4...Qh4 in the Scotch Game is a massive and admirable effort. Its author, GM Lev Gutman, deserves some kind of award for incredibly detailed analysis (272 pages) of what is still a rather obscure line (has anyone, for example, played 4...Qh4 against the world's leading Scotch Game player, Garry Kasparov?). I admire this kind of advancement of theory very much, and it makes fascinating reading. I suppose that the market for such a book is inevitably a limited one, which is sad. In that respect it reminds me of Korchnoi's endgame book.

The book contains a great deal of historical material about 4...Qh4, especially judgmental comments by well-known players and authors about each variation (most of which Gutman refutes). Then there's the theory, which must include the highest percentage of original analysis of any current opening book (modestly excluding my own Benoni book, of course). I should say however that The 4...Qh4 Scotch is an organizational nightmare: transpositions and confusing section numbers ('sequels') all over the place. Fortunately, Batsford has included an excellent index. The biggest problem with this book is that Gutman doesn't say which lines are important, nor does he give an ultimate assessment of which variations are best, much less whether 4...Qh4 itself is good (although the move clearly gives plenty of practical chances).

I played around with the lines and transpositions, trying to find the ultimate assessment of various approaches. One often-recommended one seems to come down to 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Be2 Qxe4 7.Nb5 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Kd8 (this position is often reached by transposition from 6.Nb5, but practically forced with one of these move orders if Black wants to avoid disadvantage) 9.0-0 Nf6! (after incredible convolutions, both 9..a6 and 9...Nge7 seem to favor White according to Gutman) 10.Bg5 Qf5 ("interesting but not sufficient is 10...a6"-Gutman), and here I like 11Qd2 a6 12.Bd3 Qc5 13.Nd4 (13.Qf4 Qe5 is what Gutman gives, with Black okay) 13...Nxd4 (13...d6 14.Qf4 Qe5 15.Nxc6+ bxc6 16.Qxe5 dxe5 17.f4!) 14.Bxf6+ gxf6 15.cxd4 Qxd4 (15...Qg5 16.f4 Qd5 17.Qf2 and c4 is difficult for Black) 16.Qh6 and White has ideas like Rad1, Rfe1, and even Qg7, capturing the h-pawn, and eventually running with h4-h5 etc. Perhaps nonsense, but I have now made my one great contribution that Gutman can refute in the next edition.

If you play the Scotch or want an exciting system against it, you should seriously consider this book. It's no exaggeration to say that Kasparov himself would benefit (or is benefiting) from a copy. In any case, Gutman shows that a chess opening book can also be a source of genuine scholarship.

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