NEW IN CHESS YEARBOOK 69 continues its successful formula with the following ingredients: NIC Forum, Sosonko's corner, Book Reviews by Glenn Flear and the Surveys.

NIC Forum gives readers, from amateurs to Grandmasters, the opportunity to discuss opening questions and provide feedback to material that has previously appeared in the Yearbook series. The value of this material and the benefits of being up to date in sharp

openings, can be judged from letters like the one by USCF Expert Graham Free in YB 69 where he shares his recent victory over IM Enrico Sevillano. The game followed theory, given in YB 68, for 29 moves! Sevillano varied at this point, but his position was already lost.

Dutch Grandmaster Genna Sosonko, who lived the first part of his life in the Soviet Union, is known as one of the “wise foxes” of the chess world. He is best known for his excellent vignettes of famous players of the past, but also enjoys a reputation as very well respected theoretician. His topic in this edition of Sosonko's corner is Alexander Morozevich, who plays 2700+ chess while going his own way. That extends in particular to the openings (1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 h6!?).

Grandmaster Glenn Flear of England is the regular reviewer for the NIC YB series. Here he looks at recent books on the Four Knights Game, Queen's Indian, IM Bosch's Secrets of Opening Surprises and Valery Bronznik's book on the Colle. Flear's reviews are independent of the ones that Matthew Sadler does for New in Chess magazine.

The heart of the Yearbooks is the opening surveys. As usual there is a good balance. You might expect that most of the articles are concentrated on sharp, topical modern lines that are favored by strong GMs and you won't be disappointed in this regard. However, there are also surveys on openings that have a large following at the amateur level and systems where knowing the latest fashion is not so critical (Lars Bo Hansen's piece on the Winawer is a good example).

The following surveys appear in YB 69:

Sicilian: Najdorf Variation 6.Bg5, by Van der Tak Sicilian: Najdorf Variation 6.Be3, by Lukacs/Hazai Sicilian: Dragon Variation 9.0-0-0, by Cabrera Sicilian: Rauzer Variation 7...Be7, by Karolyi Sicilian: Rauzer Variation 7...a6, by Cebalo Sicilian: Kalashnikov Variation 6.c4, by Rogozenko Sicilian: Alapin Variation 2...g6, by Gavrilov Pirc: Austrian Attack 5...c5, by Van der Weide King's Fianchetto: 4.Be3, by Fogarasi French: Advance Variation 6.a3, by Boersma French: Winawer Variation 4...Ne7, by LB Hansen French: Winawer Variation 7.h4, by Pelletier Caro-Kann: Smyslov Variation 4...Nd7, by Dautov Caro-Kann: Classical Variation 4...Bf5, by Olthof Ruy Lopez: Closed Line with 9.d4, by Lukacs/Hazai Two Knights: The Main Line against 5...Ng4, by Panczyk/Ilczuk King's Gambit: Becker Variation 3...h6, by Pliester King's Gambit: Declined 2...Bc5, by Van der Tak Queen's Gambit Declined: Alatortsev Variation 3...Be7, by Langeweg Queen's Gambit Declined: 5.Qc2, by Van der Sterren Slav: Marshall Gambit 4.e4, by Van der Tak Tarrasch: Rubinstein Variation 6.g3, by Flear Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein Variation 5.Ne2 Re8, by Bosch Bogo-Indian: Vikoni Variation 4.Bd2 c5, by Dautov Bogo-Indian: 4.Bd2 Qe7, by Anka Queen's Indian: Nimzowitsch Variation 5.Qb3, by Lukacs/Hazai Grünfeld Indian: Exchange Variation 7.Bc4 , by Bosch King's Indian: Classical Main Line 9.Ne1, by Matamoros Benoni: Taimanov Variation 8...Nbd7, by Vaiser Queen's Pawn: Wagner Gambit 4.e4, by Langeweg Queen's Pawn: Trompowsky Attack 2...d5, by Gavrilov Dutch: Classical Variation 6...d6, by Flear English: Symmetrical Variation 7.d3 and 8.e4, by Langeweg .

Highly Recommended.