EVERYMAN BOOKS ARCHIVE
Starting Out: Queen’s Gambit Declined by Neil McDonald - Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com), 2006, 191 pages £13.99
Here we have an addition to the “Starting out” series from reliable author Neil McDonald. After a useful introductory chapter, McDonald explains the Tartakower system, based on a black queenside fianchetto, Lasker’s defence, based on a simplifying …Ne4, the Classical (McDonald’s name for systems involving …Nbd7), the Cambridge Springs (based on a counter-attack with ..c6 and …Qa5), the important Exchange Variation (with which White can direct the play away from Black’s chosen system), and finally the system in which White plays Bf4 instead of Bg5.
I really like the way McDonald shows how these lines have evolved to their present state; the fifty annotated games contain many classical games, as well as games from as recently as 2006. I was also impressed with the items that McDonald has chosen to explain and highlight – he clarifies what most other books take completely for granted or deal with very cursorily; this is probably the result not only of McDonald’s great experience as a chess author but also of his work as a coach. As I read this book, I found that Mcdonald often seemed to anticipate a query that was beginning to form in my mind!
Verdict: A very good introduction to a major opening; even strong players new to this opening should find this book useful. Good value for money. Recommended. Rating: *****
The Philidor Files by Christian Bauer - Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com), 2006, 304 pages, £14.99
The ancient Philidor Defence 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6) has been undergoing a quiet revival in the last couple of decades. The main theoretical objection has always been that (compared to 2…Nc6) strongpointing e5 with 2…d6 hems in the dark-squared bishop. I have always found this reasoning to be less than convincing, since in Black’s main (and ultra-respectable) defence to the Ruy Lopez (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 d6) the bishop is also confined. I am sure that professional grandmasters, pragmatists as they are, would have ignored the above theoretical objection in their hundreds had there not also been some practical problems with the Philidor, which for most of its history have seemed insurmountable.
The old mainline of the Philidor (reached after e.g. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.0-0 0-0) has always seemed playable and strategically sound for Black (there are even theoreticians such as Palatnik (in The Tarrasch Formula) who regard the Black position as strategically more promising, regarding the Nc3 as misplaced) - the main problem has always been: how to reach it!
The original Hanham move order of 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7 is fraught with dangers and even the most accurate continuation 4.Bc4 c6 5.0-0 Be7 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Ng5! Bxg5 8.Qh5 leaves White with two bishops and Black with dark square weaknesses.
Then Nimzowitsch proposed the improved move order 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4 Nc3 Nbd7 but eventually it became clear that White can avoid being forced into Hanham channels by 4 dxe5 Nxe4 5 Qd5! which seems to give an edge for White in all lines.
For many years this seemed the end of the story, but recently some strong grandmasters have been using one of two different Pirc-type move orders to try to reach the desired variation.
a) 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 when after 4 Nf3 Black reaches the desired line by 4…Nbd7, whilst he does not fear 4.dxe5 dxe5 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 - this seems quite playable for Black as long as you know what you are doing.
b) 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7!? When the most critical line to prevent Black from reaching his goal is 4.f4!? e5 (anyway) when
i) 5 Nf3 can be answered by 5…exd4! 6 Qxd4 (6 Nxd4 g6!?) 6...c6!? and Black intends a sharp gambit with ...d5 and ...Bc5.
so in The Chess Advantage in Black and White Kaufman recommends:
ii) 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.fxe5 Nxe5 (once again inviting a queenless middlegame but one which is a bit more unbalanced than a) above) 7.Qxd8+ Kxd8 8.Nf3 and he claims White is better after 8...Bd6 9.Bg5 c6 10.0-0-0 Kc7 11.Be2 Nfd7 (11...Nfg4? 12 Rxd6! Kxd6 13 Rd1+) 12.Nd4. Even this is not so clear after 12...Bb4 or 12... a6 13.Nf5 Bf8.
But in a correspondence game I could make no impression with the white pieces against the novelty 8...Nfd7.
Adams,P - Grimsey,P MCCU teams, 09.2004
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.f4 e5 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.fxe5 Nxe5 7.Qxd8+ Kxd8 8.Nf3 Nfd7 TN 9.Bf4 Bd6 10.Bg3 c6 11.0-0-0 Ke7 12.Be2 f6 13.Nd4 g6 14.Rhf1 Rf8 15.Kb1 Nb6 16.b3 Be6 17.a4 a5 18.Na2 Nbd7 19.Nxe6 Kxe6 20.Bg4+ Ke7 21.Bxd7 Kxd7 22.Bxe5 fxe5 23.Nc1 Ke6 24.Nd3 Be7 25.c3 b6 26.Kc2 Rad8 27.g3 h6 28.h4 Ra8 29.Kd2 Rad8 30.Ke2 Rf6 31.Rxf6+ Bxf6 32.Nb2 Rxd1 33.Kxd1 Bd8 34.Ke2 b5 35.c4 b4 36.c5 Be7 37.Nc4 Bd8 38.Kf3 h5 39.Ke2 Draw agreed.
OK, this is not a great deal of fun for Black, but it is some evidence that the move order 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 is probably viable for Black.
Thus Whites have been having to turn their attention to how to prove an edge in the main-line Philidor-Hanham position.
During the dark years when the Hanham seemed either unplayable or unattainable, some inventive grandmasters turned their attention to a completely different approach to the centre. Antoshin played 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Be7 whilst Larsen promoted 4…g6. The latter line can lead to sharp and interesting games with opposite-sides castling, but one has the feeling that White should be better - Black is short of space and the g6-pawn makes it easier for White to open lines against the enemy king.
Antoshin’s line has proved more resilient. Black allows White a space advantage but develops his kingside very quickly, meaning that he is soon ready for action in the centre (…d5) and failing that he has a flexible and dynamic pawn chain on the queenside.
There are now three good books on the Philidor, as far as I am aware. The first was Tony Kosten’s Winning with the Philidor (1992) which provided a very useful synthesis of developments up to that point and was enriched with many new insights and much original analysis. This book is still worth consulting, as is Kosten’s 1997 supplement Trends in the Philidor. In 2005 the young German IM Christian Seel published Geheimwaffe Philidor devoted entirely to the Antoshin; this is in German but is a typically excellent production from Chessgate and I recommend it to anyone interested in the Antoshin.
Finally we have The Philidor files from the strong French GM Christian Bauer, a hefty tome that ambitiously covers the whole Philidor spectrum (Hanham, Larsen, Antoshin) as well as the various move orders that modern players are employing (for both sides) to try to reach (or avoid) certain lines.
The first thing I always check when evaluating an openings book is: does the author actually play the stuff he is peddling? The reader can be reassured in this case: in my database I found over fifty games featuring Bauer on the black side of Philidor or Philidor-type positions, ample evidence that it will be worth listening to what he has to say.
So let’s see how he has organised his material:
The book starts with a short introduction (pp 5-9) which includes a brief mention of move-order issues and some material on the typical pawn structures that can arise. This section left me feeling slightly unsatisfied – I felt that readers would have benefited from lengthier discussion and explanation of these issues.
Chapter 1 (pp 10-43) is entitled Early Deviations and touches upon 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 3 Bc4 (in my view a practical choice – White can head for slow Spanish positions, as in Kasparov-Giorgadze 1979) and a range of rare options for Black after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6, of which the most important is the section (pp 16-22) which explains the problems that Black faces with the original Hanham move-order 3 d4 Nd7. The ancient 3 d4 f5 is also examined here and found wanting, although I suspect that the last word on this has not yet been spoken.
Chapter 2 (pp 44-82) deals with white deviations after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 exd4 (of which 4 Qxd4 is the most important) and then examines Larsen’s 4 Nxd4 g6, which Bauer sums up as follows: “offers Black dynamic counterplay, but is quite difficult to handle and probably fundamentally suspicious”.
Pages 83-131 deal with the Antoshin, which has been receiving some high-level support in recent years from the likes of. Nisipeanu, Bacrot and Fridman. Most attention is devoted to the critical plan of 6 Bf4, followed by Qd2 and 0-0-0. Anyone wishing to play this for White might find the theory re-assuring, but preparation has now become a nightmare, since Black has four playable options, all sharp and challenging, after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Be7 6 Bf4 0-0 7 Qd2: a) 7…d5, b) 7…a6, c) 7...c6 and d) 7…Nc6.
Pages 132-197 make up a long series of chapters dealing with the move order 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 (looking en passant at 1 e4 d6 2 d4 e5, which also appears playable for Black). Ten pages deal with the interesting 3 f3 (also covered in Beim’s excellent Chess Recipes from the Grandmaster’s Kitchen). Bauer also covers 3 Bd3 e5 4 c3 d5! Pages 166-174 deal with the critical semi-ending line 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 e5 4 dxe5 dxe5 5 Qxd8+ Kxd8, which Bauer concludes is OK for Black, as long as he answers 6 Bc4 with 6…Ke8, rather than 6…Be6, which was being touted as best a few years ago. I was fascinated by chapter 9, which covers a possibility that I wasn’t previously aware of: 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 Nbd7 4 g4!?
We have to reach page 207(!) before Bauer begins his treatment of his favoured Philidor-Hanham set-up, reached by his preferred move order 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 Nbd7 4 Nf3 e5. Chapter 10 looks at alternatives to the most popular move 5 Bc4, including Shirov’s controversial 5 g4!? Chapter 11 examines White’s attempts to blow Black away quickly after 5 Bc4 Be7, namely 6 Bxf7+, 6 dxe5 dxe5 7 Bxf7+ and 6 Ng5 0-0 7 Bxf7+; this last is the most threatening according to Bauer, who considers it unclear. The remaining three chapters deal with different treatments by Black and White of the mainline 6 0-0 0-0.
Each chapter ends with a useful summary and conclusions. Note that the book uses a ‘tree’ structure, rather than the usual Everyman ‘complete annotated games’ layout. There are some complete games however, and so an index of the players would have been useful. There is an index of variations but the lack of a bibliography is a minus point. It is not clear whether Bauer has looked at other sources such the Opening for White according to Anand series or The Carpathian Warrior, although it seems that he did refer to Winning with the Philidor and The Lion.. These days an indication of the cut-off point for the research in the standard sources (NiC Yearbook, Informator, TWIC) should be standard for any opening book. Without that, it is even more than usually necessary for the keen reader to do his own research using databases.
Verdict: It is not everyday that a 2600-rated GM writes an opening book, so although the topic is a comparatively rare opening, we should pay attention. If you can read German and are just interested in the Antoshin, then Seel’s book would be my top pick, but otherwise I think that Bauer’s book is now the best source of reliable information on the Philidor. Rating: ****
Play the Ruy Lopez by Andrew Greet - Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com), 2006, 376 pages, £14.99
English IM Andrew Greet (FIDE 2425) provides a complete repertoire for White after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 based on the Ruy Lopez 3 Bb5. This is Greet’s first chess book, and he has clearly invested a huge amount of effort into making it a good one. In Part 1 (pp. 19-151) Greet provides very detailed analysis of all Black’s third-move alternatives. In Part 2 (pp 155-240) he examines Black’s options on move 4 after 3…a6 4 Ba4. Part 3 (241-372) focuses on Greet’s recommended system against Black’s most popular defensive option 3…a6 4 Ba4 Nf6, based on the move 5 Qe2. Not surprisingly he also suggests answering the Berlin 3…Nf6 in the same fashion, 4 Qe2. Against the Schliemann 3...f5, which still seems very popular at club level, Greet opts for 4 d3.
First of all, a short digression on nomenclature. 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 Qe2 is historically known as the Wormald Attack, named after RB Wormald (1834-76) who published some analysis of it in 1867; Wormald ran the chess column in the lllustrated London News from 1874 until his death When played on move 6, after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7, 6 Qe2 is known as the Worrall Attack, named after Thomas Herbert Worrall (1807-78); the Oxford Companion to Chess states that he was British Commissioner to Mexico and was later transferred to New York. The Companion also notes that Qe2 was also once known as the English Variation, and a database search shows that it was indeed used by a long line of English masters: Staunton, Blackburne, Bird, Thomas, and Yates. In more modern times, it was used extensively by Alekhine, Keres and Spassky, and the American GM Arthur Bisguier employed it successfully in the 1950s. Nigel Short has used it from time to time, notably in his match against Karpov in 1992. Short, who contributes a lengthy introduction to this book, remarks that he first saw Qe2 in the games of his fellow-member of Bolton Chess Club, Jeff Horner, who has used it to help him win a huge number of Opens in the North of England in the last forty years. As one of Horner’s regular victims, I can testify to his great skill with the Worrall. Today the most consistent high-level supporter of the Qe2 system is the Dutch-based Russian GM Sergey Tiviakov, who has played it in at least 60 games.
Factors in favour of 5 Qe2 include:
a) it rules out the Open defence 5 0-0 Nxe4;
b) it puts pressure on b5, lending more force to a2-a4;
c) it enables White to play Rfd1, supporting d4 and putting pressure on the d-file;
d) it enables White to connect his rooks more quickly;
e) in lines where Black adopts a Chigorin set-up with …Na5 and …c5, and White then blocks the centre with d5, White saves two tempi for switching his rooks to the kingside in support of the traditional attack with g4.
Here is an example of point e), quoted in one of Dvoretsky’s books:
Dubinin,P - Suetin,A RSFSR team championship, 1950
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Qe2 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.d5 Bd7 13.Kh2 c4 14.Rg1 Nb7 15.g4 Ne8 16.Nbd2 g6 17.Nf1 Ng7 18.Bh6 f6 19.Ne3 Kh8 20.Rg3 Rg8 21.Rag1 Nd8 22.Nf5 Bf8 23.Bxg7+ Bxg7 24.g5 Rf8 25.h4 gxf5 26.gxf6 Bxf6 27.exf5 Qc8 28.Ng5 Bxg5 29.Rxg5 Nf7 30.Rh5 Rg8 31.Rxh7+ Kxh7 32.Qh5+ Nh6 33.Rg6 Qf8 34.Rxh6+ Qxh6 35.f6+ e4 36.Bxe4+ 1-0
At club level it is still possible to win many games like this.
So why is 5/6 Qe2 less popular than 6 Re1? In his book The Ruy Lopez (1963), Leonard Barden wrote: “Some years ago, 6 Qe2 as an alternative to 6 Re1 seemed likely to become an equally popular move. Nowadays the Worrall Attack 6 Qe2 is rarely seen, partly because of the proven strength of 6 Re1, and partly because it is recognized the queen is exposed at e2 both to a pin by …Bg4 and to a concealed attack from the black rook along the e-file.” This still seems largely true today. Nevertheless, Greet makes a strong case on behalf of what he calls the Worrall System and I am certain that the reader is provided with enough analysis and careful explanation to be able to play it with confidence.
The structure of the book is not the traditional Everyman one based on complete annotated games; instead we get a detailed “tree” structure. There is an index of variations and a bibliography, in which Greet usefully indicates the cut-off point for the data-search in the standard electronic source TWIC (The Week In Chess). Greet also tells us which analysis engines he used and what he thinks are the strengths of each.
Throughout the book, Greet finds improvements over published analysis for both sides. I shudder at the thought of how much midnight oil was burnt over its writing, but I think Greet deserves great praise for this, his first book. Let us hope it is not his last!
Verdict: A hugely impressive piece of work and a strong recommendation to anyone who plays for or against the Ruy Lopez. Rating: *****
Starting out: the Accelerated Dragon by Andrew Greet - Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com), 320 pages, £15.99
The English IM Andrew Greet’s first book Play the Ruy Lopez was very impressive in its thoroughness, its clear explanations and its canny anticipation of user’s queries. This, his second book, is well up to the same high standard. Its subject is a variation of the Sicilian defence, which usually begins 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 g6. Compared with the usual Dragon move order 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6, the “Accelerated” move order has the virtue of preventing White from adopting his main weapon against the Dragon, the Yugoslav Attack 6 Be3 Bg7 7 f3 Nc6 8 Qd2, since by not yet having moved his d-pawn, Black is able to gain a crucial tempo compared to the line 8…0-0 9 0-0-0 d5. Every move order has disadvantages as well as advantages, and it has long been held that the main snag with the “Accelerated” move order is that it allows White to play 5 c4, seizing space and severely restricting Black’s traditional c-file counterplay – the notorious Maroczy Bind.
For an opening that has never had many regular supporters among 2600+ players (Tiviakov, Malakhov, Larsen come to mind), the Accelerated Dragon has already acquired a remarkable body of high-quality literature (Silman 1998, Donaldson & Silman 1998, Nielsen & Hansen 1998) and DVDs (Tiviakov, Davies, Dzindzichashvili). I think this reflects the facts that
1) at lower levels of chess, the Maroczy Bind is less to be feared, since few Whites understand how to handle it, while in the 5 Nc3 line Black can gain many easy points against ill-prepared Whites, who can easily blunder into one of the many traps;
2) in high level chess, when Black chooses the Sicilian it is usually in order to gain counterplay; which can be very difficult for Black to achieve in the Maroczy against a master; Black has a strong pawn structure but his positions is cramped and somewhat lacking in dynamism.
3) in the 5 Nc3 line, although Black can definitely prevent the Yugoslav attack, it is not at all clear that it is in his interests to do so. For instance, the widely recommended line 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 g6 5 Nc3 Bg7 6 Be3 Nf6 7 Bc4 Qa5 effectively forces 8 0-0 but the black queen is somewhat misplaced here and Black can easily drift into a passive position. The main alternative to 7…Qa5, 7…0-0 8 Bb3 a5 is very concrete and requires a lot of memorization, yet offers only very limited winning chances and in at least one line Black is required to draw a slightly inferior ending. It is thus no accident that Tiviakov, probably the most active GM who retains the Accelerated in his repertoire, usually heads back into the Yugoslav with 7…0-0 8 Bb3 d6, content that he has at least avoided the line 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Be3 Bg7 7 f3 Nc6 8 Qd2 0-0 9 0-0-0! which is widely considered to be the most critical test of the Dragon.
For a “Starting out” book, this is very detailed and runs to 320 pages! This is largely due to the extreme detail in which Greet treats his subject, and the large amount of explanation he provides on every page. Although the treatment is slanted towards Black, Greet is at pains to be objective in his assessments.
Greet deals with practically every variation that does not transpose to the main-line Dragon, and even discusses the pros and cons of the move order 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 g6 which some players use to avoid the Rossolimo 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5. Approximately half the book is devoted to Black’s options against the Maroczy Bind, including a full chapter on the variation in which White avoids exchanges by playing Nd4-c2, a line recently recommended for White in the book Experts vs the Sicilian. He has a very useful chapter on the lines where White exchnages knights on c6, which are theoretically fine for Black but can be tricky in practice, since they lead to non-standard position types. Greet shows that against White’s main options in the Accelerated Black generally has a choice between a line that can be played based largely on understanding the ideas plus minimal precise knowledge, and a sharper line requiring detailed knowledge from both sides.
There is a bibliography, an index of variations and of the thirty-eighty complete annotated games. One negative point: like some other recent Everyman books, this one is printed on off-white low-quality paper.
You might also soon be able to buy this book as an e-book in Chessbase format from the Everyman website.
How I would have loved to have this book twenty-five years ago, when I was trying to learn this opening and at the same time teach it to some of my first students! By the way, I was amused to find that I have an indirect connection with Greet’s interest in this opening, which formed part of his own repertoire for some years. In the early 1990s I taught the Accelerated Dragon to a youngster at my club (Three Cs) called David Tompson, a talented player (1994 British U13 co-champion) who was somewhat overshadowed by a strong band of close contemporaries which included the Pert twins, Adam Hunt, Simon Williams and Richard Palliser. Let Greet himself tell the story (p.79): “I still have painful memories of an early experience on the white side of the position (i.e. after 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 g6 5 Nc3 Bg7 6 Be3 Nf6 7 f3?! 0-0 8 Bc4). I was eleven or possibly twelve years old, and was competing in an important closed tournament against some other top English juniors. Facing a boy named David Tompson (…) I declined the invitation to play the Maroczy Bind, thinking that I would be able to achieve an easy transposition to a normal Dragon. The text (8…Qb6!) came as a total shock and I suffered a swift, painful and humiliating defeat.”
Verdict: an excellent primer on this opening, which will be useful to players of a wide range of playing strengths. In a market containing several significant competitors, this book is now my clear top recommendation. Rating: *****
Starting out: the Modern by Nigel Davies - Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com), 190 pages, £14.99
For some reason, defences based the king’s fianchetto have long been popular with British players. Burn, Yates and Thomas were pioneers of the King’s Indian defence in the first half of the twentieth century. In the 1950s Alexander often played 1…g6, as did Penrose in the 1960s. In the British Chess Magazine in 1961 Barden published a seminal series of articles on 1…g6, which he christened the Kotov-Robatsch; for a while the second half of that name stuck. Then in the 1970s the …g6 complex became the weapon of choice of many of the protagonists of the “English Chess Explosion”, fuelled by analysis in the theory magazine Chessman Quarterly and the subsequent expansion of this into two wonderful books by Keene and Botterill: The Pirc Defence (1973) and The Modern Defence (1972). The latter name, for those independent 1…g6 variations that did not transpose to other lines, such as the Pirc or the King’s Indian, turned out to be a masterpiece of nomenclature and marketing, since the name has stuck, at least in the English- and German-speaking parts of the chess world (although for a while it looked as if the Canadian name “The Rat” might take over). Since then, English supporters of the Pirc/Modern complex have included Miles, Spielmann, Nunn, Hodgson, Norwood and the author of the present book, Nigel Davies.
As early as in his early twenties, Davies (born 1960) acquired a reputation as an expert on the Pirc/Modern; in my library I have a slim volume of his entitled Pirc and Modern Systems 1984-87. In recent years, Davies has tended to play more classical systems as Black, such as the Closed Ruy Lopez, but he has always maintained an interest in the Pirc/Modern complex and has continued to play it from time to time, especially in weekend opens.
My database contains nearly 200 games featuring Davies on the black side of the Modern/Pirc complex and he must have played at least that number again in weekend tournament games that have not found their way into the databases. Some of these games surface for the first time in this book!
Perhaps it is time to let Davies help us clarify the difference between the Pirc and Modern, both of which feature an early king’s fianchetto by Black:
The Modern is a universal system of defence that can be played against any White opening. It is characterized by Black starting out with a fianchetto of his king’s bishop with 1…g6 and 2…Bg7. It differs from the Pirc Defence (1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 g6) in that Black delays developing his king’s knight to f6. This knight remains on g8 for some time or even comes out to e7 or h6. (p.7)
Why play the Modern?
It is characterized by its great flexibility with which it can adapt to any White set-up. It does not lead to clear and crisp positions, but to rather muddy and complex strategic and tactical problems. It is this characteristic that makes it ideal for playing to win with Black; there are not the clean forcing lines and early resolution of tension which characterize the majority of openings. The delayed confrontation of pieces also makes it less vulnerable to sharp opening analysis – it requires understanding rather than memory. (p.9)
It has to be admitted though that in recent years there has been a definite trend among professional players to mistrust all or nearly all of the black defences (such the Modern) that concede space. In my opinion this trend can be safely ignored at sub-elite level, where playing for a win with Black is often necessary to make a high score, and where having counterplay in a strategically rich position is far more important than whether the position is objectively +=, = or =+.
It becomes clear from the Introduction that this book is far from being a typical product in the Starting Out series. It is in fact a guide, not so much to the Modern Defence as a whole, as to Davies’s own interpretation of it. In this respect it could well have been entitled (or at least subtitled) Nigel’s Modern, if a similar title, with somewhat greater resonance, had not already been used elsewhere (Tiger’s Modern)! The general aim of Davies’s treatment is …to try to extend the range of Black’s king’s bishop by counterattacking against d4 with either …c7-c5 or …e7-e5. This is the sharpest and most interesting way to play the Modern. I do not like or particularly believe in the lines where Black tries to blockade with …c7-c6 and …d7-d5 (p.9). Many of the plans, move-orders and set-ups that Davies recommends here are unusual, often provocative, and based to a large extent on his own ideas and games.
The book is built round fifty-eight complete illustrative games, distributed into eleven chapters based on the most common set-ups that White players adopt when faced with the Modern. Twenty-six of these games feature the author as Black, and there are many references to other games of his in the notes to the games.
Owing to the non-forcing nature of this opening, leaving a huge number of options open for both sides, it is impossible to provide a complete repertoire for Black in the space of 190 pages, but all the main possibilities are covered. What is more important is that the reader should be given a sense of the spirit and feel of this opening, and in this respect I think Davies does a fine job.
A useful interactive feature of the book is the inclusion of thirty test positions and their solutions. There is an index of complete games and an index of variations. Unlike some other recent Everyman books, this one is printed on good quality white paper.
Although Grandmaster Nigel Davies has written many books in recent years, he remains and active player, which means that his books tend to keep well in touch with the reality of practical chess. This one stands out, in that its subject is clearly close to the way he himself likes to play chess, and one has the impression that he has held back little, if any, of what he knows and feels about it.
Verdict: an excellent primer on the Modern and one which can also be used as the basis of a black repertoire. It should be useful to players of a wide range of playing strengths, although it must be said that inexperienced players as Black might find it hard to make best use of one of the Modern’s greatest assets – its flexibility. Rating: *****
True Combat Chess: Winning Battles Over the Board by Timothy Taylor - published by Everyman
True Combat Chess is a highly entertaining read, based on the personal experience IM Taylor has gained over the course of his chess career. The book is split into 6 chapters, where the author addresses key aspects of the game such as ‘The Critical Move’, ‘Opening Preparation’, ‘The Endgame and the Clock’, ‘Winning the won game’, ‘Beating a Grandmaster’ and finally a chapter titled ‘Underground innovation’, which includes an amusing story about a time when Taylor was facing ‘The Kid’ (he reveals the identity of his opponent later in the chapter) in a game back in 2003 in one of the First Saturday tournaments.
The aim of the book is summed up by the blurb; ‘International Master and former US Open Champion Timothy Taylor draws upon his wealth of personal experience to offer an instructive and entertaining account of how to improve your understanding of chess and your results. This book is awash with invaluable advice and helpful tips on all stages of the game - opening, middlegame and endgame. Taylor emphasizes the practical aspects of chess: how to really make the most of your ability; how to win at all costs; and how to absorb the lessons of defeat to come back stronger.’ I’d say this is a very accurate overview of the book.
The first chapter looks into the critical move (really more the critical phase of the game) and IM Taylor annotates 6 games, including 5 of his own, with lots of annotations and explanation of his thoughts during the games. I found it extremely interesting to refreshing to read about Taylor’s mindset and how it changed throughout his games. He delves deep to try and find explanations as to why he went astray in positions he felt he shouldn’t have and it’s all really quite thought provoking stuff. It certainly opened my eyes as to why I may make the mistakes that I do in the critical parts of my games!
I found chapter on ‘Opening Preparation’ was a real wake up call as to the way the nature of our game has changed over the past few years. His approach to preparation is interesting and it seemed to me whilst I was reading that he tends to rate the importance of anticipating what his opponents are likely to do in certain positions very highly. Some of his notes to the games Taylor-Tredinnick, American Open, 2006 and Taylor-Solomon, Budapest, 2008 gives the reader a nice insight into how he approached his preparation and how he managed to implement it successfully to fight against what he’d identified as his opponents weaknesses.
All in all I’ve really enjoyed reading this book. Taylor has a highly entertaining style of writing and his insights to the game are really thought provoking. The practical aspects and psychological issues covered in the book make it a really fascinating read.
Highly recommended!
How to play against 1 e4 by Neil McDonald - published by Everyman
With this book the experienced writer GM Neil McDonald provides a repertoire for Black based on the French defence, with the main aim being to present the reader with lines that require minimal memorisation of opening theory.
GM McDonald is an expert on the French defence and is currently the columnist for the French defence on the ever growing in popularity Chesspublishing.com, so is obviously very well informed on the current trends and opinions of opening lines.
I mentioned just a few lines previous that the aim of the book was to give the reader a rather less-theoretical repertoire based on 1…e6, but rather than just advocating the Fort-Knox defence (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 (or 3.Nd2) dxe4, followed by 4…Bd7 and 5…Bc6), McDonald has presented the reader with sharper, more counterattacking approaches against White’s two most popular tries against the French, 3.Nc3 and 3.Nd2. By doing this the author is helping the reader deal with the rather large practical problem of playing a new opening, by giving the reader a safe option to play, whilst in the meantime the reader can get to grips with more ambitious (therefore more theoretical) approaches to the opening.
Each chapter starts out with an introduction, where McDonald gives background on the opening, and discusses key points to it, such as ‘thematic pawn advances’, ‘possible plans’ and ‘strategic overviews’. I especially liked his explanation in the Advance variation chapter about the biggest loser in the French advance structure (Black’s c8 bishop) and the biggest winner (White’s f1 bishop), after which he goes on to a suggested repertoire that aims to remove these guys from the board as soon as possible.
The Intro’s to each chapter are followed by ‘Case studies’, which outline an early opening sequence for either White or Black and the nature (or in some cases, dire consequences!) of the resulting positions. There seems to have been a lot of thought gone into this and I think it will really benefit the reader by giving them a solid grounding in each variation.
McDonald gives lots of explanation in his game annotations and rather than seeing half a page of notation after every move there is usually a short paragraph explaining the aims and motives attached to it, which is of much more use to a reader trying to get to grips with an opening.
I think the repertoire suggestions in the Classical and Tarrasch are excellent choices, as they are solid and are being used by two young experts on the opening, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi and GM Fabiano Caruana. The latter managed to defeat Mickey Adams on the Black side of a French Tarrasch at the recent Olympiad.
A point of personal interest for me was to see where McDonald’s suggested repertoire in the French Tarrasch would clash with the one advocated for White in Andreas Tzermiadianos’ excellent coverage of the Tarrasch variation in the recently published book (again published by Everyman) ‘How to beat the French Defence’.
So, here’s the line…
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7 4.Bd3 c5 5.dxc5 Nf6 6.Qe2 0-0 7.Ngf3 a5 8.0-0 Na6 9.e5 Nd7 10.c3 (one of the strongest players handling this position with the White bits, French prodigy Maxim Vachier Lagrave, employed 10.c4 in March 08) Naxc5 11.Bc2 b6 12.Re1 Ba6 13.Qe3 f6 14.b4, awarded an ‘!’ by McDonald and given as ‘!?’ by Tzermiadianos, with no further explanation (his main move is 14.exf6 and following a game of Wegener-Jackelen, 2006, but I seriously doubt the game given is enough evidence to conclude this stuff is better for White).
It’s quite possible that the position after 13 moves is going to be tested in some high level Tarrasch games, so I’d suggest to French players looking to based their repertoire on McDonald’s suggestion, to keep an eye out for future developments from this position.
I’d suggest this book to anyone who was thinking of taking up the French! After reading it I’m seriously tempted to take the opening up myself!
One of the few (very few even!) criticisms of Avrukh’s Grandmaster Repertoire on 1.d4 was that although the analysis and recommendations were of very high quality, they would only really provide value to strong players, as a lot of analysis went without explanation, as though readers should not need prompting at every juncture. Avrukh’s work has some brilliant analysis of the Catalan, but I feel as though his work is aimed at strong players preparing for international tournaments.
Davies’ work is exactly what a club player will be looking for. The game in the introduction, Davies-Brown, Liverpool League 2009 sets the scene in an excellent way. It’s games like this that can do massive things for a player’s understanding of an opening so this was a very nice inclusion to the intro.
50 pages are spent delving into the positions that arise after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4. Davies looks into White’s different options such as 7.Ne5, 7.Qc2 a6 with both 8.Qxc4 and 8.a4 and also considered a somewhat rare approach starting with 6.Qc2 instead of 6.0-0 and gives some interesting ideas against what is thought to be Black’s best response 6…c5. I think it’s chapters like this one which will be of great benefit to most players, sidestepping the mainlines with a solid move order.
After this the coverage of Black’s other options (with 4…Bb4+ and 4…dxc4 lines) is spread fairly evenly so everything is covered from White’s point of view. I especially enjoyed Nigel’s coverage of some of the closed Catalan lines which he has become a bit of an expert on since a game he had in 2004 against GM Smbat Lputian. I think this is the best coverage of closed Catalan positions that I have seen anywhere!
So this book fills a gap in the market for club players wanting to take up the Catalan, a great opening which is believed to be one of the best for improving a players general chess understanding. It’s one of my favourite openings so I have to recommend this book!
The Classical King’s Indian Uncovered By Krzysztof Panczyk & Jacek Ilczuk - Published by Everyman
The content of this book spans the whole range of options for both sides after the openings moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2. The majority (over 200 pages) deals with the 6…e5 7.0-0 followed by the three main knight moves, 7…Na6, 7…Nbd7 and the absolute mainline 7…Nc6.
Now this book serves the purpose of being a great place to look to research and prepare an opening repertoire, but it’s hard to recommend this book to people looking to gain a good understanding of these king’s Indian positions, as there is not a great deal of explanation and a lot of lines end in my view quite abruptly with += or some other symbol. Now fair enough, for people who are used to these positions and have played them frequently in practise will feel comfortable about this, but many others will not be gaining anything from seeing a game reference with one of these symbols at the end.
When I open the book to a random page, it seems that there’s only one or two bits of explanation, the rest being game references and diagrams, so it’s not a book you’ll be reading cover to cover.
Now I’ve got to give credit to the writer’s. They’ve done a great job of putting the material together and I’m sure in some of my future encounters I’ll be looking to this book to try and plug gaps in my knowledge and just for general use in preparation. But to a club player for example, this material can really put a player off a system, because there’s so much to take in, with minimal verbal guidance.
This book serves it purpose, as it provides a full survey of options for both sides in the Classical King’s Indian, but I can’t recommend it to everyone, as it will suit players who have an already good understanding of the resulting positions a lot more.
This book presents a repertoire for Black against 1.e4 based on the Sicilian ‘Dragondorf’, 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 (also there’s some coverage of the Accelerated Dragondorf with 6…a6!?) 7.f3 a6.
Now first of all lets note that this is a tough project to take on. Writing about an opening variation that’s in it’s infancy can be difficult, as the writer has less games to draw conclusions from and base assessments on. But that’s something that makes this opening and this book a lot more exciting. I’m sure there’s a fair few of us who are tired with the amount of theory there is and the amount of work it takes for us to feel comfortable with our openings, so it’s great to see a fresh direction in a mainline opening being written about!
Really enjoyed the introduction. Williams draws the reader in with a story of how the Dragondorf first came to his attention and how his interest in it grew. I think it’s good to start a book with something personal to the writer, all to often chess books are impersonal and it can make them a much more difficult read.
The chapters are defined by White’s different development schemes, so for example chapter name look like this ‘The Main line: Queenside castling with g4 and h4’ or ‘The Main line: Queenside castling with a quick Bh6’. So the material is very well ordered and it is clear straight away to both players which strategies White has at his or her disposal. There’s nothing worse than trying to learn an opening when the information isn’t in any order so it’s good to see this has been carefully thought about.
The book contains a lot of explanation and flows well, making it easy for the reader to get to grips with the material.
As I mentioned in the first paragraph, the book covers both the ‘Classical’ Dragondorf with 6…Bg7 followed by a quick …a6, and the accelerated version with 6…a6. This books obviously targets Dragon players or players who are considering it for their repertoire, but also as some readers may notice, the material actually offers something to Najdorf players aswell, as these systems can be used instead of the ultra theoretical lines in the 6.Be3 Najdorf.
If you’re looking for something fresh and unexplored to play against the Open Sicilian, this book is a must!
Authors Yury Lapshun and Nick Conticello have put together a work trying to demonstrate how to destroy my favourite opening, the Sicilian Defence. I was immediately amused when I opened the book on the first page and found the contents to read like this…
Chapter 1: Knight Sacrifice on d5
2: Knight Sacrifice on e6
3: Bishop Sacrifice on e6…etc
7 Chapters in all, each of which arm the reader with a different way to devastate the 2nd player with a piece sacrifice. You don’t need me to tell you the kind of players this book is aimed at!
I like how the authors described the aim of the book; ‘This book is a collection of well analysed games featuring thematic, active piece sacrifices by White in the Open Sicilian.’
With over 100 fantastic sacrificial games annotated, this book is an ideal choice for players wanting to get to grips with a whole host of attacking ideas in the open Sicilian. As a 1.d4 player it’s books like this that motivate me to bring 1.e4 into my Opening rep. Very entertaining!
Serbian GM Milos Pavlovic has put together a complete repertoire for Black against the Ruy Lopez, based around the Marshall attack.
Here are the starting moves;
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 and now
7…0-0 - the first move that signals Black has intentions of playing the Marshall, 7…d6 is how players wishing to enter the closed Lopez as Black will usually continue. Considered by many to be the critical move here is
8. c3, as White still has ambitions to create an impressive pawn centre with 9.d4 (or more usually 9.h3 followed by 10.d4) Here 8…d6 would return to closed Lopez positions, but Black has a more ambitious option at their disposal
8…d5!?, and the positions that arise after this central break are the subject of this book.
The book covers all the ‘Anti-Marshall’ lines (White’s 8th move alternatives) and also has a section with a suggested repertoire for White’s early deviations, such as the early exchange systems (4.Bxc6 and 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Bxc6), early Nc3/d4 systems and the Worrall Attack (4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Qe2).
Well, first of all the Marshall is by far the most respected gambit in chess and has stood the test of time, so much so that many top players steer clear of the line altogether, feeling there’s more chances for advantage in quieter sidelines.
Pavlovic presents an up-to-date repertoire, resembling the way in which top Grandmasters such as Leko and Aronian are handling these positions with the Black bits. It’s nice to see a lot of explanation given. With openings of a forcing nature, like the Marshall, it’s can sometimes prove difficult for an author or annotator to give solid explanations of ideas, as the demands of the position can change over the course of just 1 or two moves, but Pavlovic has managed to find a really good balance.
I guess potential buyers of this book have a decision of whether to go for this, or Quality Chess’ new release by young Italian IM Brunello (who’s book I have yet to see), but I can safely say that readers will not be disappointed if they choose to go with Pavlovic’s work, who’s managed to present what is essentially a full repertoire to the Lopez, with in-depth explanation of ideas. If you’re looking for a solid, dependable reply to the Lopez then I would strongly recommend this book!
Dangerous Weapons: the Nimzo-Indian, by John Emms, Chris Ward and Richard Palliser, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com), 2006, 272 pages £14.99
and
Dangerous Weapons: the Sicilian, by John Emms and Richard Palliser, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com), 2006, 304 pages £14.99
These are the first two titles in a new series from Everyman, a bit reminiscent of the SOS series from the New in Chess stable, but generally less “off-beat”. I found both books interesting and useful. The Nimzo title has 17 chapters, featuring nine “weapons” for White and seven for Black. The Sicilian has 14 chapters, with eight white tries and six black.
The Nimzo book deals with:
4.Qc2
1 A Dangerous d-pawn: 4.Qc2 0-0 5.Bg5 c5 6.d5!?
2 Seizing the Initiative with ...b5!: 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qc3
b5!?
3 Wanting it all (Part 1): 4.Qc2 0-0 5.e4!? d5
4 Wanting it all (Part 2): 4.Qc2 0-0 5.e4!? c5 and 5...d6
5 The Romanishin Gambit: 4.Qc2 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 c5!? 7.dxc5 d4
6 The Topalov Gambit: 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 c5!?
4.e3
7 A Modern Twist: 4.e3 c5 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nge2 cxd4 7.exd4 d5 8.cxd5
Nxd5 9.a3!?
8 Another Vitolinsh Specialty: 4.e3 0-0 5.Ne2 b5!?
9 Baguio City Revisited: 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 c5 6.d5!?
10 An Idealistic Advance: 4.e3 Ne4!?
4.Nf3
11 A Break from Kasparov: 4.Nf3 c5 5.d5!?
12 The Milov Gambit: 4.Nf3 b6 5.Bg5 Bb7 6.Nd2 h6 7.Bh4 c5 8.d5!?
13 Going Dutch: 4.Nf3 Ne4!?
Saemisch/4 f3
14 The Undershooting Bishop: 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 6.e3 b6!?
15 A souped-up Blumenfeld!: 4.f3 c5 5.d5 0-0 6.e4 b5!?
Others
16 An Original Leningrad: 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bh4 c5 6.d5 d6 7.Nf3!?
17 A Radical Queen Adventure: 4.Qd3!?
The Sicilian book
covers:
1 A
Swedish Specialty: The Gaw-Paw (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 Qb6!?)
2 Taking a Break from Refuting the Dragon (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd4
4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Be2 0-0 8.Qd2!?)
3 Vallejo's Viable Lowenthal (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 e5
5.Nb5 a6!? 6.Nd6 Bd6 7.Qd6 Qf6)
4 Danger in the Taimanov (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nc6 5.Nc3
a6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.f4!?)
5 Silent but Violent (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7
6.Be3 a6 7.Be2 Nf6 8.a3!?)
6 The Koblencs-Goletiani Kan (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 a6
5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Bd3 Bd6!?)
7 Take my Pawns! (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6
6.Be2 Bb4 7.0-0!?)
8 Taking the Sting out of the Open Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4
cd4 4.Nd4 d5!?)
9 Karklins against the Najdorf (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 a6 6.Qf3!?)
10 Baklan and Epishin's Sozin Antidote (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd4
4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 e5!?)
11 The Prins Variation (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.f3!?)
12 The O'Kelly Variation: Not Just a One-Trick Pony (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3
a6!?)
13 A Cure for Indecision? (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 a6 5.f4!?)
14 Surprising the Sveshnikov (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 e5 6.Nde2!?)
I thought the treatment was pretty objective in all cases, so that, for instance, the material on 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 0-0 5 e4!? Will be very useful to anyone playing this for either side. As the main seams of these popular openings become worked out more and more deeply, it is possible that some of these “dangerous weapons” will increase in importance at master level; meanwhile, most of them look very playable at lower levels of the game. Typesetting and layout of these books are similar to in the “Starting Out” series from the same publisher and both series also have in common that there are plenty of verbal explanations and tips throughout the text. Future titles in the series include one on the French by John Watson.
Verdict: A promising start to this new series. Recommended Rating: **** 10--Jan-2007
Starting Out: 1 d4! – a reliable repertoire for the improving player, by John Cox, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com), 2006, 238 pages £13.99
English IM John Cox has adopted an approach that at first sight seems surprising for a book in the “Starting Out” series: no nursery slopes here – Cox takes us straight out on to the main pistes of the modern interpretation of 1 d4 from the white point of view:
King's Indian (Classical Bayonet 9.b4 with10.Re1)
Grunfeld (Exchange Variation with 8.Rb1)
Nimzo-Indian (4.Qc2)
Modern Benoni (Modern Main Line: Nf3, Bd3 and h3)
Benko Gambit (Accepted with 7.g3 and 8.Bg2)
Queen's Gambit Declined (Exchange Variation with Nge2)
Queen's Gambit Accepted (3.Nf3, 7.Bb3)
Semi-Slav (5.Bg5)
Slav (6.Ne5)
Dutch (main lines with g3)
Readers who are normally reluctant to construct
their repertoire from main-lines should read Cox’s introduction, where
he sets out his case convincingly (as you would expect – Cox is a lawyer
in his other life).
The author also deals with a variety of minor lines in his eleven chapters. In each chapter the material is conveyed through an explanatory section followed by illustrative annotated games.(36 in all). As with all the books in the expanding “Starting Out” series, so there is a wealth of explanation and highlighted tips and warnings to help the reader. The author certainly provides enough material and guidance here for the reader to start playing these lines, but the serious “improver” is advised to supplement it with more specialized books, databases and internet sources. There is a bibliography, an index of variations and a list of the complete annotated games.
Verdict: A reliable repertoire based on main lines. A strong recommendation. Rating: **** 10--Jan-2007
Starting Out: 1 e4! – a reliable repertoire for the improving player by Neil McDonald Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com), 2006, 200 pages £14.99
Neil McDonald aims to provide a “serious” repertoire for the market which is apparently now known as the “aspiring” player (from the blurb on the back cover): no tricky crap, no quick fixes, just tried and tested, sound stuff with some ambition, that a player can continue to employ as he moves up the ranks.
Designing a repertoire can be great fun, a sort of chess “fantasy football”. I can tell you are itching to know what he is recommending, so here goes:
1 e4 e5: the Scotch (also deals with Black’s alternatives on move 2; gives 5 Nc3 against the Petroff)): 40 pages
1 e4 c5: Open Sicilians: 60 pages!
1 e4 Nf6: Exchange Variation: 9 pages
1 e4 c6: Panov Attack: 12 pages
1 e4 d5: 2 exd5 a) 2...Qxd5 3 Nc3 Qa5 4 d4 Nf6 5 Bd2;
b) 2..Nf6 3 Nf3 Nxd5 4 d4: 15 pages.
1 e4 d6 and 1...g6: Be3, Qd2, 0-0-0: 12 pages
1 e4 e6: Tarrasch, aiming for the Korchnoi Gambit: 12 pages
There can few arguments that the Scotch is a sound and ambitious opening which can be played at all levels of chess. There is a snag though – the great attention that the Scotch has received since its modern “re-launch” in the 1990 Kasparov-Karpov World Championship match has led to complete metamorphosis. From being considered a strategically simple opening suitable for beginners, with relatively few variations for either sides to learn, it has become a vast complex of lines which are both strategically and tactically complex and where the best moves for White are often counter-intuitive, paradoxical or apparently anti-positional. In other words, the Scotch has become a prime example of the trend in modern opening play pointed out by John Watson in “Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy” towards concrete “move by move” play, rather than play based on positional principles.
Is McDonalds’ choice of the Mieses Variation, for instance, really suitable for juniors or other “aspiring” players? Just look at it: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nxc6 bxc6 6 e5 Qe7! 7 Qe2! Nd5 8 c4. In the first eight moves, White makes four pawn moves, three knight moves and blocks his f1-bishop with his queen! OK, you can argue that this is modern chess; it may be weird by classical standards but we know it works in practice (such apparently paradoxical positions have their own internal logic), and in modern chess that’s the only thing that matters.
Yet as a teacher I have always believed that it is best to start from the simple and logical and gradually help the student move towards the complex; I would thus feel very uncomfortable recommending the Mieses as part of a student’s first opening repertoire. I think it is worth noting that many current Scotch experts such as Rublevsky started with the Scotch Four Knights rather than the Mieses. (What? Scotch Four Knights? Isn’t that boring and drawish? Well it depends. Check out this junior game by the future super-GM: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9. O-O O-O 10. Bg5 c6 11. Qf3 Be7 12. Rae1 h6 13. Bxh6 gxh6 14. Qe3 Be6 15. Qxh6 Bd6 16. Qg5+ Kh8 17. f4 Re8 18. Rf3 Ng8 19. Qh5+ Kg7 20. Rg3+ Kf8 21. Rxg8+ Kxg8 22. Qh7+ Kf8 23. Qh6+ Kg8 24. Bh7+ Kh8 25. Bf5+ Kg8 26. Qh7+ Kf8 27. Qh8+ Ke7 28. Rxe6+ 1-0 Rublevsky, S - Novik, M, USSR-ch U20, Sochi 1990.)
I would also be unhappy recommending another of McDonald’s Scotch lines: 4…Bc5 5 Nxc6 Qf6 6 Qf3 – how do you explain this to an inexperienced player in a way that really adds to the fund of chess knowledge that he or she needs at that level?
It is clear from the introduction that McDonald has made a conscious choice of these lines in preference to (say) the Ruy Lopez; yet a very strong case can be made that the rapid and aggressive development that is typical of the Lopez, along with the simple, logical but powerful plan of building up a pawn centre with c3 and d4, is actually pretty easy for an inexperienced player to get his head round. Despite the huge strategic complexity of the Lopez at professional level, it actually provides a framework within which an inexperienced player can express himself without too much risk (not that I recommend the Lopez as one’s very first 1 e4 e5 opening). In contrast, the Mieses requires a large amount of detailed concrete knowledge – “the value of each move is very high” as they say. The positions in the Mieses are far from straightforward to handle – White has the better pawn structure and will have a clear advantage if he can consolidate; Black is ahead in development but has a bad structure and risks being strategically busted unless he can create enough activity.
McDonald’s other controversial choice is the Open Sicilian. He has clearly put a lot of thought into selecting the lines he recommends in this section. He writes: “I am convinced that at the beginning of your 1 e4 career you should play the bold 2 Nf3! and 3 d4! It means more work for you, but the rewards to your chess understanding will be enormous. The resulting positions will expand your feel for the initiative and your tactical imagination, both of which are essential for your development as a player.” He is right, of course, but it is not every player who will be willing to make the investment of time and energy required. There is also the issue of the large “maintenance bill” that you have to pay to stay up to date in such sharp and fashionable lines.
McDonald’s other lines all seem sensible and relatively uncontroversial, with the possible exception of the Korchnoi Gambit against the French; it is not certain that this will stand the test of time. In contrast to McDonald’s treatment of the Sicilian, this seems to be one suggestion motivated more by reasons of economy rather than based on its intrinsic merits. With such a large slice of the book devoted to the Sicilian, coverage of the other defences is inevitably superficial, but McDonald generally points the reader in the right direction.
I thought that McDonald’s dismissal of the Petroff as “a boring, turgid opening line used at the highest level to neutralize the advantage of the first move” was a bit misleading (although perhaps tongue in cheek). Consider this recent game: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Bg4 8. c3 Bd6 9. Re1 f5 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Qb3 Kh8 12. h3 Bh5 13. Qxb7 Ne7 14. Qb3 Ng6 15.Bf1 c5 16. g3 Rb8 17. Qd1 cxd4 18. cxd4 Qc7 19. Bg2 Bxg3 20. fxg3 Qxg3 21. Re2 Nf4 22. Qe1 Rbe8 23. Nxe4 Nxe2+ 24. Qxe2 fxe4 25. Qe1 Rxf3 26. Qxg3 Rxg3 0-1, Areshchenko,A (2653) – Jussupow,Ar (2595), Bundesliga 2005. Turgid, huh? In any case, at lower levels of chess the Petroff is a perfectly sensible choice that can lead to interesting and lively games. How about this: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Bg4 8. c3 Be7 9. Re1 f5 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Nf1 Bd6 12. Ne3 Bxh2+ 13. Kxh2 Nxf2 14. Qe2 Nxd3 15. Qxd3 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Qh4+ 17. Kg2 Qxe1 18. Nxd5 Rae8 19. Nf4 g5 20. Bd2 Qxa1 21. Qc4+ Kh8 22. Ne6 Qxb2 0-1, Westra, R-Van Kemenade, R, BCF- rapidplay championship, Leeds 2000.
This book is part of the “Starting Out” series, so whilst the coverage is inevitably limited, there is a wealth of explanation and highlighted tips and warnings to help the reader. There is certainly enough material here for the reader to start playing these lines, although the serious “aspiring” player will need to supplement it with more specialized books, databases and internet sources. There is an index of variations and a list of the fifty-six complete annotated games through which the theory is conveyed. For so prolific a writer, I have to say that McDonald maintains a remarkably good average standard of work so, although I have doubts about some of his repertoire suggestions here, I am happy to recommend this book
Verdict: an interesting repertoire book for the “aspiring” player but with some controversial elements.
My Great Predecessors, Part V by Gary Kasparov Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com), 2006,480 pages, Hardback, £30.
Volume 5 of this landmark series by Kasparov deals with the careers of Korchnoi and Karpov, culminating in the three tough matches they contested between 1974 and 1981. It contains history, anecdote, opinion, controversy but above all 106 important games and positions analysed and commented by Kasparov.
It might be useful to catalogue the series so far: Volume 1: Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, and Alekhine are the main focus, but Kasparov also examines the play of their chief rivals, such as Tchigorin, Tarrasch, Rubinstein and Boguljubow. Volume 2: Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov and Tal, plus Keres, Bronstein and Geller. Volume 3: Petrosian and Spassky, plus Stein, Gligoric and Polugaevsky. Volume 4: Fischer, plus Reshevsky, Larsen and Najdorf.
It is impossible for me to summarise a book like this – all I can do is try to convey the awe and fascination I feel as I read. Some of the factual content of this series has come under criticism but I would not let that put you off – these are among the most important chess books ever written.
Verdict: Much of
what I wrote about Volume I in this series holds for the subsequent
parts. I concluded that “it is not an everyday event when one of the
greatest players of all time examines and writes his critical
appreciation of the best players of earlier times. For any serious
student of the game, this book is a must.”
Rating:
*****
Starting out: Sicilian Najdorf by Richard Palliser 240 pages, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com) 2006, £13.99.
The Najdorf, sometimes
described as the Rolls Royce of chess openings, has been the chosen
weapon of large numbers of the chess elite since its emergence after
World War 2. It tends to produce complex, unbalanced middlegames,
giving the stronger (or better prepared) player ample scope to play
for a win. Although in this computer age certain variations of the
Najdorf have been analysed to a forced draw, the system as a whole
shows little sign of petering out into sterility and in fact in
recent elite tournaments has been more popular than ever.
Palliser’s book deploys all the features of the “Starting out”
series that we have come to expect: a very clear structure, useful
chapter introductions, anticipation of readers’ questions,
highlighted tips, notes and warnings, use of statistics to show how
successful or popular each line is, advice on how “theoretical” a
particular line is, plus 59 instructively annotated games. There is
a six-page index of variations and a list of the complete games.
Palliser has a reputation in the UK as a good theoretician and he
has long played the Najdorf himself as his main defence to 1 e4 – I
found over thirty of his Najdorf games in my database – so we can be
sure that he has a good grasp of his material. Even with 240 pages
to play with, anyone writing about the Najdorf has to be very
selective and thus highly skilled at distinguishing the wood from
the trees.
Strictly speaking this is not a repertoire book, but the author has
taken the decision to concentrate on lines where Black plays the
typical Najdorf 6....e5 where possible, rather than transpose to the
Scheveningen complex with 6...e6. (Interested readers
should consult Emms’s fine book ‘Play the Najdorf – Scheveningen
style” (Everyman, 2003)
But is it advisable for weaker players to play the Najdorf? For
young and ambitious players of say 1900 FIDE and rising fast, with a
good work ethic and reliable memories (perhaps not unlike Palliser
himself a few years ago!), the Najdorf will probably be very
appropriate and this book will be just what they need. Older strong
players who perhaps already have some experience of other Sicilian
variations could also consider a switch to the Najdorf, which has
never looked in better shape. But from my coaching experience, I
would say that the Najdorf may be just too demanding for many
players, not only in the amount of detailed preparation necessary
but also in the defensive skills required during the game – in a
great many lines Black has to weather a fierce tactical storm in the
middlegame before he can play out his own trumps. I can’t help
recalling some comments of the great Bent Larsen in his article in
the legendary book ‘How to Open a Chess Game’: “The trouble with
chess is the opponent! If you know only the ‘ideas behind the
openings’, and he knows the ideas AND a lot of variations, he is
likely to beat you.” and “I remember a young player who said that he
had lost three years of his life studying the Najdorf! He realized
that he had learned variations, not chess.”
However, for those who persist in wanting to learn (or brush up on)
the Najdorf, I can think of no better introduction than Palliser’s.
Thus it becomes my top recommendation in the field of introductory
books on the Najdorf, ahead of the also excellent but now dated
books by Kosten and King.
Verdict: a
great introduction to a high-class chess opening. Strongly
Recommended.
Rating:
*****
Alexander Alekhine,
Master of Attack by Alexander Raetsky & Maxim Chetverik,
EVERYMAN CHESS (www.everymanchess.com),
176 pages, £12.99
I must say I sense a potboiler here from the prolific Russian pair. That first
impression receives some confirmation when I find mistakes such as ‘Alekhine was both (sic) on 31st October 1892 in
Verdict: Not actually a bad book,
but here are better ones of this type and better use for your available study
time. **
Bird’s Opening ,
by Timothy Taylor, 224 pages, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com) 2005,
£14.99
Many club
players prefer to avoid main-line openings. On the one hand there are the
droves of players who spend their years wheeling out solid but unambitious lines such as the Colle
or the London; on the other hand, there are the gambit fanatics who spend their
spare time analysing obscure tactical lines in the Blackmar-Diemer
or the Max Lange, openings that strong players generally would not touch with a
barge-pole. Where does Bird’s opening fit in this spectrum? It has certainly
never been a mainstream opening, yet it has been played by some strong players
from time to time. Pre-1914, Tartakower played many
of the key games that developed the important strategic ideas of the Bird, even
foreshadowing post-war developments in the hypermodern Nimzo-Indian
and Queen’s Indian defences. That great practical player Bent Larsen played it
about fifty times, with a score higher than 60% for White, including wins
against Spassky and Petrosian!
British chess players with long memories might recall that David Rumens used
the Bird’s to great effect in Opens of the mid 1970s to help him twice win the
(then) lucrative Cutty Sark Grand Prix. In recent
years, the main champion of the Bird has been the Danish GM Henrik
Danielsen (2520, born 1966). The American IM Timothy
Taylor has also played the Bird many times, often in critical “money
games”, and is thus well qualified to
write the first major study of the Bird since Taimanov’s
Hollaendisch bis Bird-Eroeffnung (1982) and Soltis’s
Winning with the Bird Opening (1982) – neither of which is mentioned in the
Bibliography incidentally.
According
to
In
practice, the Bird’s player is far more likely to face 1...d5 and 1...Nf6
(especially from players with a 1 d4 repertoire as White) as well as 1...c5 (especially
from players who answer 1 e4 with the Sicilian). Concerning the latter,
Overall the
book is a typical Everyman opening book, generally of a high standard of
production, but some errors have crept in this time, for instance in my copy the
page headings for the odd pages 203-219 are incorrect.
Verdict: The first important study
of Bird’s Opening for many years, this book will provide players of all levels
wishing to avoid the beaten track with a wealth of interesting and playable
ideas. ****
Breaking through ,
by Susan Polgar with Paul Truong, 320 pages hardback,
Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com)
2005, £20.00
Former World Women’s Chess Champion
Susan Polgar has recently been working very hard to
popularise chess in the
The book is nicely printed, with many
chess diagrams. There are eight pages of photographs, some in colour. There is
an index of players and the openings are indexed by name and ECO keys.
Verdict: An interesting insider
account of the Polgar sisters’ careers, with plenty
of instructive and entertaining chess content. Recommended.
***
The Catalan,
by Alex Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik,
EVERYMAN CHESS (everymanchess.com), 192 pages, £14.99
The Catalan has a lot going for it;
in my database of games played in the last 25 years of players rated above
2350, White scores an impressive 58%. As GM Ribli
pointed out in an Article in BCM some years ago, "the main features and
plans for those who choose the Catalan are as follows:
1) building
up a strong centre;
2) the
bishop on g2 hinders the plans of Black on the queenside;
3) the main
goals of the white attack are Black's weakened pawns on the queen's wing;
4) White's king can hardly be
attacked in an effective way".
One could add that the Catalan also
enables White to avoid the Nimzo0Indian and Queen’s Indian! A further point is
that, as John Donaldson pointed out in his useful little book ‘A strategic
opening repertoire’, “Few, if any,
players below the professional ranks have a well-thought-out answer to this
opening”
This is a standard Everyman-format
opening book, based on complete annotated games (95!) arranged in chapters by
variation (12), but with some important differences. 1) At 192 pages, the book
is longer than usual in this series; this seems to be due to the extra games
fitted in rather than the wordiness of the annotations (cf. Dunnington’s
new book on the Nimzo with 4.e3); 2) some of the
chapter summaries are far more detailed than is usual in this series; 3) both
co-authors (both rated 2400 plus) actually play this opening for White! (If
other recent Everyman books are anything to go by, this is quite rare, and most
welcome!). In my database, I found 66 games by Raetsky
and 28 by Chetverik.
It should be noted that this book does not provide a complete repertoire
for White, for instance after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 the boom gives no coverage to
the cunning defence 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 favoured by
several strong GMs with Black. White also needs to be able to cope with the Bogo-Indian and the Modern Benoni.
There is a list of games and a bibliography, with an indication of the
cut-off point for the research – always very useful, but sadly not yet
automatic in openings books. There is an unfortunate mistake in the schematic
diagram at the top of page 8: White is missing a pawn on d4
Verdict: Useful material on a key
modern opening. Recommended. ****
Catastrophe in the Opening, by James Plaskett, 144 pages, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com) 2005,
£14.99
This book consists of 88
lightly-annotated short games in which an early mistake is punished, often
violently and dramatically. The title seemed familiar, and a quick check
revealed that it had already been used for a book by Iakov
Neishtadt published in 1980 by Pergamon.
Of rather more concern is that the title is not the only thing that has been
recycled. At least one of the games appears in another book of Plaskett’s: Nguyen
Ngoc Trungson-Banusz, Budapest 2004 appears with very
similar notes in “The Queen’s Bishop Attack Revealed” (Batsford).
Frequent use of first-person pronouns is evident in the book, although Plaskett seems to have restrained himself somewhat this
time, using only 19 of his own games as examples. Plaskett
can write expressively, but occasionally ties himself in grammatical knots of
his own making, as in this inelegant example of a dangling participle (cf. Walking
home yesterday, a tree nearly fell on my head): “Faced with what was then
to a Yankee an unusual system, it is his lack of familiarity...”. However, I don’t
wish to be completely negative about this book. Such miniatures have always
provided chess entertainment and can be quite instructive. An additional useful
feature here is that games are indexed in three ways: by player, opening and
ECO code.
Verdict: an entertaining and
potentially instructive collection of (mostly) modern miniature games. Overpriced. **
Dangerous Weapons: the Nimzo-Indian, by John Emms, Chris
Ward and Richard Palliser, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com), 2006,
272 pages £14.99
and
Dangerous Weapons: the Sicilian, by
John Emms and Richard Palliser, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com), 2006,
304 pages £14.99
These are the first two titles in a
new series from Everyman, a bit reminiscent of the SOS series from the New in
Chess stable, but generally less “off-beat”. I found both books interesting and
useful. The Nimzo title has 17 chapters, featuring
nine “weapons” for White and seven for Black. The Sicilian has 14 chapters,
with eight white tries and six black.
The Nimzo book deals with:
4.Qc2
1 A Dangerous d-pawn: 4.Qc2 0-0 5.Bg5 c5 6.d5!?
2 Seizing the Initiative with ...b5!:
4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qc3 b5!?
3 Wanting it all (Part 1): 4.Qc2 0-0 5.e4!? d5
4 Wanting it all (Part 2): 4.Qc2 0-0
5.e4!? c5 and 5...d6
5 The Romanishin Gambit: 4.Qc2 d5 5.a3
Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 c5!? 7.dxc5 d4
6 The Topalov Gambit: 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5
c5!?
4.e3
7 A Modern Twist: 4.e3 c5 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nge2 cxd4 7.exd4 d5 8.cxd5
Nxd5 9.a3!?
8 Another Vitolinsh Specialty: 4.e3 0-0
5.Ne2 b5!?
9
10 An Idealistic Advance: 4.e3 Ne4!?
4.Nf3
11 A Break from Kasparov: 4.Nf3 c5 5.d5!?
12 The Milov Gambit: 4.Nf3 b6 5.Bg5 Bb7
6.Nd2 h6 7.Bh4 c5 8.d5!?
13 Going Dutch: 4.Nf3 Ne4!?
Saemisch/4 f3
14 The Undershooting Bishop: 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 6.e3 b6!?
15 A souped-up Blumenfeld!: 4.f3 c5 5.d5 0-0 6.e4 b5!?
Others
16 An Original Leningrad: 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bh4 c5 6.d5 d6 7.Nf3!?
17 A Radical Queen Adventure: 4.Qd3!?
The Sicilian book covers:
1 A Swedish Specialty:
The Gaw-Paw (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 Qb6!?)
2 Taking a Break from Refuting the Dragon (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4
cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Be2 0-0 8.Qd2!?)
3
5 Silent but Violent (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nc6 5.Nc3
Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Be2 Nf6 8.a3!?)
6 The Koblencs-Goletiani
7 Take my Pawns! (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd4
4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be2 Bb4 7.0-0!?)
8 Taking the Sting out of the Open Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6
3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 d5!?)
9 Karklins against the Najdorf (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6
6.Qf3!?)
10 Baklan and Epishin's
Sozin Antidote (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 e5!?)
11 The Prins Variation (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4
cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.f3!?)
12 The O'Kelly Variation: Not Just a One-Trick
Pony (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6!?)
13 A Cure for Indecision? (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd4
4.Nd4 a6 5.f4!?)
14 Surprising the Sveshnikov (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3
Nc6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Nde2!?)
I thought the treatment was pretty
objective in all cases, so that, for instance, the material on 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 0-0 5 e4!? Will be very useful to anyone
playing this for either side. As the main seams of these popular
openings become worked out more and more deeply, it is possible that some of
these “dangerous weapons” will increase in importance at master level;
meanwhile, most of them look very playable at lower levels of the game.
Typesetting and layout of these books are similar to in the “Starting Out”
series from the same publisher and both series also have in common that there
are plenty of verbal explanations and tips throughout the text. Future titles
in the series include one on the French by John Watson.
Verdict: **** A
promising start to this new series. Recommended
Fire on Board Part II: 1997-2004, by
Alexei Shirov, 192 pages, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com) 2005,
£17.99
Fifty-three games of one of the
world’s best and most exciting players, analysed and
annotated by himself – a mouth-watering prospect for any true chess fan. Shirov does not disappoint; the games are fantastic, the
analysis is detailed, the verbal comments are frank and fascinating. There are
bonuses too: a nine-page autobiographical essay recounting his triumphs and
tribulations during the period in question, and a four-page discussion of chess
creativity. There are indexes of opponents and openings.
Verdict: an indispensable addition
to the library of every serious player and any true chess fan. Highly recommended. *****
Inside the chess mind, by Jacob Aagaard, Everyman chess, 157 pages, £16.99
How does he do it? The Danish IM has
written a large number of chess books in a very short time, yet somehow manages
to maintain a good standard of work. The present book has some original
features; I can do no better than reproduce part of the blurb: What
separates a Grandmaster from an International Master? How do the thought
processes of a strong club player differ from that of a middling club player?
What techniques can an enthusiastic chess player employ when striving to reach
the next rung on the ladder? (...) The material is based around numerous
carefully-selected tests which are offered to a group of players of a very wide
range of ages and playing strengths. Once all the participants have attempted
the tests, their discoveries, solving methods and difficulties with the
exercises are evaluated and compared, and conclusions are drawn. The players
are also quizzed about their exercise techniques, ideas and opinions about
chess in general. The reader is challenged to attempt the test positions
and compare findings with the panel of players and the author.
Verdict: an original and
interesting book which should repay careful study. ****
Italian Game and Evans Gambit by Jan Pinski, 160 pages, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com) 2005,
£14.99
Whilst the Ruy
Lopez still rules the open games roost at professional level, in the amateur
game the tricky 3 Bc4 has always been popular and is likely to remain so, as
long as the rules of chess continue to result in the f7 square being guarded
only by the black king. In a previous book for Everyman, Pinski
surveyed the Two Knights Defence complex 1 e4 e5v2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6. Here he
surveys all the main lines of the Giuoco Piano 3
...Bc5, plus the Hungarian defence 3...Be7 and the rare tries 3...g6, 3...h6,
3...d6 and the club players’ trap line 3...Nd4. The first chapter deals with that
old junior favourite the Giuoco Pianissimo. Pinski concludes, unsurprisingly, that Black is OK, but it
is interesting that strong players such as Short and Larsen have employed the
old Canal Attack with White: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 d3 Nf6 5 Nc3 d6 6
Bg5. Chapter 2 deals with the old Closed Defence 4 c3 Qe7 5 d4 Bb6, a favourite
of Alekhine and Euwe in
their day; Pinski concludes that White has chances
for advantage here. Chapter 2 also covers the old Steinitz
line 4 c3 Nf6 5 d4 exd4 6 e5, revived recently by Sveshnikov;
Pinski shows that there are chances for both sides in
this line. Chapter 3 deals with the
forcing lines stemming from 4 c3 Nf6 5 d4 exd4 6 cxd4 Bb4+ 7 Nc3 and 7 Bd2;
play can become complex but Black is quite OK. Pinski
concludes that if White wants to play for a win in the Giuoco
Piano, he has to choose the slow manoeuvring line 4 c3 Nf6 5 d3, aiming for
Spanish-like positions, but once again Black is theoretically OK. The next five
chapters all feature the Evans Gambit, about which the great David Bronstein
once wrote: "If I was obliged to give only one recommendation to
enthusiasts, then, without hesitating for a second, I would say: play the Evans
Gambit. (...) The Evans Gambit is not a variation, it
is a chess-playing style." Pinski’s verdict is
equally upbeat: “Although the Spanish gives more promise of a theoretical advantage, the Evans
Gambit gives better chances of actually winning the game.” The final chapter
wraps up with the Hungarian Defence 4 ...Be7 and other 4th move
options for Black. As usual with
Everyman opening books, the material is embedded in 58 complete annotated
games. each chapter starts with an introduction and
ends in a summary. There is an index of the games. The Italian has been in the
shadow of the Spanish for the past hundred years, but this opening remains
popular with juniors and club players. It can also be argued that many of these
lines provide a real chess education, not only providing good practice in
tactics and calculation, but also dealing with such important subjects as the
centre, king safety, the initiative and the trade-off between material and
position. Unfortunately there is no bibliography and no indication of the
cut-off point for the author’s research in the two standard sources: Chess Informator and New in Chess Yearbook.
Verdict: a useful guide to the
parts of the Italian complex not covered in Pinski’s
companion volume on the Two Knights defence. ***
My Great
Predecessors, Part II, by Garry Kasparov, 480 pages hardback, EVERYMAN CHESS
(everymanchess.com), £25
In this, the second volume of the series,
Kasparov examines the play of World Champions Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov and Tal and the contribution of three top-class players who
never reached the very top: Keres, Bronstein and Geller.
The real chess “meat” of the book is the examination of the 149 games and
positions, but there is also much of interest in the background material:
historical, social, psychological. The material on Botvinnik
is especially interesting, since as a junior Kasparov was trained by Botvinnik and knew him well. The translation is by Ken
Neat, and generally reads well.
In addition to the “bonus material”
on Keres, Bronstein and Geller, I should have liked
to see equivalent treatment of Reshevsky, who matched
these three, both in terms of playing strength and in length of career near the
pinnacle of chess.
Verdict: Much of what I wrote
about Volume I in this series holds for this second part. I concluded that “it
is not an everyday event when one of the greatest players of all time examines
and writes his critical appreciation of the best players of earlier times. For
any serious student of the game, this book is a must.” *****
Mikhail Tal
Tactical Genius, by Alexander Raetsky & Maxim Chetverik, Everyman Chess, 160 pages, £12.99
The meat of this book consists of 163
test positions taken from the games of the legendary Latvian Mikhail Tal. The answers are at the back of the book, along with a
section of “Tal Tips” to point you in the right
direction if you get stuck. There is also a short biography of Tal, and there are some complete annotated games.
Verdict: a nice set of tactical exercises, for
entertainment and instruction. ***
My Great Predecessors, Part V, by Gary Kasparov,
Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com),
2006,480 pages, Hardback, £30.
Volume 5 of this landmark series by
Kasparov deals with the careers of Korchnoi and Karpov, culminating in the three tough matches they
contested between 1974 and 1981. It contains history, anecdote, opinion,
controversy but above all 106 important games and positions analysed and
commented by Kasparov.
It might be useful to catalogue the
series so far:
Volume 1: Steinitz,
Lasker, Capablanca, and Alekhine are the main focus, but Kasparov also examines the
play of their chief rivals, such as Tchigorin, Tarrasch, Rubinstein and Boguljubow.
Volume 2: Euwe,
Botvinnik, Smyslov and Tal, plus Keres, Bronstein and
Geller.
Volume 3: Petrosian
and Spassky, plus Stein, Gligoric
and Polugaevsky.
Volume 4: Fischer, plus Reshevsky, Larsen and Najdorf.
It is impossible for me to summarise
a book like this – all I can do is try to convey the awe and fascination I feel
as I read. Some of the factual content of this series has come under criticism
but I would not let that put you off – these are among the most important chess
books ever written.
Verdict: Much of what I wrote about Volume I in this series holds for the
subsequent parts. I concluded that “it is not an everyday event when one of the
greatest players of all time examines and writes his critical appreciation of
the best players of earlier times. For any serious student of the game, this
book is a must.” *****
The
Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein by Angus Dunnington,
EVERYMAN CHESS (everymanchess.com), 160 pages, £14.99.
At first sight, this is a typical product
from the Everyman stable, based on complete annotated games divided into
chapters. However, closer examination shows that the material is packed into
just 18 illustrative games, instead of the usual 50 plus. I think this is
because Dunnington has chosen to give the reader much
more explanation than usual, reminiscent of Sadler’s fine books on the Slav and
Semi-Slav. I find his explanations to be clear and useful; I have the feeling that,
given a better brief, Dunnington could become an
outstanding writer of opening books.
As I have written elsewhere, I tend to be a
bit suspicious of openings books written by authors who do not play the opening
in question. In my database I could not find a single example of Dunnington playing this opening with either colour. This
does not mean that the book is no good, just that it lacks that extra dimension
of realism based on experience that one gets from, for instance, Golubev writing about the Dragon Sicilian, or Yusupov discussing the Petroff.
Readers should be warned that Dunnington does not deal with the frequent (and critical)
transpositions to Saemisch lines that can result from
White’s choosing to play a3 on moves 4 or 5. Also the final chapter on the ‘tabia’ 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Nf3 d5 6.Bd3 c5 7.0–0
is ridiculously skimpy for such an important line.
There is a short bibliography, but no
indication of the cut-off point for the research. Notable absentees from the
bibliography are major studies by Pliester and Taimanov.
Verdict: With some caveats, this is an interesting,
instructive and well-written book that could serve as a good introduction to
some of the key variations and typical positions of the Nimzo-Indian.
***
Offbeat Nimzo-Indian
by Chris Ward, 144 pages,
Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com)
2005, £14.99
In this book popular chess writer
Chris Ward provides useful surveys of pretty well all White’s less popular
weapons against the robust Nimzo-Indian Defence 1 d4
Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4. Since GM Ward plays both sides of the Nimzo, the reader can be assured of competent coverage
based on a lot of personal experience, all illuminated by Ward’s unique writing
style (which you either love or hate!). Ward is sometimes criticised for a lack
of rigour and thoroughness in his coverage, but whatever the truth of this he
more than makes up for any shortcomings with the humour and expressiveness of
his writing; and when Ward is writing about a line he knows well from personal
experience, there are few better chess writers anywhere. The bulk of the book
(75 pages) is devoted to 4 f3 and the related Saemisch
system (4 a3). Then we have shorter chapters on two systems that Ward himself
has employed: 4 Bg5 and 4 g3. Then there is a short chapter on 4 Qb3. Finally
we have a round up of rare 4th move tries, of which the most
important for club-level players are probably 4 Bd2 and the gambit 4 e4. So, to
be clear, the white systems NOT dealt with in this book are 4 Nf3 (about which
Ward has already written another book for Everyman), 4 e3 and 4 Qc2. Each
chapter starts with a short but useful verbal introduction and finishes with a summary.
The theory is embedded into 47 annotated games; these are indexed at the end of
the book. I am pleased to see there is also a bibliography which indicates the
cut-off point for the research – this should be standard in all opening books,
but unfortunately is not.
Verdict: an interesting and
instructive book, examining some of the less frequented but still important
byways of the evergreen Nimzo-Indian. Recommended if
you already play or wish to play the Nimzo for Black,
or if you are looking for a new weapon for White. ***
Petroff Defence by A Raetsky and M Chetverik, 190 pages, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com) 2005,
£14.99
Slowly but surely from the late 1960s
onwards the Petroff Defence has risen in status and
popularity to its present pinnacle. It is now played in nearly all top-level
tournaments, particularly in games (such as head-to-head matches) where a draw
with Black is a satisfactory result. The result of its steep rise in popularity
with the elite is a vast expansion in the development of its theory; the good
old Petroff has become a principal arena of the chess
“arms race”. The two prolific Russian authors use the familiar Everyman format
of embedding the theory within 74 annotated games. Each chapter starts with a
brief verbal introduction and ends with a summary. There is an index of the
complete games at the end of the book. It is reassuring to find that both
authors have actually played the Petroff with Black, Raetsky in particular – I found over 50 of his Petroff games in my database. At points in the book the
reader definitely gets the impression that he is receiving “insider”
information. There is also a bibliography which usefully indicates the cut-off
point for the research in the two standard sources: Chess Informator
and New in Chess Yearbook.
Verdict: a typical Everyman-format
opening book, providing a useful survey of a popular and sound opening. Good
value at nearly 200 pages for £14.99. ***
Play 1 e4 e5! – a
complete repertoire for Black in the Open Games, by Nigel Davies, 192 pages,
Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com)
2005, £14.99.
Once known as a devotee of the
provocative Modern Defence, GM Nigel Davies has begun to appreciate the
benefits of space and has more and more in recent years been answering 1 e4
with 1...e5. At the heart of the proposed repertoire are the Two Knights
Defence against 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4, 4...Bc5 against the Scotch, and the
evergreen Closed Defence against the Spanish, specifically the Keres variation 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6
5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7. The plan of
the book is:
Page 7: 1. Ruy
Lopez Keres Variation: 12 Nbd2
Page 27: 2. Ruy Lopez Keres Variation: 12 Others
Page 43: 3. Ruy Lopez: Ninth Move Alternatives
Page 66: 4. Ruy Lopez: Fifth and Sixth Move
Alternatives
Page 90: 5. Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation
Page 109: 6. Two Knights Defence
Page 132: 7. The Scotch Game
Page 156: 8. 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6: Third Move Alternatives
Page 169: 9. 1 e4 e5: Second Move Alternatives
There are a few slightly
controversial elements to the repertoire. Davies proposes the Graf variation of
the Keres 11...Nd7 12 Nbd2 exd4!? 14 cxd4 Nc6, which
tends to produce very unbalanced positions that may eventually prove to be
refutable by computer analysis. A better long-term investment might have been
one of the more solid lines of the Tchigorin defence
11...Qc7 or perhaps Breyer’s 9...Nb8. However, the
author’s detailed coverage of White’s earlier deviations in the Ruy Lopez should prove extremely useful to any player who
defends the Spanish with any version of the Closed
defence.
Davies’s general approach to gambits
is to save labour and decline them, thus he proposes 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4
exd4 4 c3 d5 and 1 e4 e5 2 f4 Bc5. At GM level where such gambits are rare
these days, it makes sense to have such solid, economical lines available.
However, at club level these gambits are much more common and it is reasonable
to invest in sharper defences aimed at securing a definite advantage for Black.
Of course you don't have to use all of Davies’s recommendations; you can pick
and mix, perhaps also using lines from Emms's or
Kaufman's black repertoire books.
It is always re-assuring when an
author of an opening book actually plays the lines he recommends, and indeed
here I see that 14 of the 65 complete annotated games are by Davies himself. As
usual, Davies’s annotations are apposite and instructive. Each chapter has a brief but useful
introduction and a tabular summary at the end.
Verdict: a generally excellent long-term buy
for anyone who answers (or is considering answering) 1 e4 with 1...e5. Highly recommended. ****.
Play the French, 3rd
Edition, By John Watson, 272 pages, EVERYMAN CHESS (everymanchess.com), £16.99.
As I’ve mentioned before, these days any chess book by John Watson is an
event. His openings books are absolute models of their kind, featuring: careful
selection of lines, thorough research, original analysis, clear verbal
explanations, full disclosure and complete honesty.
A few details of the new edition: The coverage of the currently very
popular Advance variation is awesome. For the first time, this edition deals
with some Classical French lines, dealing with the Steinitz
3 Nc3 Nf6 4 e5 and the Burn 4 Bg5 dxe4 (specifically the solid 5 Nxe4 Be7 6
Bxf6 Bxf6 a la Bareev,
instead of Morozevich's pet 6...gxf6!?).
Also for the first time, Watson gives a Winawer
repertoire with 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4
0-0, but he also provides an update on the 6...Qc7 7 Qg4 f5 which made its
first appearance in the 2nd edition. Even my own
pet, the once obscure 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e5 c5 5 dxc5!? receives nearly six pages of attention!
Against the Tarrasch the lines given are
3...c5 4 exd5 Qxd5 (as in the earlier editions) and the trendy, tricky and
flexible 3...Be7.
Whatever your opinion of the French as a defence, it isn't going to go
away, and this book makes a great contribution not only to the theory, since it
is full of original analysis, but also to our understanding of several
previously unclarified lines.
Verdict: For French Defence fans,
the brand new 3rd edition of Play for French is simply a must. All 1.e4 players
should also strongly consider getting hold of a copy, since they are likely to
be staring at Watson's recommendations from the white side of the board for
some years to come. A top recommendation. *****
Play the King’s Indian Defence by Joe
Gallagher, Everyman Chess, 208 pages, £14.99
Since Kasparov’s abandonment of it
following some difficult games against Kramnik in the
early nineties, players have been deserting the KID in droves to take up less
demanding defences such as the Nimzo or (especially)
the Slav. This is partly a question of fashion, partly a paradigm-shift back to
the old strategic thinking that “space is good”, and partly due to some
specific difficulties that Black has experienced in the last decade,
principally in the Classical variation known as the Bayonet. If the flight from
the KID is to be arrested, it will probably happen when one of the world elite
is once more winning games with it. Meanwhile, GM Gallagher, a career-long
King’s Indian player, is doing his best to plead its cause with his latest
book, in which he arms us with a complete Black repertoire with his favourite
counter-punching defence against 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4. Gallagher is one of my
favourite chess authors – I can hardly recall a book of his that I haven’t
liked – and he is usually at his very best when writing about openings he
himself plays. This book is no exception. Instead of the disgraceful, soulless
database dumps that some authors have presented us with in recent years,
Gallagher has the skill of taking a huge amount of data and somehow fashioning
it into something coherent. Not only that; without losing objectivity or
playing down the difficulties, he somehow makes you want to play this opening
and to believe in it. Against the KID’s main challenge
in recent years, the Classical system, Gallagher offers two lines: the tradional 7...Nc6 and the modern 7...Na6. Against other
lines, such as the Saemisch and the Fianchetto, he gives is just a single line, normally the
one that he himself plays. Gallagher is one of the best at explaining clearly
what is going on and he succeeds admirably here in providing a good blend of
factual detail and verbal explanation. If anyone can draw the crowds back to
the KID, Gallagher can. Hint: if you are new to the KID, it’s probably best to
begin with Gallagher’s earlier “Starting Out: the King’s Indian” and then move
on the present book.
Verdict: another winner from Joe
Gallagher. Highly recommended. *****
Ruy Lopez Exchange by Krzystof Panczyk & Jacek Ilczuk, 192 pages, Everyman
Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com)
2005, £14.99
The authors provide a standard
Everyman-style guide to the Exchange Lopez 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Bxc6.
The material is embedded in 74 complete annotated games aranaged
in six chapters. Each chapter starts with a short introduction and ends with a
summary. Unlike Kindermann’s recent book on the same
subject, this is not a white repertoire book; all lines are covered, even such
rarities these days as 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Bxc6.dxc6 5 d3, 5 Nc3 and 5
d4. The Exchange Variation has never been as popular as 4 Ba4, but inb the hands of spoecialists
such as Rozentalis it scores well for White. In
theory Black should be fine with his two bishops; in practice Black’s task is not so easy , so
anyone who defends the Lopez with a line beginning 3...a6 needs to have a
well-honed defence against the Exchange Variation. When reviewing opening
books, I am always re-assured if I find that author(s) have some practical
experience of the lines they are writing about; in this case, I could find no
relevant games in my database with either colour by Ilczuk,
but Panczyk has defended the black side of the
Exchange Spanish many times. There is also a bibliography but no indication of
the cut-off point for the research – this should be standard in all opening
books.
Verdict: a useful round-up of
developments in this Ruy Lopez Exchange. Good value
at nearly 200 pages for £14.99. ***
Starting Out: 1 d4! – a reliable repertoire for the improving player, by John
Cox, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com), 2006,
238 pages £13.99
English IM John Cox has adopted an
approach that at first sight seems surprising for a book in the “Starting Out”
series: no nursery slopes here – Cox takes us straight out on to the main pistes of the modern interpretation of 1 d4
from the white point of view:
King's Indian (Classical Bayonet 9.b4 with10.Re1)
Grunfeld (Exchange Variation with 8.Rb1)
Nimzo-Indian (4.Qc2)
Modern Benoni (Modern Main Line: Nf3, Bd3 and h3)
Benko Gambit (Accepted with 7.g3 and 8.Bg2)
Queen's Gambit Declined (Exchange Variation with Nge2)
Queen's Gambit Accepted (3.Nf3, 7.Bb3)
Semi-Slav (5.Bg5)
Slav (6.Ne5)
Dutch (main lines with g3)
Readers who are normally reluctant to
construct their repertoire from main-lines should read Cox’s introduction,
where he sets out his case convincingly (as you would expect – Cox is a lawyer
in his other life).
The author also deals with a variety
of minor lines in his eleven chapters. In each chapter the material is conveyed
through an explanatory section followed by illustrative annotated games.(36 in all). As with all the books in the expanding
“Starting Out” series, so there is a wealth of explanation and highlighted tips
and warnings to help the reader. The author certainly provides enough material
and guidance here for the reader to start playing these lines, but the serious
“improver” is advised to supplement it with more specialized books, databases
and internet sources. There is a bibliography, an index of variations and a
list of the complete annotated games.
Verdict: **** A reliable repertoire based on main lines. A
strong recommendation.
Starting Out: 1 e4! – a reliable repertoire for the improving player, by Neil
McDonald, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com), 2006,
200 pages £14.99
Neil McDonald aims to provide a
“serious” repertoire for the market which is apparently now known as the
“aspiring” player (from the blurb on the back cover): no tricky crap, no quick
fixes, just tried and tested, sound stuff with some ambition, that a player can
continue to employ as he moves up the ranks.
Designing a repertoire can be great
fun, a sort of chess “fantasy football”. I can tell you are itching to know
what he is recommending, so here goes:
1 e4 e5: the Scotch (also deals with
Black’s alternatives on move 2; gives 5 Nc3 against the Petroff)):
40 pages
1 e4 c5: Open Sicilians: 60 pages!
1 e4 Nf6: Exchange Variation: 9 pages
1 e4 c6: Panov
Attack: 12 pages
1 e4 d5: 2 exd5 a) 2...Qxd5 3 Nc3 Qa5
4 d4 Nf6 5 Bd2;
b) 2..Nf6 3
Nf3 Nxd5 4 d4: 15 pages.
1 e4 d6 and 1...g6: Be3, Qd2, 0-0-0:
12 pages
1 e4 e6: Tarrasch,
aiming for the Korchnoi Gambit: 12 pages
There can few arguments that the
Scotch is a sound and ambitious opening which can be played at all levels of
chess. There is a snag though – the great attention that the Scotch has
received since its modern “re-launch” in the 1990 Kasparov-Karpov
World Championship match has led to complete metamorphosis. From being
considered a strategically simple opening suitable for beginners, with
relatively few variations for either sides to learn, it has become a vast
complex of lines which are both strategically and tactically complex and where
the best moves for White are often counter-intuitive, paradoxical or apparently
anti-positional. In other words, the Scotch has become a prime example of the
trend in modern opening play pointed out by John Watson in “Secrets of Modern
Chess Strategy” towards concrete “move by move” play, rather than play based on
positional principles.
Is McDonalds’ choice of the Mieses Variation, for instance, really suitable for juniors
or other “aspiring” players? Just look at it: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4
Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nxc6 bxc6 6 e5 Qe7! 7 Qe2! Nd5 8 c4. In the
first eight moves, White makes four pawn moves, three knight moves and blocks
his f1-bishop with his queen! OK, you can argue that this is modern chess; it
may be weird by classical standards but we know it works in practice (such
apparently paradoxical positions have their own internal logic), and in modern
chess that’s the only thing that matters.
Yet as a teacher I have always
believed that it is best to start from the simple and logical and gradually
help the student move towards the complex; I would thus feel very uncomfortable
recommending the Mieses as part of a student’s first
opening repertoire. I think it is worth noting that many current Scotch experts
such as Rublevsky started with the Scotch Four
Knights rather than the Mieses. (What? Scotch Four
Knights? Isn’t that boring and drawish? Well it
depends. Check out this junior game by the future super-GM: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9. O-O O-O 10. Bg5
c6 11. Qf3 Be7 12. Rae1 h6
13. Bxh6 gxh6 14. Qe3 Be6 15.
Qxh6 Bd6 16. Qg5+ Kh8 17. f4 Re8 18. Rf3 Ng8 19. Qh5+ Kg7 20. Rg3+ Kf8 21. Rxg8+ Kxg8 22. Qh7+ Kf8 23. Qh6+ Kg8 24. Bh7+ Kh8 25. Bf5+ Kg8 26. Qh7+ Kf8 27. Qh8+ Ke7 28. Rxe6+ 1-0 Rublevsky, S
- Novik, M, USSR-ch U20,
I would also be unhappy recommending
another of McDonald’s Scotch lines: 4…Bc5 5 Nxc6 Qf6 6 Qf3 – how do you explain
this to an inexperienced player in a way that really adds to the fund of chess
knowledge that he or she needs at that level?
It is clear from the introduction
that McDonald has made a conscious choice of these lines in preference to (say)
the Ruy Lopez; yet a very strong case can be made
that the rapid and aggressive development that is typical of the Lopez, along
with the simple, logical but powerful plan of building up a pawn centre with c3
and d4, is actually pretty easy for an inexperienced player to get his head
round. Despite the huge strategic complexity of the Lopez at professional
level, it actually provides a framework within which an inexperienced player
can express himself without too much risk (not that I recommend the Lopez as
one’s very first 1 e4 e5 opening). In contrast, the Mieses
requires a large amount of detailed concrete knowledge – “the value of each
move is very high” as they say. The positions in the Mieses
are far from straightforward to handle – White has the better pawn structure
and will have a clear advantage if he can consolidate; Black is ahead in
development but has a bad structure and risks being strategically busted unless
he can create enough activity.
McDonald’s other controversial choice
is the Open Sicilian. He has clearly put a lot of thought into selecting the
lines he recommends in this section. He writes: “I am convinced that at the
beginning of your 1 e4 career you should play the bold 2 Nf3! and 3 d4! It
means more work for you, but the rewards to your chess understanding will be
enormous. The resulting positions will expand your feel for the initiative and
your tactical imagination, both of which are essential for your development as
a player.” He is right, of course, but
it is not every player who will be willing to make the investment of time and
energy required. There is also the issue of the large “maintenance bill” that
you have to pay to stay up to date in such sharp and fashionable lines.
McDonald’s other lines all seem
sensible and relatively uncontroversial, with the possible exception of the Korchnoi Gambit against the French; it is not certain that
this will stand the test of time. In contrast to McDonald’s treatment of the
Sicilian, this seems to be one suggestion motivated more by reasons of economy
rather than based on its intrinsic merits. With such a large slice of the book
devoted to the Sicilian, coverage of the other defences is inevitably
superficial, but McDonald generally points the reader in the right direction.
I thought that McDonald’s dismissal
of the Petroff as “a boring, turgid opening line used
at the highest level to neutralize the advantage of the first move” was a bit
misleading (although perhaps tongue in cheek). Consider this recent game: 1. e4
e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Bg4 8. c3 Bd6 9. Re1 f5 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Qb3 Kh8 12. h3 Bh5 13. Qxb7 Ne7 14. Qb3 Ng6 15.Bf1 c5 16. g3 Rb8 17. Qd1 cxd4 18. cxd4 Qc7 19. Bg2 Bxg3 20. fxg3 Qxg3 21. Re2 Nf4 22. Qe1 Rbe8 23. Nxe4 Nxe2+ 24. Qxe2 fxe4 25. Qe1 Rxf3 26. Qxg3 Rxg3 0-1, Areshchenko,A (2653) – Jussupow,Ar
(2595), Bundesliga 2005. Turgid,
huh? In any case, at lower levels
of chess the Petroff is a perfectly sensible choice
that can lead to interesting and lively games. How about this: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Bg4 8. c3 Be7 9. Re1 f5 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Nf1 Bd6 12. Ne3 Bxh2+ 13. Kxh2 Nxf2 14. Qe2 Nxd3 15. Qxd3 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Qh4+ 17. Kg2 Qxe1 18. Nxd5 Rae8 19. Nf4 g5 20. Bd2 Qxa1 21. Qc4+ Kh8 22. Ne6 Qxb2 0-1, Westra, R-Van Kemenade, R, BCF- rapidplay
championship, Leeds 2000.
This book is part of the “Starting
Out” series, so whilst the coverage is inevitably limited, there is a wealth of
explanation and highlighted tips and warnings to help the reader. There is
certainly enough material here for the reader to start playing these lines,
although the serious “aspiring” player will need to supplement it with more
specialized books, databases and internet sources. There is an index of
variations and a list of the fifty-six complete annotated games through which
the theory is conveyed. For so prolific a writer, I have to say that McDonald
maintains a remarkably good average standard of work so, although I have doubts
about some of his repertoire suggestions here, I am happy to recommend this
book
Verdict: an interesting repertoire book for the “aspiring” player but with some
controversial elements. ***
Starting out: Alekhine’s
Defence, by John Cox, EVERYMAN CHESS (www.everymanchess.com), 192 pages,
£12.99
This is a slightly unusual topic for the “Starting out” series. The Alekhine is not particularly popular at any level of chess,
and is certainly not the sort of opening that coaches generally recommend to
“improvers”, since it involves sophisticated “hypermodern” strategy and
requires understanding of a very wide range of pawn structures. Nevertheless,
Cox makes a good case that the Alekhine deserves to
be more popular and is capable of appealing to different types of player. In
fact a useful feature of the book is that Cox suggests various repertoires (for
both colours) to fit different styles of play.
The Alekhine was once my own main defence to 1
e4, and I thought I knew a great deal about it, but even so I learnt a lot from
this book.
After reading the book, what do I think are the problematic areas of Alekhine theory? Well, I don’t share Cox’s optimism that
Black is OK in the main line of the Voronezh
variation 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7
8.Rc1 0–0 9.b3 e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Qxd8 Rxd8 12.c5. I also have the feeling that
Sveshnikov may be right in feeling that the Four
Pawns Attack will one day prove the refutation of the Alekhine.
John Cox can be proud of this, his
first chess book. His coverage is good, his style is lively and interesting,
and he is not afraid to question authority and use his own judgment. By the
way, another plus point is that Cox has been playing the Alekhine
himself in 2004-5, always a reassuring sign for an opening book.
Verdict: The Alekhine
deserves to be more popular and this book will certainly help. Good value for
money. Recommended. ****
Starting out: Benoni
Systems by A Raetsky and M Chetverik, 239 pages, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com) 2005,
£13.99
The prolific duo of Raetsky and Chetverik provide a
useful introduction to a variety of Benoni systems
(essentially tackling all such systems except the Modern Benoni,
already dealt with in another volume in this series by Vegh).
The largest section of the book (about 100 pages) deals with the Benko Gambit, which the authors insist on calling the Volga
Gambit. [In the English-speaking world it has been known as the Benko Gambit for over thirty years, despite Benko himself modestly calling it the Benoni
Counter-Gambit when annotating his first games with the line. The term Volga
Gambit should be reserved for the line involving an early ...e6 for Black: 1 d4
Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 4 cxb5 a6 5 bxa6 e6.] The rest of the book covers the Blumenfeld and other combinations of ...c5,...b5 and ...e6; the Czech and other closed Benonis; the important line 1 d4 Nf6 2 N3 c5 3 d5; the Schmid Benoni, important because
it can also arise from the Pirc and the
Hyper-accelerated Dragon Sicilian; the Benoni/King’s
Indian hybrid, and finally some irregular lines. The coverage seems pretty
good, and there are lots of insights and useful tips. I found the author’s
description of such lines as the Czech Benoni as
“respectable” rather amusing. This opening has been under a positional cloud
for years and I am reminded of Matthew Sadler’s story in New in Chess Magazine
about Michael Adams even using Czech Benoni as
a synonym for positionally suspect:
“You might have a long row of variations and then Mickey would just come out
with a comment like 'Hmm, that square looks a bit Czech Benoni
[bad] to me...'” There are 75 complete
games, and indexes of variations and players. There is no bibliography and no
indication of the cut-off point for the research – these should be standard in
all opening books.
Verdict: a useful introduction to
some interesting (if not entirely “respectable”) opening systems. Good value at
239 pages for £13.99. ***
Starting out: defensive
play, by Angus Dunnington, 151 pages, Everyman Chess
(http://www.everymanchess.com)
2005, £13.99.
In this age of the database and the
analysis engine, it is pretty easy to put together a decent opening book. It is
far, far harder to compile and select the material required for a book such as
this, on defence, and the author deserves a lot of credit, not only for taking
on this task, but for his success in producing a book on a classical theme that
is not only readable and instructive but also seems fresh – all the examples
chosen are relatively recent. English IM Dunnington
has chosen 37 illustrative games or positions and organised this material into
six chapters: Active Defence, Simplification, the Castled King, Relocation,
Holding on, and Provocation. As usual in the “Starting out” series, the text is
packed not only with plenty of explanatory prose but with highlighted tips; I
was struck with this one which I had not heard before but which rings true:
“When the defender has invested more than a piece, the defender should keep an
eye out for attempts to win his queen, as such threats (...) tend to result in
the attacker paying too high a price.”
Verdict: A useful addition to the “Starting
out” range, of far more practical value to an “improver” than an opening book. Recommended. ****
Starting out: the Dutch Defence, by Neil McDonald, EVERYMAN CHESS (www.everymanchess.com), 172 pages,
£12.99
I am getting a bit worried at the
rate at which Neil McDonald is churning out books, but I have to say that in
general he seems able to maintain a surprisingly high quality of output for one
so prolific. This latest, an introduction to the Dutch, is no exception. It
follows the now familiar “Starting out” format, apart from the fact that this
book lacks the usual database statistics. The book is quite up to date, even
mentioning recent developments in the Classical Dutch involving an early
...Nf6-e4. McDonald has played this opening (particularly the Leningrad
Variation) many times, so we can be confident that he knows what he is talking
about, and in my opinion his explanations are very good.
Verdict: A useful primer on
aggressive and popular opening for Black. Good value for money. Recommended. ****
Starting
out: the Gruenfeld, by Jacob Aagaard,
EVERYMAN CHESS (everymanchess.com), 176 large pages, £12.99
I have heard this series criticised
as being too far detailed for newcomers to the opening, yet not detailed enough
for more experienced players. Nevertheless, there have been some good books in
the series so far, especially those by Gallagher. Some of the problems with the
series seem to come from the brief given to the author: for instance, a brief
to deal with the whole of the Sicilian in one volume (John Emms)
is a far cry from taking on a very self-contained and strategically limited
system such as the King’s Indian (Gallagher).
Another problem seems to arise from uncertainty as to the target
audience. What level do you aim at? How far do you simplify matters in the
interests of pedagogic effectiveness? How do you distribute the space between
the variations? How much cutting edge theory do you include? Do you focus on
the main lines to the neglect of minor lines? In fact, should you focus on
variations at all, even though the opening in question might lend itself more
to a study of type-positions? These questions are not easy to answer.
As regards the Gruenfeld,
Rowson’s
Understanding the Gruenfeld (1999) must have
been a hard act to follow. Aagaard in his
introduction states that his aim has been to write an “introduction, both
historically and theoretically (...)” that “will also make sense in five year’s
time”. Basically the book consists of 47 complete annotated games, exemplifying
various important lines in the Gruenfeld. As usual in
this series, use is made of database statistics to show how well/badly a
certain variation scores in practice. There is also a useful section in each
chapter which tell the reader how “theoretical” each line is; this can indicate
a) how much sheer memorisation is necessary; b) how fashionable and therefore
volatile the line is – i.e. how much “maintenance” will be need to keep up to
date.
I generally like Aagaard’
books very much, but for some reason my reaction to this one was a bit
lukewarm. Perhaps I expected too much in terms of revelation. One thing that
struck me was that the vast majority of the TIPS, WARNINGs
and NOTES scattered throughout the book do not refer specifically to the Gruenfeld. Perhaps this is because, although Aagaard has been known to play the Gruenfeld,
it has not been his main defence in recent years, and so his knowledge of the
opening is largely theoretical and at one remove, i.e. based on the games of
others more expert in this opening, rather than filtered through his own experience.
Verdict: Despite some misgivings, I
am sure that this will prove to be a useful introduction to the Gruenfeld for players of a wide range of playing strength. Quite good value for money at £12.99.
Starting out: Modern Benoni, by Endre
Vegh, EVERYMAN CHESS (www.everymanchess.com), 176 pages,
£12.99
I had very mixed feelings about the
“Starting out” series based on the first few volumes. In particular I felt
rather negative about Emms’s Starting out: the
Sicilian Defence – Emms is a good author but I felt
that the topic was just too wide to be dealt with usefully in one volume, even
for an audience of lower-rated players. Since then, the concept seems to have
been refined, and the authors given much narrower (and more realistic)
briefs. This Benoni
primer is fairly typical of the series in its mature phase, apart from the fact
that the author has provided an unusually long introduction, explaining the
typical plans, manoeuvres and tactics.
I’ve heard bookstore browsers dismiss this whole series as “beginners’
stuff) but I think such comments are generally misguided. I am sure that even
strong players wishing to take up the Benoni for the
first time would find Vegh’s introduction very
useful. I’m not a Benoni expert, so I can’t really
comment on the quality of the theoretical sections of the book, but they seem
well organised and well up to the usual standard for this series. My only
slight caveat is that the author, an IM and trainer from
Verdict: A useful introduction to
aggressive opening for Black. Good value for money. Recommended.
****
Starting out: the Queen’s Indian, by John Emms, Everyman Chess, 176 large pages, £12.99
One of the attractions of the Dutch,
or the King’s Indian,say, is
that that’s all you need – just one defence against 1 d4. In contrast, if you
like to play the Nimzo-Indian 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3
Bb4, that’s not enough on its own – you also need a system against White’s
other popular choices at move 3, the Catalan 3 g3 and, especially, the sensible
developing move 3 Nf3. The overwhelming choice of most of the world’s strongest
players is to answer 3 Nf3 with 3...b6, the Queen’s Indian, which is the
subject of this latest book from the prolific (but generally reliable)
Grandmaster John Emms. The original concept of the
QID was to use the slight breathing space offered by 3 Nf3 to increase Black’s
grip on e4 by fianchettoing Black’s queen’s bishop.
This is still played, but in recent years the world elite have mostly preferred
to answer White’s main move 4 g3 with the strange-looking 4...Ba6, an
experimental move invented by the fertile rain of Aron
Nimzowitsch. Emms devotes
30 pages to 4...Bb7 and 43 pages to 4...Ba6. He then covers lines Nc3, Bg5 and
Bf4, the Petrosian system 4 a3, the deceptively quiet
4 e3, and finishes with a short chapter looking at move orders and
transpositions. As usual in this series, there are lots of explanations and
tips to flesh out the analysis of the complete illustrative games (45 in all). Emms also makes use of database statistics as an indication
of the reliability of the lines under consideration.
Verdict: a useful introduction to
an important defence, Recommended. ****
Starting out: Rook Endgames, by Chris Ward, EVERYMAN CHESS (www.everymanchess.com), 128 pages,
£13.99
Are rook endings so complex that even
a “starting out” book requires so many pages? Personally I doubt it. The
standard work for “improvers” in this field is Practical Rook Endings by
the late Edmar Mednis. He
managed to pack all the basics into a fantastically instructive 70 pages. So I
approached Chris Ward’s new book with a certain amount of scepticism. Well, I
still like Mednis but can recommend Ward without much
qualification; he’s a good coach and a lively writer and his book is packed
with good advice and useful examples. (But Mednis
fits into my pocket a lot more easily!)
Verdict: A useful primer on rook
endings. Recommended. ****
Starting out: Sicilian Najdorf,
by Richard Palliser, 240 pages, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com)
2006, £13.99.
The Najdorf,
sometimes described as the Rolls Royce of chess openings, has been the chosen
weapon of large numbers of the chess elite since its emergence after World War
2. It tends to produce complex, unbalanced middlegames,
giving the stronger (or better prepared) player ample scope to play for a win.
Although in this computer age certain variations of the Najdorf
have been analysed to a forced draw, the system as a whole shows little sign of
petering out into sterility and in fact in recent elite tournaments has been
more popular than ever.
Palliser’s book deploys all the features of the
“Starting out” series that we have come to expect: a very clear structure,
useful chapter introductions, anticipation of readers’ questions, highlighted
tips, notes and warnings, use of statistics to show how successful or popular
each line is, advice on how “theoretical” a particular line is, plus 59
instructively annotated games. There is a six-page index of variations and a
list of the complete games. Palliser has a reputation
in the
Strictly speaking this is not a repertoire book, but the author has taken the
decision to concentrate on lines where Black plays the typical Najdorf 6....e5 where possible, rather than transpose to
the Scheveningen complex with 6...e6. (Interested
readers should consult Emms’s fine book ‘Play the Najdorf – Scheveningen style”
(Everyman, 2003)
But is it advisable for weaker players to play the Najdorf?
For young and ambitious players of say 1900 FIDE and rising fast, with a
good work ethic and reliable memories (perhaps not unlike Palliser
himself a few years ago!), the Najdorf will probably
be very appropriate and this book will be just what they need. Older strong
players who perhaps already have some experience of other Sicilian variations
could also consider a switch to the Najdorf, which
has never looked in better shape. But from my coaching experience, I would say
that the Najdorf may be just too demanding for many
players, not only in the amount of detailed preparation necessary but also in
the defensive skills required during the game – in a great many lines Black has
to weather a fierce tactical storm in the middlegame
before he can play out his own trumps. I can’t help recalling some comments of
the great Bent Larsen in his article in the legendary book ‘How to Open a Chess
Game’: “The trouble with chess is the opponent! If you know only the ‘ideas
behind the openings’, and he knows the ideas AND a lot of variations, he is
likely to beat you.” and “I remember a young player who said that he had lost
three years of his life studying the Najdorf! He
realized that he had learned variations, not chess.”
However, for those who persist in wanting to learn (or brush up on) the Najdorf, I can think of no better introduction than Palliser’s. Thus it becomes my top recommendation in the
field of introductory books on the Najdorf, ahead of
the also excellent but now dated books by Kosten and
King.
Verdict: a great introduction to a high-class chess opening. Strongly Recommended. *****
Starting out: Slav and Semi-Slav, by
Glenn Flear, 256 pages, Everyman Chess (http://www.everymanchess.com) 2005,
£13.99
The English Grandmaster Glenn Flear takes on the daunting task of providing quite
detailed introductions to two of the most currently popular defences for Black
against 1 d4. I think this is his third book on the Slav complex; he also plays
these openings himself, so I feel we are in good hands. Some lines
(particularly of the Semi-Slav) are very complex, so it is inevitable in a book
of this type and size that corners are cut and analysis-trees pruned.
Nevertheless, I think this book can be recommended highly to anyone wanting to
take up these openings, or anyone wanting a refresher course. Even quite strong
players new to the Slav could do a lot worse than use this book as a jumping
off point. There are 91 complete commented games, an index of players and
variations and even a short quiz. The material is divided into 13 chapters;
there is a lot of verbal explanation and a useful summary at the end of each
chapter. Flear provides a bibliography and indicates
the cut-off point for his research in the two standard sources: Informator and New in Chess Yearbook.
Verdict: a very useful
introduction to two important (and related) openings which form the core of the
black repertoire of many strong players these days. The book also manages to
pack in a great deal of “real chess” and practical advice. Excellent
value at £13.99 for 256 pages. Highly recommended.
****
Survival Guide for Chess
Parents by Tanya Jones, 174 pages, EVERYMAN CHESS (everymanchess.com), £14.99
This is an instructive and amusing guide for “chess parents” written by
the mother of well-known English junior Gawain Jones. The style is witty and
ironic and is written from an English perspective, and so is likely to appeal
(and be most useful) to English-speaking parents on this side of the pond.
Nevertheless, much of the book is of general application. The book also
contains twenty-five of Gawain’s games, annotated by
him and representing different stages in his development.
This is an unusual type of book. In some respects, it bears comparison
with the books on Nigel Short’s and Michael Adams’s early careers, also written
by parents, but it contains vastly more information than either. In this respect,
it bears comparison with Heisman’s A Parent’s
Guide to Chess, written from an American
perspective.
The material is divided into ten chapters.
The chapter headings are largely self-explanatory, but I did not find it
obvious where to find information on such topics as chess notation, time
controls or grading systems, so the addition of an index would have been
helpful.
Verdict:
usefully fills an information gap for parents of young players and should go a
long way to helping new chess parents adapt quickly, avoid mistakes, and
support their children.
The
Two Knights defence by Jan Pinski, 160 pages,
EVERYMAN CHESS (everymanchess.com), £14.99
The whole Italian complex beginning 1 e4 e5 2
Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 has a long history and can produce very interesting games.
Traditionally it has been recommended that novices play these lines to develop
their tactical skills, since there are often early complications based on
trade-offs between time, space and material. Yet at the professional level,
since the death of Steinitz in 1900, the Italian has
been overshadowed by the Spanish 3 Bb5 (and recently even by the Scotch 3 d4).
Why is this? Well, one reason is the enduring strength of the Two Knights
Defence 3...Nf6. White now has to choose between a) the highly complex 4 Ng5,
which demands considerable theoretical knowledge, good nerves and a willingness
to grab material at the cost of conceding the early initiative to Black; b) the
drawish 4 d4 exd4 5 0-0 Nxe4; c) the strategically
more interesting 4 d4 exd4 5 e5 - however, against this Black seems to be
holding in all of 5...d5, 5...Ng4 and 5...Ne4; d) the slow-burning 4 d3, with
c3 to follow, aiming for Spanish-type positions after all!
I tend to be a bit suspicious of openings
books written by authors who do not play the opening in question. Polish IM Jan
Pinski does not appear to play this opening with
White, and my database contains only two examples featuring him on the black
side. This does not mean that book is no good, just that it lacks that extra
dimension of realism based on experience that one gets from, for instance, Golubev writing about the Dragon Sicilian, or Yusupov discussing the Petroff.
Pinski
has produced a standard Everyman-style opening book, based on sixty-six games
grouped into nine chapters. There is a list of the games and a small
bibliography (which indicates the cut-off for the research – always useful to
know). I like the book – the comments are quite helpful and the author has
annotated some games that I had not seen before. But I was left a bit
dissatisfied with the coverage of the lines that I happen to know well. It is entirely
possible that the Italian complex will become more popular again, for instance
if players of the Spanish tire of banging their heads against the
Verdict:
a worth-while study of an opening that has been important historically and
remains popular at club and local tournament level. ***