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Long time Chessville readers should be familiar with the creativity and accessibility of GM Davies, from reviews of his books [e.g. Play 1.e4 e5! - A Complete Repertoire for Black in the Open Games, Taming the Sicilian, and The Trompowsky] to his Tiger Chess column here at Chessville. He has written his monthly “Let’s Take A Look” column at ChessCafé (www.chesscafe.com) for five years. The grandmaster’s home page can be found at http://www.tigerchess.com/. Gambiteer I has its feet firmly planted in the world of the average chess player. As Davies writes in the Introduction:
Davies has you start off with 1.e4, heading toward the Danish Gambit (31 pages) with 1…e5 2.d4 ed 3.c3 dc 4.Nxc3. This is a not-so-well-known line that Alekhine played effectively, and the author has chosen it for it’s ability to transpose to the Goring Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 ed 4.c3) – always a challenge for Black at the club level – as well as strike out on its own, for the times that White’s King Knight goes to e2 rather than f3. The Gambit Accepted and Declined lines are presented through an overview, 10 annotated game examples, and a summary. References to Müller and Voight’s dynamic Danish Dynamite show the author has done his homework, although he probably learned a thing or two, as well, preparing for his 1.e4 e5 book. Please note that the main line Danish, 1.e4 e5 2.d4 ed 3.c3 dc 4.Bc4 cb 5.Bxb2 is not covered. Should Black respond to 1.e4 with 1…c5, the Sicilian Wing Gambit (32 pages), 2.b4!?, is recommended. (To be noted is that Davies focuses on the other knight-pawn, and that one moving only one step, in his earlier Taming the Sicilian.) Again, an introduction, a dozen annotated games (including 2 played by Bronstein, 1 by Marshall, 1 by Capablanca and 2 by Davies himself) and a summary, give the details. Classic games are presented, but also newer lines like those played recently by Zajarnyi (2…cb 3.a3 d5 4.ed Qxd5 5.Nf3 e5 6.Bb2!?). There is enough explanation to enlighten the neophyte, and enough new ideas to bring in the regular SWinGer – with one exception. While Davies uses as his main line Black’s long-recommended counter-strike in the center, 2…cb 3.a3 d5, he never gets around to giving his recommendations for the Sicilian Wing Gambit Accepted, 3.ba. Should the second player prefer to try the French Defense (17 pages), Gambiteer I is ready with another Wing Gambit: 1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4!?. While still considered a sideline, the French Wing Gambit has been around long enough to receive some critical coverage, both positive and negative (Harding’s Four Gambits to Defeat the French comes to mind) so along with the Gambit Accepted 4…cb 5.d4 (not 5.a3?! d4! as the author points out). White can expect to see ideas such as 4…c4!? and 4…d4!?, producing different kinds of pawn chains – both of which Davies covers. What slips by in the introduction, 6 annotated games and summary, however, is Harding’s recommended 5…Bd7 6.a3 Qa5!? Against the Caro Kann, 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 the gambit line to play is 3.f3, the Fantasy Variation (24 pages). The grandmaster has investigated the Fantasy from both sides in his DVDs Foxy Chess Openings Vol. 17 Caro Krusher, Foxy Chess Openings Vol. 18, Caro Kann, and E4 for the Creative Attacker, and has played it successfully himself, as one of the six example games in Gambiteer I attests. Play can go 3…e6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bc de (transposing into a tepid Winkelmann-Reimer Gambit: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bc de 6.f3!? c6) or along more classical gambit lines with 3…de 4.fe e5 5.Nf3 de 6.Bc4. In either case White can be happy with his play. Davies chooses not to actually play an immediate gambit against Alekhine’s Defense (19 pages), 1.e4 Nf6 (yes, he’s written a book on that opening, too), but instead plans to carry on the spirit of active play with the line 2.e5 Nd5 3.Nc3!?. (Devotés of 1.e4 Nf6 2.Bc4!? – don’t laugh, Jonathan Speelman played it in 1971, and Milan Vukic lost to it in 1975 – will no doubt feel the loss.) The author burns a whole lot of midnight oil to make this line amenable to the reader, noting:
The Pirc Defense (13 pages) is another line not easily gambitted against, so Davies offers readers a twist on the Austrian Attack with 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.f4 Nf6 5.a3!? – a line obscure enough, yet dangerous enough to be included in Jeroen Bosch’s first Secrets of Opening Surprises volumes. Gambiteer I includes 5 game examples to discuss the Pirc, two of which actually don’t include 5.a3, but one of which shows the author losing on the Black side of the game. (Davies has done two relevant Fritz Trainer DVDs for ChessBase.) Lest the reader feel that he or she has left the world of pawn investment toward the end of Gambiteer I, things come galloping back with wild play against the Scandinavian Defense (12 pages) as 1.e4 d5 2.ed Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.b4!? makes a comeback. Two games cover this line, two for 2…Nf6 (one transposing into the Portuguese Variation 3…Bg4), and one for 3…Qd6. (We may finally have run into an opening that the grandmaster hasn’t written a book on or created a DVD for, but his energy is apparent throughout.) Defenders who own Michael Melts’ Scandinavian Defense The Dynamic 3…Qd6 or NM Selby Anderson’s Center Counter Defense The Portuguese Variation may feel slighted (or hopeful) but the lines Davies gives lead to good play for White, and he is writing a repertoire book after all. The Nimzovich Defense (8 pages) 1.e4 Nc6 is covered in 3 example games (plus introduction and summary). White has compensation for his gambit pawn after 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 de 4.d5, and the author recommends after 3…e6 the little-known 4.Be3!?, with hopes to transpose into a good line of the Blackmar Diemer Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.e4 de 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3) after 5.f3. In the final chapter (11 pages, 5 games) Davies deals with the “pseudo-Philidor” 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 and Owen’s Defense 1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 as well as the miscellaneous 1…a6 and 1…h6. The book begins with a short bibliography (note the important “extensive use was made of Shredder 8 and Fritz 9”) and ends with an Index of Complete Games. Everyman Chess, as it does with everyone of its books, has done a fine job in laying out the book – double-columned; a couple of diagrams per page; and good use of text, bold, and white space. If there were typos, they were rare enough that I missed them. I discovered a rare dypo – a puzzling game position where Black suddenly looked much better than he should have, when I realized that while White had castled in the notation, Black had castled in the diagram. In Gambiteer I GM Davies has played fair, according to the rules he set out in the Introduction (above). Club players will add all sorts of active play to their games if they pick up the book and follow his recommendations. I recommend the this work wholeheartedly, with a simple caveat from the author himself:
Does Gambiteer I sound just right for you? Are you in a hurry to try some of its explosive lines out? Why wait another minute? Gambiteer I is also available as an e-book, in ChessBase CBH format, and can be downloaded right away from the Chessville Chess Store! Please note: the e-Book will require a piece of Chess Software that can read ChessBase format file, for example: Fritz, ChessBase, ChessBase Light, ChessBase Reader, Junior, Shredder, Hiarcs or ChessTiger. However, if you do not own any of this software then you still are in luck: you can download ChessBaseLight 2007 absolutely free from www.chessbase.com.
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