Tag Archives: Opening Theory

The Chigorin Bible : A Classic Defence to the Ruy Lopez

The Chigorin Bible: A Classic Defence to the Ruy Lopez
The Chigorin Bible: A Classic Defence to the Ruy Lopez

The Chigorin defence to the Ruy Lopez comes about when black plays the closed 5…Be7 variation and play continues 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 00 9.h3 now black unleashes 9…Na5.

The opening is named after the Russian player Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (1850 to 1908) who twice played Wilhelm Steinitz for the world title, losing on both occasions.

The authors of the book are Dutch Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov and Spanish (appropriately enough !) Grandmaster Ivan Salgado Lopez.

GM Ivan Sokolov
GM Ivan Sokolov
GM Ivan Salgado Lopez
GM Ivan Salgado Lopez

Anyone playing the black side of 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 has to face the problem of how to get equality after 3.Bb5 undoubtedly the most challenging move. White’s normal strategy will often be to play for a kingside attack and therefore black needs to find a good defence that gives him equal chances and the opportunity to take over the initiative if white goes astray. The two Ivans offer a defence to the Ruy Lopez that seems to do that and one which is a lot more interesting than the (in my opinion) boring (according to many!) Berlin Defence.

Firstly, I was surprised to learn that this opening variation was first played by (1910 World Championship Challenger) Carl Schlechter in 1902 and his opponent was Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch. Chigorin himself played the defence twice but it was Akiba Rubinstein who made the opening popular playing it many times against world class opponents. Later on Capablanca, Lasker, Botvinnik, Euwe, Reshevsky and particularly Paul Keres all helped to make it a popular response to the Spanish Opening.

The book starts out by discussing early games and detailing middle game plans for Black. The first variation to be discussed in detail is 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 citing the stem game Lasker vs Tarrasch giving an excellent example of how black should play the position. A whole chapter then looks at the games of Paul Keres (most of which he won) however it does not include his famous game v Robert James Fischer (Zurich 1959) which is nevertheless analysed in another chapter : Fischer won that historic encounter.
An attractive (and unusual ) feature of this book is that it also points out best lines for White to play rather than simply evangelizing the Chigorin Variation from Black’s perspective. An example of this is when black chooses 11…Bb7 over 11…Qc7 and after 12.d5! it is difficult for black to activate the bishop or the knight on a5.
A better 11th move for Black is Nd7 which features in several games. Here again the author’s point out that 12.d5 is playing into blacks’ hand as he plays Nb6 intending f5. A better try is 12.a4 as a number of high level games demonstrate.

The latter part of the book discusses much theory and sums up which lines are promising for each player and which are to be avoided.

Summing up, I would say that this is an excellent book and any player studying it is likely to be better prepared than their opponent for sure.

Colin Lyne, Farnborough, Hampshire, April 16th, 2019

Colin Lyne
Colin Lyne

Book Details :

  • Paperback : 349 pages
  • Publisher: Thinkers Publishing (4th March 2019)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9492510413
  • ISBN-13: 978-9492510419
  • Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 1.3 x 23.4 cm

Official web site of Thinkers Publishing

The Chigorin Bible: A Classic Defence to the Ruy Lopez
The Chigorin Bible: A Classic Defence to the Ruy Lopez

Gambit Killer: Ivan Salgado Lopez

Gambit Killer : Ivan Salgado Lopez

Ivan Salgado Lopez was born in Spain June 29th 1991 and learned to play chess at the age of seven thanks to his brother Oscar and became a Grandmaster at the age of 16.

GM Ivan Salgado Lopez
GM Ivan Salgado Lopez

Amongst the best results in his chess career Ivan has twice been Spanish Champion and has won many international tournaments. He was the second of ex-world champions Topalov and Ponomariov amongst other strong Grandmasters.

Spanish grandmaster Ivan Salgado Lopez has taken a close look at a variety of gambit lines that can arise after 1. d4 and the main chapters are as follows: Budapest Gambit 34 pages Blumenfeld Gambit 30 pages, Tarrasch and Marshall Gambits 8 pages, Von Henning Shara Gambit 36 pages, Slav Gambits 12 pages, Dutch Gambits 20 pages, Easily Refuted Gambits 4 pages, Albin Gambit 10 pages and finally a chapter containing model games and exercises.

The book covers these gambits in sufficient detail to enable you to sit down and play them with confidence and equips the reader with the main tactical ideas behind the gambit together with a detailed understanding of the typical middlegame positions that may arise.

The author strikes a good balance between analysis and explanations, and, has a very engaging writing style

One thing that became clear to me when I started reading this book is that this is not a complete guide to all d4 gambits. There are a number of omissions from this book that I would expect to see, for example there is no mention of the Marshall Gambit in the Semi Slav, which is an essential to know if you are playing that opening. Also the coverage of gambits against the Dutch defence is not complete. While the Staunton Gambit (2. e4) is covered well together with the Krejecik Gambit (2. g4) the variations after 2 h3 (an idea of Korchnoi’s : Ed) followed by 3 g4 are not covered.

Another issue that I would like to point out is that the book does not contain any index of games or opening variations, something that I would normally expect to find in an opening book.

Does this book ‘kill’ the gambits? Well, not exactly ! It provides a refutation for the more dubious and unsound lines and neutralises the dangerous but playable lines. A lot of the gambits covered in the book are completely playable but risky and may be met head on provided that you are suitably prepared. Some of the gambits are recommended for blitz and rapid play games!

However, overall this is a good book despite reservations regarding the scope of the coverage.

Tony Williams, October 26th 2018

Tony Williams
Tony Williams

Book Details :

  • Paperback : 315 pages
  • Publisher: Thinkers Publishing (1 Sept. 2018)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 949251026X
  • ISBN-13: 978-9492510266
  • Product Dimensions: 16.5 x 1.3 x 23.5 cm

Official web site of Thinkers Publishing