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BCM Chess Book Reviews : June 2008Return to the BCM Review Index
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The third in Olms’s School of Future Champions series is a reworking of the same authors’ 1995 title Technique for the Tournament Player, with some new material added. The name Dvoretsky (and indeed Yusupov) is a guarantee of quality. There are chapters on how to study the endgame, theory and practice of rook endings and opposite bishops, converting an advantage, grandmaster technique (substantially new) and ‘adventures on adjournment day’ (not many such days in this era, of course). Presentation is of high quality as is the translation by Ken Neat. The material is generally for the stronger or more ambitious player – perhaps 1900 and above. Highly recommended. JS.
The Romanian grandmaster explains his own repertoire with Black after 1 e4 e5, covering everything except the main line Ruy Lopez (the Exchange Ruy appears in the present volume, not in the companion Spanish Repertoire for Black). That a second edition should follow only a year after the book’s first publication is surprising, but conscientious on the author’s part: there are 48 pages of new material, which Quality Chess also promise to post on their website for readers who bought the first edition. Marin provides a consistent set of solid but not sterile positions, taming (say) the King’s Gambit with 2 f4 Bc5, his preferred square for the king’s bishop in most lines. Although he does not refer to recent analyses of the Max Lange Attack (2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 0-0 Nf6 5 d4 exd4 6 e5 d5 7 exf6 dxc4) by Gutman and Emms, he seems to anticipate their conclusions and shows Black’s way to safety. A major new section treats the Evans Gambit (4 b4), which Short has lately rehabilitated and – we learn here – remains a potent weapon in the 1 e4 player’s armoury.
The thoroughness and originality of the analysis, which nevertheless encourages us to venture 1…e5 without too much rote-learning, make this a magnificent opening book. Marin’s Russian-language sources have also given him a fresh (for Anglo-American readers) perspective. Yet Marin offers far more than just a repertoire. Through discussions of classic – sometimes 19th century – games in outstanding prose, Beating the Open Games offers a chess education that, among other things, informs us why certain ancient gambits live on even in the sceptical silicon age. If you play 1 e4 or meet it with 1…e5, this is a must buy. If not – still a must buy. Review by James Vigus.
A number of years ago, whilst going through the Soviet-era chess magazine collection in the Max Euwe Centre in Amsterdam, I came across a highly impressive correspondence game by Sokolsky in which he crushed a strong opponent with 1 b4. Later that very same day, I found a second-hand copy of Sokolsky’s book on 1 b4 in an Amsterdam bookshop, and decided that the Gods were trying to tell me something. Ever since, 1 b4 has been a regular feature of my opening repertoire in blitz and offhand games, although I have yet to essay it in a serious game. Unlike many offbeat openings, the Sokolsky has a sound positional basis, and leads to strategically interesting positions. Related variations with an early b4 (or b5 as Black) have been played by many top players, including Smyslov, Stein, Spassky and Larsen.
The present volume is the first decent study of the opening since Sokolsky’s effort in the 1960s, and the authors seem to me to have done a pretty good job. As well as many classic games by Sokolsky and his pupil Katalymov, the book also features a number of creative efforts by Lapshun himself. A Ukrainian IM, long-time resident in the US, Lapshun is a highly interesting and unusual player, whose style seems well suited to the Sokolsky. The book is grouped around 84 annotated games, and covers all the significant black responses. I noticed only one major editorial lapse, albeit an embarrassing one – games 75 and 76 are actually the same game, annotated quite differently, and with different conclusions as to Black’s losing move! That apart, the book seems to have been written with a greater degree of diligence than many opening tomes nowadays, and I can highly recommend it to anyone looking for an offbeat, but sound alternative to mainstream opening theory. To use a metaphor I have employed before, if your opening repertoire is smelling a bit stale, the Sokolsky is an excellent and under-rated deodorant. Review by Steve Giddins.
This is a repertoire book for Black after the opening moves 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6. Hence, there is no coverage of move two anti-Sicilians (such as 2 c3) but it includes the Rossolimo Variation 3 Bb5, plus 3 c3 and 3 Nc3 lines. Black’s repertoire is built round the Sveshnikov, centring on what the authors call the “Positional Variation”: 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e5 6 Ndb5 d6 7 Bg5 a6 8 Na3 b5 9 Nd5 Be7. It is a well-structured book and it is obvious that the authors, both grandmasters, are both enthusiastic about the system they are writing about. Despite the somewhat misleading title, it would probably suit stronger player of around 1900 and above. JS.
BCM’s regular book reviewer follows up his well-received book on the Pirc with a Slav repertoire for Black. Lines recommended include the 5...Bf5 Dutch Variation (not Bronstein’s 5...Bg4, with which the author once defeated the present reviewer!) and Sokolov’s favourite 6 Ne5 Nbd7 7 Nxc4 Nb6. Mark Hebden’s favourite 4 e3 is parried by 4...Bg4, to which Vigus gives the name the “Errot Variation” on the grounds that it is a reversed Torre!
This looks like a well-researched repertoire in one of the most respected replies to 1 d4 and should prove of value to anybody looking to shore up their defences to this move. Review by Steve Giddins.
Readers will probably know the line but perhaps not under this name. It goes as follows: 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 a6. Vyacheslav Andreevich Chebanenko (1942-1997) was a relatively obscure Moldavian player who did some of the earliest theoretical work on this line and was also the author’s first coach. So the book is something of a homage to Chebanenko’s memory. Helped by Kamsky and Komliakov, Viktor Bologan has produced a very interesting work on this interesting system which has gained in popularity over the past ten years or so. It is a well-researched book by a very strong player who also has a growing reputation as an entertaining writer. JS.
This second, long-awaited volume of Bisguier’s best games (the first was reviewed in BCM’s September 2003 issue and is now out of print) covers 1961-1983 and comprises 100 well-annotated games. The list of opponents/victims includes Bronstein, Tal, Geller, Gligoric, Karpov, Keres, Korchnoi, Larsen, Petrosian, Smyslov, Spassky... there is even a win against a former BCM editor! Bisguier’s style was predominantly tactical, but he was also a fine endgame player as this book shows. Interestingly, he was a regular player of the “Berlin Wall” endgame, against the Ruy Lopez, long before anybody had heard of Vladimir Kramnik, and this book contains several examples. A nice collection of games by a player who is underrated outside his native USA. Review by Steve Giddins.
We are now into second editions of books in this series of theoretical manuals. This one is an up-to-date survey of lines beginning 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 including the Queen’s Indian/English, the Hedgehog, the Double Fianchetto, 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 Nc3, plus newer lines such as the Black’s Knights Tango (1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 Nc6). JS.
These two further DVD titles from the former FIDE world knock-out champion are very welcome. He is an engaging lecturer and very fluent in English. In the first he concentrates on some fundamental principles of the game – open lines, strong and weak squares, pawn chains, isolated pawns, etc – via a commentary on his own games. Video running time: just under four hours. The second title is fairly self-explanatory, although you probably don’t have to be too much of an expert to enjoy following his lectures. JS.
The main feature in this issue is Morelia/Linares. Also in this issue is coverage of the Aeroflot Open in Moscow and the German Bundesliga, and much more besides. JS.
Alexei Shirov is a major star in the world of chess and it is a privilege to be able to enjoy his first hand accounts of his games, right up to his successes in the 2007 FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. N.B. two more excellent DVD titles with copious video material arrived just as we went to press (see below). JS.
Just In: The ABC of the Modern Benoni by Andrew Martin, ChessBase DVD-ROM, £21.99. London System by Nigel Davies, ChessBase DVD-ROM, £21.99.
