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Black is Still OK! Reviewed by Phil Innes
At about the two-thirds stage of reviewing Black is still OK! by András Adorján I chanced into a conversation with a GM who is twice mentioned in its pages. “A classic” said he. And it is the rarest of chess titles by its publisher, Batsford, or from any other chess publisher; a psychologically challenging but practical exploration of our attitudes to Black’s chances in chess. If the chess world, were to take András Adorján’s [AA] thesis seriously, we might witness the end of draw-death, or at the very minimum, experience more dynamic games and consequently see better results from the black side of the board. Even the practical measure of making all diagrams in the book presented to the reader with Black at ‘the bottom’ forms a consistent part of AA’s agenda. As if to say “this perspective” rather than the universal presentation of viewing the board from the White side, which is a form of conditioning! It should be made clear that this thesis – this admonition and exhortation! – is no mere hypothetical set of ideas, but is amply illustrated by games and analysis from the best players in the world. The author also carries substantial weight for his opinions in being closely associated with the noted successes of, among others, Peter Leko and Garry Kasparov. The format of the title is to initially explore in 50 pages of text the experiences and attitudes of every category of chess player, via questionnaire and subsequent e-mail correspondence. This Chapter “Dispute” offers comments from: Anne Caz, Ian Ash, Alex Baburin, David Christian, Erich Schiller, George Stern, John Henderson, Peter Hartell, Henrique Henriques, Kenneth Bachman, Kevin Bonham, Dr. Altanoch Gendengin, Rámon Rafael Barrios, Dirceau Viana, Frederich Wolfenter, György Négyesis, Zoltán Blázsik, Mikhail Golubev, Gene Venable, Igor Lyushkevych, Tom Cooper, Martin Cobham, Allan Jackson, Jonathon H. Brewer, Attila Schneider, Török Súndar Miklós, De Vleeschauwer Raoul. Communicating with this collection of opinion from around the world AA examines and records player’s attitudes with white and black, and challenges conventional received opinion on player’s prospects with each color. There follows a frank exchange of views with GM Sveshnikov! The author asserts that our typical evaluation of our prospects are not grounded in any objective way, and are instead much to do with how we think we will prosper with white and black. As part of this examination of our attitudes and experiences, by conducting dialogs with the survey’s participants, the author counters statistical measurement of White’s score as a reflection of our preconceived expectations with either color. These ideas are further examined in a Theme Tournament to challenge this set of fundamental conceptions we have all been taught as chess players, of the superiority of White’s initial tempo being worth a win, while with Black we expect to draw, by contrasting it objectively with an examination of mutual prospects available to White and Black during the tournament. Pointedly, AA records in a chapter “Garry The Greatest” his initial contact with Garry Kasparov, and his role in GK’s career and performance with the black pieces:
“I don’t remember how our conversations began, but I do remember that we became friends and decided to work together”, says AA, “he chose me of all the grandmasters available.” Notes on this collaboration continue in some detail, in formal and informal contacts, emphasizing Black’s repertoire. It recounts the Vladimirov scandal which AA thought unjust, and continues until the publication of “A Child of Change” when the players fell out. AA is frank with his criticism, on and off the board, and about any player. In his own words; “No boot-licking, to anyone.” After these last 100 pages of games and analysis we arrive at a chapter of statistics of world champion games spanning the period 1886 to 2000. AA looks at world champion’s wins with White and Black, starting with Steinitz, and ending with the trio of Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov. Player’s performance in world champion events is compared statistically with all games by that player. A collection of charts indicate not only shifts in results over the entire period, but also results of specific players. It is interesting to examine which players have scored 50% or better with the black pieces: of all world champions the result is just Steinitz, Alekhine and Fischer. With the white pieces, wins over 60% are: Steinitz, Alekhine, Fischer and Kasparov. [GK scores highest of all at 65.2%, but only 40.8% with Black.] Zoltán Blázsik writes a ‘guest essay’ as chess playing mathematician, furthering the analysis above, and also adding other statistics, such as Black has won 2 world championships so far:
In four other matches Black tied White, but White had the upper hand 25 times. Two chapters follow with a report of a meeting with Xie Jun who AA likes, and with Kevin Spraggett of whom he says ‘no regrets’ while describing AA’s training regimen with the black pieces for the Canadian GM. Perhaps the most interesting chapter of all is that rarity - one contributed by IM Dr. Ervin Nagy - on the psychology of chess. Dr. Nagy examines our attitudes to White and Black play, and probes them for a self-defeating attitude with Black, as well as an unwarranted and over-confident attitude with White. He discounts much rhetorical exchange on our attitudes to these issues as departing from an original or internal sense of them, resulting in locking-in our stated opinions to a fanatical or too-fixed attitude in debate. The title concludes with another collection of well-annotated games in “My Thesis in Practice”; against L. Vadasz, Tony Miles, Zoltan Ribli, and in ‘improving on Fischer’, a mini-treatise in annotation against H. Scheichel. An instructive game against Ivan Farago demonstrates how to set about White’s inaccurate attempts to repress Black’s queenside, and how to capitalize on a second error. A friend of the author, L. Györkös, is treated to a lesson on ‘you can win by a “losing” variation’, where a substantial improvement is made in the face of previous defeat and ‘failed’ variation, and why White players should not be overconfident in previous theory. This is of strong import to Grunfeld theory, and follows the game Lautier-AA, Polanica Zdröj 1991, but Black varies significantly and with decisive effect at move 16 with a TN. Much analysis is attached. Against L. Ljubojevic, AA gives up pawns and accuses himself of being romantic, rather than choosing a perhaps more straightforward line, but the enjoyment he gets from a probable win is spoiled by time trouble, to share the point. Against. A. Onischuk he complains to Dreev that he prepared for the wrong opponent, and Dreev commiserates by saying he did the same yesterday. AA says of his opponent, “Somehow people, even very strong players, don’t seem to realize that with moves like this they are playing with fire.” He is commenting on White’s opening at the third move! The game went 1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 c5 3. d4. Against Keitlinghaus we are shown a signature break with b5 at move 19. Against G. Forintos the break comes at 16 with c5. It is highly instructive to study Black’s disciplined play and timing of the break in each of these examples; AA conducts a Grandmaster Class on attitude and technique. G. Giorgadze tries 7. Bb5+ ?! against a Grunfeld to be confronted later by the novelty 13 …Qa5! Then substantial analysis follows White’s options, of either 14. Qc2 or 14. e6, both of which are essential lines for the serious Grunfeld student to understand, with 14.e6 being fantastically complicated, following ‘Little’ Dao Thien Hai. AA was awarded the brilliancy prize at the European Team Championship 1992 for this game, and if there were a brilliancy prize for chess titles, I agree with my GM friend that here we have a classic. But I don’t mean classic in terms of ancient and revered – András Adorján’s title demonstrates an essential vitality at the heart of chess, and also the underdeveloped aspect inherent in our contemporary chances with the black pieces. It is not so much a mapping out of a path
lit by illustrations from past games, as a major re-evaluation of our
attitudes about Black’s chances for all future enterprising players of
chess.
What other reviewers have had to say, as provided by András Adorján (excerpted): Jonathan
Rowson: The first thing to say about
Adorjan’s new book is that it is not dull. I have never met the author, but
he comes across as a lively person who loves chess, likes people, and lives
for his claim that ‘Black is OK!’ Moreover, he has clearly thought about the
issue of the alleged first move advantage for several years, and from
multiple perspectives. But what troubles me is this: Who really doubts
that Black is OK?
Jeremy Silman:
Adorjan's desire to make players embrace Black's
chances in the opening is something that every player can learn from. He
makes his point by raving, by logic, by presenting various theories with us,
by graphs, by sharing the opinions of others, by offering lots of opening
analysis, and finally by treating us to many fine games where Black wipes
White off the board. It's all quite compelling and, mixed with his out of
control humor, makes this (depending on the reader) either a fun chess book,
or an annoying one. John Donaldson:
BLACK IS STILL OK!
has lots of philosophical discussion regarding the value of the first move,
it also offers some hard chess content. The Nimzo-line 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6
3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b5!? is covered and serves as a good
example of the sort of dynamic chess that Adorjan is advocating...There are
plenty of interesting stories of Adorjan's experiences with the young Garry
Kasparov. The final chapter, My Thesis in Practice, shows just how fine and
and creative a player Adorjan was.
John Elburg:
A new update
from Adorjan’s 1988 book Black is OK where the Hungarian chess genius
impressed many reader with his unique approach on colour superstition.
The material largely on the classic material from 1988 even that Andorjan
has included some extra games the key idea of 1988 is unchanged and it is
the question is the material from Adorjan still so unique as it was16 years
ago? British Chess Magazine: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s that wacky grandmaster from Hungary, banging on about Black being OK again. The 1988 first edition of Black is OK! was more than just a catchy title and demonstrated Adorjan’s quirky personality to some effect. The author is hugely anecdotal, wildly surreal and strays off the point all the time, but just occasionally returns to planet earth to annotate a game, often with great insight. The reviewer is almost at a loss as to how to describe this strangely fascinating (or fascinatingly strange) book. Try to imagine a chess book co-authored by Botvinnik and the cast of Monty Python. and...
Playing with the
white pieces is generally considered an advantage in chess, much like the
'serve' in tennis. However, the independently-minded Andras Adorjan, thinks
otherwise. This rebel with a cause has a sincere belief, backed up with a
super-abundance of examples from his own rich tournament practice -
including battles against Petrosian, Spassky, Smyslov and Tal - that there
are many positives in playing Black. In this sequel to his two
ground-breaking books Black is OK! and Black is Still OK!
Adorjan's inspiring games, all deeply annotated and pulsating with creative
energy, illustrate the practical application, power and effectiveness of his
world-famous credo. Philosophical, psychological and statistical essays are
also included, as are games by world title challenger Peter Leko, trained by
Adorjan for a number of years, who once defeated world champion Vladimir
Kramnik using the Adorjan Gambit
Amazon UK:
When
Adorjan's first book Black is OK! was published in 1988 it became an
immediate bestseller and a cult classic, reaching out to the hearts and
minds of club players. In his new book, Black is still OKI, his message
remains just as emphatic: too many chessplayers adopt an unnecessarily
defensive approach with the Black pieces, when they should be more ambitious
and strive immediately for double-edged positions with winning chances.
Moreover, not only does Adorjan offer concrete opening variations and
illustrative games to support his claim but also a philosophy to generate a
positive state of mind when entering a battle. The new examples given here
effectively continue Adorjan's crusade started in the revolutionary 1960s
and encourage players not only to win more games with Black but also to
enjoy themselves in the process!
The Scotsman:
More goodies from Hungary -
intriguing and controversial ideas in GM Andras Adorjan’s Black is still OK!
...Let’s wrap up by enjoying an 11-move miniature victory from Sochi 1977
which gave Adorjan the first seed of his passionate writings about playing
Black in chess.
Chess Express: Play to win with the black pieces. Lines, illustrative games and a positive philosophy for the second player. Eric Schiller: Andras, I was in a bookstore in Berkeley yesterday and saw a copy of Black is Still OK, which I bought immediately. I hadn't heard of it, and Batsford doesn't send me any review copies. Though I have a pretty firm policy on not reviewing books I had to pay for, I'm going to make an exception and review it for the March issue of the Cal Chess Journal. It is a great book! And I say that on the basis of what I read before I even noticed my own contribution :-) The book is just a joy to read, whether or not I disagree at time! (I suppose that your remarks about Tarrasch apply in the context of the Kasparov-Karpov match, but 9.dxc5 d4! and 9.Bg5 Be6!? have nothing to do with your remarks, they are ... OK!). The variety of topics and lines is splendid, and I hope you'll keep adding to them.
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