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Latest Trends In the Semi-Slav: Anti-Meran Reviewed by Rick Kennedy
Not too long ago I reviewed GM Alexi Bezgodov’s ground-breaking Challenging the Sicilian with 2.a3!?, a recent title from the publisher Chess Stars. I was comfortable going through the book, chapter by chapter, as I had studied and played the Sicilian wing gambit, which much of the work dealt with, and I had available almost all of the books dedicated to that line. I like to think that as a result of my efforts, I was offered a review copy of Latest Trends in the Semi-Slav: Anti-Meran by author and publisher Semko Semkov.
By the way, if you saw the word “Trends” in the title and thought of the thin opening booklets that used to be available, based on a hundred recent games (e.g. Trends in the Spanish without 3... a6, Trends in the Czech & Schmid Benoni, etc) – think again! Latest Trends in the Semi-Slav: Anti-Meran provides a lot of in-depth analysis, not just “talking points.”
The book has an Introduction, 18 chapters (each with a helpful Conclusion), and an Afterword, as well as an Index of Variations and a Bibliography. About the latter, it is interesting to note that besides books – like ECO D (2004) and Sadler’s The Semi-Slav (1998), but also the Super Tournament series (2001-2004) – the Informants are listed, and there is reference to Internet Resources, including The Week In Chess, 10 Days, the Internet Chess Club, and the ChessPublishing.com forum. It is clear that the authors have also tested various ideas in blitz play, and have had the assistance of analysis by computer chess program.
Part One, which makes up almost half the book, examines 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 7.g4, which made its debut in Shirov – Thorhallsson, Reykjavik 1992, continuing: 7…O-O 8.g5 Nh5 9.Bd2 f5 10.gxf6 Nhxf6 11.Ng5 Qe8 12.O-O-O h6 13.h4 Bb4 14.Bd3 Bxc3 15.Bxc3 hxg5 16.hxg5 Ne4 17.Bxe4 dxe4 18.Qxe4 Rf5 19.Qh4 Qg6 20.Qg4 Kf7 21.f4 Nf8 22.Qh4 Ke8 23.e4 Rf7 24.Rhe1 Kd8 25.d5 cxd5 26.cxd5 Bd7 27.f5 exf5 28.e5 f4 29.e6 Ba4 30.Rd2 Rf5 31.Qf2 f3 32.Re4 Rxg5 33.Rxa4 Rg1+ 34.Rd1 Rg2 35.Qh4+ Ke8 36.Re4 Rc8 37.d6 Rd8 38.Qe7 mate. Across seven chapters Sakaev and Semkov examine what happens if Black either captures or ignores the cheeky g-pawn. While cautioning that concrete analysis is essential to evaluation, they set out some basic principles of play, such as:
After 7…Nxg4 8.Rg1, the Stonewall-like 8…f5 is currently the most popular plan for Black, although Sakaev and Semkov also look at 8…Nh6, 8…Qf6 and 8…Nxh2 (all in Chapter One), adding some of their own home cooking to stir things up. Their Conclusion about the sidelines includes the following wisdom, though:
(Let me make a small and almost insignificant point here, as a reviewer, and then largely dismiss it out of hand: occasionally you will find in a this book a language error – of tense, of spelling, of word choice – which suggests that English is not the authors’ first language. Readers should know that these infrequent and minor glitches do not affect the enjoyment or utility of the text in any way.)
Chapter Two’s analysis after 8…f5 is complex enough that the authors set up two diagrammed “model positions” to refer to. Eventually everything is turning around the question: will Black find a safe haven for his king? they write, and as Black seems to be finding his way to safety, they immediately provide some suggestions for White. The book is full of comments such as “we propose a new approach” or “we added these variations to illustrate some of the attacking possibilities…”
Next come five chapters on ignoring the pawn: two on 7…dc (“probably the most testing riposte to White’s venture”), one on 7…Bb4 (once considered the refutation of 7.g4), one on 7…h6 (“This modest move causes White headaches lately…leads to extremely sharp unclear play”), and one on 7…0-0 (“better than it’s reputation”). In each case, lines are evaluated – and then suggestions given.
The two chapters of Part Two look at Black’s attempts to duck 7.g4, with 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Be7 and 6…b6!? Again, the book shows that the authors really understand what is going on:
They also keep making suggestions for the lesser side: 6…Be7 line is judged “good and reliable” for Black although “White is slightly better” after 7.Be2 0-0 (“although with good defence Black holds firm” and after 7.Be2 dc4!? “the onus is on White.”)
By the way, 6…b6 “will be a very tough nut for White in the future.”
Of course, not everyone enters the Semi-Slav with Kasparovian or Shirovian plans of slaughter. Some, like past World Champion Anatoly Karpov, have preferred the positional 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Be2 covered in the first six chapters of Part Three (almost 80 pages). Chapters on 7.Bd3 (which usually transposes), 7.b3 (“in this system White players do not pretend to perceptible opening advantage”), and Rare Moves follow. These lines are older, have been deeply analyzed, and the authors have to admit that after 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Be2 0-0 8.0-0 dc4, for example, “current theory and practice prove an obvious deficit of fresh ideas for White.” Of course, they then begin to make their own suggestions…
Latest Trends in the Semi-Slav: Anti-Meran is a hot book on a hot opening variation. It is well laid-out, clean and very readable, with few typos and usually a couple of diagrams per page. Club and tournament players who want “the final answer” on any particular line may be frustrated – or overwhelmed – or inspired? – by the depth of analysis. This is, after all, more of a “doctoral dissertation,” than a Reader’s Digest condensed novel. Stronger players, though – expert, master, grandmaster – will dive in and love it.
If such scholarship
present in Latest Trends in the Semi-Slav: Anti-Meran is also evident
in Sakaev’s How to Get the Edge Against the Gruenfeld, it is no
wonder that the book has been well received. The only reason I would
hold off on acquiring the likewise formidable The Queen’s Gambit Accepted
by Sakaev and Semko (another Chess Stars title) – is that a second, revised
edition is promised soon!
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