|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Chessville
Advertise to Single insert:
|
What if it is a defense you play against? I was once asked to lend a brand new opening tome to one of the best players in my area because it was an opening he thought he would face and he wanted to know what everyone else would be playing. Kind of like stealing the other team's signals. This was my thought when "Fighting the Anti-Sicilians" arrived, as I have played many more anti-Sicilian variations than lines with Black. Of more consequence to me was that I had seen a couple of similarly-titled books published in the past decade, and I was curious: how seriously were Sicilian players taking these "side" variations? I found my answer. The first thing I noted was that Palliser had fixed his work on lines without 2.Nf3, except for a minor bit in the chapter on move order tricks with Nc3. This was in contrast to other books that had included the Rossolimo/Moscow line and a few transpositions to Closed variations. This wasn't a disappointment, but worth keeping in mind. Laying out the material in nine chapters was the next point that caught my eye, as I had thought of only five or six approaches that were outside the Open Sicilian. Much to his credit, the author has made separate chapters for the Grand Prix, Closed and 2.g3/d3 lines, as well as offering a chapter on the Smith Morra gambit instead of lumping it in with the 2.c3 material. This makes for a cleaner approach for Black to the different variations. The enigmatic 2.b3 gets a chapter of its own, which let me know that Palliser was taking these off-lines of the Sicilian seriously. Rounding out the book are chapters on other 2.Nc3 approaches, gambits and miscellany to go along with the chapter on 2.Nc3 move order issues. Most of the variations are covered with two alternate lines for Black, a good summary for lines that Black would likely face in club matches or weekend tournaments. Eschewing the familiar format of using annotated games as the core of the book, Palliser instead offers a brief synopsis at the opening of each chapter and then deals with variations and sub-variations. There are plenty of games referenced in the material to flesh out the details of play from positions resulting from the lines suggested. This seems to be a favorite layout of Palliser, as I have noticed it in a couple of other books he has authored and I find it a bit refreshing, though it was the standard of books I grew up with. When a reader is searching to find a sideline or note, it is much easier to find it in an index of variations, rather than trying to remember the names of both players who played the "main" game in the line. Analysis in the book is very good and the research is top notch. The first chapter is the c3-Sicilian where Palliser chooses 2...d5 with 4...Nc6/5...Bg4, or alternatively, 4...Nf6/5...e6 as the lines to play. The author makes it clear that lines which are "theorized" out to drawish endgames aren't in the cards and that Black will have plenty of chances in the positions that ensue. This section was particularly interesting for me, as I have been a proponent of the positions for both sides. Next came the Closed Sicilian, where Palliser uses lines with Nf6 as the choice. These are quite interesting; many reversed lines arise from the English, which affords easy comparison. This section of the book was worth its weight as many of the ideas are delicate and require confidence to employ, confidence which is in evidence from Palliser's work. For an alternative, the tricky 2...e6 lines are offered. This fits well with the lines suggested for the Grand Prix where the fashionable fianchetto variation is supplanted with a line based around Nc6 and e6. More good work to offer Black a line that is not hot theory, but contains enough energy and resources to give excellent winning opportunities. In order to escape reams of analysis and keep hopes of victory, White has tried any number of ideas, some involving move orders like 2.d3 or 2.g3, complete change in direction with 2.b3, notorious gambits with 2.d4 or 2.b4 and finally, just pushing a semi waiting move out with 2.c4/Na3/a3, etc. Some of these lines could be directed back to previous variations, declining the Smith Morra by heading back to the 2.c3 Sicilian, but Palliser has done the research work in order to find good possibilities in all of these. A good example is the 38 pages devoted to "Gambits," namely the Smith Morra and Wing Gambits. Analysis of the Smith Morra tends to swing wildly, so I won't suggest any special acclaim to Palliser's work on it. Yet the point is that he covers it with some very in-depth analysis. On top of that, where else would you find 16 pages devoted to the Wing Gambit? It is discredited by theory, but as a good player said, "unsound doesn't mean not dangerous." All of this may seem superfluous and might not meet every player's expectations for a book, but it shows the lengths to which the author has gone to arm Black for these offbeat lines. Pages are easy to read with good sized fonts and clear diagrams. This is a glossy cover with solid spine which has become the standard for Everyman. An easy book to look at and work with, this book is good quality.
I must comment
on one thing, though. As I said, this is the third such book that I have
seen, yet my curiosity was sustained throughout. Though Sicilian players
may all be cut from the same cloth, it seems the cloth is woven
differently. Dragon players and Scheveningen players aren't similar, nor
are Sveshnikov devotees or Najdorf enthusiasts. Still, in one book we can
find a complete solution for each type of player? Such doubts lingered as I
began to look through the book. By the end, it was apparent that the
coverage provided in this book combines flexibility with activity, which is
exactly what any good Sicilian player is looking for.
|
The
|
||||||
|
||||||||
