NEW IN CHESS YEARBOOK 77
240 pages
Soft Cover Version: $25.95
Hard Cover Version: $36.95
NIC (2005)
www.newinchess.com

SECRETS OF OPENING SURPRISES: Volume 4
Edited by Jeroen Bosch
$21.95
NIC (2006)
www.newinchess.com

TACTICS IN THE CHESS OPENINGS 3: French Defense and Other Half Open Games
Authors: Frisco Nijboer and Geert van der Stricht
$21.95
NIC (2006)
www.newinchess.com

Reviewed by John Donaldson

Twenty-three years ago the first NEW IN CHESS YEARBOOK appeared and after some changes a clear model has been adopted. Readers can expect a volume of 240 pages that is centered around 32-33 opening surveys. These surveys, which run the gamut from 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.c4, to 1.Nf3, are typically 4-8 pages in length. An expert on the opening introduces the material and points out where the key action is occurring, taking one to two pages. Then either the author or a guest annotator presents key games with annotations supplemented by many other more lightly annotated games. In NEW IN CHESS YEARBOOK 77the surveys are:

Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation 7...Nbd7, by Olthof
Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation 6.Be3, by Hoeksema
Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation 9.Bc4, by Anka
Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation 6.Be2, by Fogarasi
Sicilian Defense: Rauzer Variation 10.e5, by Van der Wiel
Sicilian Defense: Rossolimo Variation 4...Qc7, by Greenfeld
French Defense: Advance Variation 3.e5, by Sveshnikov
Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Variation 5...Nc6, by Smeets
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation 4.h4, by Anka
Scandinavian Defense: Main Line 5...Bf5, by Prié
Petroff Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation 5.Nc3, by A.Kuzmin
Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation 5...Bg4, by Van der Tak
Ruy Lopez: Neo-Steinitz Variation 6...Nge7, by Karolyi
Ruy Lopez: Open Variation 9.Nbd2, by Grivas
King's Pawn Opening: Elephant Gambit 2...d5, by Pliester
Two Knights Defense: Fritz Variation 5...Nd4, by Van der Tak
Queen's Gambit: Declined Exchange Variation 4.cd5, by Bosch
Slav Defense: Meran Variation 7.g4, by Lukacs/Hazai
Tarrasch Defense: Rubinstein Variation 6.g3, by Vilela
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Classical Variation 7.a4, by Yusupov
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Kmoch Variation 4.f3, by Cebalo
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Romanishin Variation 4.Nf3, by Langeweg
Bogo-Indian Defense: 4.Nbd2, by Boersma
Queen s Indian Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation 4 Ba6, by Dautov
Grünfeld Indian Defense: Exchange Variation 7.Nf3, by Avrukh
Grünfeld Indian Defense: Exchange Variation 7.Nf3, by V.Mikhalevski
Grünfeld Indian Defense: Exchange Variation 7.Bc4, by Olthof
King s Indian Defense: Bayonet Attack 9.b4, by Tzermiadianos/Kotronias
King's Indian Defense: 5.Bd3, by Geo.Timoshenko
Benoni Defense: Volga Gambit 3...b5, by Fogarasi
Old Indian Defense: Delayed Benoni 7...e6, by Dautov
Queen's Pawn Opening: Trompowsky Attack 2.Bg5, by Fogarasi
 
Rounding out the volume are the NIC Forum where readers from all over the world join in discussions of previous surveys These readers can include both grandmasters and club players. Sosonko's Corner, by veteran GM Genna Sosonko, is probably the most flexible section of the Yearbooks, with the "wise fox" of Dutch chess writing about whatever has caught his interest at the moment. This time he deals with the theme of the opening stutter-step where a player advances a central pawn one square only to push it one more a few moves later in reaction to changes in the position (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 d6 5.0-0 g6 6.d4! or 1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Qc7 4.Ngf3 Nd7 5.exd5 cxd5 6.d4!). Interesting stuff!

Concluding NIC YB 77 is the Book Reviews' section. Anchored by the always solid and reliable Glenn Flear, this YB marks the return of Sergei Toviakov who created quite a firestorm by his harsh comments for Edward Dearing's Dragon monograph in NIC 75. Here he does nothing but lavish deserved prose on Rogozenko's The Sveshnikov Reloaded which he describes as "...a perfect book; I can't find a single drawback in it."
 
If you play the London System as White and 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7 as Black (in other words you try to duck all theory), the NIC Yearbooks are not for you. Otherwise, if you are over 2000 and/or ambitious they are must reading.
 
Two other New in Chess series, albeit of shorter longevity, are the SECRETS OF OPENING SURPRISES (or SOS) and TACTICS IN THE OPENINGS. Both of these are intended to be more accessible and user friendly than the Yearbooks, which can be intimidating for amateurs. Of course the trade off to ducking main line theory is often accepting early equality as White or some disadvantage as Black, but recent offerings in the SECRETS OF OPENING SURPRISES, edited by Dutch IM Jeroen Bosch, make one wonder if a clever guide can't sometimes help you get the best of all possible worlds -- an opening which is not too theoretical and yet packs some punch.

Consider 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 a6 (also possible by slightly different move-orders). This opening was used by Keres -- most famously against Reshevsky at the Moscow/The Hague 1948. Later IM Minev used it off and on but it languished until recently, a poor relation of the Meran. Then, perhaps inspired by the upsurge of interest in the 4...a6 Slav, it started to appear. Kasparov seemingly dealt it a double blow with his loss as Black to Huzman and victory over Fritz. The latter game, where Garry adopted the principled 6.c5 and after 6...Nbd7 7.b4 a5 8.b5 e5 9.Qa4 Qc7 10.Ba3 e4 11.Nd2 Be7 12.b6 gobbled the a5 pawn, was depressing for Black supporters of what SOS author Mikhail Gurevich refers to as the "Flexibility Zone." I saw with my own eyes a similar treatment in Vermont a few summers ago where Walter Browne beat Jaan Ehlvest in equally convincing fashion. Was this the end of the line for Black? No! As Gurevich carefully explains, moves like 7...a5?! and 10...e4?? show a misunderstanding of the position. Black does not need to play ...a5, ...b6 or ...e5 immediately and does best to fianchetto his King Bishop and castle, leaving White guessing where the breakout attempt will come from in this line championed by the Italian GM Godena.

Some of the lines in the SOS: Volume 4, like the Katalmov Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Qd5 and Alapin's 1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 might be for one game surprises while others like 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.b4 could be played all one's life. Still others like Alekhine's Blunder -- (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 h6!? 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.exd5 Bb4) make you realize that there are still plenty of new paths to be discovered in the opening.
 
TACTICS IN THE CHESS OPENINGS 3: French Defense and Other Half Open Games is more pedagogical than the other NIC series. Authors Frisco Nijboer and Geert van der Stricht endeavor to acquaint the amateur player on the typical tactical themes running through the French, Caro-Kann, Scandinavian, Pirc, Modern and Alekhine. The 226 pages are filled with games that go no more than 30 moves and are often shorter. The annotations, which combine both prose explanations and concrete variations, are to the point -- detailed but not so much to lose the reader. This book should be a pleasurable way for those below 2200 to master the fundamentals of tactical play in semi-open games.

Click to buy (or get more information about) SECRETS OF OPENING SURPRISES (SOS) VOLUME ONE

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