Batsford's
Modern Chess Openings by Nick de Firmian
2009
Batsford Ltd, London
http://www.Batsford.com
748 pages
Price €17,99
ISBN 978-1-906388-29-4
For nearly hundred years Modern Chess Openings has been the most
important one volume book on chess openings.
This latest updated and expanded heavy weight from Nick de
Firmian with it’s 1249 gram and 748 pages replaces the 14th
Batsford edition of 2000,with it’s 708 pages.
The 14th edition was a 20 month project but Nick de Firmian and his
team spend over a year of long hours to revised this 15th
heavyweight.
Some sections as the Latvian Gambit are untouched in this latest
release but the most important lines in this book cover important
updates as for
example in the Najdorf,Poisoned Pawn Variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4
cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2
Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.f5 Nc6 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.e5 dxe5 14.Bxf6
gxf6 15.Ne4 Be7 16.Be2 h5,and now the 14th edition only gives: 17.Rb3
Qa4 with two choices, but this 15th edition improves with the
moves 17.Rf1! Qxa2 18.Rd1 Qd5 19.Qe3 Qa5+ 20.c3 f5 21.Qg3! with a
strong attack,Radjabov – Ye Jiangchuan,Calvo Ol.2004.
But in the Old Main Line of the Najdorf I found some updates as:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3
Qc7 9.0-0-0 Nbd7 10.Bd3 h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.fxg5 Ne5 13.Qe2 Nfg4 14.Nf3
hxg5 15.Bxg5 Bxg5+ 16.Nxg5 Qc5 17.Nh3 b5 18.Kb1 Bb7 with compensation
for the pawn,Mamedov – Areshchenko,Aeroflot Open 2007.
Interesting is also the small update in the line: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4
cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.0-0-0 Nbd7 10.g4
b5 11.Bxf6 Nxf6 12.g5 Nd7 13.f5 Bxg5+ 14.Kb1 Ne5 15.Qh5 Qe7 16.Nxe6
Bxe6 17.fxe6 g6 18.exf7+ Kxf7 19.Qh3 Kg7 20.Nd5 Qd8 21.Qc3 Ra7 22.Qa3
with a small advantage, Baklan – Gallagher,Bundesliga 2001.
Or in the good old MacCutcheon:1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.e5
h6 6.Bd2 Bxc3 7.bxc3 Ne4 8.Qg4 g6 9.Bd3 Nxd2 10.Kxd2 c5 11.Nf3 c4
12.Be2 Nd7 13.h4 Qe7 14.a3 b6 15.Kc1 Bb7 16.Nd2 0-0-0 17.f4 with a
slight advantage,de Firmian - Nakumura,U.S.Chp.2006 or 11....11... Bd7
12.h4 Qe7 13.Qf4 Bc6 14.Nh2 Nd7 15.Ng4,Milos - Cubas,Sao Paulo 2005.
As you can see every important line is covered with a update!
At the moment there no other one volume openings books to compare this
Fifteenth Edition
with,Nunn’s Chess Openings is from 1999 and the small Encyclopaedia of
Chess Openings is from 2003,and let s be honest the human notes to the
variations make these Modern Chess Openings works very readable.
As for example: In the great Herceg Novi blitz tournament of 1970
Fischer experimented with (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.a3
Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.a4 Qa5 8.Bd2 Nbc6 }9.Qg4
against Korchnoi.After 9... 0-0 10.Nf3 f6 11.Bd3 f5 12.Qg3 c4 13.Be2 b5
14.0-0 bxa4 15.Ng5? Nxd4 Fischer suffered his only loss of the
tournament.
For all Fischer fans here is the complete game:Fischer,Robert James -
Kortschnoj,Viktor [C19]
Herceg Novi blitz Herceg Novi, 1970
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.a4 Qa5 8.Bd2
Nbc6 9.Qg4 0-0 10.Nf3 f6 11.Bd3 f5 12.Qg3 c4 13.Be2 b5 14.0-0 bxa4
15.Ng5 Nxd4 16.cxd4 Qxd2 17.Qh4 h6 18.Nf3 Ng6 19.Nxd2 Nxh4 20.Rxa4 Ng6
21.Rfa1 a6 22.Nb1 Ne7 23.Ra5 Nc6 24.R5a4 Nxd4 25.Bd1 f4 26.Nc3 Nc6
27.Ne2 Nxe5 28.Nd4 Rb8 29.h4 Rb6 30.h5 Nc6 31.Ne2 e5 32.Nc3 Rd8 33.Bf3
e4 34.Be2 Nd4 35.Bf1 Bb7 36.Rd1 Nb5 37.Nxe4 Rc8 38.Nd2 Nc3 39.Rda1 Nxa4
40.Rxa4 Bc6 41.Ra5 Bb5 42.Nf3 c3 43.Nd4 Bxf1 44.Kxf1 Rb4 45.Rxd5 a5
46.Ke2 a4 47.Kd3 Ra8 48.Kxc3 Rb1 49.Rb5 Rxb5 50.Nxb5 a3 51.Nxa3 Rxa3+
52.Kd4 Ra2 53.Kd3 Kf7 54.g3 fxg3 55.fxg3 0-1.
Nick de Firmian is a world leading openings expert and belonged to the
team that prepared Deep Blue against its successful 1997 match against
Kasparov,so I can insure you are in good hands with this impressive
made update!
Conclusion: A must buy for all who like to keep abreast of latest
developments!
Chess
Strategy for club players by Herman Grooten
2009
New in Chess
http://www.newinchess.com/
412pages
Price €25,95
ISBN 978 90 56912680
The Dutch IM Herman Grooten has managed to create a wonderful
strategy book based on the ideas of Wilhem Steinitz but expanded with a
lot of new ideas and all readable packed in a mass of well explained
games.
Many of these games come from training sections often from Grooten his
pupils, who some as GM van de Wely belong to the best of the world.
But between these games I found games from young talents as Vincent
Rothuis and Ali Bitalzadeh,it is clear Grooten is continuing developing
chess talent,and these coaching experiences can be found back between
the pages of this book.
Indeed there are more chess coaches than only Mark Dvoreckij!
There is a unbelievable amount of chess knowledge in this book as
for example the unique game, Fred Slingerland – Manuel Bosboom,Enschede
1993; 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.Nc3 Qc7 7.a4 b6
8.0-0 Bb7 9.Qe2 h5 10.h3 Bc5 11.Nb3 Ng4 12.hxg4 hxg4 13.e5 Bf3 14.gxf3
Qd8 0-1,Would you have that move? It is known from Bosboom that he
prefers to analyse without the use of engine help.
Grooten writes: IM Manuel Bosboom is a very creative player who created
a furore in Holland with his blitz prowess. He reached the pinnacle of
his fame by beating Kasparov during a blitz tournament on a free day at
the Hoogovens tournament in Wijk aan Zee.
Remarkable is the classic beauty, Donner – Hartoch,Leeuwarden
Wijk aan Zee 1973,where the black player received a instructive lesson
from the great Donner on knight play,found under the section a piece
out of play.
Donner’s own account on this game can be found in his book The King.
The fans of Jan Timman will certainly enjoy the brilliant game position
Taimanov – Timman,Wijk aan Zee 1981,which is a remarkable queen and
rook endgame.
All material is divided in 25 chapters starting with Steinitz’s
Elements but slowly growing out to a more modern approach as The eye of
the grandmaster,Thought process and line of thinking,Material
advantage,Weakend king position,Pased pawn,Weak pawns,Training
experiment,Strong and weak squares,The pawn islands theor,The pawn
centre,The diagonal,Quiz:strong square,The open file,The bishop
pair,Control of a rank,A piece out of play,Quiz:open file,Harmony and
coordination,Lead in development,Centralization,Space
advantage,Solutions,Epilogue,plus bibliography,about the author and
index of players.
Every section of this book ends with four exercises,all based on the
elements of strategy.
Conclusion: It is not easy to find a better book on chess strategy!
Kill KID 1 by Semko
Semkov
2009
Chess Stars
140 pages
Price €22,95
ISBN 978-9548782708
GM Semko Semkov has in this latest Chess Starts openings book a very
interesting approach to the so interesting Four Pawns Attack,some time
ago I received here The Fearsome Four Pawns Attack from Konikowski
& Soszynski,but this book can not stand in the shadow of Semkov’s
killings field.
The material is based on the following lines:
Modern Benoni Pawn Structures
Part 1 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 f4 c5 6 d5 0-0
7 Nf3 e6 8 Be2 exd5 9 cxd5, Lines without 9..,Re8
Part 2 7 Nf3 e6 8 Be2 exd5 9 cxd5 Re8
King’s Indian Defence and Volga Pawn Structures
Part 3 5 f4 c5 6 d5 0-0 7 Nf3 Rare Lines without 7...e6
Part 4 5 f4 0-0 6 Nf3 Lines without 6...c5
Modern Defence and Other Rare Move Orders
Part 5 1 d4 g6 2 e4 Bg7 3 c4
Part 6 1 d4 g6 2 e4 Bg7 3 c4 d6 4 Nc3 Kd7 5 Nf3
Part 7 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 d6 3 Nc3 Lines without ...g6.
The modern defence kind lines are based on the move order: 1.d4 g6 2.c4
Bg7 3.e4 d6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.d5 but Semkov also mentions 1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7
3.e4 d6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Be3 e5 6.Nge2 Nh6 7.f3 f5 8.d5 Ne7 9.Qd2 Nf7
10.0-0-0 f4 11.Bf2 g5 12.h3 h5 13.Kb1 Ng6 14.c5 and white’s spatial
advantage makes his attack much more efficient as Semkov explains.
But dear reader you buy this book for the Four Pawns Attack and lines
like these:
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 c5 6.d5 0-0 7.Nf3 e6 8.Be2 exd5
9.cxd5 Re8 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Ng4 12.e6 fxe6 13.d6 Qb6 14.Ng5 Nh6
15.0-0 Nc6 16.Nge4 Nf5 17.Bg5 Ncd4 18.Qa4 Nc6 19.Nf6+ Bxf6 20.Bxf6 Nxd6
21.Qh4 Rf8 22.Bh5 and Semkov writes: An exquisite move.Black still can
put up some resistance, but the result of the opening battle is already
clear.The threat of taking on g6 is impossible to deflect: Qb4 23.Qg5
Nf5 24.Rf4 Qxb2 25.Rb1 Qd2 26.Bxg6 Qe3+ 27.Kh1 h6 28.Qg4 Ne5 29.Bxe5
Qxe5 30.Bxf5+ Kh8 31.Qg6 exf5 32.Qxh6+ Kg8 33.Nd5 with a great
advantage!
This book follows the Chess Stars structure,where each system is
examined in a separate part which contains three chapters: Quick
repertoire, Step by Step and complete games.
I would like to end with the sensational move :
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 c5 6.d5 0-0 7.Nf3 e6 8.Be2 exd5
9.cxd5 Re8 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Ng4 12.e6 fxe6 13.d6 Qb6 14.Ng5 Nh6
15.0-0 Nf5 16.Rxf5!! Semkov: I have not analysed any other continuation
since this hit proved to be good enough.Rybka and Fritz 11 at depth 15
still do not see it at all.Later I discovered that Deep Junior 10
comported more humanly.It picked up this sacrifice in a flash and
correctly evaluated it in white’s favour ever since the first
second,the engine rejected this opinion.
After 16.. gxf5 17.Bb5 Rf8 18.Bc4 and black’s queenside pieces are
unable to rescue it’s king on time.Semkov explains this all with around
two pages of text.
Conclusion: Buy this book if you want to win with the Four Pawns Attack!
British
Chess Magazine No.5
Volume
129
May 2009
Price: £4,05
This May issue holds the latest Melody Amber tournament
,reported by Peter Doggers who was there for on the spot report with
rapid play, blindfold and tournament unfold.
Facainating is the blindfold game Wang Yue – Anand,where two black
knights had to face a pawn and this all with out the use of the board.
Interesting to mention is that neither player made an illegal move!
IM Sam Collins is responsible for Games department where you can play
throw some fine annotated games from the talented Collins himself all
taken from the Hyakketsu Rapidplay 2009.
Other readable contributions are European Championship, Chess questions
answered by Gary lane who digs in the Danish Gambit!
Some players manage to loose in no time with it: 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3
dxc3 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Nxc3 Bb4 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 d5 9.exf6,Jameson
– van Kemenade,Welsh Championship 2008.Shaun Taulbut has created a
enjoyable Test your chess column and the endgame lovers will Speelman
advises on knight endgames {Speelman on the endgame}
Use one knight to blockade the pawn and king,and the other knigkt to
shepherd the enemy king into a corner.
But these is more Endgame studies by John Beasley,Quotes and Queries
etc.
Conclusion: One of the oldest and best readable chess magazines in the
world!
