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Chessville
From the
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Starting Out: Attacking Play Reviewed by Michael Jeffreys
Let’s say that you were 15 ½ years old again (I know that’s going back quite a ways for some of us!), and your dad said to you, “Okay son (or daughter), I’m going to teach you how to drive today. Just stand over there and watch the technique. And then he got inside the car, drove down the block perfectly, turned around and came back, pulled the car exactly 6” from the curb, hopped out, handed you the keys, and said, “Okay, you got that? Now it’s your turn." Do you think you would be able to drive? Not too likely is it. While this example is, as the English say, “a bit over the top,” it does seem to be what EVERYMAN CHESS and Mr. Plaskett expect you to be able to do after reading Starting Out: Attacking Play. That is, learn how to be an attacking player by going though 46 of GM Plaskett’s games and seeing how he does it. Because what the book really is, is a collection of some of GM Plaskett’s best attacking games with annotations, and NOT a textbook for learning how to attack (such as Vucivic’s Art of Attack, which is considered the classic on this most valuable of topics). My guess is that EVERYMAN CHESS assumed that if they called the book, Plaskett’s Greatest Attacking Games, it wouldn’t do as well as if they gave it the more generic (but misleading) title, Starting Out: Attacking Play (How to set up and execute decisive attacks). However, this is a shame as a scan of my Big Database 2005 brings up 991 Plaskett games, of which 444 are wins. With a win rate of almost 50%, the guy certainly knows how to attack. Besides being mis-titled, I have several other problems with the book. The fact that there are no games, players, or opening indexes in the book is simply ridiculous and very frustrating. Want to know at a glance which openings Plaskett plays? Too bad! Want to see if he plays any of your openings? Ha, ha, that’s a good one! Want to see at a glance which page his games against Miles, Anand, or Short are on? Stop it, you’re killing me! Amazingly, even when you do go to the actual game itself, they don’t even bother to list the name of the opening! Jeeze, I’m surprised they even give you the moves. Another problem with the book is that they don’t use the traditional “+” symbol when the king is in check or “x” when there is a capture. I know New in Chess magazine does this, but it makes it much clearer when symbols are used to indicate checks and captures, as these are usually critical situations and should be identified as such. And while I’m all for shortening things (for example, I hate long algebraic notation: 1. d2-d4), this book takes it too far. Some genius at EVERYMAN has decided to print the move numbers without periods after them! (They write 1 e4 instead of 1. e4). This not only looks strange, but is grammatically incorrect (and they even leave out the periods when numbering the chapters in the table-of-contents!?). I also have a gripe with one of the supposed “selling points” of the Starting Out series. I’m referring to those little icons you see in the margins that are suppose to identify key bits of information: a skull and crossbones (to indicate a warning), a light bulb (to indicate a tip), and a clipboard (to indicate a note). If the author uses them consistently (and actually gives useful information), I have no problem with them. But when, as is the case here, Plaskett throws one or two in every dozen pages or so, they really add nothing and should have been dropped from the book altogether. Lastly, I must say that I found it a bit off-putting how much Plaskett goes on about himself. Now I know we all have egos, but one gets the impression Plaskett’s needs constant stroking. Why else would he feel the need to tell us in the short introduction:
This is back cover stuff, and really has no place taking up precious introduction space, which should be used to give us some insight into the tasty treats that lie ahead. Additionally, he tends to name drop a bit too much for my taste. For example, on page 7 he writes: “‘Pawns can be legitimate attacking pieces’ is what Kasparov once told me.” And on page 25 he writes: “Stean told me that Seirawan was a great believer in the defensive potential of positions.” And again on page 114: “When working with Kasparov…” There are other examples I could list, but you get the idea. While the above taken individually are not a big deal, it’s more the sum total of all the “ego strokers” that gives the overall impression that Plaskett has this need to toot his own horn. Since he is well known to be a strong attacking player, I found it all to be, as I said above, slightly off-putting. Okay, let’s move on to the meat of this 144 page “attacking manual,” and see what your $18.95 (U.S.) buys you. Here are the seven chapters (Note: I’ve put a period after each chapter number even though the book leaves them out. Also, I’ve included the page count of each chapter followed by my comments.): 1. Rook’s Pawn Tin Openers 22 pages - Basically marching your rook’s pawn down the board to pry open your opponent’s king. Plaskett gives several examples of when he has utilized this motif to collect some big time scalps including wins over Anand and Larsen. However, I would have liked a section by Jim explaining what conditions need to be present on the board in order to assure the success of a “rook pawn tin opener,” as well as when the conditions are not ripe and the attack is doomed to fail. Unfortunately, the reader is left on their own to figure this out, but to my thinking, this is the kind of information you’re paying your $18.95 for. 2. The King in the Centre 27 pages – This chapter covers the most basic of all attacking ideas, i.e., when you have the enemy king trapped in the center you must do everything in your power to keep him there, even at the cost of sacrificing material. Here is an excellent game by Jim against Matthew Turner that nicely illustrates this concept. Plaskett sacrifices a pawn against Turner’s Queen’s Indian Defense to gain a lead in development and space. He then blows open the position with a piece sacrifice to get at Black’s uncastled king. Plaskett – Turner 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 c5 5.d5 Ba6 6.Nc3!? Bxc4 7.e4 Bxf1 8.Rxf1 d6 9.dxe6 fxe6 10.Qb3 Qc8 11.Bf4 Nc6 12.0–0–0 e5
Since the position after 12…e5 is clearly critical, as White has to decide whether to step on the gas and sac the bishop or play in a more positional manner, a detailed breakdown of the position as well as Jim’s thought process would have been nice here. Instead, he simply says, “White might now perhaps claim a slight positional compensation after 13. Bg5 Nd4 14. Qc4 thanks to the hole on d5. But blasting our way in is much more fun.” 13.Bxe5!! dxe5 14.Ng5 Nd8 15.f4 Nd7 16.fxe5 c4 17.Qb5 Be7 18.e6 Bxg5+ 19.Qxg5 Nxe6 20.Qh5+! g6 21.Qd5 Ndc5 22.Nb5 Ke7 23.Qd6+ Ke8 24.Qd5 Ke7 25.Qd6+ Ke8 26.Kb1! Rg8 27.Qe5 Qc6 28.Nd6+ Kd8 29.Rf7 Nxe4 30.Nxe4+ Ke8 31.Nd6+ Qxd6 32.Rxd6 Kxf7 33.Rd7+ Kf8 34.Qd6+ Ke8 35.Qe7# Of course sacrificing material is more fun then playing positionally, but this explanation is hardly satisfactory in a book that purports to teach you how to attack. A much better explanation of the necessary ingredients to launch a successful attack can be found in Colin Crouch’s book, Attacking Technique (Batsford, 1996) on page 10:
While Crouch is talking about a kingside attack, my point is that what he has to say is eminently more useful than Plaskett’s trite “blasting our way in is more fun.” Okay, let’s move on to the next chapter. 3. Isolated Queen Pawn Attacks 13 pages – Entire books have been written on how to play with and against an IQP. In fact, Plaskett mentions in his brief introduction to this chapter GM Alexander Baburin’s book on pawn structure, which is mostly on the IQP. However, Plaskett’s sage advice when playing with one is: “Broadly speaking, the fewer the number of pieces, the more of a headache the IQP tends to become.” And that’s it! Seriously Jim, if you have the extra space to write such things as, “However, I noticed him yawning during the game. Paris has its attractions for a young man,” in your game against Lobron, surely you have the room to include a more thorough explanation of how to play with and against an IQP. Sheesh! 4. Pawn Rollers 10 pages – After opening with a quote about “soil amoeba” he pulled off the internet (I’m not making this up), and then quoting Philidor’s overused cliché, “Pawns are the soul of chess,” and then adding: “and when they get together, some soulful games may result!” (insert emoticon of eyes rolling), Plaskett gives us three games where the pawns are the stars. While they are all impressive, the one against McNab is a true beauty. Take a look at the following position (Hastings, 1997):
Plaskett is Black, and he looks to be in some trouble here. McNab, playing the White pieces, has a lot of pressure down the g-file, and plans to increase the pressure with Rag1. However, Plaskett comes up with a stunning move: 20…Rxf4!! (he only gives it one exclam in the book) and then writes, “I think something is added to the quality of the game if it is appreciated that I pretty much had to make this sacrifice.” And then he carries on with the game!? I mean, maybe it’s obvious to masters and above that this is the “only” move, but for us class players (and this is the books intended market) I really do think that a little more explanation would have been helpful. I mean, he is investing a whole rook for crying out loud. And as you have seen, this is pretty much the tone of the entire book… good games with not very instructive comments. Very frustrating. Anyway, his compensation for the sac are three murderous passed pawns. To see how he used them to turn the game around, here are the remaining moves: 21.exf4 Rxf4 22.Qh3 e3 23.Bg4 Bxg2+ 24.Qxg2 e4 25.Be6+ Kf8 26.Bd5 e2 27.Rg1 g6 28.Bc1 Rh4 29.h3 Ke8 30.Bg5 Qxg5 31.Qxg5 Rxh3+ 32.Kg2 Rh2# 0–1 5. Attacking the Castled King 31 pages – Here, Plaskett opens the chapter in promising style:
So far, so good. But then he suddenly veers off course and spends the rest of the chapter introduction explaining his ideas for castling the king one more extra square (h1 instead of the traditional g1, if it were White’s turn to castle kingside), or “accelerated” castling as he calls it. Now, whether or not this is a good idea I’ll leave it for the experts to decide, but bloody hell, Jim, stick to the topic at hand. Tell us about how to checkmate the opposing monarch and save the rule changes for another book (or at least stick them in the back of the book). It just seems Plaskett has been a GM for so long, that he simply can’t remember the kinds of questions that run through most class players’ brains. However, to be fair to Jim, there are instances when he shares personal observations about his opponents that are truly insightful, such as the following about GM Tony Miles:
Gripping stuff, to say the least. 6. From a Clear Blue Sky 4 pages - While I expected this to mean attacks from out of nowhere, Plaskett merely shows two games where the first 20 moves are identical, so I’m not really sure what his point is. 7. Fantasia 31 pages – This final chapter is not about a Disney Movie, but attacking ideas that Plaskett considers unusual. About which he writes, “The material here may be less didactic, but I would hope nevertheless that the games are still enjoyable.” And that, in essence, is the problem with the entire book. None of the games are truly didactic, yet they are all interesting/enjoyable because of Plaskett's creative attacking style combined with his occasional witty or insightful comment. Unfortunately, this is not enough when the goal of the book should be to teach and instruct. The Bottom Line Had this book been called GM Plaskett’s Best Attacking Games, I would have happily given it a thumbs-up. However, since Everyman Chess chose to give it the misleading title, Starting Out: Attacking Play (How to set up and execute decisive attacks), I have no choice but to give it a thumbs-down. The book does not really teach you how to play attacking chess, but rather, expects you to play through GM Plaskett’s games and sort of learn by watching him do it. Sorry, but just like watching dad drive the old Chevy up and down the block; doesn’t really teach me how to drive a car, neither does playing through GM Plaskett’s games teach me how to attack. What’s missing here from the author are two things: First, an overall discussion of attacking chess in general. What type of mindset should an attacking player possess if he or she is to be successful? What types of pawn structures favor the attacker? Which type of attacks favor bishops? Which favor knights? When should we lead out with a pawn storm and when should we lead out with a piece sacrifice? When our opponent begins to counter-attack, should we take time out to defend or carry on with our attack and make it into a race? Which openings tend to lend themselves better to piece attacks? Which to pawn storms? All legitimate questions and yet ones the book really doesn’t answer in any sort of meaningful detail. Secondly, a step-by-step break down of what the student needs to do in order to successfully carry out the attack. For example, something along the lines of: “In this game our first goal is to get control of e5, as that square will form the base of our attack. Then we will do everything in our power to land a knight on that square. Next, we will castle queenside and then run our h-pawn down the board to soften up the enemy kingside and if possible, crack open the h-file. The next step, depending on what Black does, is either to bring our queen to h2 or d3, both with the idea of giving mate on h7…” You get the idea. Give us plans, goals, things to shoot for… give us attacking ideas! As every good writer knows,
you should always keep your target audience in mind whether you’re writing
an ad or a book. Apparently GM Plaskett forgot this, as he simply
doesn’t present the material in as instructive of a manner as we have come
to expect from EVERYMAN CHESS's Starting Out series. (A book
that gets it right is Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames by John Emms,
which is simply superb.) Thus, if you are looking for a collection of
some of Plaskett’s best attacking games, look no further. But if you
truly want to learn how to attack in chess, I suggest looking elsewhere.
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