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THE TROMPOWSKY (2nd Edition)
Author: Nigel Davies
Everyman Chess
www.everymanchess.com
144 pages
$19.95
THE QUEEN’S BISHOP ATTACK REVEALED
Author: James Plaskett
Batsford
www.chrysalisbooks.co.uk
218 pages
$22.95
Reviewed by John Donaldson
It seems that to write a book on the Trompowsky (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) or Queen’s Bishop Attack (1.d4 d5 2.Bg5), you have to be English! Previous works on this opening have been by GMs Wells, Hodgson and Gallager and IM Bellin and now we have THE TROMPOWSKY (2nd Edition) by Nigel Davies and THE QUEEN’S BISHOP ATTACK REVEALED by James Plaskett.
The first thing to note is that the two books are, for the most part, complimentary. The only place where they overlap is after 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5, or 1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 Nf6. Neither book is a pure theoretical work, which is probably a good thing since the Tromp and Queen’s Bishop Attack are not so well suited to this type of treatment.
Plaskett and Davies, who both play Bg5 setups with both colors, use plenty of prose to explain what is going on. Davies uses the typical Everyman approach where the material is grouped around 67 well-annotated games. Plaskett uses the new Batsford format with chapters like First Moves, Heroes and Zeros, Strategy, What’s Hot?, Tricks and Traps, Test Positions and Solutions.
Two nice features of the Davies book are the bibliography and suggested repertoires for attacking and positional players for both Black and White. I think I saw this for the first time in John Cox’s STARTING OUT: ALEKHINE’S DEFENSE and it is an excellent idea. Also good was the last section of James Plassket’s book where in the chapter entitled “Before the Fight” he gives a quick overview of what you need to know besides 1.d4 d5 2.Bg5. The proper Tromp for starters, but also a line against the Dutch (he throws out 1.d4 f5 2.Bg5), 1...d6 or ...g6, not to mention 1...e6. Against 1...c5, Plaskett mentions the old idea was 2.dxc5 e6 3.Nc3 Bxc5 4.Ne4, seemingly gaining a risk free small after 4...Be7 5.Nd6+ or 4...d5 5.Nxc5, in both cases with the two Bishops. Unfortunately the recent finesse 4...Bb4+ 5.c3 d5! is not so clear. James suggests 2.d5 followed by Nc3 (without c2-c4) with a favorable Schmid Benoni.
I have always liked tournament books (SECOND PIATIGORSKY CUP 1966 for example) where two players look at a game independently and make individual annotations. It’s not necessarily who is right or wrong but the opportunity to see how strong players think differently about positions. I was very much interested in seeing how Plaskett and Davies would compare when looking at positions arising from 1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 Nf6.Since Davies’ book is devoted to the entire Tromp, I didn’t expect to see to much on this line by him but did find the game Plaskett-Jonkman, Mondariz Zonal 2000, commented by both players. Each give approximately the same amount of pages to the game when one takes into consideration the different page layouts – Everyman features a denser two column format as opposed to Batsford’s more generous single column layout which is easier on the eye but also means more white space. Comments to the game are pretty much the same except that after 1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 Nf6 3.Bxf6 gxf6 4.e3 c5 5.dxc5 is considered insipid by Davies (and before him Wells) who feel Black has a simple and effective approach with 5...e6 6.c4 dxc4!, but Plaskett begs to differ and quotes 6.Nc3 Bxc5 7.Qh5 Bd7 8.0-0-0 of Hodgson-Crouch, Mind Sports Olympiad, London 2000 as the proper approach.
Which book should you get? Ideally both, since neither covers the entire Bg5 repertoire. The Davies book comes closer, but outside of 1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 Nf6 there is no double d-pawn coverage. If you play 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 but answer 1.d4 d5 with 2.c4 you’re fine, but otherwise you have a problem. Those who wish a more structured format will probably like Davies’ work while Plaskett has written more of an ideas’ book in what is a pioneering effort on 1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 – often considered a poor cousin of the Tromp.
Both books are recommended.
Click to buy (or find out more about):
STARTING OUT: THE ALEKHINE'S DEFENSE
QUEEN'S BISHOP ATTACK REVEALED
THE TROMPOWSKY | 