Some news: changed layout of this blog,  more modern look;
achieved a C(orrespondence)C(hess)M(aster) norm on ICCF:

new results with updated (Shredder) engine

Now that Deep Shredder 13 came out, somewhere mid/end 2016,
my computer results on the Free Internet Chess Server
(FICS, www.freechess.org) improved again (with an engine, i'm
only allowed to use Shredder on Fics, not Komodo or Stockfish).

With still some other engines ranking higher, i came into to the
top 5 rankings on Fics for blitz, standard, *and* bullet. My opening
book -still used ony with the CP interface) now is about 32 Mb; my
favorite first move for the computer now again is 1.d4, but
sometimes i also play 1.Nf3 (often similar),
1.c4 (sometimes similar), or 1.e4.

Below the nr 4 place recently achieved on FICS:

NB not only is DS13 a much stronger engine, now also the syzygy
endgame bases can be used with the engine (had to adjust some time
settings, due to some time forfeits, maybe because i don't have
an SSD disc yet for these syzygy bases..).

Below the notes for account kec(C) on Fics:

A super-GM repertoire

From my research the English opening (1.c4!) seems a good
first move in top level chess. Although the fundamental differences
between various opening moves are small (*), and a good GM
obviously also tries to look at what the opponent usually plays,
or knows (repertoire). Yet fundamentally, it also matters to know
how theory  develops, for example:

1.c4 e5 (1...c6 leads to Slav) 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3! Bb4! (3...Bc5
4.Nf3! e4 5.Nd4 0-0 6.Bg2 Bxc3 7.dxc3 d6 8.0-0 Re8 9.Nc2
and White maintains a slight advantage.

Otherwise, after 1. c4  Nf6  2. d4 e6 (2...g6 leads to Gruenfeld
or Kings-Indian) 3. Nc3    (g3 also is possible) Bb4!  4. Qc2!  0-0 
(5. e4!?   d5   6. e5   Ne4  7. Bd3  c5 8. Nf3  cxd4  9. Nxd4 Nd7
10. Bf4   Ndc5 11. 0-0  Nxd3=) 5.Nf3! d5 (c5 6.dxc5 Na6 7.g3!
Nxc5 8,Bg2 b6 [...Nce4 9. 0-0 Nxc3 10. bxc3  Be7 11. e4  d6
12. e5  dxe5 13. Nxe5 Qc7 14. Qe2  Bd6 15. Re1 Bd7 16.Bg5!N]
9.0-0 Bxc3  10.Qxc3 Bb7 11.Rd1!  Qe7 12.Qa3! +/=) 6.a3 Bxc3
7.Qxc3 dxc4  8.Qxc4 b6  9.Bg5  Ba6  10.Qa4  h6 11.Bh4 c5
12.dxc5 bxc5 13.Rc1 +=
And so on; and yes, this is a Nimzo-Indian :)

Alternatively, 1. c4 c5?! (Symmetrical English) 2. Nc3 Nc6  3. Nf3 
g6  4. e3  Nf6  5. d4   cxd4  6. exd4  d5  7. cxd5  Nxd5  8. Qb3
Nxc3  9. Bc4   Nd5  10. Bxd5  e6  11. Bxc6+  5  bxc6  12. O-O
Qd5  13. Be3 +/=

(*) in the end Black can always equalize but it is not always easy

PS fundamentally the moves 1.d4 and 1.Nf3 are just as good, after
1.d4  Black can also opt for the Slav defense; after a few moves
White as (super-) GM probably can best  choose the 'Anti-Moscow'
gambit, where there still is some more  theory to be found. And after
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 we get the Nimzo-Indian again after 3...Bb4
(then 4.Qc2! is advised).
After 1.Nf3 (Reti) Black has several choices besides letting White
transpose to Slav, an interesting possibility now is to go for the
Queens-Indian, after 1..e6! 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 b6 and if you know the
latest intricacies of  this defense, it still can be a very solid defense.

New Review

A new review for my chess book:

latest Amazon review (five stars)

small update (for the chess book)

a few corrections;

Having looked at some transpositions in some more detail, i
will re-arrange some chapters in mybook in the positional
repertoire; after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c6!? 3. Bf4,  Black may still
have some problems after all, although i had analyzed such stuff.
So after 1.d4 Black can probably better play d5! going for the Slav
(2. c4 c6! but then Black can also throw in a dubious  Albin gambit
2...e5 no big deal. And 2.Nf3 still is possible, but then after 2...Nf6
3.c4 c6! Black is going for the solid Slav defense again

Secondly there's another possible improvement, in the Moscow
line, After Bxf6 Qxf6  instead of the neutral 8.e3 because
of the strong defense systems with ...g6!, White might  better
go for the Hastings variation with 7,Qb3!?, although
also then Black can equalize, for example:

1. d4 d5  2. Nf3   Nf6  3. c4  c6  4. Nc3 e6  5. Bg5  h6  6. Bxf6  Qxf6  7. Qb3  a5   8. e3  a4!  9. Qc2   a3  10. b3  Bb4  11. Bd3  Nd7  12. O-O   O-O  13. Rac1  Qe7  14. Ne2   Ra5  15. Ng3 =

so stay tuned,
until the next update

jef

Further explanation of my book(s)

Because of some comments by readers some further
explanation of the underlying thoughts in my book
about chess openings seems worthwile:

First of all, it should be noted that there are several
parts in the book, one especially for beginners in
opening theory (yet knowledgeable about the chess
rules and basic play), one for intermediate players,
and as two extra chapters, one with gambits for White,
and the last one a positional repertoire with 1.d4.

In all chapters the concept of a repertoire has been
applied to reduce the number of variations to learn.
Thereby in the first repertoire, for the beginners,
the primary aim was simplicity, starting with 1.e4
for White, and playing 1...e5 with Black.
Note that the latter, Black repertoire also can be
useful for intermediate players.

In the next chapter, the repertoire for White with 1.e4
has been assembled in such a way that White intends
to play the strongest move, no matter what Black's
response is. These strong moves for White were found
by extensive computer analysis, fine-tuning of the opening
database, and back-solving, during many iterations, as well
as comparing it with opening theory such as described
in many GM books. As result a strong repertoire with 1.e4
has been compiled. The worth of the book can be found
already to a large extent in this repertoire for White, where
many novelties were found, and some conclusions which do
not seem to be known yet in other books. For example
the strategy against the Berlin defense by playing first
Rd1+, and then later h3. Or the move 9.g4! against the
complicated Dragon variation, a move which fundamentally
seems the best, as result of my comprehensive analysis.

The same method was used in the intermediate Black repertoire,
using the more positional French defense as additional weapon,
besides the sharp repertoire with 1...e5 which already was given.
Also here some new results were obtained, e.g. refraining
from the Winawer, because White seems to be able to get
an advantage against this variation. Yet also aiming for
some simplicity, thus having chosen the Burn variation
instead of the more complicated Mac-Cutcheon for Black.

In addition, the gambit repertoire with possibilities
after 1.e4 for sharp play, not only was computer checked,
but assembled after in-depth analysis, and thus may
contain many novelties and surprises for the opponent.
An ideal repertoire for blitz play, or against a weaker opponent.

Finally, the positional repertoire with 1.d4, was mostly
put together with the same principles, aiming for the
strongest variations. Yet more complicated play as with
the Catalan has been avoided, and a rather ' positional'
variation as the Moscow Semi-slav (Bg5 h6 Bxf6) was
chosen instead of the complicated anti-Moscow gambit.
Nevertheless, in those instances that this variation comes
on the board, when Black does not know the strongest defense
(using a later ...g6 move and a fianchetto), White has good
chances of maintaining a slight positional advantage.

Thus this repertoire is intended for the more advanced
players at intermediate players, who now and then like
to play 1.d4 instead of 1.e4,  e.g. against stronger players,
and thus broadening their overall knowledge of openings.

In a next book i might describe the strongest repertoire
in chess, which contains of the Sicilian against e4,
and using 1.d4 d5 2.c4 and a subsequent Catalan or Slav
starting with Nc3 instead of Nf3 as in the current book.
Whereby it should be noted that such theory is still
changing year by year, thus making it quite an endeavour
to aim for the very 'best'  openings, in a book which will
last for years.

The current book however, with the solid and strong
variations, is not expected to be subject to many
fundamental changes again, and thus should last for
decades or longer (in a few instances where I found
a slight improvement in the repertoire, I intend to
update this in further editions; such minor revisions
will not change the overall content of the book (containing
of a kindle version on Amazon, and a paperback version
which contains an appendix with more detailed variations
at the end, sold not only on Amazon but also Barnes&Nobles)

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/better-chess-openings-jef-kaan/1121347656

Revised version

having discovered still some little mistakes in the chess notation
in the beginner's chapter, we revised the previous editions:

now on Kindle:

Learning the Chess Openings, Kindle version

Ofcourse the paperback version also has been update,
and the price reduced (!):

Better Chess openings (paperpack)


NB this basically is the same book as the Kindle book above, but
in addition a table with openings for beginners and intermediate
players (Black and White) has been added at the end.

It also is for sale on Lulu.com
Lulu version (paperback)

Social media

gradually now started to use Twitter,
and -sometimes- following some tweets about chess
or by other writers, not only about chess.

so if you like to 'follow' me (for brief messages
eg about computer chess) the account is:

twitter@KecJef

see you - i.e. some of the readers here-
there maybe :)

jef

Kindle version on Amazon

Now my E-book also is available as kindle version on Amazon:

Kindle E-book about chess openings

Still finetuning the layout a bit,
but i'ts already readable quite well,

jef

Learning Chess Openings

New version of the E-book: 
(now called) Learning the Chess Openings 
And that's what it's all about , anyway:)
-----------------------------------------------

kindle (.mobi) version available at kobo:

Epub version online at scrib.com:

Nook version at Barnes&Nobles:

ibook for Apple Mac or Ipad at::


Not only learning chess openings,
but *improved* openings !

jef

New book about openings

 Just released my first  E-book, and of-course it's about chess,

in particular opening theory, especially geared at beginner level

         but also above, at average chess club level, until IM or so.

              Better Chess Openings E-book  (.pdf)

For beginning - intermediate chess players, or those who want to learn it, and then  it's dealing only with the specialty called opening theory.  No e-pub version (yet).

         (The only book at this level, as far as i know, with selected B & W variations for beginners via the 'repertoire' method ; also a rare book with diagrams with Black at the bottom, when it is Blacks move to play(*); thereby a high amount of - colored- diagrams to be an ideal learning tool.)

NB planning to release a printed book (paper)  version before the end of the year (2014), possibly via Ingram Spark, but if there is any (Chess-)publisher having interest, then they can contact me. Probably both a color version (expensive) and a B&W version (cheap) are foreseen.

             jef 

PS writing the book did cost time, but the underlying research has taken me some 15 years, and that's basically where the worth of the book is in.  Thereby also more advanced variations were investigated as Slav and Sicilian for Black, but i decided to split the book up into two parts, the first one for beginners to master level. Second part planned is from master to GM level, but i'm not in a hurry to publish that.

PS 2 About the first book, the current one,  while some people may object to the concept of finding and specifying the 'best' opening moves, my experience in correspondence chess, now at masterlevel on ICCF, has taught me it indeed is a valuable and useful concept; which works! In other words, it is a useful concept, and if it works in correspondence chess, you cannot go wrong by using (or even memorizing) such a repertoire in normal chess; although it might take some time to learn/master it. And GM's usually are at such higher levels
and preoccupied in their own struggles against their fellow GM's
that they usually are not suitable on an educational level
to explain opening theory to beginneers (besides few
exceptions, but such books are rare). As for the recommended
lines in my books, wellmost chess players are independent enough i
suppose to experiment sometimes with other variations.
Well at least in my  book i've provided now some clear
guidelines for the basic lines especially for beginners !

(*) a logical thing to do, obviously , but Chessbase does not
have such a feature, contrary to Chesspad for example

Update of Bookbuilder program

Recently made an update of the Bookbuilder program (4.2)
Now more than 900 thousand position in the default book.
It now gives a reasonable accurate overview of the 'best'
opening variations or defenses , after 1.d4!  1.e4 or 1.Nf3.

Add variation name possible again (it had disappeared
in the previous version).

The 'demo' version on shareit.com is a fully functional
version, working for 14 days.

jef

PS nowadays playing with the Stockfish engine on ICC,
with a 17Mb book made for the Chesspartner interface.

A little test

Above test games were played with time control 40 moves in 40 minutes, on Quad HP9300 with 3 cores, no pondering. Note that Houdini.2 was a modified version, whereby I had improved some values with the Houdini-config tool. And with the Houdini-2 engine, I used my ChessPartner (CP) userbook (about 16Mb), whereby with the new Houdini-3 engine, I used the 'Perfect2012' book by Sedat Canbaz version for ChessPartner(CP). Although these 'perfect' books by Canbaz already are quite good, with previous tests with more games, I concluded my book is about 50 points better. Nb the worst books, like the default CP book is worse, at least 50 rating points worse than 'perfect'.
So whats' the fuzz about new engine releases ? 50 points rating improvement isnt that much, it can also be achieved with better books, hardware and so on. But yes you can use all together as well obviously if you're really fanatic.. And better engines -like Houdini3-certainly help me to improve my opening books. So now eagerly waiting for the Komodo5-mp release; end 2013 maybe ?? :)
(will they catch up with Houdini ?)
And when i get some more time i'll see if i can compare my books with the strong Hiarcs14 book, which is in Chessbase (.ctg) format. First step is to compare the 'Perfect' with the Hiarcs14 book, if Hiarcs also is about 50 points better then i will conclude my CP book is equally good as the Hiarcs book. But maybe later i'll see if i can make a .ctg book myself.

Houdini hype, new theory ?

Recently a new update of the top-engine Houdini-3 was released, and i have analyzed the endnodes of my medium-sized Bookbuilder book with this engine. Subsequently backsolved, and the new book can be downloaded as part of the trial-package for Bookbuilder at www.superchess.com
See link to download, and then -on new page- download 'demo'-version which is fully functioning program for a period of 14 days. Whereby I updated many booklines, i don't claim this is the ultimate theory now, but for intermediate players it gives a good repertoire. For the rest did quite some work on the E-book Chess opening theory, renewed, an innovative approach, for all levels!

Playing with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 against the Queens-Indian with 3.Nf3 b6 (3...d5 4.Nc3 also is good for White) 4.g3! (main line) leads to strong play for White, with my recent analysis; but Black will be able to equalize, if he/she knows precisely what to do. Which will be described in detail in our E-book about opening theory. So the Catalan with 3.g3 also remains a good choice for advanced players, and we found many novelties which are specified in the latest version of our book. Black can also deviate with 2...c6! going for the Slav or 2...g6 (Gruenfeld), but the 'best' lines found with computer analysis also are given in the E-book.

For those who register for the Bookbuilder program the latest version of the E-book will be sent. With lots of novelties, years ahead of current published theory!
Until end of 2012 with a reduction, thereafter i probably release a Bookbuilder-pro package in addition to the normal Bookbuilder, which will contain my ultrastrong handtuned Chess-Partner opening book, which contains years of work and has been checked against other theoretical works such as the Hiarcs14 book, several GM repertoire (paper)books from Quality Chess, and so on. But the price for the 'pro version will be higher, obviously Good luck with your chess,
jef

PS obviously only with minimax you don't get a really 'playable' computer chess book with statistics, but i have used the info about the best lines to develop a book for the Chess Partner interface, and there the book choice is made by a combination of learned score, statistics, and times played. PS coming weeks I am going to check/improve the book by analyzing (EPD) nodes in the book and then importing them again via the special book correction module in Bookbuilder3.6 (adding the position after one move more, and then backsolving the whole lot again.

Bogo-Catalan

Best wishes for 2012 !

update:
not nr one anymore on ICC; because of the faster
comps of the other guys i'm scoring more draws, and
the rating has gone down a bit. No problem,
the book is still ok, and when i get a faster comp
the rating will go up again, currently i'm not
getting benefits of the Houdini 2 Pro feature Numa
for which a more modern comp is required.

Recently done some research into the Catalan, which
appears quite strong for white. Ofcourse black can
avoid the Catalan by playing Slav or Gruenfeld,
but black can also simply play an anti-Catalan
usually transposing to Bogo-Indian with g3:

d4 Nf6
c4 e6
g3! Bb4!
Bd2
and now after Be7 (or Bxd2 Qxd2) Nf3 we transpose to
Bogo-Indian, the variation which g3. White also can
delay the Nf3 move however, with moves like Nc3 and
Bg2, and then its officialy not (yet) a Bogo-Indian.

So i call it the Bogo-Catalan :)

one of the preferred defenses maybe against
the Catalan ! More explanation/analysis maybe
later. Good luck with your opening play
(e4 for beginners, and d4 for advanced)

jef

PS 4.Nd2 also is possible, but then the pawn on c4 gets lost;
white then gets compensation but probably not enough
to get a structural advantage

NB after a later ..d5 by black we transpose to the
Catalan again, and this variation .. Bb4+ Bd2 Be7
also is mentioned in GM Avrukhs book GM repertoire
part 1, chapter 10. And he calls it one of the
strongest defences against the Catalan indeed..

Number One (on ICC)

(mainly) as result of the strong Houdini 1.5 engine(*), but
also due to the recent improvements in my Chess Partner book,
got a new 'standard' rating record of about 3050 on the
Internet Chess Club (ICC) with my 'bookbuilder' account,
on 28 December 2010, and nr 1 rating
for standard (rapid and slower_ play) !

On a 'simple' Quad comp, while there are some 6 core
comps around (with often an intel icore extreme), so
using a good book, does it matter ?

Yes, indeed it matters, especially at higher levels
of play (i.e. slower time controls, like in standard),
this now simply is proven in actual play,
and it makes sense, a chain is as weak as its weakest
part, and for a chess program this means everything has
to be without weaknesses, opening book, middlegame
(engine) practical endgame (engine) and theoretical
endgame (tablebases); have a lousy book, and against
a similar or even slightly weaker engine the
game can be lost, it makes a difference +/- 100
Elo or so, is my experience..but above a certain
level you can't increase improvement ofcourse
anymore, some booklines are perfect, others
are weak, and to some extent you can tune it
for the engine, playing style blitz/standard,
but thereafter its up to the engine (and the
hardware ofcourse); some concrete examples later
as i'm currently testing my CP book against
other CP books offline (preliminary results:
about 63 % with my recent book, vs 37% with
the older , general CP book, with the
same engine. How much Elo difference that is,
you may calculate..
:)

until next time,

jef

PS (*) quite an improvement now with Houdini,
and it plays especially well in the endgame, so with
a good book, achieving a slight advantage after the
opening, a reasonable (but not extremely) fast comp,
maintaining the advantage, Houdini often converts
such a slight advantage to a win in the endgame,
especially in slow (standard) games.

intermediate repertoire

Having found some better repertoire for advanced players,
and simplified the 1.e4 repertoire for beginners (exchange
RL instead of closed RL), a repertoire for intermediate/
average players was still lacking.

So, using some more recent analysis with Rybka4, i added
such a repertoire in my book 'better chess opening play',
and now advise the Petrov (e5 e5 Nf3 Nf6!) against e4,
instead of the Ruy Lopez (RL). Whereas i found it to be
more solid, it also avoids variations as Scotch, Giuoco
Piano, and many related gambits.

For further info see the book, a new version now has been
uploaded, and is available for registered users of Bookbuilder.

NB End of year 2010 special offer:
50 % price reduction !

While the book is not finished yet, i'm sure the latest
version can help you ie most chess players except super GM's
a lot in your chess play, and i also am getting to get
some positive feedback (eg from one user in the USA:
"excellent E-book") .
And you'll get a download link to the hugebook as well,
which you can use to practice a bit with your own repertoire
(you'll quickly discover that the advised repertoire in
the book is based on many novelties, and profound modern
chess analysis, having used the absolute top engines)

until later,
kec

advanced repertoire with 1.d4

having done some more research with Rybka4, which in many cases
gives a better evaluation of some positions than eg. Rybka3,
another repertoire, which i use in my computerbook is emerging,
namely with 1.d4 .
Against e4, having done considerable analysis on many lines
and playing some testgames both on ICC and playchess.com,
the Sicilian 1..c5!, in particular Najdorf, (with d6 and a6)
looks quite a strong defence, currently even the strongest.
In fact these developments are not surprising, as many top
players also have switched their repertoire from e4 to d4, eg
world champion Anand. Although its often said that this is because
of the Petrov or the Marshall gambit defence in the Ruy Lopez,
for me the reason is the Najdorf, which in fact is played quite
often on playchess.com against e4. Highly accurate play is
required in this sharp, double-edged defence, so for average
players - and certainly beginners- i still advocate 1.e4
as most suitable repertoire.
By starting with 1.e4, you learn variations like the CaroKann
and the French, which knowledge a more advanced players can
still use in case of 1.d4, eg in case of 1.d4 c6?! 2. e4!
or 1.d4 e6?! 2. e4 ; another reason to start with e4,
and imho continue with it a long time, eg up to about 2000
or higher, is not only the difficulty of the Sicilian, in
particular the Najdorf, but also the simple fact that by
playing e4 a player usually will learn tactics, especially
opening tactics sooner than when playing the
*initially* more 'positional' 1.d4

Ofcourse i've updated my demo bookbuilder book (>500,000
positions) which you can download for free at:

http://shareit.com/product.html?productid=184868

(14 days trial, and you clearly can see after 1.e4
the Sicilian, .. c5 as preferred defence).
More detailed lines can be seen in my hugebook, now
almost 20 million positions, available for registered
users; results of coming testgames, mainly on
playchess.com will be included in coming months;
lets see if the Najdorf can still hold against the
English attack (with 6.Be3) ; and as 1.d4 is scoring
quite well i probably also will do some research
into the 'best' (more advanced) defence against 1.d4.

until later
jef

Improvements in the Ruy Lopez

found the Russian Firebird 64mp engine, of which it is said that it
has been made with reversed engineering of Rybka. Well anyway
tried some new analysis. While less solid than Rybka, Fire(bird)
very fast sometimes finds interesting lines, and i seemed
to be able to maintain some slight advantage against both
the Zaitsev (9.. Bb7) and the Chigorin defences in the Ruy Lopez.

For example, whereas i previously thought black is ok in the
main line Zaitsev (9..Bb7 10.d4 Te8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.a4 h6 etc.),
with new analysis a rather obscure line, namely with 12.Ng5
seems to be able to achieve a white advantage.
After 12.Ng5 black plays 12.. Re7 to cover f7, and now
the (rare) move is 13.Ndf3! In Guez(2177)-Colin(2402),2005 black
played exd4?! (.. h6 also has been played, but 12.. Qe8N is
probably best), white played 14.cxd4 (Nxf7 would have been
better), and after 14. .. Qe8?! (Na5 would have been better)
we get the following position:


Now white could have got the advantage with 15.e5!N but
being a lower rated - and most likely worse- player,
he played 15.Bc2? and lost the game.

Well anyway the Zaitsev is anyway difficult to play,
especially for beginners, but the Chigorin still (9.. Na5)
is useful in practical play, because of the complexity
and many sideslines despite the slight advantage for white
according to my extensive analysis. For a similar reason,
black can also choose for other defences than the closed
defence, eg. 3.. g6 (Smyslov/fianchetto defence), etc.
See for example a recent book by Solokov on such lines.


But for advanced players, well now my analysis indeed points
to the Sicilian 1..c5 as 'best' defence for black.
Especially the lines with ..d6, possibly leading to
the Najdorf are solid, eg. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4
4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 but sometimes very sharp,
eg. with 6.Bc4!

And black also needs to know how to maintain equality
against 3.Bb5! instead of d4, with 3..Bd7 4.Bxd7 Nxd7
(or Qd7 c4!) etc. as described eg in a book by Pedersen.

One chessplayer advised me, that one should not
play the Sicilian below 2000, and he might be right,
a few weeks ago i played a youthful player who
in retrospect told me he wanted to play the Dragon.
But i simply tried the wing gambit, 4.b4!? after 3..d6
and won the game. So i'll keep on recommending
1..e5! in my book, except for advanced players.

and as for Fire(bird), well i expect the new version
Rybka 4 will be stronger again, especially if you
hire the online version, eg. on a cluster with 16 cpu's.

So more theoretical improvements expected to come
(update Dec 2010): with Rybka 4 the variation with Ng5
isnt best anymore, instead now against the Zaitsev
'best' play is going like 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Rfe8 11.Nbd2 Bf8
12.a3! with only a slight advantage for white.
Also with some new analysis in the Chigorin defence
against the RL (9..Na5) this variation appears to be
just as 'solid' as the Zaitsev, but also quite difficult.
(note: as result now the Petrov is advised for average
players with black, see the latest message in this blog

Some updates

As result of many testgames on playchess.com
and including the games with Rybka analysis
in my large database, some variations in my
book have been updated. For example in the
Queens Indian, after d4 Nf6 c4 e6 Nf3 b6!
g3! i've replaced the bookmove Bb7 with
the more modern Ba6.

Also, against the Sicilian Najdorf, my
preferred bookmove is now Bc4!, the Fischer
attack. While not always getting an advantage
for white, at least the results are better
than with the English attack, Be3, which
still is played often, but against which
black can hold equality with carefult defence.

For the rest many update were made to my book
'Better chess opening play', of which you can
see some selected pages at:



More in general, when comparing the results
achieved when looking for the 'best' bookmoves
or opening variations -as result of Rybka3 analysis-
seem to become in line with mainstream theory,
as published in many specialized opening books,
which in principle is an encouraging result;
and proves that the evaluations made with
the Rybka 3 engine indeed make sense.

When appropriate, and possible, with deeper
analysis ofcourse some improved lines can
be found, and in such a way computer chess
is getting ahead of GM games, even games
played by the top-GM's..