THE CHIGORIN DEFENCE ACCORDING TO MOROZEVICH
Authors: Morozevich and Barsky
NIC (2007)
236 pages
$27.95

Reviewed by Jeremy Silman

For some reason, the Chigorin Defense (1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6) is one of those very tempting openings that seem oh-so appealing when you see it used properly in the hands of Chigorin or Morozevich. Part of its magic is that it steers away from White's many prepared lines in the Grunfeld, KID, QGD, QID, or Nimzo, and thus forces the opponent to wage war on your turf. It also carries a lot of surprise value. But the real plus of this old system is that it gives Black fluid play, active pieces, and a real shot to grab the advantage if White so much as blinks.

One IM that always thought highly of it is John Watson, while I also fell in love with it in my teens (these were happy years -- I never had to buy it dinner, give it a ring, or meet its parents). Eventually our union ended when I ran into 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 a couple dozen times too many, but I still stare wistfully at it to this day whenever I see it appear on a board.

Though many players have announced its death these last few decades, others consistently managed to enrich it with new ideas. Watson certainly did his part, and Valery Bronznik's 335-page hardback opus (THE CHIGORIN DEFENCE, undated and appearing in English in 2005) loudly proclaimed that the Chigorin was alive and well. Click to see WATSON'S REVIEW of the Bronznik book.

As instrumental as Watson and Bronznik (and others) have been in keeping the Chigorin flame burning, nobody has had quite the impact as Alexander Morozevich. One of the top ten players in the world, Morozevich thrives on dynamic, exciting openings and the Chigorin Defense captured his imagination in 1992 when he was studying the games of Chigorin.

In general, top ten players rarely write opening books. So having a grandmaster of this strength share his experiences and analysis with you on a particular opening is big news indeed. Morozevich, in THE CHIGORIN DEFENCE ACCORDING TO MOROZEVICH (with co-author Barsky), makes it clear that he isn't going to analyze every possibility. Instead, he more or less examines the lines that he feels are Black's best or White's most dangerous. And, as he does so, he makes copious use of his own games and also treats us to several of Chigorin's as well.

Right off the bat, Moro tells us how he became infatuated with the Chigorin. To quote him in the foreword: "Later I discovered with astonishment that for many variations of the Chigorin Defence which were evaluated by MDE (Small Openings Encyclopedia) in favor of White, often altogether the opposite was true. A critical analysis could completely turn an evaluation around, and in general nowhere was Black worse than equal."

I found this book to be very rich, not only for the masses of analysis Morozevich offers, but also for his discussions of the Chigorin's history (we're literally forced to study some of the classics) and for the way the layout turns raw study into something fun.

A couple of examples:
In Chapter One, Section A (Defending and Developing: 4.Nf3), he looks at 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.cxd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 and immediately makes it clear that Black must play 4...e5 since moves like 4...Bg4 and 4...Nf6 don't get the job done. The first game is the heavyweight battle Steinitz - Chigorin, Vienna 1898 (4...e5 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.dxe5 Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1 Bg4, etc.). Many notes and modern game references act as welcomed filler, and when the end comes (in favor of Steinitz) we are a bit confused since it seemed that White had all the fun. But then comes salvation, named A Closer Look. He says, "Steinitz conducted the game very strongly and logically, and he would have retained the better chances even in the event of Black's correct response on the 17th move. An improvement on Chigorin's play must evidently be sought at an earlier stage of the game. We suggest studying 7...Nge7!? (instead of 7...Bg4)." There follows a page of detailed analysis showing how Black would be fine with 7...Nge7. Of course, many other games follow, rounding out our understanding of how Black should deal with 4.Nf3.

This A Closer Look design idea is made use of all through the book, and serves to drag our attention to the key moment in a line.

In Chapter Three, Section A (The Advance 4.d5) we are given a two-page explanation as to why Black's Knight should move to e5 (after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 dxc4 4.d5) instead of a5. Once again, Morozevich treats us to a game by the creator himself: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 dxc4 4.d5 Na5 5.Qa4+ c6 6.b4 cxb3 7.axb3 e5 8.Bb2 Qb6! 9.Qxa5 Qxb3 10.Rb1 Bb4 11.Qa1 Nf6 12.dxc6 Ne4 13.Rc1 a5! and Black went on to win in beautiful style. After having us feast on this bit of history (and art), the author points out that 8.Bd2! was later established to be correct, and leads to a White plus (which he demonstrates). Then he says, "For a time Black pinned his hopes on the variation 6...b5 (instead of 6...cxb3) 7.Qxa5 Qxa5 8.bxa5 b4 9.Nd1 cxd5. But here too the move 10.e4!, breaking up Black's 'great pawn wall', proved very unpleasant." Thus, 4...Ne5 is best, and the move Morozevich gives all of his subsequent attention to.

In the 2nd paragraph of this review I mentioned that 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 was the reason I gave up the Chigorin (this seemed bothersome back in the 60s and early 70s, and is often used today by people trying to avoid main line Chigorin complications). Morozevich doesn't seem too concerned, and gives games featuring 2...Nc6 3.g3, 2...Nc6 3.Bf4, 2...Nc6 3.e3, 2...Nc6 3.Nc3, 2...Nc6 3.Bg5, and even moves like 3.c3 and 3.h3. Black has his share of the play in all of them.

All in all, this is a fantastic book, full of spirit, fascinating (and often original) analysis, incredible games, and honest appraisals by one of the world's best players. Entertaining prose abounds, and Chigorin quotes are used liberally to give THE CHIGORIN DEFENCE ACCORDING TO MOROZEVICH a human touch that's rarely seen in any opening book.

I think THE CHIGORIN DEFENCE ACCORDING TO MOROZEVICH is a must buy for anyone that plays the Chigorin, and also quite useful for those that play 1.d4 and need to figure out how best to meet this annoying opening.

Click to buy (or get more information about) THE CHIGORIN DEFENCE ACCORDING TO MOROZEVICH