Chess in the Greater Manchester area

home\ news\ federation\ competitions\ juniors\ gallery\ games\ history\ archive\ videos\ manchester\ links

The Petrosian System Against the QID
By Alexander Beliavsky and Adrian Mikhalchishin
Chess Stars, November 2008
ISBN: 978-9548782685

This is an excellent monograph on the Petrosian system (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3), which is currently considered to be White’s most testing response to the Queen’s Indian Defence.  The beginning of the book (Part 1) deals with the consequences of 4 … c5 and 4 … Ba6, but the main focus is on 4 … Bb7 (Parts 2-11).  A final section (Part 12) focuses on gambit lines.  The purpose of 4.a3, curious though it may seem at first sight, is to fight for the e4 square.  White spends a tempo to prevent … Bb4 in response to Nc3, which enables the knight to support e2-e4.

After the usual 4 … Bb7 5.Nc3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5, the first player has three options.  The older 7.e3 generally leads to quiet positional play, initially at any rate; the e-pawn will reach e4 in two moves, not one.  The modern 7.Qc2, aiming for an immediate e2-e4, is sharper.  White will meet … Nxc3 with bxc3, capturing toward the centre, and castle kingside after Bd3.  The Dementiev system, characterised by 7.Bd2, is sharpest of all, mind.  White aims to play Qc2, 0-0-0 and a later e2-e4, recapturing on c3 with the bishop.  If Black responds with … c5 at some point, as he should, the situation can get rather dicey for both sides.  Whichever option he chooses, White can usually count on a smooth harmonious development.

Each part or section has the same format: ‘Main Ideas’ gives the gist – a general overview – of a particular variation or system, while ‘Move by Move’ is concerned with the analytical nitty-gritty.  This strikes me as an effective, user-friendly way to set out the material, though some complete illustrative games would have been welcome.

The prose is generally fine, though the translation does read peculiarly in a few places: ‘that’ where ‘this’ would be appropriate, the omission of an indefinite article here and there.  There is plenty of helpful expository and explanatory text, along with the often heavy-weight analysis, and a conclusion ends each section.

For those in the know, the presence of Beliavsky as co-author will be a virtual guarantee of quality, and so it turns out.  It is bang up-to-date, too: Beliavsky’s own win (as Black) versus Krasenkow, played at Kallithea in 2008, is mentioned on pages 57 and 61.  It is game 284 in the latest volume (No. 104) of Informator.

All in all, this book presents a thorough, balanced and authoritative examination of current thinking on the Petrosian system.

Paul Kane of Salford has kindly agreed to write a series of book reviews for the website.

William Steinitz, Chess Champion: A Biography of the Bohemian Caesar
By Kurt Landsberger
McFarland & Company, October 2006
ISBN-13: 978-0786428465

This is an enthralling biography of William (or Wilhelm) Steinitz, the first world chess champion and the father of modern chess.  Steinitz was the player and theorist who laid the foundations for our current understanding of chess, and he was probably the game’s deepest thinker; his only other rival in this regard is Nimzowitsch, who reacted to Tarrasch’s simplified codification of Steinitz’s thought.

Many years of research have gone into the writing of this long and detailed work, which is clearly a labour of love.  Landsberger traces the trajectory of Steinitz’s life from his childhood in the Prague ghetto, about which relatively little is now known, to his short time in Vienna as a young man and his later emigration to London, where he stayed for 20 years.  It was in London that he came to prominence, most notably by defeating Adolf Anderssen in a match in 1866.  From that point on, Steinitz was regarded as the world’s best player until his defeat by Lasker in 1894.  By that time, he had settled in America.

There were elements of tragedy to Steinitz’s life, and the author does not shy away from these.  As is generally known, he had mental health problems in the last years of his life and he often had difficulty in eking out a living as a chess player and journalist.  In essence, though, his life was one of immense intellectual achievement; he revolutionised our understanding of chess.

Some excellent extras enhance the text.  Andy Soltis provides deep annotations to 15 of Steinitz’s best games and two other games, played by correspondence between London and Vienna in 1872-1974, are annotated by Steinitz and Potter: they were significant as a test of Steinitz's ideas.  David Hooper’s perspicacious article on Steinitz’s theory of chess is reprinted from the British Chess Magazine, September 1984; and there are 46 black and white plates, which include photographs of the great man and his contemporaries, some facsimiles of his letters and an array of stamps issued in his honour.

The author includes many contemporary accounts and profiles of Steinitz, as well as excerpts from his letters and writings, and those who have a fascination with chess history will find this deeply-researched book to be engrossing.  Imagine a period when the headline, ‘Great Discovery in Chess’, could appear in a daily newspaper, as it in fact appeared in the New York Sun for 2 June 1895.  And the nature of this ‘great discovery’?  Steinitz had just announced that he had discovered a perfect defence to the Evan’s Gambit.  It was a different age.

Fighting the Ruy Lopez
By Milos Pavlovic
Everyman Chess, June 2009
ISBN-13: 978-1857445909

It is heartening to hear the author caution early on, on page 5 in fact, that one should not ‘expect to find instant solutions inside a book – amongst other things chess is a process of continual learning’; it indicates that there won’t be any easy answers here, or any simplistic remedies.  Pavlovic has written a repertoire book which provides a complete Black response to the Ruy Lopez.  As such, it does not present a total solution to the perennial problem of how to meet 1.e4, but it certainly aims to take you a long way down that road.

The centrepiece of the proposed repertoire is the Marshall Attack (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5!), which is thoroughly covered in Part 1 (chapters 1-7).  Throughout, the theory is about as current as a printed book could be.  So, in the main line, Kramnik’s 18.Qf1 Qh5 19.f3, temporarily sacrificing the bishop on e3, is included; it was first played against Aronian at Yerevan 2007.  And there is a full discussion of 15.Qe2, a move introduced by Svidler in 2007, which seems to have caught on – there are a lot of 2008 references here.  It should be noted that, in the main line of the Marshall, theory often extends past move 20, and so you must sometimes be prepared to follow another player’s moves for quite a long while.  

The second part (chapters 8-11) covers various Anti-Marshall lines, and it is interesting that Kasparov never allowed Black to play the Marshall; he always avoided it with 8.a4 or 8.h3.  One curious omission here is 8.a3, Suetin’s move; it is a minor option, but still.  Together, these first two sections make up the bulk of the book, while the last part (chapters 12-15) covers early white deviations.  These include the Exchange Variation (4.Bxc6), the Worrall and Centre Attacks (6.Qe2 and 6.d4), 6.Nc3 (a move which Keres had an inexplicable fondness for) and the rather dreary DERLD (6.Bxc6).  Against each White system, Pavlovic gives just one Black choice (e.g. 5 … Bd6 versus the Exchange Variation after 4 … dxc6 5.0-0), but it is generally an active line, yet principled and sound.  So it is in keeping with the overall character and tenor of the Marshall Attack.

There are pros and cons to adopting any mainstream opening line.  In order to play it well, you will need to make quite a substantial investment of time and effort.  It is likely to be time well spent in this case, mind.  The Marshall gives good winning chances and is generally reliable, being the choice of many elite players; it is unlikely to be refuted any time soon.  And you cannot say the same for many other gambits or aggressive defences against the Ruy.

This volume is an excellent place to start if you are thinking of taking up the Marshall Attack, though bearing in mind the author’s words of caution about not expecting ‘instant solutions’.  Milos Pavlovic plays the Marshall himself, and he has contributed to its theory.  In each chapter, he sets out the material well, highlighting the strategic themes and outlining the various typical plans and schemes of development for each side, before examining the theory in depth.  Although an advocate for the Black side, his appraisals and evaluations strike one as being honest and objective.  Fighting the Ruy Lopez is what the author hoped it would be: a serious book.

Kill KID 1
By Semko Semkov
Chess Stars, April 2009
ISBN-13: 978-9548782708

No, this is not the screenplay, or a 'novelisation', of an obscure Quentin Tarantino movie.  Instead, Semkov's book presents an aggressive yet principled white repertoire that aims to demolish the King's Indian Defence.

At its centre is the Four Pawns Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4), with the theoretical material set out in three sections.  'Modern Benoni Pawn Structures' (Parts 1 and 2) covers the main line (5 ... c5 6.d5 0-0 7.Nf3 e6 8.Be2 exd5 9.cxd5).  Here, 9 ... Re8 is usual but Black has played a number of other moves as well (e.g. 9 ... b5, 9 ... Bg4 and 9 ... Nbd7); all are covered thoroughly.  Of most significance in this section is the author’s preferred way of meeting 9 … Re8, to wit: 10. e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Ng4 12.e6! fxe6 13.d6! – and here I follow the author’s punctuation.  Semkov provides extensive original analysis to show that this pawn sacrifice gives White an enduring initiative.  Indeed, demonstrating the viability of this line was, in main part, the rationale for writing the book.

The second section, ‘King’s Indian Defence and Volga Pawn Structures’ (Parts 3 and 4), deals with lines where Black forgoes or delays … c5 (e.g. 5 … 0-0 6.Nf3 Na6) and lines where Black forgoes 7 … e6 (e.g. by playing 7 … b5!? instead).  These options are comprehensively examined, and the author also takes the opportunity to challenge analysis and evaluations by other authors, such as Joe Gallagher and Mikhail Golubev.

The final section (Parts 5-7) includes some aggressive suggestions as to how to meet the Modern Defence and the Old Indian.  The rationale here is that Black may use either of these move orders (1 … g6 and 2 … Bg7, etc. or 1 … Nf6 and 2 … d6) to attempt to avoid the Four Pawns Attack.  For example, after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 White may be tempted to play 3.Nf3 (to stop … e5),  when after 3 … g6 Black has got a King's Indian Defence, sidestepping the Four Pawns Attack in the process.

The structure of Chess Stars’ opening books – ‘Quick Repertoire’ for the essence of a line and ‘Step by Step’ for a considered analysis - has already been favourably remarked upon (in my review of The Petrosian System Against the QID).  Here, in addition, there are 19 complete illustrative games.  The English syntax is still a little strange sometimes, and on occasion the vocabulary is just plain wrong, e.g. ‘transiting’ on page 84, when transposing would be correct.

In summary, though, this is a neat package.  Part 2 in particular (detailing the intricacies of 12.e6! fxe6 13.d6!) looks like a significant contribution to the theory of the Four Pawns Attack.  In Semkov’s analysis of this opening, the positions are at worst double-edged and look exciting to play.  White generally has good prospects of a kingside attack, so there should be a lot of ‘red’ on the board, to use Tarantino’s term, if you play this line.

Karlsbad 1907 International Chess Tournament
By George Marco and Carl Schlechter
Translated by Robert Sherwood
Caissa Editions, 2007

It has taken well nigh a century for this classic tournament book to be translated into English.  Much too long, of course, but one has to concede that it has been well worth the wait.

Karlsbad 1907 was a fairly strong tournament.  Although it lacked the presence of Lasker and Tarrasch, the rest of the best players of the day participated.  Rubinstein, then in his prime, came first and was closely followed by Maroczy.  Other participants included Chigorin, Janowsky, Marshall, Duras and Nimzowitsch.  The future author of My System was 20 years old at the time and shared fourth and fifth place with Schlechter.  We are told by one contemporary commentator (quoted here, in a newspaper account of the tournament) that he was ‘a young, upcoming talent, whose supporters will have to help curb his temperament if he is to attain successes at the chessboard and in the intercourse of society’.  What the latter comment refers to is left unsaid.

All of the 210 games are annotated, about three quarters of them by Marco and the rest by Schlechter.  The translator, Robert Sherwood, has added to these annotations: expanding, correcting and validating the authors’ analysis as appropriate.  As an aid, Sherwood has made use of both his faithful Rybka and notes from a few other sources (such as Kmoch’s book on Rubinstein).  From the many splendid games on show, here is a favourite five:

Marco has quite a high reputation as an annotator, and it has to be said that he more than lives up to it.  The breadth of his mind is everywhere evident; his notes are by turns poetic and methodical and rigorous.  He has a knack for identifying critical moments and turning points.  Indeed, his annotations are often of greater interest than the games themselves.  Or rather, they are so penetrating and instructive that they make even pedestrian games interesting, by clearly demonstrating their internal logic.  One modest example: Mieses-Maroczy, a bishop and pawn ending, was agreed drawn after 46 moves.  Does this sound appealing?  Well, perhaps not.  Yet Marco’s note to Black’s 37th move, which extends over two pages and is full of detailed analyses and intricate explanations, compels you to look at this game with renewed appreciation.  And this is by no means a solitary example; e.g. the note to move 48 in Salwe-Cohn is of a similar length and depth.

Often, Marco’s notes are of a more general nature.  Recurring themes are the role of chance, risk and uncertainty in chess, and the ineluctable nature of human fallibility and folly (‘It is remarkable how often, in the realization of its aims, the human mind uses the most impractical methods,’ begins one such exasperated meditation).  His note to the fourth move of Marshall-Cohn is a reflection on why paradigms are so slow to change, in science, religion and chess, and it pretty much anticipates the thought of Thomas Kuhn.  (Well, perhaps I exaggerate somewhat here.)

Karlsbad 1907 International Chess Tournament is, without a doubt,  a classic of chess literature and this beautifully produced edition, bound in red cloth, is commensurate with its worth.  Ideally, it should be read in a wood-paneled library, with a glass of port by your side and your faithful bulldog napping by the fire.  It is an absolute pleasure for all who love chess.

Kasparov: How His Predecessors Misled Him About Chess
By Tibor Karolyi and Nick Aplin
Batsford, February 2009
ISBN-13: 978-1906388263

The books that have successfully combined chess and humour are few in number.  Offhand, one can recall only three outstanding examples: The Twelve Chairs, a satiric Russian novel of 1928 by Ilf and Petrov; and a couple of more recent efforts, How To Cheat at Chess and Soft Pawn, both from the adept pen of William Hartston.  Tibor Karolyi and Nick Aplin’s book is a creditable effort to join their number.

Kasparov: How His Predecessors Misled Him About Chess is probably best described as a spoof.  The authors adopt the voice and persona of ‘Gary Kasparov’, or rather an imaginary version of the great world champion.  Their Kasparov is a little wimpy and whiney at times, and he is prone to blame his mistakes on past champions.

There are twelve chapters, with each one devoted to a prior world champion, from Steinitz to Karpov.  Every chapter has more or less the same format.  Typically, we see a given world champion making use of a particular tactical motif or strategic device (e.g. Tigran Petrosian’s use of the positional exchange sacrifice) or playing a particular kind of position (say, a rook ending) - and, crucially, succeeding.  We then see a game or three where Kasparov makes use of the same stratagem, or finds himself in a similar position, but matters do not turn out so well.  The joke (there is just the one) is that Kasparov has simply been aping or superficially emulating the great player’s approach without understanding it fully.

It is a neat conceit, but it does become a bit wearing after a while, and it simply cannot be sustained in a book just shy of three hundred pages.  Eventually, one just wants the authors to show the games.  Also, some of the analogies drawn between the past champions’ and Kasparov’s games can be misleading, or not awfully enlightening, as to the nature of the chess.  A firefly is ‘like’ a fire, but phosphorescence and combustion are quite different processes.

The great virtue of this book is, in fact, the chess.  All of the games involve at least one world-class player, so they are of a very high standard indeed.  Generally, the annotations are erudite and enjoyable; the analyses are deep when necessary and accurate.  There are a number of heavyweight K. versus K. encounters, with Kasparov taking on Karpov and later Kramnik.

One overriding message to glean and take home: chess is a concrete game.  It is the details, even the quirks of a position, which determine whether a certain approach is appropriate and likely to prevail.  Therefore, it is never wise to simply parrot or ape an aspect of a great champion’s play (not that the actual Kasparov has ever done this, mind).  Context is all!

Overall, Kasparov: How His Predecessors Misled Him About Chess is fun and instructive, though as indicated the humour is a trifle laboured.  A final thought: it would be interesting to see a book that takes a cool objective look at all of Kasparov’s losses, along the lines of Edmar Mednis’s How To Beat Bobby Fischer.  Perhaps this might be a future project for Karolyi and Aplin?

Dangerous Weapons: Anti-Sicilians
By John Emms, Richard Palliser and Peter Wells
Everyman Chess, May 2009
ISBN-13: 978-1857445855

The Dangerous Weapons series from Everyman Chess aims to acquaint and equip the reader with a number of ambitious or little-known or paradoxical or underestimated lines – dangerous weapons, in short – all centred around a particular opening.  A comparison can be made with the Secrets of Opening Surprises volumes edited by Jeroen Bosch, which cover similar territory: unorthodox or unusual opening variations.  However, the latter are not quite as focused; generally, Bosch’s contributors deal with a hodge-podge of openings in each volume.

There are twelve chapters to Dangerous Weapons: Anti-Sicilians, each one a self-contained and quite discrete theoretical article.  Six of the chapters suggest lines for White, while six look at matters from Black’s perspective.  Peter Wells wrote two of the chapters, with Richard Palliser and John Emms contributing five apiece.

‘Danger with the d4 Gambit’, penned by Wells, is the most substantial chapter, coming in at 42 pages all told.  The gambit in question arises after the moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4. 0-0 Bg7 5. c3 Nf6 and now 6.d4!?  A dangerous weapon par excellence.  Wells’ chapter is quite excellent – considered, rigorous and instructive, giving an insight also into his own general approach to thinking about gambits  – and it follows a set format.  First, there are some introductory remarks regarding the opening variation in question.  Second, there is an illustrative game or two, showing the line to best advantage: here, the brilliant miniature, Lutikov-Ermenkov, Albena 1976, is deeply annotated.  Third, in a section entitled ‘Looking a Little Deeper’, there is a measured, systematic analysis of the variation, looking at the most testing lines and options.  Quite a welcome amount of explanation appears in this section too; in essence, it is the meat of the chapter.  Finally, we are given a conclusion or summing-up.  Occasionally, in certain of these concluding remarks, one can detect a twinge of resentment against the opponent who would plumb for solid equality, avoiding all tricks and traps; as though he or she were a spoilsport, a boring person who shouldn’t be invited to parties.

Not all of the chapters deal with gambits or double-edged attacking possibilities, incidentally, with John Emms’ ‘A Turbo-Charged King’s Indian Attack’ being a case in point.  Emms examines the little-played line 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 (rather than 3.d3, the usual route to the KIA).  The key point is that White reserves the option of an immediate d4, or can play c3 and d4 in one go (rather than c3 and d3-d4, which sometimes occurs after 3.d3: for example, in the famous game Fischer-Panno, Buenos Aires 1970) and this creates some quite unusual problems for Black.  A useful and worthwhile contribution by Emms.

Dangerous Weapons: Anti-Sicilians is certainly a thought-provoking work.  In all of the chapters, there is in general a good balance between advocacy of a particular variation and an objective assessment of its merits, though the authors do sometimes rather hedge their bets.  If you play 1.e4 as White or the Sicilian Defence as Black, you will be sure to find something explosive or combustible to add to your opening arsenal.

Secrets of Opening Surprises 10
Edited by Jeroen Bosch
New In Chess, March 2009
ISBN-13: 978-9056912604

This is the latest volume in a series which remains a rich source of unusual opening ideas, ideal for presenting problems to the opponent at an early stage of the game.

The first chapter is an update, featuring several games that make use of lines that had been discussed in previous volumes. The pick of these games, by a country mile and a half, is Mike Surtees’ victory over Jovanka Houska from the 2008 British Championship, which began 1.e4 c6 2.Ne2 d5 3.e3 c5 4.b4!?

Later chapters (there are a further sixteen) discuss a range of unusual opening lines, with each chapter being essentially a self-contained theoretical article. Bosch himself has written the bulk of these (he has provided five chapters in total) and other contributors include Sergey Tiviakov, Adrian Mikhalchishin and David Navara.

There is an eclectic mix of lines on show, ranging from the sharp (the Lewis Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.d4) to the provocative (1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 and now 3 … Nc6) to the positionally-based (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.c4, the last move being an idea of Romanishin’s) to the seemingly naïve (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4, rather than first 3 … d6). One chapter examines the sequence 1.e4 e6 2.e5, which looks plainly perplexing; it is an anti-French line that Steinitz had a fondness for.

If you are looking for a sideline to catch a particular opponent off-guard, or simply want to replenish your opening repertoire, you would do well to turn to one or two of these volumes for inspiration.

A few pdf samples from the series can be found here:

http://www.newinchess.com/SOS/Default.aspx

New In Chess Yearbook 91
Edited by Genna Sosonko
New In Chess, August 2009
ISBN-13: 978-9056912659

It is not, strictly speaking, a ‘Yearbook’, since it appears four times a year. So: Chess Yearbook 91, in actual fact a quarterly, presents the latest developments in opening theory as based on current grandmaster practice.

Here is the set-up for this volume: Forum, Sosonko’s Corner, Surveys and Glenn Flear’s Book Reviews.

Forum is essentially a readers’ letters section, albeit one where the readers are generally strong players, and sometimes grandmasters, and the letters usually include interesting games and/or telling analysis.

Sosonko’s Corner is a column where Genna Sosonko, author of the wonderful Russian Silhouettes, is given free rein to write about what he wants, as long as it pertains in some way to the opening. Here, he discusses some of Dzindzichashvili’s recent opening discoveries.

The meat of the book is provided by the surveys of thirty-three (!) topical opening lines. Each survey follows more or less the same format: a discussion of the options available to each side, followed by a conclusion assessing the current state of theory (Can Black equalize? Does White have prospects of an advantage? Can the line be recommended?). There then follows a fair few games, most of them annotated, with the emphasis of the annotations on the opening stage of the game. Eight surveys are devoted to the Sicilian Defence, but the Ruy Lopez, Slav Defence and Nimzo-Indian Defence are also well covered. The contributing authors include Lev Gutman (probably the greatest living opening theoretician), Sergey Tiviakov and England’s Richard Palliser. Grivas’ article on how to meet the Grand Prix Attack was of especial interest, while Hazai and Lukacs’ ‘Not the Refutation of the Marshall, But...’ provided a thorough examination of Svidler’s
15.Qe2, a move alluded to in the review of Milos Pavlovic’s Fighting the Ruy Lopez.

Finally, to end, Glenn Flear reviews four recent opening books, including The Petrosian System Against the QID. Flear is an engaging writer and is thorough and generally fair in his appraisals.

In summary, New In Chess Yearbook 91 is an excellent volume in a series whose mission is to provide crucial high-quality opening gen for ambitious chess players.

A few pdf samples from the series can be found here:

http://www.newinchess.com/Yearbook/Default.aspx?PageID=200

Chess: 60 Years on with Caissa and Friends
By Alan Phillips
Caissa Editions, 2003
ISBN-13: 978-0939433650

In all, there are two hundred lightly annotated games in this book, all featuring British players. The first game is a loss by Frank Parr to Alekhine, played in a simultaneous display in 1938, while the last game is John Littlewood’s victory over Krasowski, from the World Senior Championship in 2000.

Throughout, Phillips’ annotations are entertaining and his reminiscences are evocative. Besides Phillips himself, there are games by David Hooper, Alexander, Gerald Abrahams, Golombek and others. Most of the games are not well-known (or were not known to me), but there is the odd famous one; e.g. Penrose’s victory over Tal at the Leipzig Olympiad in 1960 is game 111. With a few exceptions (Golombek, Barden, perhaps Winter), these players shared one further characteristic - besides being British - in that they were all amateurs, and had careers outside of chess.

An attractive feature of the book is the twenty pages of photographs, mostly of British players naturally, though luminaries such as Bronstein, Tal and Smyslov are in there too.

Overall, Alan Phillips’ book offers an absorbing backward look at another century and, recalling L.P. Hartley’s famous words, another country too.

The following miniature by John Littlewood is game 159 in Phillip's book:

As an aside, Tim Harding's fine tribute to John Littlewood has deep annotations to several of his games, including his win against Jeff Horner at Chorley in 1977. Read it here:

http://www.chesscafe.com/Tim/kibb.htm