MY BEST GAMES OF CHESS (DVD)
Author: Yasser Seirawan
ChessBase DVD (2010)
5 hours long
$35.99
Reviewed by John Donaldson
The year 2010 will be remembered as an especially productive one for the Amsterdam based American Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan. First there was the well received book CHESS DUELS: MY GAMES WITH THE WORLD CHAMPIONS, and now the 5 hour DVD, MY BEST GAMES from the ChessBase fritztrainer grandmaster school is out (system requirements - Pentium Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard). Offers Advice” round out a neatly produced work.
GM Seirawan’s first DVD covers 22 games from the period 1975 to 1982, tracing his development from a 15-year-old master to world-class player.
The games covered are:
Seirawan - Bisguier 1975,
Weinstein - Seirawan 1977,
Timman - Seirawan 1978,
Seirawan - Grefe 1978,
Darby - Seirawan 1978,
Seirawan - Larson 1979,
Seirawan - Miles 1979,
Zaltsman - Seirawan 1978,
Marjanovic - Seirawan 1979,
Jhunjhnuwala - Seirawan 1979,
Seirawan - Barbero 1979,
Gligoric - Seirawan 1980
, Van der - Wiel-Seirawan 1980,
Seirawan - Korchnoi 1980,
Seirawan - Timman 1980,
Kovacevic -Seirawan 1980
, Seirawan - Tal 1980,
Seirawan - Rivas 1980
, Seirawan - Korchnoi 1981
, Seirawan - Hort 1981,
Timman - Seirawan 1981,
Karpov - Seirawan 1981.
The last game is the only that overlaps with CHESS DUELS. Otherwise the book and DVD are completely different in their subject matter.
This reviewer has known Seirawan for 36 years and considered himself well versed in the former World Championship Candidate’s career before viewing this DVD, but he found much that was new. One that struck home repeatedly was the depth and originality of the author’s strategical thinking. Consider the following two examples.
The following game was Yasser’s first battle with the reigning World Champion who was at the height of his powers. Despite this Yasser easily outplays one of the greatest players of all time.
Anatoly Karpov - Yasser Seirawan
Mar del Plata 1982
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 b6 7.Nh3 Ng6 8.a4 Ba6 9.Bxa6 Nxa6 10.0-0 Nb8 11.Qg4 Nc6 12.Nf4 Nxf4 13.Bxf4 Rg8 14.Bg5 Qd7 15.f4 f5 16.Qh5+ g6 17.Qh6 Qg7 18.Qh3 Na5 19.Bf6 Qf7 20.Qh6
White has just played 21.Qh6 with the seemingly unstoppable plan of Rf1-f3-h3 followed by capturing the h-pawn. Can you find Yasser’s defense that Karpov missed and which turns the tables?
20...c6!!
Yasser explains: “And this is it. The a8-Rook will come to the defense of the h7-pawn. After this move it is it. Game over. I’m not saying Black is a bit better or much better, I’m saying White is lost, dead lost, prepared to meet his Maker, Walking the Green Mile. Over!”
Sadly for Yasser he later made some imprecise (but instructive) errors, which allowed his illustrious opponent to escape.
Vlatko Kovacevic – Yasser Seirawan
Wijk aan Zee 1980
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be2 Bg7 5.g4 c6 6.g5 Nfd7 7.h4 b5 8.h5 Rg8 9.hxg6 hxg6 10.Nf3 b4 11.Nb1 a5 12.a4 c5 13.d5 Nb6 14.c4
Can you find the right plan for Black here?
14...Kd7!!
Yasser explains: “One of my all time favorite moves. At first blush it seems ridiculous, but when looking closer at the move it makes perfect sense. With the Queenside locked up, my King will find sanctuary on the c7-square. By connecting my Queen and g8-Rook, I’m able to challenge control over the h-file and my pieces will soon take over the game.”
15.Nbd2 Rh8! “Now we can plainly see that White's trade on move nine (opening the h-file) was premature.”
Black soon brought his Rook to h3 and his Queen to h8 doubling on the h-file!
MY BEST GAMES is not a systematic primer in the Dvoretsky style. Instead the viewer is offered the chance to watch a world-class player game go over his best games as if they were in the room alongside him sharing a pot of tea on a cold winter’s evening. Yasser’s approach is informal and friendly but also highly instructive. One suspects that this less structured method will find a ready audience with many players who prefer a lively approach to their chess study. They certainly will find it here as ChessBase offers a full set of tools that allow the viewer to go back and forth in the games as they please. An accompanying file contains all the games with annotations in ChessBase format.
Highly Recommended
Click to buy (or get more information about) MY BEST GAMES
If you like Seirawan’s games and/or clear and entertaining writing style, then the following (SIGNED Hardback edition!) is a must buy: CHESS DUELS
