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Chessville
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The Classical Sicilian is the first in the new Chess Explained series of opening books by Gambit Publications. The series subtitle is “A new approach to understanding the chess openings.” According to the back cover:
Sounds revolutionary, eh? However, upon opening the book, I found a collection of annotated games. That’s it. There’s nothing “new” about this. In fact, it’s one of the most common approaches to opening instruction there is. When I think of new approaches to openings, I think of Batsford’s Mastering the Such-and-Such-Opening with the Read and Play Method or Everyman’s Starting Out series. This book, on the other hand, is perfectly common. This disappointment alone almost made me give the book a poor review, but then I realized that it still might be a quality book, false advertising aside, so I figured I’d probably actually read it. Upon doing so, my opinion of the book was certainly improved, but I still felt that there was nothing particularly special about it. The first section of the book is labeled “Boleslavsky’s Classical Approach,” but it covers not only the Boleslavsky variation (6.Be2 e5) but also some sidelines. Game 1 covers White’s 6.g3 – nothing to worry Black, but still somewhat common at the club level – against which the author recommends a Dragon-like set-up with …g6. Games 2 covers White’s attempt to enter an English Attack (now so popular against the Najdorf and Scheveningen) via 6.Be3. Against this, the author recommends 6…Ng4, throwing a wrench into White’s plans right away. Game 3 covers White’s 6.f3, a move designed to set up 7.Be3 and prevent the irritating …Ng4 of the previous game. The author recommends Boleslavsky’s 6…e5. Games 4 and 5 cover the Boleslavsky (6.Be2 e5), with game 4 covering the traditional 7.Nb3 and game 5 covering the more fashionable (and effective, I think) 7.Nf3. On the whole, I have to say this chapter left me a bit unsatisfied. I think a single chapter should have been devoted fully to the Boleslavsky variation, with at least 4 or 5 games. White’s classically motivated 6.Be2 might not be the most dangerous line for Black, but it’s certainly common enough, and deserved more attention. Minor sidelines such as those in games 1 through 3 should have had their own chapter if space allowed, or been left to an anti-Sicilian book if not. The next section is entitled “The Fischer-Sozin Attack,” and it’s devoted to White’s 6.Bc4. Rather than 6…e6, which allows White to enter the Classical Sozin with 7.O-O or the dreaded Velimirovic Attack with 7.Be3, the author recommends that Black play the anti-Sozin 6…Qb6. This is a excellent recommendation, not only because it cuts down on the workload, but also because it scores significantly better than 6…e6. However, it does mean that Black players interested in …e6, and White players who want to be prepared for Black’s 6…e6, will have to look elsewhere. After 6…Qb6, the author considers all of White’s significant responses: 7.Nxc6, 7.Nde2, 7.Ndb5, and 7.Nb3. The coverage of this chapter left me feeling much more satisfied than the previous one: there was enough to prepare Black to deal with Fischer’s preferred move with confidence. The rest of the book – more than half of it, in fact – is dedicated to the Richter-Rauzer Attack. This is White’s most popular approach to the Classical, and it’s also the most dangerous for Black. In fact, the Richter-Rauzer is responsible for the Classical Sicilian’s decline in popularity in recent times, chasing away previously loyal players such as Kramnik to the safety of the Petroff or Berlin Defense. The author’s coverage is not only thorough, it’s also objective – he’s not shy about admitting that Black is struggling in some lines. However, those interested in taking up the Classical shouldn’t worry too much about the slight disadvantage for Black at the highest level of theory. As Kasparov says, “All normal openings are sound,” and improvements for Black are sure to be found. In the meantime, there’s more than enough here to arm Black to defend against the Richter-Rauzer, at least until Black starts having to defend against Topalov or Anand.
Overall, I think this is a good book, but the writing, though engaging, is
fairly high-level, so I probably wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who isn’t
at least a strong class A player, or maybe even expert. I suppose a class B
player who already as a great deal of knowledge of and experience with the
Classical Sicilian could also get something out of it, at least as a
collection of well-annotated games played by quality players. Otherwise, I
suspect the aspiring club player would be better off looking to some other
book first, perhaps Jouni Yrjola’s Easy Guide to the Classical Sicilian.
Gambit’s first work in their new Chess Explained series is certainly
a quality effort, but nothing to write home about.
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