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THE FEARSOME FOUR PAWNS ATTACK
Authors: Jerzy Konikowski and Marek Soszynski
Russell Enterprises (2005)
(www.chesscafe.com)
283 pages
$24.95
Reviewed by John Donaldson
Chess openings can be placed in different categories. They can range
from modest tries like the London System (1.d4, 2.Bf4, 3.e3), where
White aims for nothing more than developing his pieces and heading to
the middlegame, to nuclear options like the Dragon Sicilian where Black
from the first move aims to annihilate White. This take no prisoners
attitude applies to the latest offering from Russell Enterprises. THE
FEARSOME FOUR PAWNS ATTACK is a comprehensive look at all variations
arising from the sequence 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0-0 6.Nf3.
Lines where White meets ...c5 with d5 can also arise from various
Benoni move-orders. This is the first book on the subject since Anatoly
Vaiser's well received BEATING THE KING'S INDIAN and BENONI back in
1997. Cynics take note that Vaiser continues to use the Four Pawn
Attack.
This reviewer has never played the White side of the Four Pawns Attack
and will use two different ways to check the quality of THE FEARSOME
FOUR PAWNS ATTACK. The first is to look at one of the games of
America's great Four Pawns Expert, New England IM Joe Fang. Fang no
longer plays this variation against the King's Indian so I was very
curious as to why he had stopped and e-mailed him. He wrote back "I now
think Black has other playable 9th move alternatives, but the following
game was the one that initially shook my faith in the Four Pawns." It
was played in round 6 of the 1993 World Open in Philadelphia.
IM Joe Fang - GM Artashes Minasian
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7
5.e4 d6 6.f4 O-O 7.Nf3 e6 8.Be2 exd5 9.cxd5 Re8 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Ng4
12.Bg5 Qb6 13.O-O Nxe5 14.d6 Qxb2 15.Nd5 Bf5 16.Nh4 Bc2 17.Qd2 Qd4+
18.Qxd4 cxd4 19.Nc7 Nbc6 20.Bb5 Bf8 21.Rae1 Bxd6 22.Bxc6 Bxc7 23.Bxb7
Rab8 24.Bd5 Bd3 25.Rf2 Rb1 26.Rxb1 Bxb1 27.Nf3 Nxf3+ 28.Rxf3 Bf5 29.h3
Be6 30.Bxe6 fxe6, 0-1.
IM Fang notes: "16.Ne7+ was theory at the time, and supposedly unclear,
but it seemed Black had plenty of compensation for the Exchange (i.e.,
16.Ne7+ Rxe7 17.dxe7 Nbc6 18.Rc1 Re8).
16.Nh4 as played vs. Minasian was my attempted improvement, but it led
nowhere. I remember thinking during the game that maybe the Four Pawns
was just refuted, and I needed a new line vs. the KID. Instead of
14.d6, 14. Bc4 is another line but I don't know its status."
This sent me searching through the THE FEARSOME FOUR PAWNS ATTACK.
Authors Konikowski and Soszynski give the Exchange sacrifice line as
the main variation: 16.Ne7+ Rxe7 17.dxe7 Nbc6 but focus on 18.Kh1!?
instead of 18.Rc1, which they also give. After 18...Re8 19.Nxe5 Bxe5
20.Rc1 Bf6 21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22.Bd3 Ne7 23.Bxf5 Nxf5 24.Rxc5 Qa6 25.Qb1 b6
they end with the evaluation "the chances are more or less even.
Black's extra pawns fully compensate him for being the Exchange down."
The author's summary of this variation is objective and accurate
"Just like 14.Nxe5, the move 14.d6 gives White good chances for active
play, especially if Black is inaccurate. Plenty of scope remains,
however, for further exploration because of the great complexities
involved."
This reviewer would add that Movsesian's (Karen not Sergey) 18...h6
also seems very intriguing. After the sort of forced sequence 19.Bh4
Ng4 20.Qd6 Qxe2 Rae1 Qd3 22.e8=Q+ Rxe8 23.Rxe8+ Kh7 24.Qxd3 Bxd3 White
is two Exchanges up but Black has a bunch of dangerous looking
passed-pawns. Add to this that at Black's 20th move Fritz prefers
20...Re8 and 20...g5 and these positions definitely need to be checked
by both computer and human.
My second test for THE FEARSOME FOUR PAWNS ATTACK was to compare it
with the recently released UNDERSTANDING THE KING'S INDIAN (Gambit
2006) by Mikhail Golubev. In his excellent book the Ukrainian GM
advocates 6...Na6 vs. the Four Pawns while Konikowski and Soszynski
give 7.e5 as the most testing. Golubev considers 7.Be2 and 7.Bd3 as
more important and popular so I was quite curious to see where the
difference of opinion was. K and S continue 7...Nd7 8.Be2 c5 9.exd6
(given "!" by Golubev) 9...exd6 10.0-0 (Golubev gives 10.d5 as the main
line) 10...Ne8 11 d5 Ne8 12.Bd2 (to avoid ...Bxc3 and ...f5) Bd7 13.Bd3
f5 14.a3 Nf6 15.Rb1 Nc7 16.b4 b6 17.Re1 Re8 18.Qb3 -- "White has a
small positional advantage since his pieces are better developed and
have more active possibilities than Black's." All well and good,
but Golubev points out that after 10.0-0 Black does better with
10...Nb6. This looks like an odd move to make in the King's Indian but
after 11.d5 Bf5 Black is threatening ...Nb4. If White stops this with
12.a3 Black has 12...Re8 13.Bd3 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Qf6 with very nice play as
Mikhail points out. The point is that Black wants a firm blockade on f5
to prevent White from playing f4-f5 -- even at the loss of a pawn -- to
activate his dark-squared Bishop. White could try to avoid having to
waste time with a3 but after 12.Bd3 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 the move 13...Nb4!
shows the value of the Knight on b6 as c4 is hanging. If you have two
boards handy set up the position after 11.d5 Bf5 on the first one. On
the second make the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0-0
6.Be2 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Nf3 exd5 9.exd5 Na6 9.0-0 Bf5 and you will find
exactly the same position but with the Black Knight on b6 rather than
f6. This really helps the second player.
Is this the end of the story? No. Konikowski and Soszynski point to
11.d5 as an error and suggest White should maintain the tension with
11.Be3 (not examined by GM Golubev). They continue with 11... Re8
(11...Bg4 seems likely to transpose) 12.Qd2 Bg4 13.Rad1 Qe7 and now
sacrifice a pawn with 14.Bf2 which definitely looks to be the right
decision though after 14...Bxf3 15.Bxf3 Nxc4 16.Qc1 Nb6 I don't think
White should be better.
In conclusion, THE FEARSOME FOUR PAWNS ATTACK, while not the final word
on this complex of variations, is a major contribution to the
literature. The authors have gathered and organized all the relevant
materials and identified that which is most important. Various
improvements are suggested when needed. There is a huge amount of
theory but 62 annotated games serve to illustrate the main ideas and
make the book easier to learn from. THE FEARSOME FOUR PAWNS ATTACK will
be most useful for correspondence players of all levels and over the
board practitioners rated over 2000.
Is it possible to play the Four Pawns Attack on a regular basis when it
is no longer a surprise and your opponent's are ready for it? I think
Las Vegas IM David Vigorito is right on the mark when he says "Yes, but
with the caveat that you have to do a lot of work including quality
time with the computer and a good engine looking for novelties in
critical positions." Certainly THE FEARSOME FOUR PAWNS ATTACK will be
most helpful to those seeking to master this complicated line.
Recommended
Click to buy (or get more
information about) THE
FEARSOME FOUR PAWNS ATTACK
Click to buy (or get more
information about) Vaisser's magnificent BEATING
THE KING'S INDIAN and BENONI
Click
to buy or get more information about Golubev's excellent UNDERSTANDING
THE KING'S INDIAN
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