“Robert Ris (1988) is an International Master from Amsterdam. He has represented The Netherlands in various international youth events, but lately his playing activities are limited to league games.

Nowadays he is a full-time chess professional, focusing on teaching in primary schools, coaching talented youngsters and giving online lessons to students all around the world. He has recorded several well received DVDs for ChessBase.

Since 2015 he has been the organizer of the Dutch Rapid Championships. This is his third book for Thinkers Publishing, his first two on general chess improvement ‘Crucial Chess Skills for the Club Player‘, being widely appraised by the press and his audience.”

From the publisher via Amazon we have this blurb:

“The Sveshnikov is undeniably one of the most dynamic and aggressive Sicilians available these days. Most recently, it was made popular again by World Champion Magnus Carlsen in his match against Fabiano Caruana at the end of 2018.

The main lines lead to complex positions, and a deep knowledge and understanding of the opening is a real necessity for any player who wishes to enter this battlefield. Our author, Robert Ris, focuses on all the current developments, highlighting the most important and instructive games from recent years, using his own over-the board experiences.

Ris is well known for his theoretical knowledge and overall opening expertise. And we are quite convinced that he provides Sicilian players with an up-to date arsenal for playing the Sveshnikov. ”

End of blurb…

The author has had considerable experience with 5…e5 and here is one of his wins:

[pgn]
[Event “GRE-chT”]
[Site “Aghia Pelagia”]
[Date “2004.07.07”]
[Round “4.7”]
[White “Gkantis, Konstantinos”]
[Black “Ris, Robert”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B33”]
[BlackElo “2336”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “80”]
[EventDate “2004.07.04”]
[EventType “team”]
[EventRounds “9”]
[EventCountry “GRE”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 101 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2004.09.01”]
[SourceVersion “2”]
[SourceVersionDate “2004.09.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]
[WhiteTeam “05”]
[BlackTeam “11”]
[WhiteTeamCountry “GRE”]
[BlackTeamCountry “GRE”]

{[%evp 0,80,19,38,40,41,51,18,45,29,49,34,44,56,65,-19,8,-9,34,0,5,14,20,14,18,
17,47,41,54,3,6,-12,5,-6,19,-36,-8,-4,19,29,3,14,23,-38,-42,-48,-25,-35,-20,
-16,-24,-14,0,-49,-28,-45,-58,-82,-80,-71,-61,-68,-61,-70,-61,-87,-61,-70,-69,
-118,-128,-172,-125,-113,-113,-149,-174,-158,-185,-197,-223,-198,-198]} 1. e4
c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5
9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. Bd3 Be6 12. O-O Bxd5 13. exd5 Ne7 14. Qh5 e4 15.
Be2 Bg7 16. Rab1 ({Relevant:} 16. c3 O-O 17. Nc2 Rc8 18. Rad1 Rc5 19. Ne3 f4
20. Nf5 Ng6 21. Rfe1 Re8 22. f3 e3 23. Bd3 Re5 24. Be4 Ne7 25. Qg5 Qf8 26. Qxf4
Nxf5 27. Bxf5 Rc4 28. Rd4 Qe8 29. Be4 Qe7 30. Rxc4 bxc4 31. g4 Qh4 32. Qxe3 Bh6
33. Qf2 Qf6 34. Kh1 Bf4 35. Rg1 Kg7 36. Rg2 h6 37. Kg1 Re8 38. Kf1 a5 39. Qe2
Qh4 40. Qf2 Qf6 41. h4 Qe5 42. Qe2 Qe7 43. Qf2 Qe5 44. Kg1 Rb8 45. Qe1 Re8 {
Shirov,A (2737)-Grischuk,A (2732) Cap d’Agde 2003 1/2-1/2}) 16… O-O {[#]} 17.
f3 $146 ({Predecessor:} 17. Rfd1 Qd7 18. c4 Rab8 19. Qg5 Ng6 20. cxb5 axb5 21.
Bxb5 Rxb5 22. Nxb5 h6 23. Qg3 Qxb5 24. Qxd6 Be5 25. Qa3 Nf4 26. Qe3 Kh7 27. a4
Qxa4 28. g3 Nh3+ 29. Kg2 f4 30. Qe1 f5 31. Qf1 e3 32. Kxh3 f3 33. b4 Qe8 34.
Qc4 Rg8 35. Qh4 Rg4 36. Qxg4 fxg4+ {0-1 (36) Pino Munoz,F-Dijon,J (2151) ICCF
email 2002}) 17… Qc8 18. c4 Qc5+ 19. Kh1 b4 20. Nc2 Rae8 21. f4 Nxd5 22. Qxf5
Nb6 23. Qxc5 dxc5 24. b3 Rd8 25. Rbd1 f5 26. Ne3 Bd4 27. Nd5 Nxd5 28. cxd5 Kg7
29. Bc4 a5 30. Rfe1 h5 31. g3 Kf6 32. Kg2 Ra8 33. Bb5 Ke7 34. h3 Rg8 35. Be2 h4
36. g4 a4 37. g5 axb3 38. axb3 Ra2 39. Kh1 Rga8 40. Bc4 Rf2 0-1
[/pgn]

The Sveshnikov variation is described as one of the most aggressive and dynamic openings in the Sicilian defence.

The traditional “Lasker-Pelikan” starting position is:

[fen cal=Ge7e5] r1bqkb1r/pp1p1ppp/2n2n2/4p3/3NP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

and it does not seem that long ago that

was published followed by

Of the modern, elite players both Peter Leko and Vladimir Kramnik (to name but a few) have played the black side.

One of the consistent themes of the Sveshnikov is that White often doubles black’s pawns on the f-file and then tries to control d5 and make use of his queenside pawn majority. Also, Black often pushes his pawn to e4 and then uses the e5 square for a minor piece.

Following substantial work by Evgenny Sveshnikov and Gennadi Timoschenko we start the bulk of the analysis from the usual tabiya position:

[fen cal=Gb7b5] r1bqkb1r/5ppp/p1np1n2/1p2p1B1/4P3/N1N5/PPP2PPP/R2QKB1R w KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

In Part 1, Chapter 1 the author examines the dynamic line 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Bd3 Be6 12.Qh5

[fen cal=Gd1h5] r2qkb1r/5p1p/p1npb3/1p1Npp1Q/4P3/N2B4/PPP2PPP/R3K2R b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

and this is looked at via a series of games where the players are generally very highly rated. Ris suggests that the queen move is probably premature and after 12…Rg8! black has a comfortable enough game. This judgement is demonstrated in the example email game Kele vs Fritsche, 2011 where black eventually wins:

[pgn]
[Event “CP-2011-P-00011”]
[Site “LSS email”]
[Date “2011.09.30”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Kele, Karoly”]
[Black “Fritsche, Frank”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B33”]
[WhiteElo “2026”]
[BlackElo “2311”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “70”]
[EventDate “2011.10.01”]
[EventType “tourn (corr)”]
[EventRounds “6”]
[SourceTitle “Telechess CBM 153”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2013.03.14”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2013.03.14”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,70,19,38,40,41,51,40,25,22,32,46,60,45,53,-3,-5,-21,3,7,6,8,17,14,18,
30,32,-2,25,-38,-2,-16,-7,-23,-13,-14,-10,-13,-3,8,15,15,32,22,63,34,33,-11,24,
-3,59,93,72,-17,-7,-49,-84,-76,-46,-85,-8,-83,-66,-51,-41,-39,-19,-34,-105,-80,
-80,-167,-180]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6
7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. Bd3 Be6 12. Qh5 Rg8 {[#]} 13.
g3 Rg5 14. Qd1 Bxd5 15. exd5 Ne7 16. c3 ({Relevant:} 16. Nxb5 Qb6 17. Na3 Qxb2
18. Nc4 Qc3+ 19. Kf1 Rd8 20. Rb1 e4 21. Be2 f4 22. Rb3 Qf6 23. gxf4 Qxf4 24.
Ne3 Bg7 25. Bxa6 Nf5 26. Ng2 Qe5 27. h4 Rg6 28. Rhh3 Kf8 29. Qb1 Bf6 30. h5 Rg8
31. Be2 Nd4 32. Rbe3 Bg5 33. Qb6 Re8 34. Reg3 f5 35. Nh4 Nxe2 36. Kxe2 f4 37.
Rb3 f3+ 38. Kf1 Qxd5 39. Nxf3 Qc4+ 40. Rd3 exd3 41. Qxd6+ Be7 42. Qh6+ Rg7 43.
Rg3 dxc2+ 44. Kg2 Qc3 {0-1 (44) Polgar,J (2715)-Leko,P (2746) Budapest 2003})
16… Bh6 17. Be2 Kf8 18. Nc2 Qb6 19. a4 bxa4 20. Nb4 e4 21. Qxa4 f4 22. Qa5
Qb7 23. Bxa6 Qd7 24. Qa4 {[#]} Qg4 $146 ({Predecessor:} 24… Qf5 25. Qd1 Ng6
26. Nc2 Ne5 27. Nd4 Qg6 28. gxf4 Rg1+ 29. Rxg1 Qxg1+ 30. Ke2 Qg4+ 31. Kd2 Qxf4+
32. Kc2 Qxf2+ 33. Qe2 Qxe2+ 34. Nxe2 Ng4 35. b4 f5 36. b5 Ne3+ 37. Kb3 Rb8 38.
c4 f4 39. Nd4 f3 40. Nc6 Rb6 41. Bc8 Bg5 42. Bh3 Nxd5 43. Bf5 Nf6 44. Kc2 Kg7
45. Nd4 Rb7 46. Ra6 f2 47. Bh3 Kg6 48. Kd1 Be3 49. Ne6 Bb6 50. Ke2 Rb8 51. Ra3
h5 52. Rg3+ Ng4 53. c5 Bxc5 54. Nxc5 {Versili,M (2428)-Standke,W (2523) ICCF
email 2007 0-1 (71)}) 25. Qd1 f3 26. Qd4 Re5 27. Kd1 Nf5 28. Qb6 e3 29. Kc2
exf2 30. Kb3 Be3 31. Qb5 Bc5 32. Nd3 Re7 33. Nxc5 dxc5 34. Qxc5 Ne3 35. Ra5 Qg6
0-1
[/pgn]

The stronger 12.00 (the move I play) is given in Chapter 2 where play centers on 12…Bxd5 which in recent times have proved more popular than 12…Bg7 after which 13.exd5 Ne7 14.Nxb5!? winning a pawn is given. I played this line in a game vs Nigel Povah in 2015 which ended in a draw. Black plays 14…Bg7! and in the game we had 15.Nc3 e4 16.Bc4 00 when black has sufficient compensation for the pawn.

[fen cal=Gh8f8] r2q1rk1/4npbp/p2p4/3P1p2/2B1p3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R2Q1RK1 w Qq – 0 1 [/fen]

On move 14.c4 was played against Michael Krasenkow in his 2004 game v Gilberto Milos:

[pgn]
[Event “FIDE-Wch k.o.”]
[Site “Tripoli”]
[Date “2004.06.20”]
[Round “1.2”]
[White “Milos, Gilberto”]
[Black “Krasenkow, Michal”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B33”]
[WhiteElo “2599”]
[BlackElo “2609”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “78”]
[EventDate “2004.06.19”]
[EventType “k.o.”]
[EventRounds “7”]
[EventCountry “LBY”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 102”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2004.09.23”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2004.09.23”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,78,32,29,51,40,44,22,35,35,34,43,45,45,57,7,8,-13,5,21,10,10,15,26,24,
12,36,46,49,25,20,13,27,4,0,-5,6,-8,13,0,43,31,69,76,110,69,83,76,60,86,31,32,
37,29,33,0,30,-6,35,-22,0,0,0,-22,-56,-53,14,-5,-91,-92,-67,-92,-73,-111,-110,
-116,-140,-485,-528,-674,-686]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5.
Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. Bd3 Be6 12.
O-O Bxd5 13. exd5 Ne7 14. c4 {[#]} ({Relevant:} 14. Qh5 e4 15. Be2 Bg7 16. c3
O-O 17. Nc2 Rc8 18. Rad1 Rc5 19. Ne3 f4 20. Nf5 Ng6 21. Rfe1 Re8 22. f3 e3 23.
Bd3 Re5 24. Be4 Ne7 25. Qg5 Qf8 26. Qxf4 Nxf5 27. Bxf5 Rc4 28. Rd4 Qe8 29. Be4
Qe7 30. Rxc4 bxc4 31. g4 Qh4 32. Qxe3 Bh6 33. Qf2 Qf6 34. Kh1 Bf4 35. Rg1 Kg7
36. Rg2 h6 37. Kg1 Re8 38. Kf1 a5 39. Qe2 Qh4 40. Qf2 Qf6 41. h4 Qe5 42. Qe2
Qe7 43. Qf2 Qe5 {Shirov,A (2737)-Grischuk,A (2732) Cap d’Agde 2003 1/2-1/2})
14… e4 15. Be2 Bg7 16. Rb1 O-O 17. cxb5 axb5 18. Bxb5 Ng6 19. Bc6 Ra7 {[#]}
20. Qb3 $146 ({Predecessor:} 20. f4 Ne7 21. Kh1 Nxc6 22. dxc6 Rc7 23. Qd5 Qa8
24. Nb5 Rxc6 25. Nxd6 Rb6 26. Nxf5 Qxd5 27. Ne7+ Kh8 28. Nxd5 Rxb2 29. Rxb2
Bxb2 30. g4 Ra8 31. Re1 Rxa2 32. Rxe4 Bc1 33. h4 Kg7 34. Kg1 Ra3 35. Kf2 Ra2+
36. Kf3 Ra3+ 37. Kf2 Ra2+ 38. Kf3 Ra3+ 39. Kf2 Ra2+ 40. Kf1 Ra3 41. Kf2 {
1/2-1/2 (41) Luther,T (2571)-Tregubov,P (2632) Istanbul 2003}) 20… f4 21. Nb5
Re7 22. Kh1 Re5 23. Qh3 Qf6 24. Nc3 Ne7 25. Rbd1 Qg6 26. Ne2 Bh6 27. f3 Nf5 28.
fxe4 Ne3 29. Nc3 Rh5 30. Qf3 Rb8 31. b3 Rb4 32. Bd7 Bg7 33. Rc1 Bxc3 34. Rxc3
Nxf1 35. Qxf1 Rxe4 36. Rc1 Rhe5 37. Bb5 Qg4 38. Bc4 Qh4 39. Qf3 Re3 0-1
[/pgn]

Again, Black is willing to sacrifice a queenside pawn but obtained strong play on the kingside.

However, 14.c3 remains the most popular move and White choses a more positional approach where his queen goes to h5 and his knight comes to c2. Alex Shirov chose this method in a game with Alexander Grischuk from Wijk aan Zee, 2003.

[pgn]
[Event “Corus”]
[Site “Wijk aan Zee NED”]
[Date “2003.01.20”]
[Round “8”]
[White “Shirov, Alexey”]
[Black “Grischuk, Alexander”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B33”]
[WhiteElo “2723”]
[BlackElo “2712”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “64”]
[EventDate “2003.01.11”]

{[%evp 0,64,19,38,72,45,56,-6,7,3,49,40,51,45,65,8,27,-17,15,15,15,15,21,14,22,
2,37,35,33,14,5,-8,1,-32,18,16,25,6,52,-1,45,21,44,-18,56,56,56,64,64,56,-46,
-46,-46,0,0,-57,0,-140,-126,-128,-124,-138,-161,-161,-206,-206,-204]} 1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9.
Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. Bd3 Be6 12. O-O Bxd5 13. exd5 Ne7 14. c3 Bg7 15. Qh5
e4 16. Bc2 Qc8 17. Rae1 O-O 18. Bb3 a5 ({Relevant:} 18… Ng6 19. Nc2 Re8 20.
f4 exf3 21. Rxe8+ Qxe8 22. Qxf3 f4 23. Re1 Qd7 24. Nb4 a5 25. Nc6 Re8 26. Rxe8+
Qxe8 27. Kf1 b4 28. cxb4 axb4 29. Qe2 Qd7 30. Bc2 Ne5 31. Qe4 f3 32. Qxh7+ Kf8
33. Qe4 fxg2+ 34. Kxg2 Ng4 35. h3 Ne5 36. Ba4 Kg8 37. Qxb4 Ng6 38. Bc2 Qe8 39.
Qe4 Qa8 40. a4 Bxb2 41. Qg4 Kh8 42. Bxg6 fxg6 43. Qxg6 Qxa4 44. Ne7 {1-0 (44)
Ponomariov,R (2743)-Anand,V (2755) Mainz 2002}) 19. Qg5 Qb7 20. f3 h6 {[#]} 21.
Qf4 $146 ({Predecessor:} 21. Qg3 a4 22. Bc2 b4 23. Nc4 Qxd5 24. fxe4 Qxc4 25.
exf5 Nd5 26. f6 Nxf6 27. Rxf6 bxc3 28. Rxh6 Qc5+ 29. Kh1 Rfe8 30. Rf1 cxb2 {
1/2-1/2 (31) Finocchiaro,F (2555)-Schroeder,F (2539) ICCF corr 2002}) 21… a4
22. Bc2 b4 23. cxb4 Qxb4 24. fxe4 Ng6 25. Qxf5 Bxb2 26. e5 Bxe5 27. Nb1 Rae8
28. Be4 Bf4 29. g3 Re5 30. Qg4 Rxe4 31. Rxe4 Qxe4 32. gxf4 Rb8 0-1
[/pgn]

Since this book is written from Black’s point of view Black again wins.

Currently 14.Re1 is gaining in popularity and this is examined in Chapter 3.

[fen cal=Gf1e1] r2qkb1r/4np1p/p2p4/1p1Ppp2/8/N2B4/PPP2PPP/R2QR1K1 b Qkq – 0 1 [/fen]

The idea is to drop the bishop back to f1 and take some of the sting out of Black’s attack.

Part 2 discusses lines where White does not play 11.Bd3.

The famous knight sacrifice 11.Nxb5 is given as dubious whilst in the alternative bishop sacrifice 11.Bxb5 Black can play 11…axb5 12.Nb5 Bb7 sacrificing the exchange. This line is not for the faint hearted and they may prefer the older Ra4 treatment.

In chapter 7 the calmer 11.g3 is discussed: an interesting idea that is worth exploring and yet another approach in Chapter 8 is 11.exf5 Bf5 12.c3 and the knight will escape via c2.

Part 2 investigates 9.Nd5 the move Gary Kasparov preferred liked. After 9…Be7 and Black does not end up with doubled pawns.
Chapter 9 looks at 9…Be7 10.Nxe7 and the next chapter gives 10.Bxf6 which was the move Gary selected.
After 10…gxf6 11.c3 then Ne7 can be played followed by either 12.Nc2 or 12.Nf6+.

Chapter 12 looks at the earlier alternatives and the move 7.Nd5 is examined which is a line that has been far less popular than 7.Bg5 but with recent outings from Fabiano Caruana playing it several times against Magnus Carlsen I expect it to gain in popularity.

[fen cal=Gc3d5] r1bqkb1r/pp3ppp/2np1n2/1N1Np3/4P3/8/PPP2PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

In Van Foreest v Carlsen the aggressive line 7 Nd5 8 ed5 Ne7 9 c4 Ng6 10 Qa4 Bd7 11 Qb4 Qb8 12 h4 black played 12…h5 and eventually won:

[pgn]
[Event “Tata Steel-A 81st”]
[Site “Wijk aan Zee”]
[Date “2019.01.16”]
[Round “5”]
[White “Van Foreest, Jorden”]
[Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B33”]
[WhiteElo “2612”]
[BlackElo “2835”]
[Annotator “Howell,David”]
[PlyCount “66”]
[EventDate “2019.01.12”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “13”]
[EventCountry “NED”]
[EventCategory “21”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 188”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2018.12.21”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2018.12.21”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,66,45,31,56,49,49,3,3,16,51,51,45,53,54,36,40,40,32,22,55,48,49,49,49,
32,47,47,48,55,30,34,29,39,91,29,103,49,24,32,9,10,16,13,27,-4,17,16,16,7,1,
-67,-80,-74,-97,-103,-105,-144,-79,-82,-98,-211,-200,-200,-212,-238,-231,-429,
-433]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {Carlsen sticks to his repertoire from the recent
World Championship match.} 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 {
The first surprise of the game. Van Foreest is a very principled player who
often favours direct openings, especially with White. However it seems
excessively brave to take on Carlsen in this line. While Van Foreest might
have spent several hours preparing this position, it is likely that Carlsen
and his team (assisted by powerful engines) had spent many weeks analysing the
following labyrinthine varitions for the World Championship. In hindsight it
would have been wiser to choose something which would have been less fresh in
Carlsen’s memory.} (7. Bg5 {is the main line of the Sveshnikov Sicilian. Play
could then continue:} a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 (9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 {leads to many
long complex variations with chances for both sides.}) 9… Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6
11. c4 ({or} 11. c3) 11… b4 12. Nc2 {with a strategic battle ahead.}) 7…
Nxd5 8. exd5 Ne7 {This was played twice by Carlsen in his recent match against
Caruana.} (8… Nb8 {also featured in two games from the World Championship
match.}) 9. c4 Ng6 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qb4 Qb8 {Carlsen shows his ambitious
intentions.} (11… Bf5 {featured in Game 12 of the World Championship, but it
allows a repetition of moves:} 12. Qa4 Bd7 13. Qb4 Bf5 14. Qa4 (14. h4 {
was Caruana’s choice in the aforementioned game and was also played by Kramnik
at the 2018 Olympiad.})) 12. h4 h5 {With the inclusion of the h-pawn moves it
appears that neither king will find a safe haven on this side of the board.}
13. Be3 a6 14. Nc3 f5 $5 {[#] Not quite a novelty, but Carlsen displays his
opening expertise by unleashing a rare idea.} (14… a5 {was Carlsen’s choice
in one of the decisive tie-break games against Caruana:} 15. Qb3 a4 16. Qd1 Be7
17. g3 Qc8 18. Be2 Bg4 19. Rc1 Bxe2 20. Qxe2 Qf5 {and despite Carlsen’s
victory, White holds the upper hand.} 21. c5 (21. O-O $14 {would have left
White with a long-term edge due to his structural superiority on the queenside.
}) 21… O-O $1 22. c6 bxc6 23. dxc6 Rfc8 24. Qc4 Bd8 25. Nd5 e4 $2 26. c7 Bxc7
$1 27. Nxc7 Ne5 28. Nd5 $2 Kh7 $1 {0-1, Caruana-Carlsen, London 2018.}) ({
Relevant:} 14… a5 15. Qb3 a4 16. Qd1 Be7 17. g3 Qc8 18. Be2 Bg4 19. Rc1 Bxe2
20. Qxe2 Qf5 21. c5 O-O 22. c6 bxc6 23. dxc6 Rfc8 24. Qc4 Bd8 25. Nd5 e4 26. c7
Bxc7 27. Nxc7 Ne5 28. Nd5 Kh7 {0-1 (28) Caruana,F (2832)-Carlsen,M (2835)
London 2018}) 15. O-O-O $146 {A natural choice, if somewhat risky.} (15. g3 {
looks like a safe option}) ({while} 15. Be2 {is also playable.}) (15. Na4 $5 {
was mentioned by Van Foreest after the game, and indeed this move would have
led to interesting positions which would have suited his style:} f4 $1 16. Bd3
Nxh4 $1 {(apparently this was suggested by Carlsen in the post mortem. Further
proof of the depth of his preparation)} 17. Rxh4 fxe3 18. Bg6+ Kd8 {with a
very double-edged position. As usual, the engine eventually assesses this as 0.
00 but neither king is safe and fireworks are likely to ensue.}) ({Predecessor:
} 15. g3 Be7 16. Be2 f4 17. gxf4 exf4 18. Bd4 O-O 19. Bxh5 Nxh4 20. O-O-O Nf5
21. Bg6 Nxd4 22. Bh7+ Kf7 23. Rxd4 g6 24. Rg1 Bf5 25. Rxf4 Bf6 26. Ne4 Bxe4 27.
Rxe4 g5 28. Qa4 Kg7 29. Qc2 Qc7 30. Re6 Qf7 31. Bf5 Rad8 32. f4 Rh8 33. fxg5
Be5 34. Rg6+ Kf8 35. Rf1 Rh2 36. Qd3 Bxb2+ 37. Kd1 Be5 38. Rh6 Rxa2 39. Rf3
Ra1+ 40. Kc2 Ra2+ 41. Kd1 Ra1+ 42. Kd2 Re8 43. Rh7 Ra2+ 44. Kd1 Ra1+ {Bhat,V
(2411)-Wang,P (2306) Dallas 2002 1-0}) 15… Be7 16. g3 O-O $5 {An interesting
pawn sacrifice, most likely still part of Carlsen’s preparation.} (16… e4 {
would have been my first thought. Black intends to land the knight on e5 as
quickly as possible.}) ({Meanwhile the immediate} 16… b5 $5 {is also worthy
of consideration.}) 17. Be2 {Now the h5-pawn is indefensible.} e4 18. Bd4 $6 {
A step in the wrong direction.} ({Snatching the pawn with} 18. Bxh5 {was of
course critical:} Ne5 19. Be2 b5 20. cxb5 axb5 $44 {it is clear that Black has
compensation here. There is a simple plan of …Rf8-c8 and …Be7-d8-a5 while
the white king is a target. However, the b5-pawn will soon fall and if an
attack fails then White should convert his extra pawn.} 21. Bg5 $1 {looks like
White’s most accurate move to nullify the black initiative.}) ({If White was
too afraid to capture on h5, then} 18. f4 {was another option:} exf3 19. Bxf3
Ne5 20. Be2 b5 21. cxb5 axb5 22. Bd4 $132 {and, compared to the game, Black’s
e5-knight lacks stability.}) 18… Bf6 19. Bxf6 Rxf6 20. Qb6 $2 {Van Foreest’s
plan is understandable; he wishes to prevent Black from opening the queenside.
Unfortunately queens are known to be poor blockaders, and this short-term
measure soon fails.} (20. Bxh5 {was now essential. Play could continue:} Ne5
21. Be2 b5 22. cxb5 Bxb5 $1 {(forcing the exchange of White’s strong knight)}
23. Nxb5 axb5 24. a3 (24. Kb1 $6 Qa7 $15) 24… Rf8 25. Bxb5 Qc7+ 26. Kb1 Rfb8
$44 {with yet another position that is difficult to evaluate. Objectively
chances are still equal, although in practical terms it feels easier to play
Black.}) 20… Ne5 21. Kb1 Be8 $1 $15 {Black re-routes the bishop and intends
to kick the white queen away from b6.} 22. Rd2 Nd7 23. Qd4 Qc7 24. Nd1 {
The start of a poor manoeuvre, but it is not easy to offer any constructive
alternatives. White’s position is strategically dubious – it lacks purpose,
while Black can slowly prepare the b7-b5 or f5-f4 pawn breaks.} Ne5 {Black’s
knight is incredibly powerful here. It simply cannot be challenged.} 25. Ne3 f4
$1 {Simple and strong.} 26. gxf4 Rxf4 27. Rg1 (27. Ng2 {does not help:} Rf8 28.
Qe3 Qf7 29. Rf1 (29. Qxe4 Qxf2 $19) 29… Rc8 $17 {and Black holds an obvious
advantage.}) 27… Bg6 28. Ka1 ({It is a sad situation when the engine
suggests jettisoning material with moves such as} 28. Rxg6 {although Black’s
conversion task is not so easy:} Nxg6 29. Ng2 Rf5 $17 30. Qxe4 Qf7 31. Bd3 {
and the game continues.}) 28… Raf8 29. c5 {Desperation, but otherwise f2
falls without compensation.} Rxf2 {Black simply gobbles the pawn.} (29… dxc5
{is also sufficient:} 30. Qc3 Qd6 $17) 30. Qc3 (30. c6 $5 {would have been my
final attempt at creating confusion.}) 30… Qxc5 31. Qxc5 dxc5 32. d6 Kh7 33.
d7 Nf3 {Winning material. A brutal victory from Carlsen, who pounced upon his
opponent’s indecisiveness to score his first win of the tournament.} 0-1
[/pgn]

The book ends with some White choice oddities such as 6.Nf5 when 6…d5 is a strong reply and also 7.a4 but these moves do not seem to be a serious test of 5…e5.

I expect the Sveshnikov to increase in popularity in the next few years and this book should be a serious read for both White and Black players of the interesting positions.

Colin Lyne, Farnborough, Hampshire, 29th July, 2021

Book Details :

• Paperback : 336 pages
• Publisher: Thinkers Publishing; 1st edition (22 Sept. 2020)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9492510839
• ISBN-13: 978-9492510839
• Product Dimensions: 16.51 x 2.03 x 22.86 cm

Official web site of Thinkers Publishing

“Justin Tan is an International Grandmaster who has represented Australia in numerous international events. He is currently based in the UK and was previously British under-21 champion, British blitz champion and joint second runner-up at the British Championship. Justin has been a 1.e4 specialist throughout his playing career and is recognised for his deep opening preparation, especially in the open games. He is a monthly columnist for ChessPublishing’s section on 1.e4, where he publishes his analyses of key 1.e4 games and the latest trends.”

From the publisher via Amazon we have this blurb:

“‘1.e4! The Chess Bible’ (in three volumes) is a complete and authoritative repertoire for White based on sound main lines and the latest cutting-edge analysis. Existing theory is revisited and expanded with several fresh ideas, novelties and refutations which will appeal to dedicated 1.e4 players and theoreticians alike. However, each section is also carefully designed to be easily digested by players of all standards, with an opening overview, illustrated diagrams of key concepts, and instructive and annotated games.This book is an essential practical resource for any 1.e4 player and will greatly reward those who are looking to master their understanding of the open games.The openings covered in this volume are: The Scandinavian Defence, The Alekhine’s Defence, The Nimzowitsch Defence, The Pirc & Modern Defences and The Philidor Defence. ”

End of blurb…

and IM John Donaldson provided this review:

“Judging from the first volume of GM Justin Tan’s intended trilogy, there will be no such omissions in his 1.e4! The Chess Bible series. This massive 460-page volume covers the Alekhine, Nimzowitsch, Scandinavian, Pirc, Modern and Philidor in detail from White’s perspective.

While this is a big and detailed book there is plenty of prose to accompany the analysis, making this it accessible to players 2000 on up. Do note the suggested lines run the gamut from positional to aggressive, from the Classical variation versus the Pirc (1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be2) to the Four Pawns Attack against the Alekhine (1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4).

Tan has used all the existing tools to him, including strong engines, but his voice is always front and centre. This leads to advocacy for a number of previously unknown ideas. One example is his recommendation that 1.e4 Nc6 be met by 2.Nf3. One might think this purely a practical suggestion to sidestep learning extra theory, but they would be wrong. Tan believes 2.Nf3 to be the most principled to meet the Nimzowitsch as he is of the opinion that 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.c3 e6 5.f4 f6 6.Nd2 g5! leads to astounding complications not unfavourable for the second player.

The main line of the Classical Pirc (1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be2 0-0 6.0-0 Bg4 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Qd2 e5) has always enjoyed a reputation as a solid equalizer after 9.d5 and 9.dxe5. Tan proposes to sidestep this variation with 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Bxf3 e5 9.d5 Nbd7 10.g3!? with his main line continuing 10…Ne8 11.Kg2 f5 12.h4 f4 13.h5 g5 14.Rh1 Bh6 15.g4 with a slight but very pleasant edge as White has long-term prospects on the queenside and Black limited counterplay.

1.e4! The Chess Bible is a first-rate effort that even titled players will find of interest and can be recommended without reservation for players of expert strength and above.”

end of JD review

Justin in an Australian Grandmaster who is an 1.e4 specialist and known for his deep opening preparation. In this large book he looks at six popular defences to 1.e4 viz:

1. The Alekhine
2. The Nimzowitsch
3. The Scandinavian
4. The Pirc
5. The Modern
6. The Philidor

with 1…e5, 1…c5, 1..c6 and 1…e6 all being deferred for (a) separate volume(s).

Each chapter starts with an overview which serves to give the reader some basic foundations and highlights the general concepts of each of the above.

We will examine his choices one at a time.

[fen cal=G8f6] rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/5n2/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

Against the Alekhine Defence the author prefers the dangerous Four pawns attack 1 e4 Nf6 2 e5 Nd5 3 d4 d6 4 c4 Nb6 5 f4

[fen cal=Gf2f4] rnbqkb1r/ppp1pppp/1n1p4/4P3/2PP1P2/8/PP4PP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

Several model games are given such as Kotronias v Short, Gibraltar, 2003. It is not often that Nigel has played the Alekhine as he usually plays 1…e5 or 1…e6 and here he is the runner-up.

[pgn]
[Event “Gibraltar Masters”]
[Site “Catalan Bay”]
[Date “2003.02.01”]
[Round “5”]
[White “Kotronias, Vasilios”]
[Black “Short, Nigel D”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B03”]
[WhiteElo “2573”]
[BlackElo “2690”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “69”]
[EventDate “2003.01.28”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 092 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2003.03.07”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2003.03.07”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,69,19,38,89,89,79,48,44,33,26,0,9,39,14,18,27,31,50,31,76,57,64,56,55,
-16,-16,-3,69,0,1,-22,37,28,98,118,109,105,166,170,191,186,144,142,190,142,167,
58,153,207,141,159,161,162,162,162,125,130,130,143,143,155,191,158,223,223,240,
251,253,239,258,278]} 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 dxe5 6. fxe5
Nc6 7. Be3 Bf5 8. Nc3 e6 9. Nf3 Qd7 10. Be2 O-O-O 11. O-O f6 {[#]} 12. d5 ({
Relevant:} 12. exf6 gxf6 13. d5 exd5 14. Bxb6 axb6 15. cxd5 Bc5+ 16. Kh1 Nb4
17. Bb5 c6 18. Nd4 Bg4 19. Qa4 Bxd4 20. Qxb4 Bxc3 21. Qxc3 Qxd5 22. Bc4 Qd4 23.
Rxf6 Qxc3 24. bxc3 b5 25. Bb3 Rd3 26. Rf4 Bd7 27. c4 bxc4 28. Bxc4 Rc3 {
1/2-1/2 (28) Aschenbrenner,R (2230)-Posch,W (2283) Oberpullendorf 2002}) 12…
Nxe5 13. Nxe5 fxe5 14. a4 a5 15. Nb5 Bb4 16. d6 {[#]} Na8 $6 $146 ({
Predecessor:} 16… c5 17. Bg5 Rdf8 18. Bd2 Kb8 19. Bxb4 cxb4 20. Qb3 Qc6 21.
Qe3 e4 22. Rfd1 {1-0 (22) Nolte,K-Lau,J Germany 1993}) 17. c5 $18 Kb8 18. Bf3
c6 19. Na3 e4 20. Be2 b6 21. cxb6 Qxd6 22. Qxd6+ Rxd6 23. Rad1 Rhd8 24. Rxd6
Rxd6 25. g4 Bd2 26. Bf2 Kb7 27. Nc4 Rd5 28. gxf5 exf5 29. Rd1 Bb4 30. Be3 g6
31. Kf2 Rxd1 32. Bxd1 c5 33. Bb3 Nxb6 34. Nxb6 Kxb6 35. Bg8 1-0
[/pgn]

Since this book is written from the White side the choice of these games is naturally designed to show how to play the White side.

The lines looked at in the Alekhine include the Fianchetto Variation 5…g6 The Alekhine Benoni 5…de5 6.fe5 c5 and the Main Line 6…Nc6.

Against the rarely played but interesting Nimzowitsch Defence 1…Nc6 Justin suggests 2.Nf3 when Black can go into the open game with 2…e5 (but, of course, this is not really in the spirit of this defence) which is not shown in this volume but will I expect to be covered in a subsequent volume.

Justin takes a look at the unusual move 2…f5 which has been played against myself on a few online occasions.

[fen cal=Gf7f5] r1bqkbnr/ppppp1pp/2n5/5p2/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

In Tony Miles favourite(!) openings book, author FM Eric Schiller dubs 2…f5 the Lean Variation or Colorado Counter: as Maurice Micklewhite famously never said: “And not many people know that!

The two main moves are, of course, 2…d5 which leads to a tricky line in the Scandinavian and the Main Line of 2…d6.

(Keen students of this web site will know I reviewed a specialist monograph on 1…Nc6 recently.)

Moving to colder climes we examine The Scandinavian Defence and Justin kicks-off by looking at 1.e4 d5 2.ed5 Nf6 3.d4 Bg4 which is the interesting Portuguese Variation but 4.f3 is the suggested test of Black’s play.

[fen cal=Gf2f3] rn1qkb1r/ppp1pppp/5n2/3P4/3P2b1/5P2/PPP3PP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

Justin is not impressed with this line showing that White remains in command. He then looks at the main line 3…Nd5 but 4.c4 Nb6 5.Nf3 is good for White.

[fen cal=Gg1f3] rnbqkb1r/ppp1pppp/1n6/8/2PP4/5N2/PP3PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

The more popular 2…Qd5 3.Nc3 has analysis on 3…Qd8 considered inferior by Justin and then the popular Pytel-Wade (3…Qd6) Variation often played by Magnus Carlsen in banter blitz. It seems that Black is worse after 5…Bg4 6.h3

[fen cal=Gh2h3] rn2kb1r/ppp1pppp/3q1n2/8/3P2b1/2N2N1P/PPP2PP1/R1BQKB1R b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

or 5…g6 6.Nb5 Qb6 7.a4.

[fen cal=Ga2a4] rnb1kb1r/ppp1pp1p/1q3np1/1N6/P2P4/5N2/1PP2PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

More common is 5…c6 or 5…a6 but 6.g3 is a tricky line where both players need to know their theory in detail.

Justin next considers the Mieses Variation (3…Qa5) and best after 4.d4 Nf6 is 5.Bd2 which is a move that will make Black players think as it is unusual.

[fen cal=Gc1d2] rnb1kb1r/ppp1pppp/5n2/q7/3P4/2N5/PPPB1PPP/R2QKBNR b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

If the game continues 5…c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Nf3 e6 8.Nd5 which has been played by Shirov.

[fen cal=Gc3d5] rn2kb1r/pp3ppp/2p1pn2/q2N1b2/2BP4/5N2/PPPB1PPP/R2QK2R b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

If 5…Bg4 White can play 6.f3 where we see why Nf3 has been delayed.

The Modern 1..g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 here the Gurgenidze System is Black’s most interesting reply of 3…c6 4.Nc3 d5 5.h3.

[fen cal=Gh2h3] rnbqk1nr/pp2ppbp/2p3p1/3p4/3PP3/2N2N1P/PPP2PP1/R1BQKB1R b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

David Navara shows how to play if 5 de4 is played.

The Pribyl or Czech System 1..d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.f4 Qa5 where 5.Bd3 the move I play leads to interesting play.

[fen cal=Gf1d3] rnb1kb1r/pp2pppp/2pp1n2/q7/3PPP2/2NB4/PPP3PP/R1BQK1NR b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

I once beat John Hickman in a game at Paignton in this line in 1998 and was surprised to win the best game prize.

In the Pirc 1…d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 bg7 a move that was popular with Anatoly Karpov is given.

After 5.Be2 00 6.00

[fen cal=Gh1f1] rnbq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/3p1np1/8/3PP3/2N2N2/PPP1BPPP/R1BQ1RK1 b Qq – 0 1 [/fen]

and now 6…c6 6…a6 6…bg4 and 6…Nc6 are all analysed but White has a space advantage making life more easy for him to play.

Finally, the modern Philidor is examined. I was surprised to note that Justin does not look at the “old” Philidor 1…e5 2.Nf3 d6 but I expect this will appear in a later volume when he considers 1…e5 lines. The Modern Philidor is 1…d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 when Black does not mind an exchange of pawns on e5 and a Queen exchange. It is now seen as better to try 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 when 5…Be7 is analysed. Now 6.a4 is regarded as best.

[fen cal=Ga2a4] r1bqk2r/pppnbppp/3p1n2/4p3/P1BPP3/2N2N2/1PP2PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

White is likely to follow-up with 00, h3 and Re1.

In summary, an interesting book for 1.e4 players with many original ideas. I’m looking to future volumes to learn what Justin recommends against Blacks two most popular moves 1…e5 and 1…c5 plus the Caro-Kann and the French.

Colin Lyne, Farnborough, Hampshire, 19th July, 2021

Book Details :

• Paperback : 464 pages
• Publisher: Thinkers Publishing; 1st edition (13 April 2021)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9464201126
• ISBN-13: 978-9464201123
• Product Dimensions: 17.02 x 2.79 x 23.37 cm

Official web site of Thinkers Publishing

“French Grandmaster Christian Bauer is one of his country’s leading players. He is a former national champion and has represented France in numerous international team events. He has written many articles and books for several publishing houses: ‘Play 1…b6’ and ‘The Philidor Files’ for Everyman Chess and ‘Play the Scandinavian’ for Quality Chess. Many of his books have been translated into other languages. This is his fourth book and his second book for Thinkers Publishing after his master piece ‘Move Candidates’.”

From the publisher via Amazon we have this blurb:

“There is no doubt that the Nimzowitsch Defence is one of Black’s most inspiring openings after 1.e4. Black strives to unbalance the position by creating new problems for White from move two, giving himself every opportunity to fight for the initiative from the outset. It is no surprise that 1…Nc6 appeals to ambitious players who relish a complicated battle.

In this book, GM Christian Bauer explains how to use this powerful weapon drawing from his own successful experiences. He is not shy to show you the fundamental ideas, the traps, the pitfalls and naturally the move order subtleties which play such an important role in our modern game of chess. We are convinced this book will give you plenty of confidence and make your opponent think more than twice.”

End of blurb…

Christian Bauer is a strong French Grandmaster with a current FIDE rating of 2639 and has won the French Championship three times and has already authored several books. Previously we reviewed Candidate Moves : A Grandmaster’s Method.

In this 2020 book he takes a look at the rarely played but respectable Nimzowitsch Defence (1…Nc6, B00) as a reply to 1.e4.
For those who do not want to retain large quantities of opening theory this move seems to be attractive choice and will set most White players thinking at a very early stage and therefore be a wise ploy for shorter time control games.

[fen cal=Gb8c6] r1bqkbnr/pppppppp/2n5/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

Bauer’s first Megabase 2020 recorded outing for 1…Nc6 was in 1992 in the World Under-16 Championship and since then he has played it seventy-six times. His score with it is a mightily impressive 63.5% so we can be confident that he knows what he is writing about.

The earliest game recorded in Megabase 2020 was from an 1846 Bristol Chess Club encounter between John Withers and Elijah Williams which black won.

[pgn]
[Event “Bristol Chess Club Casual Games”]
[Site “Bristol”]
[Date “1846.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Withers, John”]
[Black “Williams, Elijah”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B00”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “70”]
[EventDate “1846.??.??”]
[EventType “game”]
[EventRounds “1”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2010”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2010.11.25”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2010.11.25”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,65,5,23,23,20,87,73,92,88,80,73,63,68,76,60,42,33,40,31,26,3,3,-24,23,
27,81,44,23,26,15,0,5,12,27,29,95,92,186,-11,170,145,474,186,195,200,225,222,
217,220,265,121,371,372,403,379,386,-203,-168,-188,-188,-188,-188,-212,-197,
-332,-297,-29993]} 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. Be3 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. h3 Bh5
7. Bd3 Be7 8. a3 Bg6 9. Qe2 O-O 10. g4 d5 11. e5 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 Ne8 13. g5 g6
14. h4 Ng7 15. Nh2 Nf5 16. Ng4 Kg7 $2 17. Nf6 Rh8 18. h5 $18 h6 {[#]} 19. hxg6
(19. O-O-O) 19… fxg6 20. gxh6+ Nxh6 21. Rg1 Nf5 22. Ncxd5 Bxf6 23. Nxf6 Ncxd4
24. O-O-O c5 25. Qc4 b5 26. Qxc5 Rc8 27. Qxa7+ Rc7 $18 {White in winning easily
} 28. Bh6+ $4 {Ooops!} Kf7 $19 (28… Kxh6 29. Rh1+ Kg7 $19) 29. Qa6 Rxc2+ 30.
Kb1 Rxh6 31. Ne4 Qc7 32. Nd6+ Nxd6 33. exd6 {and White resigned in view of}
Rxb2+ $1 34. Kxb2 Qc2+ 35. Ka1 Nb3# 0-1
[/pgn]

In Chapter 1 the author examines unusual moves such as 2.f4 and 2. Bb5. 2.f4 is a move that King’s Gambit players might like to try but 2…d5 is a strong reply leaving black with easy equality from the outset. 2.Bb5 is also given but either 2…Nf6 or 2…d5 are replies often played by black and are both good. In many of these lines black fianchettos his dark squared bishop. In general, the author often gives more than one line for black.

Chapter 2 gives 2.Nc3 the move possibly preferred by lovers of the Vienna Game. This is the 3rd most commonly played move by White and Black may well consider 2…e5 having avoided the Ruy Lopez.
Recommended for Black is 2…Nf6 3.d4 and 3…d5 is deeply analysed however black can instead try 3…e5 transposing into a Four Knights Game.

One of the attractions of 1…Nc6 is that black can often go into open game (1.e4 e5) lines where he has avoided the Ruy Lopez.

The next part of the book moves on to the substantially more critical 2.d4 when black has two credible responses. The first is the thematic 2…e5 allowing White to answer with 3.Nf3 transposing into a Scotch Game. Black will therefore need to know the theory to that opening also.

More in line with achieving original Nimzowitsch style positions is 2…d5 which most engines give as the best move. Obviously, the assessment of an engine at move two can be taken with a large pinch of salt.

In my opinion if White replies 3.e5 the 3…Bf5 gives black an easy game.

[fen cal=Gc8f5] r2qkbnr/ppp1pppp/2n5/3pPb2/3P4/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

3.e4xd5 leads to Centre Counter type positions but White’s d-pawn can come under early attack as black intends to castle queenside.

The most popular move is 3.Nc3 when the main line is 3…d5xe4 4.d5 when the Breyer-like 4…Nb8 planning c6 or e6 is recommended.

[fen cal=Gc6b8] rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/3P4/4p3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

Christian also looks at 3…Nf6 when the main line is 4.e5 Nd7. The fact that White has played fifteen(!) different moves here shows that is it not clear what the “best” move is.

THE most popular reply to 1…Nc6 is by far 2.Nf3 when the Nimzowitsch move is 2…d6. Black often plays g6 and Bg7 in these lines with similar play to the Pirc Defence but having ruled out the dangerous Austrian attack option. Black can also try …Bg4 lines and these are also looked at in some detail. White can try c3 or Nc3 lines and must decide putting the light squared bishop on either e2 or b5.

In summary, if you are bored with opponents who hit you with loads of theory this may be the opening just for you and, reassuringly, it appears to be quite sound.

Finally, here is one of the author’s game with this defence:

[pgn]
[Event “Leon blitz op 33rd”]
[Site “chess.com INT”]
[Date “2020.07.14”]
[Round “6”]
[White “Kovalev, Vladislav”]
[Black “Bauer, Christian”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B00”]
[WhiteElo “2648”]
[BlackElo “2623”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “78”]
[EventDate “2020.07.14”]
[EventType “swiss (blitz)”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventCountry “ESP”]
[SourceTitle “Mega2020 Update 40”]
[Source “Chessbase”]
[SourceDate “2020.07.24”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2020.07.24”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,78,34,34,53,18,68,68,60,60,103,58,57,53,61,42,37,40,46,10,10,1,11,16,
-6,0,0,0,10,0,0,-1,30,28,24,12,34,-14,-11,-12,28,12,19,18,27,0,0,0,0,0,0,-89,0,
0,8,3,-17,-17,0,-135,-17,-20,-1,-58,-110,-287,-10,-17,-35,-120,-57,-214,-297,
-627,-638,-663,-801,-801,-383,-29999,-30000]} 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4.
Nc3 g6 5. h3 Bg7 6. Be3 a6 ({Relevant:} 6… O-O 7. Qd2 a6 8. d5 Na7 9. a4 c6
10. Be2 Bd7 11. O-O b5 12. dxc6 Bxc6 13. e5 b4 14. exf6 bxc3 15. fxe7 cxd2 16.
exd8=Q Rfxd8 17. Ra2 Be4 18. c3 Bd5 19. Ra3 a5 20. Nxd2 Rdb8 21. Bc4 Be6 22.
Bxe6 fxe6 23. Rb3 Rxb3 24. Nxb3 Nc6 25. Rd1 d5 26. Nd4 Nxd4 27. Bxd4 Rb8 28.
Bxg7 Kxg7 29. Rd2 Kf6 30. Kf1 Ke5 31. Ke2 g5 32. Kd3 Kd6 33. Kc2 e5 34. f3 h5
35. Rd1 Rf8 36. b4 {Nisipeanu,L (2667)-Maghsoodloo,P (2671) Malmo 2019 1/2-1/2}
) 7. g3 O-O 8. Bg2 e5 9. O-O exd4 10. Nxd4 Re8 11. Qd2 Ne5 12. b3 c5 13. Nde2
Bxh3 {[#]} 14. f3 $146 ({Predecessor:} 14. Rad1 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Rc8 16. Bg5 Qa5
17. Rh1 h5 18. Qf4 Re6 19. Qh4 Ned7 20. Qf4 Nh7 21. Nd5 Nxg5 22. Qxg5 Rce8 23.
Nef4 Rxe4 24. g4 Qd8 25. Qxd8 Rxd8 26. gxh5 g5 27. h6 Bd4 28. Nh5 Kh7 29. Ng3
Re6 30. c3 Be5 31. Nf5 Bh8 32. c4 Nf6 33. Nc7 Re2 34. Rxd6 Rc8 35. Ng3 Rxa2 36.
Nd5 Nxd5 37. Rxd5 Bd4 38. Ne4 f6 39. Rd7+ Kg6 40. Rg7+ Kf5 41. Nd6+ Kg4 42. Rf1
Rh8 43. Nf7 Re8 {Klett,T-Pribyl,J (2405) Boeblingen 1995 1/2-1/2}) 14… Bxg2
15. Kxg2 d5 16. exd5 Rc8 17. Rad1 b5 18. Bg1 b4 19. Na4 Ned7 20. Rfe1 h5 21.
Nf4 h4 22. Rxe8+ Nxe8 23. Ne6 Qf6 24. Nexc5 h3+ 25. Kh2 Ne5 26. Qf4 Nxf3+ 27.
Kxh3 Nxg1+ 28. Rxg1 Qe7 29. Qe4 Qd8 30. Rd1 Nd6 31. Qf3 Qg5 32. Re1 Rd8 33. Kg2
Nf5 {[#]} 34. Re4 $2 Be5 (34… Nd4 $1) 35. Nd3 Bxg3 36. Rg4 Qd2+ 37. Kg1 Qh2+
38. Kf1 Rxd5 39. Qxd5 Ne3# 0-1
[/pgn]

Colin Lyne, Farnborough, Hampshire, 16th July, 2021

Book Details :

• Paperback : 264 pages
• Publisher: Thinkers Publishing; 1st edition (19 Nov. 2020)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9492510960
• ISBN-13: 978-9492510969
• Product Dimensions: 17.15 x 1.27 x 22.86 cm

Official web site of Thinkers Publishing

“Sethuraman Panayappan Sethuraman is an Indian born chess grandmaster. Among his many successes we remember him winning the national championship in 2014 and becoming Asian champion in 2016. For his country, he played in several team competitions achieving countless successes: Bronze Medal Chess Olympiad 2014, Gold Medal Asian Teams 2016, Gold Medal Asian Teams 2016 & Silver Medal Asian Teams 2018. He is currently one of the leading grandmasters of the new Indian chess generation and a very renowned opening specialist. This is his first book for Thinkers Publishing.”

From the publisher  we have this brief blurb:

“The book you hold is the first work of GM Sethuraman and contains his efforts to find new paths and fresh perspectives on these two variations of these famous Sicilians. We hope you gain from information in this book as well as simply enjoy the games themselves.”

End of blurb…

The author is Indian Grandmaster S P Sethuraman who was born in 1993 and very much a child prodigy. In 2004 he won the under-12 Asian Championships and in 2009 the World under-16 Championship and in the same year he qualified for the Grandmaster title.

In his first book the authors starts-off by looking at the Sicilian Najdorf recommending that white should play the modest move 6.h3.

[fen cal=Gh2h3]rnbqkb1r/1p2pppp/p2p1n2/8/3NP3/2N4P/PPP2PP1/R1BQKB1R b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

The earliest appearance for this move would appear to be in 1949 at the US Open played by Weaver Adams versus Max Pavey. 6.h3 was subsequently made popular in the 1960s by Bobby Fischer and features three times in his book My 60 Memorable Games in games 35, 40 and 43.

In 1962 Fischer used 6.h3 to first beat Julio Bolbochan at Stockholm then Miguel Najdorf at the Varna Olympiad and finally Samuel Reshevsky in the 1962 – 63 US championship.

It is worthy of note that the author has played 6.h3 himself on eleven occasions scoring an impressive 77.3%. Here is a swift example:

[pgn]
[Event “Gibraltar Masters 14th”]
[Site “Caleta”]
[Date “2016.02.01”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Sethuraman, SP.”]
[Black “Kelires, Andreas”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B90”]
[WhiteElo “2639”]
[BlackElo “2444”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “49”]
[EventDate “2016.01.26”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventCountry “GGB”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 171”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2016.03.14”]
[SourceVersion “2”]
[SourceVersionDate “2016.03.14”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,49,26,16,69,51,73,70,66,61,64,27,48,28,48,1,74,66,58,42,40,31,29,27,
17,42,46,41,42,44,20,35,39,4,63,48,39,81,67,42,166,166,251,237,241,147,331,331,
916,260,574,534]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 Nc6
7. g4 Qb6 8. Nb3 e6 9. g5 Nd7 10. Bf4 Qc7 11. Qd2 {[#]} Be7 $146 ({Relevant:}
11… b5 12. O-O-O Nce5 13. Bg3 Rb8 14. f4 Nc4 15. Bxc4 bxc4 16. Nd4 Nc5 17.
Rhe1 Qb6 18. b3 cxb3 19. axb3 Bb7 20. f5 Rc8 21. Kb1 Be7 22. f6 gxf6 23. gxf6
Bf8 24. Qe3 Nd7 25. Nd5 Qc5 26. Nxe6 Qxe3 27. Ng7+ Bxg7 28. fxg7 Qxb3+ 29. cxb3
Rg8 30. Ne3 Bxe4+ 31. Ka1 Kd8 32. Nc4 d5 33. Nd6 Rxg7 34. Rxd5 Rxg3 35. Nxe4
Rg6 36. Red1 Rc7 37. Nc5 Rxc5 38. Rxc5 Rb6 39. Kb2 Rb7 40. Rc6 Ke7 41. Ka3 {
Yu,Y (2715)-Dominguez Perez,L (2746) Havana 2015 1-0}) 12. O-O-O Nde5 13. Bg3
b5 14. f4 Nc4 15. Bxc4 bxc4 16. Nd4 Bd7 17. Nf3 Rb8 18. f5 Qb6 19. b3 O-O $2 {
[#]} (19… Nb4) 20. f6 $1 gxf6 $2 (20… cxb3 $18 {is the best the engine has
to offer.}) 21. gxf6 Bxf6 22. Rhg1 $18 Bg7 23. Bxd6 Qa5 24. e5 ({More clinical
was} 24. Rxg7+ $1 Kxg7 25. Rg1+ Kh8 26. Qh6 Rg8 27. Qf6+ Rg7 28. Qxg7#) 24…
Kh8 25. Rxg7 {and Black threw in the towel.} 1-0
[/pgn]

Amongst current elite players 6.h3 has been chosen by Hikaru Nakamura. Following 6.h3 White will put his dark square Bishop on e3 and castle Queen side. He also intends to play g4 and then g5.
Chapter 1 looks first at 6…Nc6 which was the move Bolbochan played and after 7.g4 h6 8.Be3 e6 9.f4! White intends to play Bg2, the most normal square for the bishop in this line, then Qf3 and OOO.

[fen cal=Gf2f4] r1bqkb1r/1p3pp1/p1nppn1p/8/3NPPP1/2N1B2P/PPP5/R2QKB1R b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

White will then start pushing black back with g5 when he will be very much on the offensive. Possibly a better try for black is to play 7…g6 where the GM admits that if black knows his theory then he should be able to achieve equality. 7…Qb6 (the most popular database move) is also considered but White will play Nb3 and at a later stage Be3 attacking the Queen.

In Fischer v Najdorf the move 6…b5 was played and the author suggests responding 7.a4 answering b4 with 8.Nd5 with best play White appears to retain an advantage.

[fen cal=Gc3d5] rnbqkb1r/4pppp/p2p1n2/3N4/Pp1NP3/7P/1PP2PP1/R1BQKB1R b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

7.Nd5 was played in the Fischer v Najdorf game and that also seems promising for White. Fischer reveals that Reshevsky’s choice of 6…g6, treating the game as if it were a type of dragon position, was a sensible one and since White generally follows up with Be3, Qd2 and 000 the American GM seems to make a fair point. However, there are some differences with a conventional Yugoslav Attack as white has not yet played his Bishop to c4 and in some lines he will play Bg2 followed by f4.

In Chapter 3 6…e6 is examined. After 7 g4 d5 the somewhat surprising 8.Nde2! may shock players of the black pieces.

[fen cal=Gd4e2] rnbqkb1r/4pppp/p4n2/1p1p4/4P1P1/2N4P/PPP1NP2/R1BQKB1R b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

Black can instead try 7…h6, a natural reaction to g4, but if he intends to castle king side this can be a dangerous weakening move to play. In the so-called main line of 7…Be7 we have 8.g5 and White will carry out the standard plan of Be3, Qd2, 000 and, at the right time, h4 when his attack seems more dangerous than blacks.

Interestingly, the favourite / thematic Najdorf move of 6…e5 is not as effective as it is against the English attack it would appear when
White plays Nb3, Be3 and then f4!

In summary, since 6.h3 is less often played than either 6.Be3 or 6.Bg5 it could well be a wise choice and therefore a good repertoire suggestion.

The second part of this book deals with the Sicilian Taimanov variation.

[fen cal=Gb8c6] r1bqkbnr/pp1p1ppp/2n1p3/8/3NP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

By far the most popular fifth move for white these days is 5.Nc3 which is in preference to Fischer’s 5.Nb5.

Again, the author practices what he preaches with 19 games and a hit rate of 68.4%. In this encounter from 2019 his hapless opponent tries the unpopular and offbeat 5…Be7 and gets things very wrong indeed:

[pgn]
[Event “Bayern-chI Bank Hofmann 23rd”]
[Site “Tegernsee”]
[Date “2019.11.01”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Sethuraman, SP.”]
[Black “Morawietz, Dieter”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B45”]
[WhiteElo “2624”]
[BlackElo “2419”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “21”]
[EventDate “2019.10.26”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “9”]
[EventCountry “GER”]
[SourceTitle “Mega2020 Update 03”]
[Source “Chessbase”]
[SourceDate “2019.11.07”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2019.11.07”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,21,20,46,52,66,80,45,38,21,26,31,108,100,93,93,165,128,214,194,214,
190,261,268]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Be7 $2 ({
Relevant:} 5… a6 6. Qd3 Qc7 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Qg3 Qxg3 9. hxg3 Rb8 10. b3 d5
11. Bb2 Nf6 12. Bd3 Bc5 13. f3 Bd4 14. O-O-O c5 15. exd5 exd5 16. g4 Bb7 17.
Rde1+ Kf8 18. g5 Ne8 19. Na4 Bxb2+ 20. Kxb2 c4 21. Nc5 Bc8 22. Bf1 Nc7 23. Re5
Rb5 24. Na4 d4 25. Re4 c3+ 26. Kc1 Rb4 27. a3 Rxa4 28. bxa4 Ne6 29. Bc4 Ke7 30.
Bxe6 Bxe6 31. Rxd4 Rb8 32. Rb4 Rc8 33. Rd1 g6 34. Rb7+ Kf8 35. Rb6 {Triapishko,
A (2771)-Andreikin,D (2929) Chess.com INT 2018 1/2-1/2 (69)}) 6. Ndb5 $1 d6 7.
Bf4 Ne5 8. Qd4 a6 $2 {Ooops! [#]} 9. O-O-O $1 $146 ({Predecessor:} 9. Nxd6+
Bxd6 10. Bxe5 Bxe5 11. Qxe5 Nf6 12. Rd1 Qb6 13. Qd4 Qxd4 14. Rxd4 e5 15. Rd1
Be6 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. exd5 b5 18. g3 Ne4 19. Bg2 Nd6 20. O-O Rc8 21. c3 Kd8 22.
Rfe1 Re8 23. Re2 Rc4 24. Rc2 e4 25. b3 Rc5 26. c4 bxc4 27. bxc4 Rxc4 28. Rxc4
Nxc4 29. Bf1 Nd6 30. Bxa6 Kd7 31. Rd4 Ra8 32. Bc4 Nxc4 33. Rxc4 Rxa2 34. Rxe4
Rd2 35. Re5 f6 36. Rh5 h6 37. Kg2 Kd6 38. Rh4 Kxd5 {Van Eijk,S (2274)
-Pogorelov,R (2453) Banyoles 2007 1/2-1/2}) 9… Nf6 10. Bxe5 dxe5 11. Qxe5 $18
1-0
[/pgn]

After the more main stream 5…Qc7 6.Be3 a6 the author recommends 7.Qf3

[fen cal=Gd1f3] r1b1kbnr/1pqp1ppp/p1n1p3/8/3NP3/2N1BQ2/PPP2PPP/R3KB1R b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

and both Black responses of 7…Bb4 and 7…Nge7 are examined in detail. I was somewhat surprised that after 7…Bb4 8.000 is recommend daring black to play the “ruinous” 8…Bxc3 as White’s dark squared bishop tends to be very strong in these structures.

Black can also try 7…b5 but 8.Qg3 led to a pleasant end game for White in Motylev v Aravindh 2017 and the actual game result was not the fault of the opening:

[pgn]
[Event “Sitges Sunway op 4th”]
[Site “Sitges”]
[Date “2017.12.21”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Motylev, Alexander”]
[Black “Aravindh, Chithambaram VR”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B48”]
[WhiteElo “2675”]
[BlackElo “2586”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “98”]
[EventDate “2017.12.15”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “9”]
[EventCountry “ESP”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 182 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2018.02.23”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2018.02.23”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,98,19,42,51,41,61,40,40,42,39,28,78,83,88,71,103,46,40,45,43,43,38,41,
35,28,32,40,38,36,28,29,51,40,54,55,72,65,94,36,56,49,76,65,58,76,66,13,32,15,
115,104,102,71,75,71,75,19,22,33,23,10,23,25,51,4,0,0,0,-134,-142,-179,-159,
-201,-175,-245,-235,-239,-249,-242,-247,-252,-223,-259,-290,-290,-267,-267,
-188,-226,-187,-577,-587,-587,-587,-587,-587,-587,-587,-587,-587]} 1. e4 c5 2.
Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qf3 b5 ({Relevant:} 7…
Bd6 8. O-O-O Be5 9. g3 Nge7 10. Qe2 O-O 11. f4 Bxd4 12. Bxd4 Nxd4 13. Rxd4 e5
14. Rd1 exf4 15. e5 f3 16. Qxf3 Qxe5 17. Bg2 d6 18. Rhe1 Qg5+ 19. Kb1 Be6 20.
Qxb7 d5 21. Nxd5 Nxd5 22. Bxd5 Rab8 23. Qc6 Rfc8 24. Qd6 Bf5 25. Be4 Bxe4 26.
Rxe4 Rd8 27. Rde1 Qb5 28. Qe5 Qc6 29. b3 h6 30. Kb2 Rb5 31. Qf4 Rc8 32. R1e2
Rc5 33. c4 a5 34. Qe3 Kh7 35. Re5 Qf6 36. Qf4 Qg6 37. Qe4 {Caruana,F (2813)
-Movsesian,S (2677) Douglas 2016 1-0}) 8. Qg3 Qxg3 9. hxg3 Bb7 10. Nxc6 Bxc6
11. f3 Bd6 12. g4 {[#]} Bg3+ $146 ({Predecessor:} 12… f6 13. O-O-O Bc7 14.
Ne2 Ne7 15. Bc5 Ng6 16. b3 h6 17. Bd6 Bxd6 18. Rxd6 Ke7 19. Rd2 Rhd8 20. Nd4
Bb7 21. c4 bxc4 22. Bxc4 Rac8 23. Kb2 Ne5 24. Be2 Rc7 {1/2-1/2 (24) Li,Y (2237)
-Zhang,X (2320) Shenzhen 2016}) 13. Bf2 Be5 14. O-O-O Ne7 15. Ne2 f6 16. Nd4
Bb7 17. Nb3 Bc7 18. Kb1 h6 19. a3 Bc6 20. Nd4 Bb6 21. c4 bxc4 22. Bxc4 a5 23.
Bg3 Bxd4 24. Rxd4 Ng6 25. Bd6 $16 Ne5 26. Ba2 Nf7 27. Bc5 Rb8 28. b4 axb4 29.
Bxb4 Ne5 30. Ka1 Ra8 31. Rc1 g5 32. Rd6 $11 h5 33. gxh5 Rxh5 {[#]} 34. g3 $6
Rh3 35. f4 gxf4 36. Bxe6 Rxg3 37. Bxd7+ Bxd7 38. Rxf6 Raxa3+ 39. Bxa3 Rxa3+ 40.
Kb2 Re3 41. Rh1 Ke7 42. Ra6 Nd3+ 43. Kb1 Re1+ 44. Rxe1 Nxe1 45. e5 f3 46. Rf6
Bg4 47. Ka2 Nd3 48. Kb3 f2 49. Kc3 Be2 0-1
[/pgn]

If White prefers then 8.Nxc6 is also quite a promising line.

Black moves such as 7…Bd6 and the hedgehog-like 7…d6 where White will often respond to black castling King side with launching his g and h pawn up the board. Finally the knight moves 7…Ne5 and 7…Nf6 are analysed.

In summary, this is a new book from a new author with a generous quantity of analysis given but unlike many modern opening books it is not centered around illustrative games. It will appeal to players who are confident in their abilities to learn and recall more analysis than their opponent.

[fen cal=Gb2c3] r1b1k1nr/1pqp1ppp/p1n1p3/8/3NP3/2P1BQ2/P1P2PPP/2KR1B1R b Kkq – 0 1 [/fen]

Colin Lyne, Farnborough, Hampshire, 14th July, 2021

Book Details :

• Paperback : 240 pages
• Publisher: Thinkers Publishing; 1st edition (22 Sept. 2020)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9492510820
• ISBN-13: 978-9492510822
• Product Dimensions: 16.51 x 1.52 x 22.86 cm

Official web site of Thinkers Publishing

“GM Pentala Harikrishna is an established elite player who has been in India’s Olympiad team for over two decades. Since November 2016 Harikrishna has often entered the top 10 of the world rankings, and has consistently stayed in the top 20.

His peak rating is 2770 and he is well known for his exceptional endgame skills as well as for the ability to convert positions with a slight or even no advantage. Harikrishna learned chess from his grandfather at the age of 4, and swiftly progressed up through age-group tournaments until he became a grandmaster at age 14.

He has been World Junior Champion (2004) and Asian Individual Champion (2011). As part of the Indian national team, he has won bronze medals at the World Team Chess Championship, gold and bronze at the Asian Games, and silver (twice) at the Asian Team Championship. He has also won many major open and invitational tournaments, including the Marx Gyorgy Memorial (2006), Tata Steel Group B (2012), Biel MTO (2013), Edmonton International (2015) and Poker Stars Isle of Man (2015).”

From the publisher  we have this extensive blurb:

“The French Defence was my main opening with Black while I was striving towards the GM title at the turn of the century. Quite often, I was able to use it to drag my opponent into a complicated maze of deep analysis, so I have intimate knowledge of the tricks used on the other side of the ‘barricades’. This helped me craft a solid base for our present repertoire, and many of the ideas presented in the book have brought me fine victories against some of the strongest French exponents as well.”

“At times, this means suggesting the 2nd or 3rd choice of the engine. He builds on the material from his earlier French course (Chessable, May 2019) and has expanded it with new analysis in all the lines, especially the 3…Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 variation. Harikrishna analyses both 5.Nce2 and 5.f4, so that the reader may make an informed choice about their personal preference. The driving force throughout is to keep the book clear-cut and practical. A good example of a practical weapon is the deceptively simple 3…Bb4 4.exd5 line. There are also fresh and interesting suggestions against the side lines you are likely to encounter, especially at shorter time controls. The entire Thinkers Publishing team joins with the author in wishing you enjoyment and success from this exceptional book”

End of blurb…

It is rare that one of the  World’s top ten players would write a book on opening theory but here Hari, as he is commonly called,  obliges. He has had a peak rating  of 2770 and has been a member of India’s very strong Olympiad team for around two decades .

So, the starting position of this rather large (456 pages) tome is

[fen cal=Gb1c3] rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/3PP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

and this book is written from the perspective of the first player striving to take on the French Defence with 3.Nc3. Of course it will also be of considerable interest to the second player.

Chapter 1 is entitled “Odds and Ends” in which Hari examines  unusual Black 3^rd moves .

He kicks off with 3…c5 which is a good move in a Tarrasch (3.Nd2) context  but a clear mistake against 3.Nc3 as White trivially wins a pawn after White takes on d5 and c5 ending up with a 4 to 2 queen side majority and the d4 square in his control  with the following position after 8.Ne4:

[fen cal=Gc3e4] r2qkbnr/pp3ppp/2n1b3/1BP5/3pN3/8/PPP1QPPP/R1B1K1NR b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

Next comes 3…a6 where both 4.Nf3 and 4.Bd3 are discussed . The most critical line here would appear to be 4.Nf3 Nf6; 5.e5 where in the main line Whites Q eventually comes to g4 putting black under pressure on the K side.

3…h6 is a curious third move alternative, but, as Hari points out it stops Black from getting in the Nimzowitschian style …f6 break as now g6 is horribly weakened.

Finally, 3…Be7 is covered but after 4.e5 c5; 5 Qg4 then puts black under pressure.

Both Chapters 2 and 3 look at the black reply 3…Nc6 (a idea of Aron Nimzowitsch) which has always seemed an illogical move to me in the French by blocking …c5.

After 3…Nc6 Hari first looks at 4.Nf3 then in the Chapter 3 4.e5 when 4…f6 is given as the black’s main line usually followed by 5.Nf3 Bd7; 6.Bd3 fxe5; 7.dxe5 Nb4; 8.Ng5 turns out to be good for white according to the author:

[fen cal=Gf3g5] r2qkbnr/pppb2pp/4p3/3pP1N1/1n6/2NB4/PPP2PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

In this line black can play 5…fxe5 immediately but after 6.dxe5 Nh6 7.Bg5! again leaves White with advantage.

Chapter 4 brings the reader to the Rubinstein Variation (also ECO code C10) where black plays 3…dxe4 when after 4.Nxe4 options such as 4…Nf6 4…Qd5 and 4…Bd7 attract attention.

According to the author none of these achieve equality but 4…Bd7 is given the most analysis since it is not easy to show an advantage for white. Furthermore, 5.Nf3 Bc6; 6.Bd3 alternatives such as 6…Be4; 6…Nf6 and 6…Nd7 are all interesting tries. White usually plays ideas including c3 and Ne5 to maintain an edge.

Chapter 5 continues to look at the Rubinstein when 4…Nd7 is considered to be the main line. Hari recommends an usual approach for white which we will not reveal here: buy the book!

Chapter 6 progresses to more classical territory with the hugely popular 3…Nf6 (ECO C11 – C14) when 4.e5 Nfd7 and now 5.Nce2 is analysed in considerable depth through to the end of chapter 9.

Club French players will be expecting (and hoping for no doubt) 5.f4 or 5.Nf3 and therefore 5.Nce2 could well throw them off their stride. 5.Nce2 scores well at the highest levels (56%) and is in the armoury of Carlsen, Grischuk, Anand and Nepomniachtchi and consequently deserves much respect.

[fen cal=Gc3e2] rnbqkb1r/pppn1ppp/4p3/3pP3/3P4/8/PPP1NPPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

In this line White intends the usual c3 following …c5 and often will relocate his N from e2 to f4.

Having said all of that 5.f4, which Hari starts to look at in Chapter 10, seems (to me at least) to be the “best” move. Clearly it is the most popular continuation.

The “main line” continues 5…c5; 6.Nf3 where 6…Be7; 7.Be3 b6; 8.Qd2 00; 9.Nd1 is given.

[fen cal=Gc3d1] rnbq1rk1/p2nbppp/1p2p3/2ppP3/3P1P2/4BN2/PPPQ2PP/R2NKB1R b KQq – 0 1 [/fen]

Although this line leads to a white advantage the more aggressive “Williamsesque” 9.h4 which features in some of the other lines should be considered by white players, especially those who love to attack.

Chapter 11 consider 6…Nc6; 7.Be3 Be7; 8.Qd2 is looked at and Black can play …a6 and …b5 here but Whites plan here is Be2 and 00 as Q side castling is somewhat playing into blacks hand.

Instead Black can try 8…00 instead when White is best capturing on c5.

The older line 5.f4 c5; 6.Nf3 Nc6; 7.Be3 Qb6 has always been regarded as slightly suspect and Hari takes a look at this in Chapter 14.

[fen cal=Gd8b6] r1b1kb1r/pp1n1ppp/1qn1p3/2ppP3/3P1P2/2N1BN2/PPP3PP/R2QKB1R w KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

Usually White plays b4 and black sacrifices a piece and although it leads to exciting chess the verdict remains the same. A well prepared white player should be delighted to see this line. The key word in all of this is, of course, “well”

Better perhaps is 7…cxd4 and Chapter 15 examines this: probably much tougher for white to crack. After 8.Nxd4 Qb6 the author provides a large quantity of analysis in this poisoned pawn style line where White sacrifices a pawn with 9.Qd2 and black rightly accepts the challenge with 9…Qxb2.

[fen cal=Gb6b2] r1b1kb1r/pp1n1ppp/2n1p3/3pP3/3N1P2/2N1B3/PqPQ2PP/R3KB1R w KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]

Finally(!) Hari leads us to the Winawer Variation but here he shocks the white player with his suggestion. To find out what this is you will need to buy the book!

I generally play the Tarrasch but my next bunch of email and postal games will definitely feature 3.Nc3 ! I’m keen to try out the authors suggestions and so should you be!

Colin Lyne, Farnborough, Hampshire, 19th June, 2021

Book Details :

• Paperback : 456 pages
• Publisher: Thinkers Publishing; 1st edition (28 Jan. 2021)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9492510979
• ISBN-13: 978-9492510976
• Product Dimensions: 16.51 x 2.54 x 22.86 cm

Official web site of Thinkers Publishing

“Dariusz Swiercz was born in 1994 in Tarnowskie Gory, Poland. His grandfather taught him to play chess at the age of three. During his junior career he won numerous National Championships as well as several European and World Championship medals. His highest successes include the bronze medal in 2010 at the World U20 Championship (Chotowa, Poland), gold medal in 2011 at the World U20 Championship (Chennai, India) and another gold medal in 2012 at the World U18 Championship (Maribor, Slovenia). He is one of the youngest to receive the Grandmaster title at the age of 14 years and 7 months. In 2016 he won the third edition of the “Millionaire Chess” held in Las Vegas, USA. Since 2018 he has represented the United States. Dariusz currently resides in Saint Louis, Missouri.”

From the book’s rear cover we have this extensive blurb:

“I would like to thank you for purchasing this book, I really appreciate it. It also means that you found an interest in my work of trying to crack the Ruy Lopez. As I said in the introduction to the first volume, I had no idea what I was signing up for when deciding to write a book on Ruy Lopez. This opening has such a rich history and good reputation that proving advantages in many lines is nearly impossible.

Writing the first volume on this opening was a Herculean effort and I thought “it cannot be more difficult”. After all, I was covering such solid variations as the Berlin and the Open Spanish. Well, I got surprised again! I am not exaggerating when I say that writing the second volume was at least as hard as writing the first one. This second volume on the Ruy Lopez consists of two parts. In the first part I focus on modern systems with …Bc5, attempting to dissect both the Archangelsk and Moller Variations. These two variations have quite a rich history but in 2020 there have been several developments. If I had to name one person that contributed the most to the developments in those lines it is, without a doubt, Fabiano Caruana. His encounters in the Candidates Tournament in Ekaterinburg, then his theoretical discussion in those lines with Leinier Dominguez, revised my opinion on many of those lines and led to interesting discoveries that I analyse in this book.

In the subsequent part I discuss the Closed Ruy Lopez. It is easily one of the most popular openings throughout the history of chess with many games occurring as early as the 1800s. I suggest going for 9.h3 which usually leads to a positional battle. I present new trends and find new paths and ideas in such evergreen variations as the Zaitsev, Breyer, Chigorin and others. Additionally, I attempt to crack the Marshall Attack by suggesting the Anti-Marshall lines with 8.a4. I must admit that I thought that it would be a pretty easy task to analyse those openings having some prior analysis and experience with both colours. However, time after time I was encountering new challenges and new ideas from both sides that I had to resolve. My conclusions, based on careful analysis with the most powerful engines currently available is presented in this book.

This book completes my series on the Ruy Lopez. I would like to take a moment and recall what I said in the introduction to the first volume. When both sides play very good and sound chess, it is normal that games end in a draw. It is especially true for such sound openings as Ruy Lopez. I do not attempt to dismiss one line or another because somewhere with best play Black can make a draw by force on move number 30, playing sometimes ridiculous moves that are only found during the analytical work. Over the board the reality is way different – practical aspect plays an important role in chess. Some positions are easier to play, some harder. Similarly to what I did in the first volume, I try to offer the most playable positions.

I do not mind if the positions are equal, provided it is easier to play with White or the chance of an error by Black is quite large. Sometimes I go into forced variations (e.g. in Moller Defense or Archangelsk Defense), sometimes into more positional battles (like in the Zaitsev) but I truly believe that the positions I aim to reach have potential and are tricky for Black. With proper knowledge I think White can put pressure on Black in the Ruy Lopez. I hope that you will find my approach to tackling the Ruy Lopez interesting. I am aware that there is only so much I can analyse and someone may say that I did not analyse some positions deeply enough but that is the nature of chess – possibilities are pretty much unlimited and there will always be theoretical debate!

Finally, I wish you, dear Reader, good luck and I hope you can successfully use the ideas that I present in this book in your games. Dariusz Swiercz February 2021.”

End of blurb…

Volume 1 of this series was previously reviewed here.

In Volume 2 the author looks at the major lines against the Lopez and he breaks the content down into three parts.

Before continuing it would be worth looking at this 19 page excerpt from the book.

Part 1 starts with systems with …Bc5 including the Møller defence.

[fen cal=Gf8c5]r1bqk1nr/1ppp1ppp/p1n5/2b1p3/B3P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.00 Bc5 a move played by World Champion Magnus Carlsen in a few games but more regularly championed by Alexander Onischuk. White continues with 6.c3 which is the most popular move according to my database.

In the game Nepomniachtchi v Caruana the game went 6…0-0 7.d4 Ba7 8.Re1

[fen cal=Gf1e1]r1bq1rk1/bppp1ppp/p1n2n2/4p3/B2PP3/2P2N2/PP3PPP/RNBQR1K1 b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

and White plans to bring his bishop to e3. He can also try 8.Bg5 as Lev Aronian did in a game vs Magnus. White is trying to pressurise e5 and get black to exchange on d4. After 8…d6 9 h3 b5 10 Bc2 when Be3 is coming and White usually tries to play his Knight to f5 with king side pressure.

[fen cal=Ga4c2]r1bq1rk1/b1p2ppp/p1np1n2/1p2p3/3PP3/2P2N1P/PPB2PP1/RNBQR1K1 b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

On 6…b5 7.Bc2 d5 8.a4 will surprise black players. After 8…Rb8 9.ab5 ab5 10.d4 de4 11.dc5 Qd1 12.Bd1 ef3 13.Bf3 e4 14.Be2 when Stockfish gives White as much better since he retains the bishop pair.

[fen cal=Gf3e2]1rb1k2r/2p2ppp/2n2n2/1pP5/4p3/2P5/1P2BPPP/RNB2RK1 b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

Black can try 8…de4 9.ab5 00 but 10 Ng5 ! seems to leave White better.  As in many lines analysis is given up to move 25 !

This whole line is very tricky and both players need to know it well. The Archangelsk with 5…b5 6 Bb3 completes Part 1 with the older move 6…Bb7 being looked at first and then 7 Re1 is given first. Having played this in many online games I as black I believe this is Whites best move now and ….Be7 is rather condemned. White can just play as he does against the Closed but he can save a tempo on h3 as there is no Bg4 move.

The modern 6…Bc5 played by Fabio Caruana and Gata Kamsky is given when 7 a4 should set black thinking. First 7…b4 is dismissed as an error as 8 Ne5! Ne5 9 d4 is good for White. Better are both 7…Bb7 and …Rb8 though White will continue his plan of building a big pawn centre with c3 and d4. In many of these lines white follows up with Bg5 when h6 Bh4 g5 can often be met with Nxg5 ideas.

Part 2 comprises the so-called main line of 5…Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 d6 8 c3 00 9 h3

[fen cal=Gh2h3]r1bq1rk1/2p1bppp/p1np1n2/1p2p3/4P3/1BP2N1P/PP1P1PP1/RNBQR1K1 b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

when 9…a5 is the Keres variation, 9…Be6 the Kholmov variation, 9…Nd7 the Karpov and both 9…Qd7 and 9…h6 credited to Smyslov.

For the first three variations 10.d4 followed by d5 attempting to cramp black are investigated but 9…Qd7 10 d4 Re8 11 Bg5 and 9…h6 10 d4 Re8 11 Nbd2 Bf8 12 Nf1 are both given as gaining an advantage for White .

Against the Zaitzev variation (9…Bb7) white has a plan of d4 combined with a3 and Bc2 followed by b3. He must be well prepared for black to play d5 here .

The Chigorin variation (9…Na5) was a favourite of Paul Keres and following 10 Bc2 c5 11 d4

[fen cal=Gd2d4]r1bq1rk1/4bppp/p2p1n2/npp1p3/3PP3/2P2N1P/PPB2PP1/RNBQR1K1 b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

both …Qc7 and …Nd7 are looked at in detail with 12 d5 recommended against both, again trying to cramp black.

12.d5 seems better than 12 Nbd2 when black can exchange on d4 and play for pressure on e4.

The Breyer variation (9…Nb8 ) as essayed by Anatoly Karpov sees 10 d4 Nbd7 11 c4 !? a move that will probably surprise Black.

[fen cal=Gc3c4]r1bq1rk1/2pnbppp/p2p1n2/1p2p3/2PPP3/1B3N1P/PP3PP1/RNBQR1K1 b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

For recommendations to deal with the Marshall Attack you will need to buy the book!

The book winds up in Part 3 by looking at 5…Be7 6.d3 for players who don’t want to get involved in too much opening theory.

[fen cal=Gd2d3]r1bqk2r/1pppbppp/p1n2n2/4p3/B3P3/3P1N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

Generally this is a book for those who take chess very seriously and are not frightened of learning large quantities of opening theory. The book is written from White’s perspective and therefore does not include a treatment of the exchange variation.

It is also good for postal /correspondence chess as White usually ends up with an edge so can torture his opponent for some time.

Colin Lyne, Farnborough, Hampshire, 26th May, 2021

Book Details :

• Paperback : 336 pages
• Publisher:Thinkers Publishing; 1st edition (13 April 2021)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10:9464201088
• ISBN-13:978-9464201086
• Product Dimensions: 17.02 x 23.5 cm

Official web site of Thinkers Publishing