
Bernal: The Berlin Defence Unraveled (PB)
The Berlin Defence has been a highly popular opening in top level chess ever since Vladimir Kramnik famously used it in the 2000 World Championship match to wrest the title from Garry Kasparov. Club players often hesitate to include ‘the Berlin’ in their repertoire because they see the typical Berlin Wall endgame as complex and daunting.International Master Luis Bernal has unraveled the Berlin and made it accessible for amateur players. His practical guide is fully up to date, explains typical formations and strategies, and presents new ideas and resources in the old Berlin Wall structures. But today, the Berlin is much more than just the Wall. Bernal systematically leads you through the labyrinth of the various modern Anti-Berlins with their constant flow of new ideas. He also presents a number of tricky sidelines that could catch your opponent off guard. This no-nonsense, state-of-the-art guide finally brings this important chess opening within reach of club players. With clear explanations, concise conclusions and didactic exercises.Luis Javier Bernal (1971) is an International Master from Spain, an experienced chess trainer and a well-known journalist.
Content:
006 Explanation of symbols
007 Preface by the author
011 Chapter 1 - Fourth move alternatives
016 Chapter 2 - 4.d3 d6
020 Chapter 3 - 4.d3 Rc5: Introduction, and the development of the b1-knight
025 Chapter 4 - 4.d3 Rc5 5.Rxc6 dxc6
036 Chapter 5 - 4.d3 Rc5 5.0-0
042 Chapter 6 - 4.d3 Rc5 5.c3: Sidelines
053 Chapter 7 - 4.d3 Rc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 d6
067 Chapter 8 - 4.0-0 Nxe4: Alternatives to 5.d4
078 Chapter 9 - 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4: The Berlin jungle
086 Chapter 10 - The Old Berlin: 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Be7
096 Chapter 11 - 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6: Alternatives to the endgame
110 Chapter 12 - The Westerinen-Eslon Variation: 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Ne4
119 Chapter 13 - The Berlin endgame: from Lasker to Kramnik
129 Chapter 14 - 9... h6
135 Chapter 15 - Eljanov’s Repertoire
143 Chapter 16 - The Blockade Variation
155 Chapter 17 - 9...Ke8, lines without ...h7-h5
163 Chapter 18 - The Check Variation
168 Chapter 19 - The Almasi-Kramnik Variation
180 Chapter 20 - Game collection
235 Chapter 21 - Instructive Berlin positions
242 Chapter 22 - Solutions
263 Index of names
266 Index of games
268 Index of variations
272 Bibliography