"The Modern Chess Livestyle"
First of all, I would like to tell the readers something about myself and the aim of this book. I started playing chess at the age of 4 and went to my first chess club aged 6. In my youth I was very talented and won the German youth championships quite oft en. I had the opportunity to play several World and European youth championships. My greatest achievement was equal second place at the European under 18 Championships in Greece. Also, I have good memories of the World under 12 Championships in Timisoara 1988, where I attained sixth place and won nice games against the now-strong GMs Almasi and Nisipeanu.
At this time also, adjourned games still existed. Before round 10 I had the opportunity to analyze an adjourned game together with the Polgar family, because they would have been happy if I could reach a draw in this game.
Aft er analyzing for a long time, we found the way to draw, but the next morning I lost that game, despite this analysis. At noon I had to play against Judith herself and lost a terrible game which is one of my first games in the
database now. But I will definitely never forget this story.
In the mid-nineties, a Botvinnik chess school was built in Bonn and the strongest and most talented youth players from Germany had the chance to learn a lot from the patriarch himself. The first two sessions were headed by Botvinnik and the strong GM Valery Salov, who was one of the leading players at that time.
I became an IM in 1997 and a GM in 2013. Many of my students have asked me when I will start writing a book, because they know that I like writing and explaining things. I come from a teaching family; my father was a teacher at a German academic high school and I always loved and still love reading and writing.
Nowadays it is no longer easy to find enough silence for reading, because I have three small children between the ages of 3 and 6. This book is definitely not a book full of theoretical lines. Of course, I will give some advice if possible and necessary. But the main purpose is to explain the structures that can result from double fianchettoed positions. The reader will find five chapters with structures from the white side and six chapters with structures
from the black side. The last chapter is a mixed one, with games from both sides.
The main — and longest — part will be the first chapter, with games and analyses of my own main weapon starting with Nf3, g3 and b3 against the King’s Indian and Grünfeld. I will show the reader a few games of my own and also games from Kramnik and Andersson, two of my favourite players.
I have learned a lot from their games myself. I have played those structures for nearly 25 years and one of my sons also now starts with 1.Nf3. During my years of playing chess I tried many possible openings with White and Black, but I was only successful with fianchettoing one, or even better both, bishops. Maybe this was a sign and those structures are really a lifestyle for me?
I hope you will enjoy reading this book and maybe these structures will also become part of your lifestyle.
Daniel Hausrath
Excerpt
