SECRETS
OF OPENING SURPRISES is a collection of updated
articles from NEW IN CHESS MAGAZINE (there are
also two articles from NEW IN CHESS YEARBOOK). “SOS”,
as Bosch calls it, contains articles on all sorts
of irregular, inventive, and obscure openings.
I really enjoy this material and I suspect that
most readers of the magazine, including grandmasters,
take a look at most Bosch columns to see if there's
anything interesting (there usually is) or useful
(less often so, since the systems have to
fit with one's play and of course prove appealing
to the individual).
The moves/systems that Bosch presents tend to
be played by some strong players on a sporadic
basis and are generally sound. Here are some
examples: (a) 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4
g6 5.c4 Bh6!?; (b) 1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6
4.Bb5 Bd6!?; (c) 1.d4 f5 2.Qd3!?; (d) 1.d4
d6 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.Qd3!?; (e) 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3
d5!?; (f) 1.Nf3 b5 (something I played many times
when young); (g) 1.Nf3 f5 2.d3!?; (h) 1.e4 c5
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bd7!?. And
so forth.
Bosch has recently written an article in NIC
Magazine about 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 h6 and 3.Nc3
h6!! That's not a misprint; the h-pawn really
moves one square forward! Grandmasters Legky
and Eingorn are playing it regularly, even against
strong and prepared opposition. I wish that I'd
been able to include this and a whole raft of
other innovations in my book CHESS STRATEGY IN
ACTION (there are several new g4 thrusts on the
4th-, 5th-, and 6th moves in well-known lines,
for example).
What impresses me most about these articles
is that Bosch tries hard to include every logical
answer to each system and then proposes a solution
to it (whether by quoting a game or doing analysis).
He doesn't just show some pretty ideas against
certain moves while ignoring other obviously
critical ones. Bosch's analysis is generally
strong (he is an IM), a quality which contrasts
with the poor work often done by enthusiastic
advocates of strange and/or irregular moves.
I think that readers on most levels, say, from
intermediate player to master, will get something
of value out of this book. Hopefully that will
be a new chess weapon, but in any case you will
experience the delight of traveling into strange
and experimental byways.
Click to see Silman's Review of SECRETS OF OPENING SURPRISES.
Click to see reviews of Watson's award winning
CHESS STRATEGY IN ACTION by Bauer and Donaldson. |
