Chess Cafe - Checkpoint 1-185 - Carsten Hansen.pdf

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Checkpoint
by Alexander Baburin
WITH MY FIRST BOOK REVIEWS at The Chess Cafe, I
would like to share my views on book reviews in general and to
declare my intentions in regard to this column. I must say that I
have always followed book reviews very closely, as I have great
interest in chess literature and possess quite a large chess library. I
find book reviews useful and sometimes even entertaining. Yet, I
never thought that one day I would review chess books myself!
Well, life presents us with its challenges and after Hanon Russell
suggested that I write for The Chess Caf‚, I had to consider how I
might manage this project. Opening books usually range
somewhere between ''Easy Guide to X'' and ''Complete Y''.
After some thought, I came to conclusion that I should take into
consideration the following points when reviewing opening books:
1. Whether the book achieves its presumed/declared
2. objective.
3. The accuracy of the analysis and references given in the
book.
The presentation and layout of chess material.
Keeping these criteria in mind, I now would like to present my first
opus in this field, still quite unfamiliar to me. Fortunately, unlike
in magazines, book reviews on the Web do not have many limits in
terms of space, so we can talk about the books in some detail. I
will use a five-star system, something like this:
* A poor book, not recommended.
** Not a particularly good book, but perhaps useful for some
readers.
*** A useful book.
**** Good book, recommended.
***** Excellent book, highly recommended.
Fortunately for me, the first batch of opening books which I
received contained two books on the Queen's Gambit Accepted
an opening, which I often play. Thus, I'd like to begin my
reviews with a look at them.
Easy Guide to the Queen's Gambit Accepted by IM Graeme
Buckley, 1999 Cadogan, Softcover, Figurine Algebraic Notation,
128pp., $18.95
As the title suggests, this book is meant to be an introduction to the
QGA, the opening which most commonly arises after 1 d4 d5 2 c4
dxc4. It is aimed at club level players, who may not be
willing to spend too much time on opening theory. Thus, the
author recommends certain lines and tries to provide some
information about the middlegame positions arising from this
opening. Let''s see how this task is implemented.
First of all, I find the approach, when IM Buckley gives some
middlegame positions before analysing opening moves,
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unconvincing. It may sound innovative, but I feel that a reader
should be first given some introduction to the opening ideas, then
some detailed information and only after that should he or she be
presented with some typical middlegame/endgame positions.
Otherwise the reader can be easily confused it's not obvious to see
from which particular lines such typical positions usually arise.
This approach might be acceptable when the author talks about
particular lines and the associated pawn formations, but this is not
the case here, as IM Buckley talks about the whole opening in
general. My guess is that the reader will be more confused than
guided.
The book offers a somewhat limited view of the QGA: for
example, after 3 e4 the author covers only 3...e5 and 3...Nc6
systems beginning with 3...Nf6 and 3...c5 are not considered. This
is certainly a major drawback, as even in ''Easy Guide'' type of
books it should be possible to provide coverage for all major
possibilities. The same applies to the position after 3 Nf3 Nf6 4
Nc3 the system 4...c5 5 d5 e6 is not even mentioned...
Some definitions and concepts in the book look dubious to me. For
example, on page 66, the pawn structure with white pawns on a2
and b3 vs. black pawns on a6 and b7 is called symmetrical. Call
me a traditionalist if you wish, but to me it''s not symmetrical! I
would also not call symmetrical the pawn structure with white
pawns on a4 and b2 against black pawns on a6 and b6 (page 79)
the b4-square might be weak and it makes big impact on play in
such positions. The ''Theory of the Queenside Fianchetto'', which is
considered on pages 65-74 also sounds dubious to me: indeed,
White often fianchettoes his queen's bishop in the QGA, but there
is hardly a whole concept or theory here. Again, this may rather
complicate the issue, instead of making things simple to a novice
in this opening.
There are quite a few mistakes in the book. For example, on page
33 after the moves 3 e4 e5 4 Nf3 exd4 5 Qxd4 Qxd4 6 Nxd4 Nf6 7
Nc3 Bc5 8 Be3 Ng4 9 Bxc4 Nxe3 10 fxe3 the author gives "with
f-file pressure". It looks like he favours White''s position here and
therefore does not recommend 6...Nf6. Yet, this is the main move
in this position, while 8 Be3 is actually dubious many years ago I
played that position (10 fxe3) as White against Yuri Yakovich and
can say that White is in deep trouble here!
On page 109 the line 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 e3 Bg4 5
Bxc4 e6 6 0-0 Nbd7 7 h3 Bh5 8 Nc3 Bd6 9 e4 e5 10 g4 is
considered. Buckley claims that this variation "has now largely
disappeared". Well, not according to my database! Then the author
stops this line after 10...Bg6 11 dxe5 Nxe5 12 Nxe5 Bxe5 13 f4
Qd4+ 14 Qxd4 Bxd4+ 15 Kh2 Bxc3 16 bxc3 Bxe4, only
mentioning some games in this position. A reader should expect
better coverage of forced lines like this one.
The Steinitz Variation (3 Nf3 Nf6 4 e3 e6 5 Bxc4 c5 6 0-0 cxd4) is
illustrated by the game Eperjesi-Kopisch, Budapest 1996, where
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White's play was very questionable. Personally, in opening books,
I prefer to see games by more established players, unless the lesser
players show something quite exceptional...
On page 100 the author gives the game M.Gurevich-Schwartzman,
Las Vegas 1997. It fact, it was played by GM Dmitry Gurevich and
not GM Mikhail Gurevich.
The line 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 e3 e6 5 Bxc4 c5 6 0-0 a6 7 Bd3 is analysed in
two different chapters, which is rather confusing. The author
concludes that this line does not "give White optimal attacking
chances". First, I disagree with this statement and second, I think
that ''Easy Guide'' books are not suitable for such major
conclusions.
All in all, I can say that readers should regard the assessments and
recommendations given in the book with caution. Perhaps, this
reflects the fact that according to my database IM Buckley does not
actually play the QGA (he plays the KID). By the way, this makes
Cadogan's claim that the book is "written by an expert on the
Queen''s Gambit Accepted" look quite strange... OK, in order to
sell well, one needs to promote the book, but is this really "truth in
advertising"?
What I like about the book is that Buckley recommends some rare
lines, for example, 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 Nd5, which might be valuable
from practical point of view at club level. Some readers may also
find the graphics (arrows on some diagrams) to be quite helpful.
My assessment of Easy Guide to the Queen's Gambit Accepted: **
The Queen's Gambit Accepted by GM Chris Ward, 1999 Batsford,
Softcover Figurine Algebraic Notation, 160pp., $16.95
This book is more detailed than the previous one and is obviously
aimed at those, who already play the QGA, although it may also be
a useful reference book for novices in this opening. The
book is built around 90 annotated games, most of which are recent.
The games are given in 11 chapters. Each chapter concludes with a
short summary, which should help the reader a lot. I find
that the selection of games is quite good and this is one of the
strong points of the book. The game index is also very useful.
Another strong point is its very good coverage of systems with 3
e4, which is favoured by GM Ward himself.
Yet, the book has several drawbacks. The first one comes from the
fact that the author does not play the QGA as Black and therefore
his understanding of some lines is not quite sufficient. For
example, on page 140 in the line 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 Nf3 a6 4 e4
b5 5 a4 Bb7 6 axb5 axb5 7 Rxa8 Bxa8 8 Nc3 c6 he advocates the
move 9 d5, claiming that 3...a6 may not be good enough
for Black. However, this is hardly true and at least it's not a good
idea to judge the whole system on the basis of just one game. Such
lack of knowledge is particularly noticeable in the
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chapters dealing with the Classical Variation (3 Nf3 Nf6 4 e3 e6 5
Bxc4 c5 6 0-0 a6). For example, my game against Leitao (page 65)
fell into the section ''Classical Variation without an
early Qe2'', while in reality there we reached a position common
for the line 7 Qe2 b5 8 Bb3 Bb7 9 Rd1 Nbd7 10 Nc3 Qb6. Also,
the Furman Variation (6 Qe2 a6 7 dxc5) really should be
covered separately. By the way, in the game I.Sokolov-Lautier on
page 92 Ward gives the following comment to the move 6 Qe2:
"Introducing a new plan." This is confusing, as this plan
was introduced long time ago and not by GM Ivan Sokolov,
though he has very impressive record with this system.
Another weak point of the book is the fact Chris tries to be witty.
This is fine in magazines and I enjoy his tournament reports in
Chess Monthly, but in an opening monograph it may not read as
well. One example: on page 40 after 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 e4 c5 he
writes: "No doubt that there are those (e.g. GM Keith Arkell) who
would consider 4 Nf3 cxd4 5 Qxd4 Qxd4 6 Nxd4 Bd7 7 f3
with arguably a minuscule advantage for White. Not exactly chess
though is it?!". I think that this kind of comment is not suitable for
an opening book 4 Nf3 is perfectly sound move and
therefore it should be covered. Another drawback of the book is
author''s tendency to give mini-lessons (Ward is also a
well-respected coach), while he shows annotated games. On page
16 after moves 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 e4 Nc6 4 Nf3 Bg4 5 Bxc4 e6 6
Be3 Bxf3 7 gxf3 Qf6 he writes: "Of course matters aren't so simple
because, after all, White gained a bishop for a knight out of the
sixth move trade". What is this? A declaration that a bishop is
ultimately better than a knight? I have played this position with
Black a few times and can say that Black is better, mainly because
his knights are superior to White's bishops here. And this is the
whole point of the exchange on the 6th move!
A few more comments: on page 124 Ward writes: "After 5 e4 b5 6
e5 Nd5 7 a4 White gets some reasonable counterplay..." I always
thought that in the opening it's White who has play, while
Black usually gets counterplay. Obviously, I got it wrong
somehow... On page 14 the author shows game Ward-Baburin,
1997, commenting on 7...Qf6!: "my opponent admitted that ''Fritz''
was largely responsible for the development of this big opening
novelty". Generally I have no problem with crediting ''Fritz'', but in
the February 1998 issue of Chess Monthly I wrote: "I had
been aware of this move for a long time, as my friend and sparring
partner IM Roman Skomorokhin had pointed it out to me." I guess
that Chris saw that article and to whom I gave the credit. As
Ward's book may be used for research and is likely to be quoted,
I'd like to get this point straightened: the novelty 7...Qf6! was
invented by IM Skomorokhin, while I used ''Fritz'' to analyse the
arising variations.
All in all, I can say that this is a useful book with well-selected
recent games and good insight into some lines, but the author could
have done a better job, and that may also involve actually playing
the opening.
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My assessment of The Queen's Gambit Accepted: ***
The Sicilian Accelerated Dragon by GM Peter Haine Nielsen and
FM Carsten Hansen, 1998 Batsford, Softcover, Figurine Algebraic
Notation, 320 pp, $24.95
This opening is not exactly my cup of tea, but I went through this
book with great interest. The authors certainly gathered a wealth of
material here and also provided some ideas and possible
improvements. The book is built around 109 annotated games,
which are carefully selected and well annotated. The index of
variations and index of games are very useful, while short
introduction in the beginning of the book allows novices in this
opening too familiarise themselves with strategic ideas, typical to
this system.
I wish there would be more lengthy summaries after each chapter
or larger introductions in the beginning of them. That would make
life easier for those who just start playing the Accelerated Dragon.
Other than that, I think is a great work, which would certainly
appear to those who employ this system or think of doing it in the
near future.
My assessment of The Sicilian Accelerated Dragon: ****
Understanding the Gruenfeld by IM Jonathan Rowson. 1999
Gambit Publications, Softcover, Figurine Algebraic Notation,
240pp., $24.95
I am certain that this book will be welcomed by those who already
play this popular opening and those who plan to add it to their
repertoire. This solid work is not meant to be ''The Complete
Gruenfeld" but rather an introduction to the opening, carried out on
a very high level, with lots of useful information and many original
ideas. So, if you are thinking of adopting this opening, this book
will be of great help, even if you do not agree with everything
the author says: in any case you will have a solid foundation on
which you can later build your own approach.
The book is built around 36 annotated games, with plenty of
detours into all aspects of the Gruenfeld, such as White's d-pawn
(Rowson calls it ''Delroy''; usually I am against such novelties, but
can live with this one), the weakness of the c4-square in White's
camp, etc. The book is written with great enthusiasm and will not
bore you, that's for sure!
Finally, there is an Exercise Section of Rowson's book - the
"Gruenfeld Quiz" - that the student should find very useful as the
positions there are well-chosen. One warning though: if
you already play the Gruenfeld, do not expect that buying this
book will solve all your opening problems (no book can do this!)
this book is not an opening encyclopaedia. It deals rather
with concepts, rather than with thousands of variations that one
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