “...this will make your computer even quicker than before…your tasks will be done in half the time…you’ll also be helping to pay our recent legal fees...this will also keep Melinda and me in the life we’ve been accustomed to…it will contribute largely to keeping me at the top of the money-earners list...” - I’m convinced that all this constantly paying for an upgrade malarkey is all a con (a dotcon – ha! ha!).

Freddie Friedel

That’s the great thing about being a chess journalist, you don’t pay for all the exciting new products and upgrades from the wonderful world of ChessBase Land. No, sir-ee! You just phone-up Freddie Friedel at ChessBase in Germany with some yarn about wanting to review their latest products and, believe it or not, he’s more than happy to just send it to you for free, no charge, zippo, zilch. He’s only interested in an honest and frank opinion about his products – as long as they’re favourable!

Well, the latest has arrived, Freddie. And, much like ChessBase’s 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7, I don’t like it! Nothing at all to do with the product. Far from it. My main gripe is, just as I get used to one version of the darned programme without having to consult the manual every 5-minutes, those terribly efficient Germans decide to change it! FREDDIE, IT’S NOT LIKE MY PREVIOUS CHESSBASE 7! WHAT’S THE HELP-LINE NUMBER?

And here’s another thing: I’ve always tried to suggest some useful changes to ChessBase. If like me you’re a big user, you’ll have no doubt seen messages on your screen such as: “Congratulations: 250 ChessBase starts!”, “Congratulations: 500 ChessBase starts!”, “Congratulations: 750 ChessBase starts!”, “Congratulations: 1000 ChessBase starts!”. I’ve always felt that these should be changed, to: “So, what kind of anorak are you wearing?”, “Hey! You should be getting out more!”, “Yo! Get a life!”, “Try meeting people!”. But does Freddie and the boffins at ChessBase listen? Do they heck as like.

Matthius Wüllenweber

And they should be listening because ChessBase – in case you didn’t realise – like the best things in life, actually originated in Scotland. Honest, it’s true! The chief geek at ChessBase, Matthius Wüllenweber, actually created the programme we’ve come to love and know (and also curse!) at Edinburgh University in Scotland. Studying there in the early 1980s, he devised a simple little computer programme to store his best game collection (It wouldn’t have been a big programme you had in mind then, eh Matthias?), which he felt would be more useful than the system he and the rest of the world had come to get used to: a shoebox under the bed full of scoresheets (Now that’s a system I could relate to!). Once refined and put into production by the late 1980s, it took off as Garry Kasparov made the bold statement in 1985 that, “this was the greatest chess invention since William Caxton invented the printing press”. The rest, as the old saying goes, is history.

Of course, ChessBases representative on Earth, Freddie Friedel, is supposed to be here in London for the match, but he’s not arrived yet. We think he’s coming tomorrow. His delay has been caused because he’s been laid low by a bug – probably from ChessBase 8!

Hey! Maybe that’s what’s wrong with Garry? Perhaps he’s been rendered powerless because he can’t quite work ChessBase 8 and Kramnik and his team can? Any day now I’m expecting Garry to demand Kramnik’s printouts a la Deep Blue as he goes down in style. However, rather than having another attempt at breaking down the Berlin Wall, Kramnik has given him something else to look up on his database - the New Archangel!

The Archangel Variation proper (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0–0 b5 6 Bb3 Bb7) has been known since 1950, when the first game Kotov-Keres was played. Then, such is chess nomenclature, a group of masters from Arkhangelsk, a town in the north of Russia by the White Sea, made a thorough study of this line which was subsequently published in some unpronounceable and unspellable Russian magazine (Ok, something like Shaakmaty Bulletin). The system soon caught on with leading theoreticians, including Stein, Bagirov, Gipslis and Dorfman. Of the leading players today, Shirov, Anand, Malaniuk, Onischuk, Smirin, Tkachev, Georgiev, Piket and Bacrot have a fondness for it due to its aggressive nature.

Miguel Illescas one of Kramnik's three seconds for this match

There’s also been a large English influence in the line with Flear, Adams, Short, Chandler and Emms. The new form of the Archangel (6 ..Bc5) has its roots in England. The first known game was played in London in 1859 between Löwenthal and Morphy. However, it had been out of vogue for many years, and has been extensively analysed and redeveloped over the years, giving it its unique characteristics of the “New Archangel”, a close relation to the Dentist’s favourite: the Møller Variation! Will this allow Garry be able to do some deep-root canal work on Big Bad Vlad?

Vladimir Kramnik

Kasparov,G (2849) - Kramnik,V (2770) [C78]

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0–0 b5 6 Bb3 Bc5 7 a4 Bb7 8 d3 0–0 8 ..d6 9 Nc3 b4 10 Nd5 Na5 11 Nxf6+ Qxf6 12 Ba2 h6 13 c3 bxc3 14 bxc3 0–0 15 Be3 Rad8 16 Rb1 Bc8 17 Qe2 Be6 18 h3 Bxa2 19 Qxa2 Bxe3 20 fxe3 Qe6 21 Qxe6 fxe6 22 Rb4 Rb8 23 Rfb1 Nc6 24 Rb7 Rbc8 25 Kf2 Rf7 26 Ke2 Rcf8 27 d4 g5 28 Kd3 Rg7 29 d5 exd5 30 exd5 g4 31 dxc6 e4+ 32 Kxe4 gxf3 33 gxf3 Re7+ 34 Kd4 Rxf3 35 e4 Rxh3 36 Rxc7 Rxc7 37 Rb8+ Kf7 38 Rb7 Re7 39 c7 Rxc7 40 Rxc7+ Ke6 41 Ra7 h5 42 Rxa6 Rh1 43 Ra8 h4 ½–½ Kasparov,G-Anand,V/New York 1995/CBM 49 9 Nc3 Na5

Black sacrifices a pawn for active play 10 axb5 Nxb3 11 cxb3 axb5 12 Rxa8 Bxa8 13 Nxe5 d5 14 Bg5 14 Ng4 dxe4 15 Nxf6+ Qxf6 16 dxe4 Rd8 (16 ..Qe5!) 17 Qc2 Qg6 18 Be3 Bxe3 19 fxe3 b4?! (19 ..Re8!) 20 Nd5!² 1–0 Ivanchuk,V-Anand,V/Monaco rapid 1995/EXP 46 14 ..dxe4 14 ..Be7 15 Nxb5 dxe4 16 dxe4 Bxe4 17 Re1 Qxd1 18 Rxd1 Rb8 19 Nc3 Bc2 20 Rc1 Bxb3 21 Nc6 Re8 22 Nb5 Bc5 23 Bxf6 gxf6 24 Ncd4 Ba4 25 Kf1 Re5 26 Rc4 Bxb5 27 Nxb5 Bxf2 28 Nxc7 Bb6 29 b4 Rf5+ 30 Ke1 Bf2+ 31 Ke2 Bg1 32 h3 Rf2+ 33 Kd3 Rxg2 34 Rg4+ Rxg4 35 hxg4 Kg7 36 Nd5 Kh6 37 Nxf6 Kg5 38 Nxh7+ Kxg4 39 Nf6+ Kf5 40 Ne4 Kg4 41 Nd6 f5 42 Nxf5 Kxf5 43 b5 Ke5 44 b6 Bxb6 ½–½ Anand,V-Shirov,A/Linares 1998/CBM 64. 15 dxe4 Qxd1 16 Rxd1 b4 17 Bxf6!?N

The alternative leads to a well-known drawing line: 17 Nd5 Bxf2+ 18 Kxf2 Nxe4+ 19 Kg1 Nxg5 20 Nd7 Rd8 21 Nxc7 Kh8 22 Nxa8 Rxa8 23 Rd4 Ra1+ 24 Kf2 Rb1 25 Rxb4 Rxb2+ 26 Ke3 h5 27 h4 Ne6 28 g3 Rg2 29 Kf3 Rb2 30 Ke3 Rg2 31 Kf3 Rb2 32 Ke3 ½–½ Topalov,V-Shirov,A/Monte Carlo 1997/CBM 57 ext. 17 ..bxc3 18 bxc3 gxf6 19 Nd7 Bd6 20 Nxf8 Kxf8 21 f3 You can't help feeling that somehow White has to be able to win this position? But, by the speed and confidence in which Kramnik rattled out the first 20 moves (not even blinking for Gazza's TN at move 17), he must have thoroughly researched the ensuing ending, rating it as a draw. 21 ..h5 The speed in which both players played this game was phenomenal - we got to this position after just 30 minutes! 22 h4 Ke7 23 Kf2 A move that became a bone of contention with Kasparov after the game. During the post-game press conference, he thought that 23 Ra1!? was winning - ominously, Kramnik disagreed. However, it could be White's best route as it saves a tempo over the game: 23 Ra1 Bb7 24 Ra5 Be5 25 Kf2!, and Black can't take on c3 as after Rxh5, White has a decisive advantage due to the passed h-pawn. 23 ..Bb7 24 c4 Be5 25 Rd2?!

Again Kasparov is not decisive enough. The one thing he tries to avoid is the fixing of his pawns. However, realistically, he's the only one that can play for the win - but he has to start mobilising the pawns: 25 b4! Bc3 (25 ..Bc8 26 b5 Be6 27 c5!) 26 b5 Bb4 27 Ke3 Bc5+ 28 Ke2 and from here - despite it being difficult - he has to try and engineer something.] 25 ..Bc8 26 Rd5 Be6 27 Ra5 c5! This firmly locks the pawns and guarantees the draw. 28 Ke3 Bd4+ 29 Kd3 f5 30 b4 fxe4+ 31 Kxe4 Bf2 32 bxc5 Bxh4 33 c6 Kd6 34 Rxh5 Bf2 35 g4 Kxc6 36 Rh2 Bc5 37 Rc2 f6 38 Rh2 Bxc4 39 Rh6 Bd5+ 40 Kf5 Bxf3 41 g5 Kd5 It all leads to a text-book draw: 41 ..Kd5 42 g6 (42 Kxf6 Bd4+ 43 Kf7 Bg4 44 Ra6) 42 ..Be4+ 43 Kxf6 Bd4+ 44 Kf7 Kd6 45 g7+ Kd7 46 Rh5 (46 g8Q Bd5+ 47 Kf8 Bc5+ 48 Kg7 Bxg8 49 Kxg8=) 46 ..Bxg7 47 Kxg7 Ke6= ½–½

Archangel and New Archangel: two dynamic systems to counter the Ruy Lopez - Panczyk & Emms £12.99.$18.95 160 pages. The first book devoted to these dynamic opening variations (which are played by Shirov). Latest theory (includes games from 2000) with full index of variations. You can order this from the London Chess Centre. Just contact us at chesscentre@easynet.co.uk

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The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of TWIC, Chess & Bridge Ltd or the London Chess Center.