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SECRETS OF PRACTICAL CHESS (New Enlarged Edition)
Author: John Nunn
Gambit Publishing (2007)
255 pages
$23.95
Reviewed by Jeremy Silman
Nunn's SECRETS OF PRACTICAL CHESS (176 pages) originally appeared in
1998 to universal acclaim. Now Nunn has rewritten quite a bit of
the book, making it longer (255 pages). But does longer mean better? In
this case the answer is an emphatic yes!
Though the first four chapters are more or less the same, this doesn't
make them any less important. A quick overview of the material in
chapters one to four:
CHAPTER ONE: AT THE BOARD
Here he covers decision-making, oversights and blunders, time trouble,
laziness, and determination. This fills 67 pages, and every
single page is pure gold.
CHAPTER TWO: THE OPENING
Building a Repertoire and Using Opening Books are two topics that will
appeal to just about everyone. Here he rails against the commonplace
instances where chess authors assure their gullible readers that some
disgusting, and certainly unsound, gambit line is ready for prime time.
This quote makes his feelings quite clear: "Less honest authors are
entirely shameless about such matters. They recommend the most
outrageously unsound lines without blushing even slightly. They would
never play such lines themselves, of course."
One line that went under Nunn's hatchet was the Latvian Gambit. Here he
recommended 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nxe5 Qf6 4.Nc4 fxe4 5.Nc3 Qf7 6.Ne3 c6
7.Nxe4 when he felt that Black didn't have enough compensation for the
pawn. Since that time hoards of Latvian Gambit fanatics (most in postal
chess) have fought long and hard to keep the opening alive. The first
step was to prove compensation after 7.Nxe4, which many Latvian Gambit
minions have insisted is the case (I'm always happy with the extra pawn
in such positions, but what do I know?). Whether this is true or not
doesn't concern me (though I wish Nunn had addressed this in the
rewrite). Far more interesting was the new body of theory that appeared
after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nxe5 Qf6 4.Nc4 fxe4 5.Nc3 Qf7 6.Ne3 c6 7.d3
exd3 8.Bxd3 d5 9.O-O Bc5. The question is whether Black's center
compensates for White's significant lead in development. A billion or
so postal games eventually led people to believe that Black can make a
draw in a pawn down endgame after 10.Na4 Bd6 11.c4 d4 12.Nc2 c5 13.b4
Ne7 14.Nxc5 Bxc5 15.bxc5 Nbc6 16.Bb2 0 0 17.Nxd4 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 Bf5
19.Bxf5 Nxf5 20.Be3 Qxc4 21.Qb3 Nxe3 22.fxe3 Rxf1+ 23.Rxf1 Qxb3 24.axb3
Rc8 25.Rf5 Rc6 26.b4 b6 27.Kf2 bxc5 28.bxc5 a5 29.Kf3 a4 30.Rf4 Rxc5
31.Rxa4.
I really hated the idea that such a horrible opening as the Latvian
Gambit would be allowed to survive in this way, and after some trails
and tribulations a major challenge to the system was presented in an
article titled SPLAT THE LAT!
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nxe5 Qf6 4.Nc4 fxe4 5.Nc3 Qf7 6.Ne3 c6 7.d3 exd3
8.Bxd3 d5 9.O-O Bc5 10.b4!! is, last I looked, quite strong for White
(check out the linked article to see all the analysis).
Chapter Two is only 14 pages long, but it offers priceless bits of
advice and explains how to tell the difference between a serious
exploration of an opening and a concerted effort to pull the wool over
your eyes.
CHAPTER THREE: THE MIDDLEGAME
Here we get 29 pages covering Good Positions, Bad Positions, Attack,
and Defense. Nunn's views on these things are, as always, fascinating,
and useful advice can be found on every page.
CHAPTER FOUR: THE ENDGAME
This huge (53 pages) section is, in my opinion, the weakest of the
book. This isn't to say that it's bad. Not at all! But the material's
range is too great, taking us from a basic start to the outrageously
complex. Don't forget that the book's title is SECRETS OF PRACTICAL
CHESS, and I simply don't see how Rook and Bishop vs. Rook or
hard-to-understand Queen endgames can be viewed as anything close to
practical!
CHAPTER FIVE: USING A COMPUTER
Things like Game Databases, Playing Engines, and Limitations of
Computer Analysis are extremely important subjects, all of which are
VERY practical and thus fit in perfectly with the book's ultimate
theme. Nunn devotes 51 pages to the topic of computers in chess, and he
hits a home run with each and every page. This is must reading for
everyone that plays against computers or uses a chess database.
CHAPTER SIX: CHESS LITERATURE
Nunn fills 32 pages with deeply honest and often fascinating
observations about the strengths and weaknesses of chess books. Nunn
says that the main point of buying an opening book (as opposed to
simply using a database) is that it gives a good overview of the
opening, along with its plans and ideas. He then offers up the
following excellent piece of advice: "In order to choose a good opening
book, check to see if the author has played the opening himself;
someone who has practical experience in an opening is far more likely
to be aware of move-order finesses, doubtful evaluations and untested
but interesting ideas."
In this same chapter, Nunn points out the endless errors (from writers
of all levels) that creep into books. As interesting as that is, I
found the following to be of particular interest: "Many chess books
feature good advice supported by doubtful examples. While it would be
nice to have totally clear-cut examples of every principle, real-life
positions tend to have messy details and distracting sidelines. The
author then has the choice of ignoring the messiness and pretending
that everything is clearer than it really is, or giving a totally
objective commentary which risks obscuring the point his is trying to
explain."
When I read this, I thought, "Yes, he's completely right! This is an
important point!" Then my eyes moved on and I realized that the example
of this idea of "ignoring the messiness and pretending that everything
is clearer than it really is" was from my own HOW TO REASSESS YOUR
CHESS! Ouch! Here he pointed out the ideas I was trying to share, but
found my analysis to be too accommodating. And ... he's right. In
my zeal to push home some key (very instructive) points, I failed to
analyze the position in sufficient depth. HOWEVER, there's a small fly
in the ointment here. Let me repeat a bit of the Nunn quote I gave
earlier: "While it would be nice to have totally clear-cut examples of
every principle, real-life positions tend to have messy details and
distracting sidelines."
The word "distracting" is, in my view, of enormous significance. In HOW
TO REASSESS YOUR CHESS I tried to avoid long analysis whenever possible
since I felt that few actually went over such things, and leaping into
reams of variations can easily distract the reader from the real point
of the example. But sloppiness is still sloppiness, and my noble
intention of pushing ideas while hiding from analytical truth isn't a
sufficient excuse. In my upcoming rewrite of HOW TO REASSESS YOUR
CHESS, I'll try to retain the clarity of ideas over cascades of moves,
while also making sure that whatever analysis I offer is correct and
honest.
I should add that HOW TO REASSESS YOUR CHESS was written before
computers were something every chess player owned. In this modern
"Fritz will teach me the way" world, many players rev up their machines
and have it check out the analysis of any game they are studying.
Sadly, they often ignore the point of the example and get fixated on
Fritz's 12-move sequence turning my stated "plus over equal" into
equality (whether or not Fritz is correct in its positional assessment
is quite another matter). So they come away having learned nothing, but
strut proudly about their room crowing that their machine proved me
wrong.
A rewrite, of course, will take care of this problem. But doesn't it
strike you as sad that the Fritz addict revels in his "distraction,"
then wonders why he can't play a decent chess game without Fritz
leading the way?
Getting back on track, Nunn finishes Chapter Six with two book reviews
and a recommended reading list. It's all great stuff and prompts me to
declare that SECRETS OF PRACTICAL CHESS, which is both highly
instructive and fun to read, is a must buy for almost any serious
player (1300 on up to master). In fact, this is one of the best books
I've seen in many, many years.
Click to buy (or get
more information about) SECRETS
OF PRACTICAL CHESS
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