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Reviewed this month: The Latvian Gambit Lives! by Tony Kosten Informator 81 by Aleksandar Matanovic et al

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Carsten Hansen

Special Feature Chesspublishing.com Part 1

Dead or Alive?
This time around, I will only look at two books. However, I will also examine the efforts of the internet enterprise of Chesspublishing.com. The Latvian Gambit Lives! by Tony Kosten, 2001 Batsford Ltd., Figurine Algebraic Notation, Paperback, 224 pp., $19.95 What a brave title this is. The Latvian Gambit alive? How can that possibly be? Hasn't it always been more or less refuted and quite frankly more dead than alive? Particularly since John Nunn took it upon himself to refute it in Nunn's Chess Openings and Secrets of Practical Chess, both books are worth investing in, but that's something for another day. Nunn presented
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some new ideas in this old, yet fascinating opening that cast serious doubt on how much longer Black would be able to play this lively gambit. In 1994 Kosten wrote his first book, The Latvian Gambit (Batsford), on this opening, a book which managed to spark some interest in this opening again, or at least give us something to discuss. And discussed it was. Now some seven years later, the publisher felt it was time for updating the material. In the introduction to the book, Kosten tells us that he initially told Batsford that he didn't want to spend more than a week or two over it. Quite a quite disappointing statement for an opening book author I respect. However, fortunately that didn't come to pass. As Kosten continues: "Fortunately for the reader, and unfortunately for my free time, that was four months ago! This revision has become a labour of love for me. I have been through all 9000 or so Latvian Gambits ever published, with the help the ChessBase 'Tree' function to catch any transpositions, and have deeply analysed all the critical lines." Although this statement doesn't seem to be entirely accurate, it is very clear throughout the book that a lot of original material has made its way into this book. I don't have a lot of books on the Latvian Gambit, but surprisingly the one I have, The Latvian Gambit - A Grandmaster View (Hays Publishing 1995) by Lein & Pickard, isn't mentioned in the bibliography, even though I see analysis from it quoted here and there in Kosten's book. Maybe the material made its way to Kosten through other works, but since it is the only other recent work on the Latvian Gambit by a grandmaster, you would think that Kosten would take it into consideration, but this evidently did not happen.

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The Latvian Gambit arises after the moves: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 f5 and from this position, the material in the present book is divided up as follows:

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Introduction (2 pages) 1 Main Line - 3 Nxe5 Qf6 - Introduction and 7 f3 (23 pages) 2 Main Line - other seventh moves (17 pages) 3 Nimzowitch's variation, 6 Ne3 (8 pages) 4 Bronstein's variation, 6 Be2 (13 pages) 5 Leonhardt's variation, 4 Nc4 (32 pages) 6 3...Nc6 and other third move alternatives for Black (17 pages) 7 3 Bc4 fxe4 4 Nxe5 Qg5 (23 pages) 8 Svedenborg's variation 4...d5 (25 pages) 9 Other replies to 3 Bc4 (10 pages) 10 3 exf5 (24 pages) 11 3 d4 (11 pages) 12 3 Nc3 Mlotkowski's variation (7 pages) 13 Unusual third moves for White (5 pages)

I could say a thing or two about the grammar and consistency or lack of the same in the above, but I will attribute that to the editor, who shall remain nameless, since no editor is mentioned in the book. Moving on to the material, I will look at some of those lines which I consider critical. As I mentioned above, Nunn dealt the Latvian Gambit fans some heavy blows, so let's look at some of those lines. Line 1: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 f5 3 Nxe5 Qf6 4 d4 d6 5 Nc4 fxe4 6
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Nc3 Qg6 This is the main line, but several other alternatives are discussed, of which only 6...Ne7 is branded interesting. Kosten gives: "6...Ne7!? 7 d5 Qg6 8 Qd4 Bf5 9 Ne3 Nd7 10 Bd2 Nf6 =+ Mileika-Benins, Latvia 1977, is more interesting." Given that everything else is more or less bad for Black, you would think that more attention would be paid to this line, but no. The developing move sure looks reasonably logical, given that White can't take the e4-pawn with advantage due to 7...Qe6 followed by ...d5. My silicon friend likes the odd-looking 7 Qh5+, intending 7...g6 8 Qa5(!), and the alternative 7...Qg6 may not appeal to many gambiteers after 8 Qxg6+ hxg6 (or 8...Nxg6 9 Ne3 and the epawn falls) 9 Ne3 and once again Black is struggling to hold on to his forward e-pawn. 7 f3! exf3 8 Qxf3, and here Nunn's main line (and incidentally his only continuation...) continues with 8...Nc6 9 Bd3 Qg4 10 Qe3+ Be7 11 0-0 Nf6 12 d5 Nb4 13 Rf4 Nbxd5 14 Rxg4 dxe3 15 Rxg7 with a clear advantage for White. Kosten also thinks 8...Nc6 is dubious, although disagreeing with Nunn about the above line, quoting the game PepeElburg, corr. 1999, which continued: 15...Nxc4 16 Bxc4 Nh5 17 Bh6! (17 Rf7 is according to Kosten met with 17...c6 followed by ...d5 with no evaluation given, but White still seems to have the somewhat better chances after 18 Rf1 d5 19 Bd3) 17...Nxg7 18 Bxg7 Rf8 19 Bxf8 Bxf8 "after the forcing play, Black is behind in development, but enjoys a useful pair of bishops". Hmmm, can that really be true? Well, White seems to be able to improve with 19 Nd5!?, e.g.19...Bd8 20 Nxc7+! Bxc7 21 Re1+ Be6 (moving the king doesn't make Black any happier) 22 Rxe6+ Kd7 23 Bxf8 Rxf8 24 Rh6 with a probably winning endgame for White, or 19...Kd8 20 Re1 Bh4 21 g3 Rf7 22 Bc3 Bg5 23 h4 Bh6 24 Nf6 Rf8 25 Ng8 Rxg8 26 Bf6+ Kd7 27 Bxg8, which is a long, but as far as I can see forced (unlike 19 Bxf8 above...) line, which also is highly unpleasant for Black.

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Kosten instead prefers 8...Be7, but even he believes this leads to a slight edge for White, but maybe White can do even better, e.g. 9 Bd3 Qg4 10 Qxg4 Bxg4 11 Ne3 Be6, and here Kosten analyses both 12 Be4 and 12 0-0 to advantage for White, but most unpleasant for Black is probably 12 Ned5 Kd7 13 Nf4, e.g. 13...Nf6 14 Nxe6 Kxe6 15 0-0 Kd7 16 Bf5+ Kd8 17 Be3 with a clear advantage for White. While we are looking at this line, we should also take a quick look at Bronstein's 6 Be2, which I have always considered best. Kosten writes: "Black has tried many replies: A) 6...Nc6; B) 6...Qd8; C) 6...d5?!; D) 6...Qf7?!; E) 6...h5?; ...without ever finding one that is completely satisfactory." This is entirely true, and although Kosten gives a few lines ending with unclear positions, even these are not entirely convincing, e.g. 6...Nc6 7 d5 Ne5 8 0-0 h5 ('!?' by Kosten the main line 8...Qg6 is just awful for Black) 9 Nc3 Bf5 10 Nxe5 dxe5 11 Be3 Bd6, and here Kosten only analyses the 'risky' (Kosten) 12 Bxh5?!, which unnecessarily lets Black into the game again, but 12 f3! looks very good for White, e.g. 12...Qg6 (12...exf3 is also unappealing after 13 Bb5+! Kd8 14 Qxf3) 13 fxe4 Bh3 14 Rf2 with a solid edge for White. Line 2: 4 Nc4 fxe4 5 Nc3 Qf7 Kosten and Nunn both analyse 5...Qg6 6 d3 Bb4, but here their opinions differ. Nunn only gives 7 dxe4 Qxe4+ 8 Ne3 Bxc3+ 9 bxc3 Ne7 10 Bc4 d6 11 0-0 with a clear edge for White, which Kosten meets with... nothing! After 10 Bc4, Kosten writes "as per NCO, but this offers White nothing." Whether this is correct or not, Kosten should have offered a continuation for Black, just saying it offers nothing is simply not serious. That being said, Kosten's main continuation in the book, starting with 7 Bd2! looks even more convincing. 6 Ne3! c6 7.Nxe4 d5 8.Ng5 Qf6 9.Nf3 Bd6 10.d4 Ne7 11.c4 00 Both Kosten and the NCO discuss the merits of the
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alternative 11...Be6, but as both sources give, this line too is advantageous for White. 12.Qb3 Be6 13.c5 Bf4 14.Qxb7 Nd7 15.Qb3 g5 16.h3 h5 17.Qc2 This is a critical position. White's last move prevents 17...g4 because of 18 hxg4 hxg4 19 Qh7 mate! The main lines are: 2.1) 17...Nf5 (Nunn's only continuation) 18 Bd2 g4 19 hxg4 Nxe3 20 Bxe3 Bxe3 21 fxe3 [CH: 21 Rxh5!? may also win, but is unnecessarily complicated] 21...Bxg4 22 0-0-0, with a winning advantage for White according to the NCO. 2.2) 17...Rf7 ('!' by Kosten, who has this move as his main line, which we follow next few moves...) 18.Bd2 g4 19.hxg4 hxg4 20.Ng1 Be5, which receives '!!' by Kosten and according to a very long analysis by Bcker, sufficient for equality, something I will agree with (at least for now). However, I think White has a stronger 18th move, which is not analysed by Kosten: 18.h4! (apparently assisting Black in playing ...g4) 18...g4 19.Ng5!, and now Black has a couple of options to look at: 2.21) 19...Bxg5 20.hxg5 Qxg5 21.Nc4 Qf6 22.Nd6 Qxd4 (22...Rh7 23 Bd3 Rh8 24 Be3 leaves White a solid pawn up, with Black's pieces awkwardly placed) 23 Be3 Qb4+ 24 Bd2 Qxc5 25 Qxc5 Nxc5 26 Rc1 with a clear, if not winning, advantage for White. 2.22) 19...Bf5!? 20 Nxf5 Nxf5 21 Bxf4 Nxd4 22 Qd2 (22 Nxf7 Re8+ is not particularly convincing for White) 22...Qxf4 23 0-0-0!, and Black has problems controlling all of his loose pieces. One possible continuation is 23...Nxc5
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24 Qxf4 Rxf4 25 g3 Ncb3+ 26 axb3 Rxf2 27 b4 Nb3+ 28 Kb1 Rb8 29 b5, and White should come out on top. So with the above examples in mind, along with other critical lines for Black close to being bad or plain awful for Black, you can with some justification question the title of the present book. I doubt Kosten chose this title himself, but it definitely does not reflect what we can find inside the book. This is of course not the first time a publisher has come up with some a misleading (Baburin's otherwise excellent Winning Pawn Structures by the same publisher is a good example), but I guess this is something we have to tolerate. They are out to sell books whether we like the books or not. We can just hope that people will not blindly go by the title and the backcover blurb, which is this case ends with the following statement "Ultimately, the book confirms that the Latvian Gambit lives." Judging Kosten's effort, I must admit that I'm pleased. He stays fairly objective, which is something most books on questionable gambits and off-beat openings usually don't do. He undertook to cover the Latvian Gambit and he has succeeded in doing so admirably. In a work such as the present one you will, as I have illustrated above, always find analytical errors, misjudgments and omissions. This is, however, what you can expect when an author sets out to chart previously unexplored territory. Kosten is honest and calls the shots as he sees them, even when the conclusions go against what the gambiteers want to see, and that's the way it should be. So thumbs up for that. Is the Latvian Gambit dead? A good question indeed. My personal opinion remains unchanged: it doesn't look too good. However, this doesn't mean that Black can't have fun playing it. Well-prepared, but lower-ranked players may spring this gambit on an unsuspecting opponent, and in games with shorter time controls it can prove useful. However, in serious games, I will always have my doubts.
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My assessment of this book:

Informator 81 by Aleksandar Matanovic et al., 2001 Sahovski Informator, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Paperback, 348 pp., $36.00 Three times every year I receive the Informator or Chess Informant as it is also called, and each time I'm equally pleased. A selection of the best, most important and most interesting games can be found in this book, and in the majority of the games the annotations are by the players themselves. This volume features games by Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, Adams, Morozevich, Ivanchuk, Shirov, Leko, Topalov, Bareev, Gelfand, Karpov and everybody else on the who's who list in chess. In the present volume, there are 490 games or main partial games. Added to that there are a number of partial games focusing on the opening phase.
As usual the book opens with the vote for the ten best game of the previous volume and the ten most important theoretical novelties of the previous volume. This time the winner in both polls is game two from the KasparovKramnik match in London last year.

The book concludes with a small biography of Kramnik, World Champion to some of us, and World number two to others. The biography consists of a selection of Kramnik's games, most interesting novelties, endgames and combinations, as well as some statistical information. If you want an excellent update of what has happened on the game and theoretical front the past three or four months, there is not a better choice in print.
My assessment of this book:

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Special Feature Chesspublishing.com - Part 1

Chesspublishing.com is essentially a web-based opening theory publication. Every month you will receive updates on the current status on the opening theory by a grandmaster and an international master. The updates vary a lot from subject to subject, because each master has his own idea of how to handle these updates. The are a total of 13 sections, of which the 12 cover particular openings; the last one is a bonus update you get if you subscribe to the twelve others. You have to pay for these, but the price for the subscription is very reasonable. If you choose to subscribe to only a few of them, you have to tread more carefully, since not all of them are equally good. So if you think you don't have the time or the sufficient strength and inside knowledge to study the thousands of games you can download each month for free from the internet, this may be just the right choice for you. I will leave that up to you to decide. This month I will cover four e4-sections. One of the points that has been criticized by the subscribers of Chesspublishing.com was, among others, the inability to print out the games or add your own analysis. This has been corrected: We are now told: Get fast access to all the games in the latest updates with our new interactive PGN interface, ChessPub 1.1. It offers an easy way to download games from the latest monthly update(s) and in your favorite variations. With ChessPub, you can: - Access all the games, with their original expert comments and analysis - Choose whether you want to add your own comments, questions and variations, for GM contributors and other subscribers to see. - Choose whether to view some or all of the subsequent comments, questions and analysis added by Chess Publishing subscribers.

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Definitely a step in the right direction to make the product more user-friendly. 1 e4 e5 by GM Paul Motwani This one was my favourite last year, and must admit that I still enjoy it tremendously. Paul Motwani or Mr. Mo as he calls himself, clearly is very passionate about what he writes. He gives everything funny names, something that makes the study of his material more interesting and easy to remember. Readers of his books, will recognize his ideas about acronym-based learning, and there is more of that here. Obviously if you like it, it's great; if you don't, you will probably find it over the top and way too much to deal with in one go. I fall into the former group, and personally knowing Mr. Mo from spending time with him 10 years ago (yes, we are all getting older - this month I'm turning 30 myself!), when I was competing in the European circuit of open tournaments, it brings back great memories. Mr. Mo tells us: "Of White's 20 possible first moves, 1 e4 is the most popular choice in practice, and there is no sounder reaction for Black than 1...e5. We then have a large mouth-watering menu of ways to continue, and just for luck, I have divided the full range of possibilities into 13 (!) groups". He then proceeds to list these with cute names attached to them, such as "Group 8 C44 [CH: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 c3 and others] - 'A little tree and move three'". The material on Motwani's page is divided up as follows:
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What's new- Sept '01 August '01 Update Previous Updates Reflection Zone Puzzle Paradise About Mr Mo Index of Openings Index of Games Index of Players Email Mr Mo Symbols & Abbreviations Mr Mo's Homepage

The main part of your subscription is the monthly update. Again we are not let down by our friendly webmaster. A typical update looks pretty much like this:
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Announcement Bonus Brainteaser Puzzle Solution Birthday Game Thanks Dedication New Highlights

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M.O. Moves Rewind Reward Game of the Month Motto of the Month Reflection Zone Index of New Games New Index of Players New Index of Openings

The Announcement is the invitation to the subscribers to write to him with lines they want to have analysed in detail. Since he promises to get to everybody's requests, it's definitely an announcement worth paying attention to. He also promises to reply to all e-mails with questions sent to him. Nice man. The Brainteaser is a little puzzle, the difficulty level of which varies from month to month. This month the Brainteaser is a pawn ending, the previous month, which of three possible moves Black could play without losing on the spot. Under the header Birthday Game is a game by either a subscriber or a wellknown player. In the September update, we are presented with the "Immortal Game", Anderssen-Kieseritzky, played in London 1851. This is in honour of Belarus super-GM Fedorov, who frequently plays the King's Gambit. A key ingredient in the monthly update are the annotated games. This update contains 15 games. The annotations are mostly verbal, which is useful for the more inexperienced players, whereas stronger players will want more analysis than Motwani offers. An example is the following game. Velimirovic,D - Sekulic,V C41 Bijeljina, Yugoslavia 2001, 2001 Mr Mo's game G6.13 G6.13: "A very mean game by Velimirovic!" 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 I have never liked this move, and the reason is because of White's powerful possibility which features soon at move five... 4.dxe5 Nxe4 5.Qd5! This is it! 5...Nc5 6.Bg5 Be7 7.exd6 Qxd6 8.Nc3 0-0 9.0-0-0 Qxd5 10.Nxd5 OK, Black could have deviated before this point, but in general in this opening it's true that White retains an enduring initiative even after an exchange of queens.

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10...Bd6 Reader's Challenge Puzzle P6.13.1: After 10...Bxg5+ 11.Nxg5 Nba6 Can you see how White forces a neat win? Look out...here comes the answer! 12.Ne7+ Kh8 13.Nxf7+! Rxf7 14.Rd8+ Rf8 15.Rxf8# 11.Be7! Bxe7 Forced. 11...Re8?? 12.Bxd6 cxd6 13.Nc7 12.Nxe7+ Kh8 13.Nxc8 Rxc8 14.Ne5 f6 14...Kg8 15.Bc4 Ne6 16.Rhe1 subjects Black to unbearable pressure; whereas 14...Rf8 immediately drops a pawn to 15.Nxf7+! 15.Nf7+! Kg8 16.Nd8! Nc6 17.Bc4+ Kf8 18.Nxc6 bxc6 19.b4 Na4? The best chance to fight on was 19...Ne4 20.Rd7 Nd6 21.Bb3 a5 22.bxa5 c5. 20.Rd7 Nb6 21.Rf7+ Kg8 22.Be6 Re8 23.Bb3 Nd5 24.Rxc7 Kf8 24...Re6 falls even faster to 25.Rxc6! 25.Bxd5 cxd5 26.Rd1 Re2 27.Rd2 Re1+ 28.Kb2 Re5 29.Kc3 a5 30.b5 Rb8 31.a4 Re4 32.Rd4 Re2 33.Rxd5 Black resigned, instead of prolonging his suffering in a line such as 33...Rxf2 34 b6! Rxg2 (34...Rxb6 35 Rd8#) 35 b7 Re2 36 Rc8+ Re8 37 Rxb8 Rxb8 38 Rd7 followed by Rc7-c8+. 1-0 In general this page aims at weaker players, but in my opinion this group will benefit tremendously from Motwani's inspiring tone and verbal explanations.

My assessment of this section:

The French by GM Neil McDonald British GM McDonald has written several books on the French, and regular readers of this column will know that he has written several good opening manuals, and some less good ones as well. As he notes on the starting page: "I have spent at least 18 years playing the French as Black, and just as long trying to refute it with White! So I am open
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to ideas for both sides." McDonald's sections:

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French Homepage October '01 - What's New September '01 Update August '01 Update July '01 Update Previous Updates What's Hot About Neil McDonald Reviews Feedback/Emailbag

Each update consists up the latest developments and other interesting ideas in the French. In the most recent update, the October update contains 10 games, all analysed with a good balance of verbal annotations and analysis. Here is an example: Grischuk,A (2669) - Bareev,E (2719) C02 ECC Panormo GRE (3), 25.09.2001 Black had better find an improvement on this game if he still wants to play 5...Nh6! 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nh6 6.Bd3 cxd4 If Black plays immediately 6...Nf5 then White can leave him with a pawn on d5 that can be attacked from the front after 7.Bxf5 exf5 8.dxc5 Therefore he takes first on d4 so that after the recapture on d4 the pawn is shielded. However, White crosses this plan. 7.Bxh6!? Highly significant- all the top class games have previously continued 7.cxd4 when Black has the chance to play 7...Nf5 7...gxh6 8.cxd4 Bd7 Here the attack on White's centre with 8...f6 seems even riskier than a move earlier in the game Afek-Vaganian where Black hadn't exchanged pawns on d4. For example 9.0-0 fxe5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.dxe5 and White has the extra option of Nc3. 9.Nc3 Qb6

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The key moment in the opening. It appears that Black is doing fine as both b2 and d4 are hanging. Has Grischuk messed things up? 10.Bb5! No! He has prepared a very interesting pawn sacrifice. This is much better than 10.Be2 Qxb2 11.Nb5 Bb4+ 10...Rg8 If 10...Nxe5 11.Nxe5 Bxb5 12.Qh5 and Black has no way to defend f7 as 12...Qc7 drops a bishop. So Bareev prepares to defend f7 with Rg7.; With the advantage of hindsight, perhaps Black should play 10...Bg7 but I still like White's position e.g. 11.Bxc6 Bxc6 12.Qe2 (12.Qd2 Qa6!? ) 12...0-0 13.0-0 when if Black frees himself with 13...f6 14.exf6 Rxf6 he leaves a big hole on e5. 11.0-0 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Bxb5 13.Qh5 Rg7 14.Rfe1! Suddenly White has some big threats, including 15.Nxd5! 14...Rd8 Unfortunately for Black he cannot escape with 14...0-0-0 as White has a forced sequence to win the exchange: 15.Nxb5 Qxb5 16.Rac1+ Kb8 17.Nxf7 Re8 Black is mated after (17...Rd7 18.Qe5+ Ka8 19.Rc8# ) 18.Qe5+ Ka8 19.Nd6 Bxd6 20.Qxg7 15.Nxb5 Qxb5 16.Nxf7! Rxf7 17.Rxe6+ Bareev resigned as he will be two pawns down: 17...Be7 18.Rxe7+! Kxe7 19.Re1+ Kf8 20.Qxh6+ Kg8 Or 20...Rg7 21.Qf6+ Kg8 22.Qxd8+ 21.Qg5+ Kf8 22.Qxd8+ etc. 1-0 Generally speaking, I like McDonald's page because it is very much up-todate, the games are usually very recent, he covers the subject well, explains the ideas behind the different lines to an extent where even in-experienced players will benefit, yet has enough depth to offer some interesting for stronger players as well.

My assessment of this section:

Dragons by GM Chris Ward

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This sounds almost too good to be true, a subject by one of the really great specialists these lines. Chris Ward is the author behind the excellent Winning with the Dragon, and not too long ago I received the most recent Winning with the Dragon 2, a book I hope to return to next month. As on McDonald's page, the main focus is the monthly update, because that's pretty much all you get. The updates don't contain particularly many games. The October update has seven games, September only five, while August had eight. However, that is in my opinion simply not enough. I would like to have seen some more introductory material in the monthly update. The verbal introduction to the October update looks like this: New Games Yugoslav 9 0-0-0 OCT01/05 That quiet king move!: Yes the cautious Kb1 is back in the spotlight as White tries to utilise it to refute another currently trendy Black line. OCT01/06 The running king: You can run and you CAN hide appears to be the moral of this story! OCT01/07 Things can only get better!: What else can you say when the offhand suggestion of 14...fxg6 appears to be scoring 0% !!! Yugoslav 9 Bc4 OCT01/02 Playing it by the book; my book!: Yep Black purchases a useful textbook and an enjoyable point is soon in the bag. Give Black credit though, in this sharp Yugoslav Attack game he had clearly done his homework. Classical OCT01/01 Hang on a minute!: An equal looking game that appears to fairly end in a draw. That's more or less true- once you eliminate the double blunder! Accelerated Dragon OCT01/03 The h6-knight!: An interesting idea or a ridiculous move? Dragon: Other lines OCT01/04 Sticking to his guns!: But is it now time for White to be seeking a change of opening variation from this dubious pawn sac? I'm sure you catch my drift, much unlike what you will catch of Ward's introduction above. For a lot of people, I believe he is simply talking right over their heads. As an example of his annotations, I will present you with the
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following game from this Month's update. Fressinet,L (2606) - Polzin,R (2469) B76 Bundesliga 2001-2 Magdeburg GER (1), 06.10.2001 That quiet king move! That quiet king move!: Yes the cautious Kb1 is back in the spotlight as White tries to utilise it to refute another currently trendy Black line. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 Bd7 10.Kb1 Rc8 11.g4 Ne5 12.h4 Qa5 13.Nb3 It's clear that 13.Nd5 Qxd2 14.Nxe7+ Kh8 15.Bxd2 Rce8 isn't as good as it might first look and with the text White avoids 13 h5 Nxf3! and eschews the solid 13 Be2. 13...Qc7 14.Be2 b5 15.h5 Interestingly enough though this precise situation is extremely rare, the same position but with the king still on c1 has been reached a number of times. Then White (to play) has opted for the likes of 15 hxg6 (i.e. h5 has already been inserted instead of Kb1) 15...hxg6 16 g5 has turned out well for Black after 16...b4!. If the result of this game is anything to go by it would appear that the quiet 15 Kb1 transposing, is a continuation worth taking seriously. Personally I am sceptical but we shall see! 15...b4 Certainly (and in the only other game from this position I can find) the 15...Nc4!? 16.Bxc4 bxc4 17.Nd4 Qb7 18.Qh2 Rb8 19.Bc1 h6 20.hxg6 fxg6 21.b3 cxb3 22.axb3 Rfc8 23.Rd3 h5?! 24.gxh5 Nxh5 25.Qg2 Be8 26.Rxh5 Bxd4 27.Rxd4 Rxc3 28.Bb2 Rxc2 29.Qxc2 gxh5 30.Qg2+ Kf8?! (Instead 30...Kf7 avoids the text) 31.Rb4 Bb5 32.Qg6 e6 33.Qh6+ Ke7 34.Rd4 Be2 35.e5 Bxf3 36.Qg7+ Ke8 37.Qg8+ Ke7 38.Qg7+ Ke8 39.Qg8+ Ke7 40.exd6+ Kd7 41.Qf7+ Kd8 42.Qf8+ Kd7 43.Qe7+ Kc6 44.Rc4+ Kb5 45.d7 1-0 of Palac,M-Lalic,B Pula 2000 is food for thought. 16.Nd5 Nxd5 17.exd5 f5 Possibly this is a little ambitious but Black wants to give White something to think about other than the h-file. 18.hxg6 hxg6 19.Bh6 f4 20.Nd4 Qc5 21.Qe1 Rf7 22.Qh4 22.Bxg7 Rxg7 23.Qh4 a5 24.Ba6 Re8 25.Ne6 highlights the danger to Black despite an apparant grip on the dark squares but Black has other ways to play.
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22...Nxf3?! A tactic that wins a pawn but still leaves the black king in a far more dangerous situation than it's opposite number. 23.Bxf3 And NOT 23.Nxf3?? Qxc2+ 24.Ka1 Qxb2# 23...Bxd4 24.Be4 Ba4 25.Rh2 The likes of Bg5 and a trebling of major pieces on the h-file is a serious threat. 25...Bxb2 26.Qg5 I wouldn't be surprised if the attack foiling 26.Kxb2 Qc3+ 27.Kb1 b3 28.axb3 Bxb3 29.Qe1! works too but there is no need for White to go on the defensive. 26...Bg7 27.Qxg6 Qc3 28.Qh7+ Mate comes next go with 29 Qh8. 1-0 My main objection to the annotations to this and other games is that there are no or very few references to other games that have been presented in previous updates. Is the present page something you must have if you play or have interest in the Dragon? Not really. If you have Ward's most recent book as well as Golubev's Easy Guide to the Dragon (Everyman Chess 1999) you should be sufficiently covered theoretically for some time to come.

My assessment of this section:

Open Sicilians by John Fedorowicz Last year's review of Fedorowicz' efforts revealed that his efforts or lack thereof were completely unacceptable, and unfortunately I feel this is still the case, since he has not changed his approach at all. Although his monthly updates have more games (usually 30+ games) than any of the other updates, they are the least thorough. His monthly run-through of the games is much like Ward's. A few words about the game, but very little substance. The same goes for his game annotations, which I would find truly offensive if I had to pay for this service. The following game is fairly typical in that sense. I have to admit
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that the general level of annotations is somewhat better than last year, but there is still a long way to go to be satisfactory. Bauer,P (2285) - Stangl,M (2405) B96 BL8990, 1990 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.e5 h6 10.Bh4 g5 11.fxg5 Nd5 12.Ne4 Qb6 13.c4?! I think White should stick with 13 Bd3 13...dxe5 14.cxd5 Qb4+! 15.Nc3 Qxh4+ 16.g3 Qxg5 17.dxc6 Bc5 18.Qf3 f5 19.Be2 h5 20.Rf1 Ra7 21.Rd1 Rc7 It reminds me of some Poisoned Pawn positions. 22.a3 e4 23.Nxe4 fxe4 24.Qxe4 Rf8 25.Rxf8+ Bxf8 26.b4 Bg7 27.Rd3 Rf7 28.Qc4 Qe5 29.Kd1 Rf2 13 c4 looked highly dubious 0-1 My impression of this page is that neither weak nor strong players will have much use of these monthly updates by Fedorowicz in their current format.

My assessment of this section:

To be continued he Ratings
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.

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Copyright 2001 Carsten Hansen. All rights reserved.

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