Chess Informant 110 – Firebird Edition

Chess Informant 110 – Firebird Edition
World Champion Vishy Anand and 70 GMs annotating

The current World Champion Vishy Anand in this volume joins a force of more than seventy prominent grandmasters, citizens from thirty-two countries, who analyze a total of 321 games and 387 game fragments.

Israeli grandmaster Michael Roiz, who analyzes six of his games for Chess Informant 110, called Informant “the last human chess book on earth.” Meaning that the focus is on good old human logic – on those moves that chess players consider as possible options during the game – rather than on computer generated variations.

We dare to say that Informant is closest to the idea of an “open source project” among similar publications. It goes without saying that chess players utilize contemporary technology to check their calculations; however, it is the players who sign their names to the game.

Chess Informant 110 also introduces the following new content:

• A selection of chess problems prepared by International Solving Grandmaster and Grandmaster of Chess Compositions Milan Velimirovic. This column is meant to offer more than just problems for solving, but to bring insights from the professional point of view into the secrets of the chess problem world.

• The section “The Excellent Move” presents aesthetically pleasing and charming positions that do not fit the strict definition of beginning with a sacrifice for inclusion in our Combinations section.

• In “Chess Informant Laboratory,” five selected grandmasters give their personal take on the latest trends in opening theory. In Chess Informant 110 the following lines are presented: B48 Sicilian Defense, Paulsen Variation; B81 Sicilian Defense, Keres Attack; B94 Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation; D07 Queen’s Gambit, Chigorin Defense; and D85 Grünfeld Defense, Exchange Variation.

Beyond the collection of annotated games and standard columns – which includes the best games and most important theoretical novelties from the previous volume, and sections of chess studies, combinations, and endings – the “Modern Chess Theory” column, presented in encyclopedic style, presents surveys of three variations: B66 Sicilian Defense, Richter-Rauzer Attack; C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense; and C95 Ruy Lopez, Breyer Variation. The best creation of Sergey Karjakin is presented in this volume as well.