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ChessBase 1000 Opening Traps

Opening Traps

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Gogo Soriano
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2K views

ChessBase 1000 Opening Traps

Opening Traps

Uploaded by

Gogo Soriano
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chessbase 1000 Opening Traps review

19.2.2006 Jovan Petronic. International Master. FIDE Senior Trainer.


http://www.jovanpetronic.com
Test Machine:
Intel Celerom CPU, 1.1 GHz, 128 MB RAM, Windows Millenium.
The CD comes wrapped up in a colorful box, with the installation CD, and a 19-page booklet catalogue of latest ChessBase
products. Installation instructions are printed inside the box. It contains 23 megabytes of data, three work databases and the
ChessBase Reader. Two pdf files are included, in English and German language, containing simple instructions for use of the
popular free interface add-on.
Highlights:
1. Easy installation. The installation process is automated, and takes less than a minute, after which youre
prompted to restart the computer.

2. ChessBase Reader
ChessBase Reader supports eleven languages! Below is the screenshot, prior to installing the software.

The installer does not support automatic full install (program + databases) on the hard disk.
After the restart, reinserting the CD activates the Start option, pressing which activates the CB Reader and one of the three
pre-installed databases 1000 Opening Traps. There are also Traps motifs and Traps Training databases.

Above is the incomplete screenshot of the introductory text. You will notice the standard ChessBase Reader tabs, of which the
first seven are active, the keys being left for the user to develop.
I recommend reading the introduction carefully, as it is very well done, in fluent and often entertaining English language. The
text contains the usual and effective hyperlinks for games quoted in the introductory texts.
3. Work databases: 1000 Opening Traps
The authors ambitiously approached exploring the opening traps in all openings, or, more precisely, all five hundred ECO
codes A00-E99! Before starting to learn, all codes have been conveniently divided into introductory texts, which, I remind
again, you should not skip reading.

The texts above are followed by exactly 1000 games.


Under reference number 21, the first annotated opening trap features a revelation of a small GM secret, a possible refutation
of the Sokolsky opening!? Grandmaster Knaak shares his experience from an OTB game.

Brief comments are helpful for the user to grasp the basic ideas for both sides in the instructive example. All examples are
featured with full game continuations, after the critical moments have been discussed in professional detail. With authors
being established grandmasters and trainers, no less could be expected.
Remark: Moving on to the next game does not automatically rewind the moves, but continues at the move stopped in the
previous game. This bug (which can maybe be used for other purposes), has been recently adjusted in a ChessBase 9
update (not included in this CD).
The Opening Traps database is pretty updated. It features examples dated from 1620, until 23.10.2005!
The authors emphasize that this product is suited for advanced players, and the example in the incomplete screenshot
below explains it well. GM Knaak did not mind his loss in this game, to add to the CDs unique value.

I used the CB Readers excellent interface to quickly get an answer to whose games are represented here. There are a few
hundred names, possibly even more, representing chess players from around the globe. Below are the ones most
represented.

The other players names I checked promise a high-quality annotated game database.
The tournaments covered, show a remarkable number of the highest level tournaments present. Below is an impressive
random view:

Here is another sample opening trap that caught my eye.

And an interesting short story, with a point, to go along with the example above. Tibor is a good friend of mine, we trained
together in Singapore a couple of years ago, where I witnessed the exact moment, as on the diagram above, when one of his
top students Evan, fell into the same opening trap(!), at a junior tournament, with Tibor instantly remembering this game and
not believing it has happened again, 15 years later! This opening variation was then very new for black, the traps unknown.
The excellent quoted advice given in the CD introduction, I will repeat again, as it suits this moment perfectly, with the
screenshot below:

Later Evan developed into a national Olympic representative.


Many examples in this database are deeply annotated, again, in the area important for explaining the surroundings that have
led to the trap.
4. Work databases: Traps Motifs
Here is the screenshot advice from the authors:

The Traps Motifs database is divided into eighteen sections: Attacks on f7, More motifs against kingside castling, Motifs
against queenside castling, Tactical motifs in the Sicilian, Attack of the pawns, The e-pawn as a battering ram, etc.
Each section features an introductory text, worth reading carefully.
Here is a nice example from the Poisoned Pawn section:

and the solution:

Many of the featured 300+ exercises are made in entertaining training style:

5. Work databases: Traps Training


142 instructive games, from the period 2000-2002(!?), conclude the three featured databases on this CD.
The first one is a small masterpiece (even if played by lower ranked players), I enjoyed seeing:

Each exercise has a different amount of time allowed for solving, hinting good work and thought put individually into all.
There are also multiple question exercises.
Conclusion:
The authors of this CD have taken the term Opening Traps to another, higher level.
It was an enjoyable experience evaluating and reviewing this new product, in which an obvious effort was put into.
Grandmaster authors shared their experiences and knowledge with all, to the benefit of ones who will study 1000 Opening
Traps.
Featured texts and exercises would not hurt GM training camps, even if the CD was intended for advanced players only.
Additionally, professional CB Reader features allow the user to additionally analyze, annotate, comment and even print any
exercise.
Some explanations require and presume previous knowledge of opening theory and, on various occasions, a higher level of
understanding.
Featured 1.000+ examples are quite enough to keep you busy for a long while, not only solving, but studying and reading GM
comments, which significantly add to the overall value.
After approximately 5 hours of browsing (typing included) - I can recommend the CD for FIDE Instructors, FIDE Trainers,
FIDE Senior Trainers, and players FIDE rated 2000 and above and/or above 14 years of age, in the average.

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