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Confession is good for the soul, so I am going to try to do mine some good. I confess that I am not sure which side of 1.e4 e5 I prefer to play. Don't get me wrong; I play plenty of other first moves as White, and the list of defenses I want to play against 1.e4 as Black is plenty long. No, what it boils down to is history. Growing up as chess players we learn of Morphy, Kieseritzky, Anderssen and the venerable Captain Evans. Yet, these 19th century icons of gambits framed around 1.e4 e5 arrived at the end of the "Romantic" era of chess. I need only point to the names Philidor, Bilguier and Ruy Lopez to make clear the length of time that double king pawn openings centered the chess world. Nor is it fair to say the 19th century was the end of it. If you don't believe me, consider that 1.e4 e5 played a central part in world championship matches between Steinitz and Chigorin as well as Kasparov and Kramnik. That is not the history that affected me, though. No, it was my history of learning all the various traps in the Max Lange attack, the fascinating attacks from the Marshall gambit, or the seemingly endless complications of the Two Knights defense. In a nutshell, it is the directness of play for either side in double king pawn openings that attracted me and I know that I am not alone. Dangerous Weapons: 1.e4 e5 is another outstanding example of the type of play that arises from double king pawn openings. It has 15 chapters, of which six seem aimed to the White player and the other nine to Black. With three chapters examining lines of the Ruy Lopez it is certain that GM chess has become more accepting of the "rough and tumble" chess common in double-KP openings, which is not to say the work of "a Spanish friar" isn't as tough as the rest of the book.
One example would be the
suggestion of the Bird defense to the Ruy. This line often finds Black with
doubled isolated queen pawns and losing the right to castle, yet having
sharp chances for direct play against the White king. The Moller defense
has been a little more common, but keeps its flavor of active counterplay.
For White, the book starts out looking at a couple of lines in the Max Lange
that have an edge. Beginning with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 Nf6
5.d4!? [diagram]
I found the final three chapters on the Center game to be the most interesting. There is likely no opening in all of chess older than the Center game, yet it was relegated to the "not very good" heap for a century until Morozevich used it to beat Hebden. Andrew Greet wrote these chapters and did an excellent job of working through the lines while illustrating the points that make the Center game a worthwhile addition. The authors listed are John Emms, Glenn Flear and Andrew Greet. It is pretty certain that Flear wrote the vast majority of material aimed at the Black player because he has been a double-KP player for Black his whole career. As mentioned previously, Greet wrote the sections on the Center game. He is quickly working his way into the list of excellent chess authors from the British Isles. That leaves Emms to have written the odds and ends bits as well as putting the whole thing together (he is listed as the commissioning editor). All are outstanding choices and have put forth a great effort. A final comment: this is not a repertoire book for either color. As with the other "Dangerous Weapons" books... Dangerous Weapons: the French by IM John Watson, reviewed by Rick Kennedy; and Dangerous Weapons: The Nimzo-Indian by John Emms, Chris Ward, and Richard Palliser, and Dangerous Weapons: The Sicilian by John Emms and Richard Palliser, reviewed by S. Evan Kreider ...this one takes a look at current intriguing lines, suggestions of lines to rehabilitate and a sprinking of interesting new directions in the opening. All of these lines can be worked into a repertoire, but only if you play double-KP from one side or the other.
As with any book the audience is
limited, but in this case not to players who play 1.e4 e5 from one side or
the other. Any player playing double-KP from either side will gain a lot
from this book. The point is that all of these lines have value in finding
points in games and can be used by or against players of any strength.
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